*2* Brand New Buck Marks Jamming

[otisrush]

A friend of mine and myself each recently bought brand new Browning Buck Marks. We went together to the range this morning. We were each firing our new pieces for the very first time.

We each experienced jamming issues. My friend noticed/described it as an ejection issue - not a feeding issue. Generally the slide would close on the fired case. The casing wouldn't get out of the way of the slide before it closed. At first it would happen every 4th or 5th shot. After getting through about 6 or 7 mags it improved. I was then able to get through 4-5 mags with no jams at all. Then it seemed to degrade a little.

Is this common? If it was just one of the two having troubles I'd conclude we had a problem where maybe the gun needs servicing. But both were behaving the same way. It didn't seem to change with ammo, either. My friend had two different brands. I was shooting Federal (550 ct box). All three ammos were hollow point, although as I stated earlier, it didn't seem to be a feeding problem, but rather an ejection problem.

Any input from experienced Buck Mark users?

OR

[overkill0084]

Not trying to sound like a jerk. But have you cleaned out the the inevitable grease that they are loaded with for shipping. If you have, then never mind.
If not, the pull them apart and give them a good going through.
I am not a Buckmark owner, but I do know that they are considered to be very good and reliable guns. There's always someone who tell you; "They have never cleaned their .22 and it works fine 15 years later." To me that's just asking for it.
If cleaning doesn't help, try other brands of ammo. Some guns are just picky. CCI is my preference, because all my .22s are both accurate and reliable with it.
If all else fails, give them each a few hundred rds to allow for break in.
If this all fails to help, call Browning.

[otisrush]

Thanks. You're not sounding like a jerk at all. Because............

No - I didn't tear it down. Neither did my friend clean his. While at the range and we were perplexed I asked him if he'd cleaned his and he said he hadn't.

I didn't clean it because last Fall I bought a brand new Browning Hi Power and it OBVIOUSLY needed cleaning. The gunk on it was so apparent I knew it shouldn't go to the range in that condition. In contrast, the Buck Mark seemed "clean and ready to go". So I didn't think much about it and just took it out this morning.

The Buck Mark seems to have a pretty good reputation for accepting most any kind of ammo. (My sense is that the Ruger MK is even better.) I'll give it a few hundred more rounds and also try some CCI.

Thanks.

OR

[zombieslayer]

I'd say try cleaning it, and trying different ammo. Federal AutoMatch is around $15 for 325rds at walmart and works very well in semi's. Just my 2cents

[scottl]

Clean it and lube up where the slide rides real good.I also put lil bit grease on recoil guide/spring assy.
Mine runs really well just using Federal Bulk pack

[geetarman]

My son has one and I have one. They have been trouble free for us. We generally run CCI through ours. If we get a load of Remington or other bulk buy ammo, we generally use that in a revolver or lever action rifle.

We have used it in the Buckmark with no problems.

If you both were having the same sort of problems, I would suspect ammo first.

OTO, I had a new Ruger MKIII that was a PIA from the get go. Others have had no issues with them at all.

If I were you, I would run some CCI throught the guns and see how they do. I am betting your problems will go away.

YMMV.

Geetarman

[Mike OD]

If I were you, I would run some CCI throught the guns and see how they do. I am betting your problems will go away.

+1. I've only used CCI Mini-Mag (40gr; 1235 fps) in our BuckMark Practical and have had no issues with probably 1000 rounds through it. Usually can find the ammo at the local Walmart.

[KJ-hunter]

I have a BuckMark, and have never had it fail to load or extract a shell. I have tried lots of different ammo with out problems. I would give it a good cleaning/lube and if it still has problems contact Browning. It is a great 22.

[otisrush]

Thanks for the replies. I have to think it's the lack of cleaning. I don't think I mentioned in my original message - but we were using 3 different brands of ammo - one of them CCI. Since both were new, neither were cleaned, and both had issues, that makes me virtually sure that's the issue.

I don't know what I didn't think to strip it down. What a knucklehead.

[overkill0084]

Don't sweat the small stuff. If a cleaning fixes it, then it's a relatively painless lesson. Let us know how things turn out.

[skydiver3346]

Yes, as others have already said, give it a good cleaning.

Hint: Try the CCI Velocitor .22 ammo. It is awesome and works every time I try it on any of my .22 pistol and rifle (semi-automatics). It is the most reliable .22 ammo I have ever shot, period.

[tristar viper]

I had that gun and it did that with Remington ammo. But you say ammo didn't seem to make a difference.....so I'd disassemble and thoroughly clean, and try again, just like others have said.
My Buckmark did like to be sloppy with oil though. The minute it got a little dry, I'd get the once in a while FTE no matter the brand of ammo.
But Remington was awful....2 or 3 FTE's every mag with the particular gun I had.

[shredder4286]

Otis-

What model do you have? Mine is a Buckmark Practical URX- (all blued metal with black rubber grips and the green tru glo front sight) I fed mine the 550 count federal HPs and it ate half the box without a hiccup. It might just be the particular gun you have, even the BEST manufacturers make a bad one here and there. However, I've only heard good things about Browning's customer service, so after a thorough cleaning and several brands of ammo, I'd give them a call. Good luck

[otisrush]

Shredder:

I have the exact same model as you.

I highly doubt it'll need service. About the only commonality between my friend's experience and mine is that neither of us cleaned them prior to firing. They're different models, bought at different stores.

I'll chuckle even more if I get it ripped apart and find all sorts of factory-packed goo inside.

Maybe my emotional image of Browning quality outshines reality - but I figure the chances of two brand new guns both needing service, purchased in the same town, by friends, at different stores, is about 0.

I'm looking forward to not breaking it down and giving it a good cleaning, but also heading back out to see if that solves the problem.

OR

[shredder4286]

Yeah, roger that. IIRC, the manual says that at the owner's level, the weapon should not be broken down. I found this odd, because every semi-auto I've ever owned could be at least field stripped with ease. You should be able to lock that slide back, swab the bore a few times and lube the metal to metal contact points and be good to go. Mine was brand spankin' new, and that's all I did. Anyway, let us know how it turns out.

[overkill0084]

I just remembered something. Don't forget to clean out the magazines. I don't know about Browning, but both my Ruger and CZ mags were quite gooey on day 1.

[Mike OD]

Here are a couple of excellent videos showing how to field strip the BuckMark:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uKc7JxyJ8g

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uKc7...eature=related

[DaveBeal]

In my Buckmark, CCI Blazer is the only bulk ammo that works reliably.

[Northslope Nimrod]

After a good cleaning your Buckmark should run on most ammo. Mine (and my Dad's) runs on Federal, Remington or American Eagle with very few issues.
You should not have to use CCI's once you get it going.
The cheaper ammo will still, occassionally, cause an issue.

[FrankenMauser]

Clean it, and break it in with quality ammo.

Then you can go to crappy bulk ammo.

Not every pistol is the same. My Buckmark ran with Remington Thunderbolts, from day 1. My brother's Buckmark never ran with Thunderbolts.
Mine was broken in, and ate every kind of .22 LR ammo we threw at it, in less than 300 rounds. His took a bit more (2,000+, if I remember correctly).

Today, my Buckmark is over 120,000 rounds. With routine maintenance, and appropriate parts replacement (recoil guide rod/spring assembly, and the buffers wear out), it shows no signs of slowing down.

It is so smooth now, that I can feed it .22 CB Shorts with a slightly lighter recoil spring, and it operates flawlessly.

Break it in, and it will go forever.

[triumph666]

clean the gun well and then try 2-300 hundred CCI Stingers to break in the gun.....i usually do that because with a new gun the recoil springs and such are usually really tight and need to be loosened up.....


and we all know 22's can be finicky until broken in