An Ammo Sensitive 22?

[4 Paws]

Been looking around for an airweight 22 and was able to find a used 317 today. As a bonus the dealer tossed in a box of CCI. I took the gun to the range and fired a box of Federal without any issues, gun cycled and ejected all rounds without a hiccup. I then tried the CCI and the gun began to lock up. This continued to the point the cylinder would not turn and I couldn't even open the gun up to eject the rounds. The firearm eventually cooled off and I was able to open and eject these rounds. A couple hours later I went back this time with 100 rounds of Federal and the firearm performed fine. No issues of lockup as experienced with the CCI. My question being, has anyone encountered this, as it's pretty clear this little 22 prefers one ammunition over the other.

[Chettt]

Don't know, that's really strange. They weren't .22 magnums?

[sheepman]

A lot of 22s are sensitive to or work better with one brand of ammo over another. This is usualy more of a problem with autos than revolvers but extraction of fired casses where always harder with cci or remintion ammo than federal in a S&W 17 and a Dan Wesson that I had.. You will also finde that one brand or lot of 22 ammo will shoot a litte more accutitly than another. Each gun will have differnt likes and dislikes, you have to try differnt brands and types to find out wat the gun likes.

[4 Paws]

Nope, regular 22lr. After posting this, I've read up on similar issues others have had with the same gun. Seems CCI does not work all that well in this particular revolver. It would appear that keeping the revolver clean and using ammo that functions reliably are the best remedies for this problem.

[pete2]

Strange. CCI is one of the better brands of .22 ammo. I shoot it in my Single Six, Mod. 17, it even works in my Mark II that is very choosy.

[Water-Man]

Which type of CCI, i.e. Mini-Mag, Stinger, Velocitor, Std. Vel. etc.?

[spacecoast]

Sounds to me like you may have a loose ejector rod. Make sure it's tight, it's likely to tighten in the opposite direction to normal "righty-tighty, lefty-loosey". Other than that, revolver lockups are normally associated with centerfire primers sticking out farther than they should (not an issue with .22LR). Make sure everything is clean under and around the ejector star.

It would appear that keeping the revolver clean and using ammo that functions reliably are the best remedies for this problem.

True for just about any gun, some are more dirt-tolerant than others.

[4 Paws]

In response to a couple of the above ;
1. CCI Velocitor is what the gun had issues with. I've used CCI Mini Mags for all my other 22's without issue.

2. In reading, others have also had issue with CCI in this particular model gun. My assumption is the casing must have slightly different specs than some of the other ammo that is functioning fine in the gun.

3. I took the gun apart today and cleaned it the best I could. Someone else had mentioned about cleaning under the ejection star so I paid particular attention to that.

With all that being said, I truly like this little 22. Recoil is minimal at best, and accuracy was probably some of the best I've seen out of a 2in snub.

[RJay]

I have found that CCI has slightly different spects than other ammo. I'm not an engineer so I can't use the proper long words . The cases seem to expand more and in some revolvers with tight cylinders it will bind on rotation and extractions. I have two pistols, one a Model 18 that I have the same type of problem. my other revolvers, no problem.

[spacecoast]

I have a revolver with tight chambers too, making certain ammo difficult to eject, but that's not what was described. The problem described was the cylinder locking up, which is not related to tight chambers (unless the round wasn't pushed all the way in to being with).

[g.willikers]

Velocitors are quite a bit hotter.
That might be the problem with that particular gun.

[Hammerhead]

It might not have anything to do with the ammo, it might just need a little maintenance (oil).
I don't see how one brand of .22 ammo is going to overheat a revolver over another brand.

[RJay]

On my model 63, I had problems with extraction, fixed that. On my Model 18 the brass actually recoils back against the recoil shield but doesn't retract ( or bounce, which ever term sounds better ) back all the way into the chamber, which binds up the rotation. Every thing is up to standard on my revolver and CCIs are the only shells which this binding occurs. I don't worry about it, I just use the CCIs in my other guns, and different brands in my Model 18. In fact I have conversion units for both one of my 1911s and my Hi Power and I have found that CCIs work best in them. So I just compromise and go on shooting. It is not a big enough matter to worry me.

[PBW60]

My 317 (Kit gun) acts the same way on hot ammo. Must be the aluminum cylinder. I've had mine for fifteen years. No worries, just go through several cylinders full and let it rest for a while. Or just plink with target velocity ammo.

[kahrguy]

Might as well stay with a standard velocity ammo is the hyper velocity ammo give almost no extra except nose out of short barrels. Try CCI standard or green, federal 711 , the cheaper wolf or federal .

[James K]

It sounds like a combination of a tight barrel/cylinder gap and the type of powder in that CCI ammo. Firing a revolver causes the cylinder to expand lengthwise. If the gap is too small and the gun is fired rapidly without cooling, the cylinder will bind up. That expansion can be greater with some powders that produce more than normal heat.

Measure the B/C gap. If it is less than .006", I think that is your problem, but I wouldn't have it fixed if you can use ammo that doesn't cause a problem.

If you want to use that CCI, then send the gun to S&W or have a gunsmith enlarge that gap.

Jim

[Rainbow Demon]

Might be a thicker rim, or some difference in the geometry of the rim,
Still any good double action has a breechface raised a hair higher than the recoil shield, once the fired case rotates past the breech face it should not be able to drag.
If excessive fouling or leading is present on the cylinder at the chamber mouths then the cartridge is not well suited to revolvers.

If the powder charge is a hot one, or the bullets too soft, it can blast lead from the base of the bullet into the cylinder gap. A copper wash bullet that sheds the wash under that sort of blast would compund the problem, the copper being harder than lead would drag more.

I use Federal .22 LR in everything, and they work great in guns that don't work very well with anything else.

PS
Check the forcing cone. I had a Ruger Bearcat you couldn't hit the ground with if you dropped it. Years later I found that a number of Bearcats got past the rather laughable QC without having the forcing cone cut.

[publius]

Velocitors are hot rounds. Maybe you have loose chambers and they are recoiling back to contact the shield?

[glenncal1]

"Doc, my gun don't shoot good with Velocitors!"

"So, don't shoot Velocitors."

I know in the past that some of the hyper velocity .22s have slightly longer cases than hi-velocity or standard .22LR. If it doesn't work in your gun, use other ammo and don't worry about it.

[James K]

IMHO, these words are the key: "The firearm eventually cooled off..."

Leading, fouling, or swollen case heads won't go away when the gun cools down; heat will. I would like to know the b/c gap.

Jim

[jrothWA]

RG34, to where a .22Mag can partially chamber, using CCI Mini-mags and Federal Hi-power for plinking.
I would say that most likely you need to chuck a new bore bore in a cordless drill and SLOWLY spin it in each chamber WITH PLENTY OF SOLVENT. Just sounds like the CCI are sticking to the walls possibly due to some residue of using .22 shorts, where the Federal is not sticking as much.

Also, read about the "cool down" period, might be a good idea to back off the rapid fire.

post some pic's!