ISSC MK22 Review

[Dutra Arms 216]

Several manufactures are producing tactical style 22 long rifles, handguns, sub-guns and rifles, several of which are styled after their tactical big brothers. These tactical rimfire guns are relatively affordable, cheep to shoot due to the readily available and inexpensive rimfire ammunition and are excellent for varmints, plinking, target and training. Many of them incorporating the same fire controls as there big brothers.
Today I write about the ISSC MK 22, which is an Austrian FN Scar clone. Chambered in 22 long rifle. The MK 22 is a well built rifle which does reflect in its price, between $450.00-$550.00. Featuring a Lothar Walther match grade barrel with flash suppressor, a fully adjustable and folding stock, picatinny style rail mounts and variable and folding open sights. Available in either 10+1 or 22+1 magazine capacity depending on jurisdiction. This rifle is completely ambidextrous and a blast to shoot.
This rifle cost more than most of its tactical rimfire competitors but you know the old saying “You get what you pay for.”
BUILD QUILITY- “You get what you pay for” XLNT build quality.
FIT AND FINISH- Fit is good; the stock takes some getting used to. Finish is great.
ERGONOMICS- XLNT Well balanced about the right overall weight. Controls are in the right place and easy to operate.
RELIABILTY- Probably too soon to judge but maybe I will go out on a limb and say this gun has been so far very reliable for me with 500 rounds fired and no failures.
OVERALL RATEING- This is an excellent tactical rimfire rifle which has a lot to offer thought it may be priced a bit higher than some of its competitors it is now my favorite tactical 22 long rifle.
On a scale of 1-10 I would rate the ISSC MK22 an 8.5.

[mudduck]

I have had an Mk-22 for a few months now, and have noticed that the rifle cycles fine but then after a few shots you pull the trigger the hammer drops and nothing. I tore the gun down today and found that there is a allan head bolt in the rear of the weapon just behind the butt stock plate. You have to remove the stock to get to it. This bolt slightly loosened up over a few uses, and causes the receiver to move forward slightly not allowing the firing pin to strike the round with enough force to fire the round. after I tighten this bolt and added a little lock tight, I fired 200 rounds through the weapon with out a misfire or a jamb.

[Fishbed77]

Yep - doesn't exist without pictures.

[dutchgunsmoke]

I have had one. With the emphasis on "had".

After a stockfailure... ( see added pic)



... and a 3 month wait for its replacement I put about 1200 rounds through it over a 2 month period.

In that period I experienced an increasingly number of FTE's, with various brands and velocitys of ammo.

Ammo used: CCI standard, blazer, minimag, american eagle HV, winchester wildcat.



In this picture you will notice 2 bolts on the left side in the frame - one vertical, one horizontal. These bolts and the parts they hold together are vital for proper functioning of this gun. They keep tension on the boltassembly. Ones this loosens one will experience FTE's.

Unfortunately - ISSC made a very poor choice in material for this gun. The metal parts and the aluminiumalloy frame are so weak, that during these 1200 rounds I managed to destroy the threading on the vertical bolt. The pin construction got wider tolerances and with every shot that pin gave the frame a beating resulting in oval holes instead of round holes. Thus even widening the already large tolerances in that area. In the end tension could no longer be held on the bolt assembly in such a matter that the vertical bolt comes loose in 3 mag's time and rattles inside the inerts of the gun while I was trying to use this gun as a bolt action rifle...

I brought it back to my gunsmith and he decided that this one and the one he had in stock were going back - never to return again.

Bottom-line: the concept of this gun is great, the design due to its difficulty of cleaning less desirable. But because of the poor choice of materials used... It's crap (pardon the expression).

And I can honestly say: Been there, done that and I've got the frikin' T-shirt.

[weneary3]

New on the forum- Thanks for letting me join!
Ran into very similiar issues as "dutchgunsmoke" with my brand new ISSC MK22. Ran about 200 rounds with 2/3 being FTE. Used CCI, Winchester and Remington. Went home and when cleaning it and noticed vertical bolt was laying inside loose. Thanks "dutchgunsmoke" again for answering what was causing the FTE's! Also noticed small allen screws holding on picatinny rail were loose along with stock bolts too. Re-installed with lock-tite. Cleaned gun thoroughly and re-installed bolts tight. Tried several types of ammo. Was getting very annoyed and found Federal AMMO worked great. Installed 3-9x40 scope. Sighted scope in and started getting FTE's again. disassembled and noticed bolt was AGAIN laying inside. Cleaned and went to re-install and noticed threads were stripped. I have made FOUR attempts to contact ISSC by e-mail along with the other 3 names they go by. Made several call attempts. No dial tone, answering machine picks up then hangs up. I was trying to purchase the new piece (#39) even though it is under warranty rather than hassle and cost of sending it back. I will just tap it out and replace with a larger bolt. This is one I would NOT recommend and will look foward to getting rid of it.

[buckeyedave]

I don't have the riffle but the pistol M22 from ISSC. They are changing distributors here in the US and that is why the no response. This is what I heard from another forum. Which explains why I didn;t have a response from two emails sent to them. Hopefully they get someone on board quickly and take care of their customers!

Dave

[weneary3]

Figured out the cause and the fix for the bolt threads stripping
Discovered the vertical bolt was too short and was only engaging about 1/3 of the threads. My vertical bolt had already stripped out the threads on piece #39. I tapped new threads into part #39 threads to #8-32. Purchased a $0.95pack of stainless allen head bolts at homedepot #8-32 x 3/4". FIXED! Also replaced the horizontal bolt. Original threads are #6-32. Original bolts are somewhere cheap metal. What an easyfix!

[weneary3]

Easy and cheap fix. So far for my MK22 all goes well with an additional 400 rounds with no further issues.

After much aggravation and frustration only added to by ISSC ignoring my requests, I was able to figure out the cause and correct the issue with the "vertical" bolt being stripped out causing all the FTE's (failure to eject) This bolt threads into piece #39. The cycling of the bolt will loosen and then strip the threads out of piece #39.

The bolts are show on the left side of the picture.

The original bolt is a #6-32 allen cap bolt and about 3/8" long which was only engaging about 1/3 of the threads. When either of these two bolts loosed, you will get FTE's. Wish I knew why they used short bolts which were so short?....

For non-stripped threads- purchase a 2-pack of #6-32 x 3/4" long allen cap head screws in stainless steel for less than a dollar. For the "horizontal" screw use a #6-32 1/'2" long screw.

FOR THREADS ALREADY STRIPPED- (My vertical screw had already stripped out) I retapped it to #8-32.

WORKS PERFECT NOW!

Wanted to share the fix and hopefully ISSC will see this and try to to something about it. It has been three weeks now and no one returns e-mails, and unabe to get a call through to them.

[Sammo]

I have had similar issues with the bolts loosening. Unfortunately the threads stripped on the horizontal bolt. Did fix with another bolt but also had the bolt spring retention guide rods loosen off even with loctite. Have been trying to get response from the company but all I am told is that there is a "contract" dispute and I will be contacted. When it worked it shot well but quality is severely lacking for such a high priced .22! Also had issues with my SR-22 with the extraction. Fixed with a $6.00 part that should have been installed with the gun. Seems there is a rush to put out "black" rifles with not much regard to quality, after all it should work correctly right out of the box!

Thanks for letting me rant!

[weneary3]

Hello again!-I have completed my repair and have run just over 1000 rounds without any further issues so far.

Did get an e-mail back from ISSC (like Buckeyedave) ISSC said they are in contract dispute since August 6th and will reply on first come first served after dispute is over.

To SAMMO- What $6.00 part did you replace?

I shoot at 25 meters outdoors and keep a nice tight grouping with a 3-9 scope (WalMart).

I have not had any issues since using Federal Ammo Only, but I have read each gun likes it's own ammo brand.

Like the bolt fix, all the other issues should be easy (hopefully). I plan on keeping mine since it shoots great. The kids on the range think it is really cool when they see it and do not realize it is a .22LR

[GammaRT]

Hi all, this is in response to the socket head cap screw fix by weneary3.

First of all, thank you for a very informative explanation & guide to address the screw loose issue experienced by many others in various online discussions.

Back in December 2011, in anticipation of the arrival of my new MK22 around Christmas, I took the advice of weneary3 and acquired some stainless steel 6-32 x 3/4 and 6-32 x 1/2 socket head cap screws. I wanted to replace the factory screws as a "preventive maintenance" before using the rifle. BTW, my local Home Depot and another big box hardware store did not carry this type of screws. My local RC model hobby store and two industrial supply stores (Fastenal & Brafasco) do have these screws. However, Fastenal only sell them in packs of 50. I got free screws from Brafasco as I was purchasing the blue Loctite from them.

When my rifle finally arrived, I proceeded to do the swap as well as Loctite all the other screws. To my surprise when I removed the factory vertical & horizontal cap screws: they are not the same size as the 6-32! Now, the 6-32's will screw into the factory screw holes but the fit was very sloppy. Visual inspection shows the 6-32 looks skinnier than the factory screws. So a thorough investigation was in order.

Being a rifle from Europe intended for an international market not exclusive to the U.S.A., I thought it was a bit odd that the fasteners (screws) would be in imperial sizes (e.g. 6-32). A quick check of the hex (Allen) key confirms my suspicion: the factory screws use a 3mm hex key. This translates to a M4x0.7 metric size cap screw. Measurement of the major diameter of the thread confirms the M4x0.7 metric size.

I proceeded to replace both the vertical & horizontal screws as well as the stock plate cap screw (the one that fasten the stock plate to #39). I found the factory stock plate cap screw too short. The screw hole in #39 was tapped much deeper than the factory screw was using.

So here's the revised screw replacement info for non-stripped threads:

Vertical screw: stainless steel socket head cap screw M4x0.7x18mm
Horizontal screw: stainless steel socket head cap screw M4x0.7x16mm*
Butt Stock Plate screw: black oxide or stainless steel socket head cap screw M4x0.7x12mm

*I am using a longer screw than factory. The factory horizontal screw sits flushed with the far side of the nut when tightened. A longer screw with 15mm or 16mm length will protrude a few millimeters beyond the nut - a much better fit mechanically. And there is room for these longer screws.

Hope this help.
Cheers... happy plinking!

[Ridge_Runner_5]

Looks like the MK22 is built almost if not identical to the GSG-5 and GSG-47.

Interesting to see that.

[model18]

The "pot metal alloy" on alot of these type guns just plain sucks. That goes for the handguns, too. I like steel guns period!

[dannyd632]

Hi, im looking at buying my first 22LR rifle and im interested in the ISSC MK22. Just wondering whether any of you think it is worth buying the rifle considering the potential problems i may experience, or would any recommend something else that is similar in the 22LR calibre?

Thanks

[danny1214]

Hello Folks,

Just a quick post of a clip from the range earlier this evening.

I hope you can watch this without having to turn your head sideways..... Darn Apple Software.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/z5b9f1uaij...2023.23.35.mov

[konger]

So it sounds like some of you have the screw issue figured out. Would this gun be a recommended buy now?

By the way danny1214, I wanted to see your video but it says the link is bad. Do you recommend the weapon?

[Ridge_Runner_5]

Danny's video is posted from his Dropbox account. He'll hit his data limit pretty quickly.

I recommend he uploads to YouTube.

[konger]

Danny sent me a link for his video. The more I see of this rifle the more I like it. Seems like there were metal and bolt issues with these when they were first released and the metal issues were addressed by the company; the bolt issues need to be fixed by the user.

Cabellas has one for $459 in my area so I think I am grabbing one.

Anyone have problems with the latest variants of this rifle?