I purchased my M&P new and it has had no modifications. After over 1,000 perfect rounds with every type of ammo it suddenly stopped ejecting. The fired round stays lodged in the barrel and must be pried out. This happens every 3 or 4 shots. The ejector appears to be in good condition with no damage.

Apparently 22LR's expand slightly after being fired. These expanded cases can not be reinserted in the S&W but I can put them into my Ruger 22/45 with a little effort.

As always, the barrel is super clean and now with special attention to the area where the bullet seats. A new unfired bullet drop in and will fall out when the barrel is tilted up.

I'm sure S&W will warranty it but I hate to ship it to them if it's a small fix. Thanks for any advise or knowledge.

After over 1,000 rounds have you thoroughly cleaned the breech face making sure the extractor is clean and free to move? It is often overlooked.

Absolutely meticulous after every range session. Extractor floats smooth and is clean.

One thing I forgot to mention, the gun cycles and extracts non fired bullets very smoothly.

The 22 Compact is blowback operated. Are you saying it doesn't cycle?

Did you look at the extractor with a magnifying glass? It doesn't take much for there to be a problem.

I once had an HK P9s and the spring that pushed the extractor into the case rim got sideways. That was a 9mm but had the exact same symptoms you are describing. Worked fine manually running the slide but would often leave fired cases in the barrel.

Go with different ammo.

I'm not a science guru but once the casing is expanded and sealed in chamber, it gets exact chamber's size. Once it's extracted, it MUST fit this chamber again. I've never seen such magic when ejected casing still expands...

Yes. The extractor looks fine.

The spent casings have to be pried out with a screwdriver or pushed out with a cleaning rod. I doubt any extractor would have the strength to remove them. This same brass fits in my Ruger 22/45, but snug. Somehow the chamber in the M&P has to be a smaller diameter. My M&P C has a very tiny notch at the top of the barrel. Any one else have this?

I'll have to get out my fiber optic endoscope and maybe get some photos.

It's never been ammo sensitive before and this time I was shooting bulk Remington and Winchester. The gun had previously eaten every possible ammo without failure.

You didn't mention it so I have to ask. Aside from the breach face, have you scrubbed the chamber well with copper or brass brush?

You would think!

I can reinsert it - with a hammer! Then pry it back out. Un-fired ammo drops in and falls out. Gun manually functions perfect with new un-fired ammo. Smooth as butter.

It has got to be the ammo but has been 100% reliable for several years. It occurred with 2 brands and the Winchester was specifically was 2 different batches (different markings). I can try out more ammo including several variations of CCI.

Get yourself a .243 copper bore brush, some good lead cleaning solvent (I like a mix of Kleanbore and Kroil) and clean the chamber real well. It may not help, but it sure can't hurt none.....

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SIC SEMPER TYRANNIS

Notch at the top of the bbl, do you mean notch at the top of the chamber end of the bbl, AS IF from DRY FIRING? Dented from the firing pin????? If so that's your problem.

I have never dry fired the gun.

The notch at the chamber end does not seem to protrude into the chamber as verified with a stainless pick.

I put a brass brush on low speed drill briefly but it didn't seem to affect the problem.

After multiple insertions and twisting, used brass will now insert up to 80% fairly easy. The last 20% has to be tapped with a tiny brass hammer and still pryed out.

I'll buy a 243 brush this morning and try that.

PS. I started the cleaning process with Shooters Choice lead remover and let it soak for 15 minutes.

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Pictures one and two absolutely look like a firing pin peen to me. You can actually see the rectangular form of the firing pin in the metal above the chamber. It doesn't take much at all protruding into the chamber mouth to hang a cartridge up.

TandemKross makes a "ChamberMade" swaging tool you might try. It should clear up the chamber mouth quickly.

"ChamberMade" Repair 22 caliber short, long, or long rifle chambers


Good luck.

Yes, the notch does line up with the firing pin. The notch has the appearance of being factory fabricated. Could other members check their barrell to see if they have the notch at the top of the breach?

I'll check out the Chamber Made and make the decision to send it back for warranty or try to do it myself. I'll also try some different ammunition first and report back my finding.

Thanks for the suggestions and help.

Here are pictures of the breech faces of my two oldest 22C's (I have a lot of them). Note the absence of any indentation.

Nope, no notch. New in March 2020, about 800 rounds fired.

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Thanks. I've got an issue with the firing pin and not from dry firing. I probably have over 2,500 rounds through it and the problem suddenly came up.

I just picked up a . 243 brush but...

I wonder if it's possible for the firing pin spring to wear out and allow too much travel? I guess it's going to go back to Smith and Wesson.

Here is the chamber face on my 3 year old, very dirty M&P 22 Compact. Probably has a couple thousand rounds through it. I always use a yellow plastic wall anchor in the chamber when I need to dry fire for any reason.

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Thanks for all the help. Now I just have to figure out how it occurred. There has to be an answer.

A lot of you probably think I did dry fire it and if I read the post I would think so also. There's been no accusations and I'm not being defensive I'm just trying to clarify the cause. Jus sayin'...

It has got to be a weak striker spring.

The firing pin has peened the snot out of the barrel breech. That will upset just enough metal that a live round will slide past it, but a fired round will not. S&W needs to address this issue.

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VCDL, GOA, NRA

I would say that the pictures you attached refute that statement. To me, the protrusion into the chamber is visually evident. It doesn't take much at those tolerances.

Do the casings you remove have scratches or other marks, especially at the top?

Phil10mm has stated that he has NOT dry fired the weapon and I believe him.

Smith & Wesson will not. Their simple answer will be "It has been dry fired," because that's what it looks like. And they will probably not cover it under warranty.

Phil, I hope for your sake that I am wrong. Were I you for $26 I'd try the ChamberMade first.

Very good advice and I'll probably do that but I have to figure out the cause or it will continue to happen.

Edit: I'll call Smith & Wesson tomorrow morning and report back on the resolution.
Possibly the Tandemkross swage bit AND a new striker spring.

I'm not trying to be pedantic, but the M&P22 Compact does not have a striker spring, for the simple reason it does not have a striker. It is a hammer-fired gun. When talking to S&W, if you believe a spring is to blame, you might want to call it the firing pin spring.

My 22C had this issue when it was new. Took it to the local gun smith who reamed the chamber, twice, and it kept happening. Sent it back and S&W fixed it, haven't had an issue since.

I bought my 22c about two years ago and I think it has about 800 round through it. I never deliberately dry fired it but do sometimes dry fire it with snap caps or drywall anchors. And a couple of times with weak ammo the slide came back far enough to eject the empty but did not pick up another round which resulted in a dry fire. I expected to see not a trace of a notch but when I took a picture with a macro lens there was a bit of a notch and a sort of gouge.

I also noticed what I thought was a lint free piece of cloth I used to wipe off the chamber isn't nearly as lint free as I thought.

To the naked eye or even with a magnifying glass I cannot see the notch on mine.

M&P 22c:


Closeup of notch:


My 22c still runs great. But I am going to be more careful about how many times I reuse the snap caps or drywall anchors.

I also have a S&W41 I bought in the mid-nineties and have put many thousands of rounds through. It is finicky about ammo so until I gave up on running CCI standard velocity in it it ended up getting dry fired dozens of times when it failed to pick up the next round a after ejecting the empty. And it gets dry fired with snap caps or dry wall anchors quite a bit too. Not a trace of a notch on it. I wonder if there is something about the design of the 22c that makes it more easily damaged.

S&W 41:

I called Smith & Wesson and explained the situation. They requested I send it in and and they emailed me a return label. 6 weeks turnaround time. I'll post any developments.

There's a thread about a year old discussing a problem very similar to this one. It's titled "Constant FTF problems with S&W 22 compact" and there are a couple of recent posts so it is near the top of the list.

One of the posts (#48 by glenwolde) makes this comment: "If you can't remove the spent case with a pocket knife it's got to have some problem with the chamber.

Lot of things can happen. I've seen it where the firing pin was just a skosh long. Even though there was a brass case there to absorb the impact it still peened the chamber mouth just ever so slightly."

Considering these FTE issues are cropping up after firing many rounds, a too long firing pin seems to be a plausible explanation.

No notch. Factory state barrel has FLAT surface.
Small tip - if you don't want to use ChamberMade tool, you can try sand paper... but it will require more work and precision.

I received the M&P 22C back from Smith and Wesson today. The work order said, "Evaluate / Repair Polish Barrel/Chamber".

Have not test fired it yet. I can insert a fired round and extract it with much easier prying. The hammer strike notch was apparently ground out at the factory. A slight indention is still visible above the breech.

How the mark got there is a mystery since I purchased it new. My only explanation is I got up in the night, inserted an empty magazine and proceed to dry fire the **** out of it in my sleep. Good thing it was unloaded! Lol

Or, some of the bulk brass did not sufficiently block the hammer. i do have quit a few rounds thru it.

I will report back after shooting next week.

Problem resolved! I put about 500 rounds of 3 brands of bulk ammo thru it with no problem. I think I had 2 duds that failed to fire but that's not the fault of the gun.

Thanks for help figuring out the problem and thanks to S&W for fixing it with free shipping both ways.