I picked up my first K-22 a few months ago, Ser. # 213xxx which dates it at 1954 I believe. I've encountered intermittent misfires. At first I thought it might be a gummed up firing pin channel and I cleaned it out with gun scrubber. This was a bit of crud in there, but even after cleaning the channel the intermittent misfires continued.

I checked the mainspring and the strain screw and they look fine to me. However, after looking the gun over closer it appears the firing pin may be worn / rounded on one side and is not getting a good hit on the rim of the .22 case. I haven't been dry firing the gun at all, though who knows about the previous owner. I've attached a few pics of the mainspring and one of the firing pin. Any thoughts would be appreciated. If it is the firing pin, how big a job to replace? Thanks

Gene

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Are there any indentations next to the cartridge chambers at the rear of the cylinder?
If present, they would indicate someone has dry fired it and the firing pin has struck the rear of the cylinder.

That might provide a clue that the firing pin is indeed peened a bit.

Thanks for the response. I checked the rear of the cylinder around the charge holes before I purchased the gun and there aren't any indents from the firing pin there. Which I know doesn't prove it wasn't dry fired. On the other hand, maybe the firing pin is just worn???

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What ammo are you using?

Have you tried a different brand to see if it is the revolver or the ammo?

(FWIW, I've seen a lot of misfire issues with Remington .22 rimfire ammo)

I have personally had many misfires when using green box bulk Remington rimfire ammo 4 different rimfire guns.
I've sworn it off for good. I like winchester and federal and have had mostly good luck with cci too.

22LR ammo is notoriously cruddy. Have you cleaned under and behind the ejector star? Gunk under there can form a cushion for the cartridges and offer "give". Worth checking.

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Dick

I am not sure what you mean by intermittent misfires. If you are talking one or two per 50 round box, or one or two per cylinder. When one misfires, have you rotated the round to see if it will fire when the firing pin hits another part of the rim? If you are getting a lot of misfires, you might try installing a new mainspring. I doubt the firing pin is causing the problem. I teach a class each semester where the students shoot Ruger 22/45's. There are several failure to fires every night. I have used several different kinds of .22 ammo to see if some are better than others. Right now we are using Federal and Blaser and they seem to have fewer misfires than others we have tried. As a kid we always used Winchester Super X .22s, but when I tried them for class, we had a lot of misfires.

Another thought: Is the problem occur in single action or only double action?

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Richard Gillespie
FBINA 102

Thanks for your responses. I cleaned the revolver when I bought it, including under the ejector star, so I know that's not the problem. I've also experienced this intermittent misfire with various types of ammo, including Remington green box, CCI mini mags, Federal, and Winchester 333. I would say I get 3 - 5 misfires out of a 50 round box of ammo, in both single and double action. It does seem to occur more often in double action.

When I get a misfire the round will typically fire the next time I rotate that chamber into battery. The more I think about this the more I think it might be the mainspring. After all the gun is 56 years old and may have been fired quite a bit. However, I've owned several other S&W's and have never had a mainspring wear out.

Having said this, I think I'm going to order a replacement factory weight mainspring and try that out. I've used Wolff springs in several other pistols and revolvers and have good luck with them. Anyone ever used one in a K-22?

Again, thanks for the responses.

Gene

I've not used a Wolff mainspring in a K22 but I have them in a Model28, a Model 14, and a Model 629-6 PC. They are good springs.

Misfires in DA sounds like someone was messing with the mainspring trying to get a lighter pull. You might check the end of the strain screw to see if it's been filed off.
Better yet, measure its length and have someone here with a similar gun get the measurements from theirs.

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Dean
SWCA #680 SWHF #446

The current Remington ammo gives me ca 10% ignition failures. The most reliable ammo I have found is either Aguilla SV, Wolf Match Target or SKJagd. The CCI ammo is also excellent however it does have more bullet lube and must be firmly seated in the chamber.