Winchester Super X 22 will NOT cycle

[hotwired]

Hi,
I have M & P 22, probably 300 rds through it. Just bought 1,000 rds win super x 22LR 40 grain / 1,300 fps. It will NOT cycle the gun AT ALL. I have to rack it every time, and no more than 3 rounds or so will go through before the empty casing fails to eject, so I have to stop, get a screwdriver to pry it out....

I thought it was the new mag I just picked up, but I loaded them both and they both work the same....

cCI std velocity seems to work great, and I bought 500RDS of "subsonic" and never had a misfire or failure....

Any thoughts on what I need to do would be wonderful! I love the gun, but I can't have htis...

[shakyshoot]

.22's can be finicky on ammo. My Ruger 22/45 hates Winchester. My guess would be a "tight chamber" issue with that ammo. You'd think that all .22 rounds would be exactly the same size, but it's not necessarily so. I've heard of people with revolvers that can't consistently chamber the Winchesters, so you know it doesn't involve any moving parts in that case. Try locking your slide open and slipping 10 or 15 in one at a time by hand. With the barrel pointed down, they should slide in by their own weight. If not, they're going to cause ejection problems. About all you can do is keep the chamber as clean and dry as possible. The chamber might loosen up at bit after more rounds, so keep shooting whatever works til then.

[bulldogman]

I have a Browning Buckmark, the Winchester super x cycles fine when it fires, I bought a 100 round pack, out of the first 40 rounds 7 failed to fire. What are you going to do, 22 ammo is so hard to come by you just buy whatever is available.

It does sound like your chamber might be a little tight, clean the barrel and behind the extractor real good. I'd say avoid Winchester ammo but like I said you got to buy whatever their selling.

[hotwired]

Thank you. I'm new to firearms this year so I'm learning.

I am happy I have a keltec p32 as my "carry." I am realizing that 22s are an entirely different animal vs. every other caliber. Sort of a cross between a pellet and a bullet...sort of like email vs. landline phone in terms of "stake your life on it" reliability.

I do have a message in with my local gun shop offering to exchnange it for something else, and they always seem to be out of 22 so I'll try that but also I'll try cleaning the heck out of the pistol. Thanks so much for all your replies!!

[hotwired]

Boy, I cleaned this thing 6 ways to sunday, still no good. It simply wont' seem to eject the shell. I have to pry each empty casing out with a screw driver or thumbnail....Frankly, I have to say I do NOT like my MP22 any longer ... I'm trading or selling it for revolver. I can't imagine keeping a gun this finicky.

[robertrwalsh]

There is a large manufacturing tolerance on .22lr ammo. Your gun just doesn't like the stuff. Shoot something else is the easy answer. You should be able to find SOMETHING it will eat without objection. The question then is finding enough of it at a reasonable price.

[hotwired]

Thank you. I do realize now there is a large tolerance. I just am grumpy that I am stuck wtih 1,000 rounds of lousy ammo. I should be able to sell it or trade it though. I do use CCI, STANDARD velicity and that is perfect other than every 20 rounds or so a spent casing jams the slide open (it just doesn't kick it out quick enough) but other than that I'm happy with it. I would NEVER stake my life on the performance of this gun though. Strictly for fun. I have hear nothing but good about them which is why I bought it, but frankly it's been a very mediocre pistol so far.

[Smitty357]

Dont feel bad man, i've had mine sputter through a box of CCI min mag. Granted it only happened with that one box. I believe it just goes to show that QC has gone out the window with just about any ammo manufacturer now days.

[rrockefe]

You could try to trade this ammo for a different brand with a .22 rifle shooter. I have some Winchester wildcat stuff that was causing terrible leading in a Beretta NEOS pistol that my wife has. Accuracy was also pretty bad. I tried it in my old Remington 513T rifle and it doesn't cause any leading and shoots pretty well. I suspect this old rifle has a smoother bore.
These days most everybody is looking for .22 ammo.

[dullh]

Winchester super-X was horrible ammo back in 1983...looks like it hasn't changed.

CCI Mini-Mag has never failed me...