22 LR getting stuck

[smithguy47]

Greetings,

I have an older S&W Model 17 22 LR revolver. I bought a box of ammo...Winchester 555 Rounds 1280 FPS 36 GR Plated Hollow Point...and they load with difficulty into the cylinder. Guy at the range said to clean all the cylinders and that should fix it but...nope. I literally have to use both thumbs to push most of the rounds in.

Another box I have...CCI 22 LR "Mini -Mag" 40 gr cartridges drop in and eject just fine. Am I correct in thinking the problem rests with the Winchester ammo? Is there/are there brands that are known to be of higher quality control?

Thanks,
SmithGuy

 

[arjay]

Some of the S&W 22s seem to have tight chambers and prefer the more expensive ammo.You could try soaking the cylinder in a good solvent and chucking a chamber brush in a drill.

 

[shakyshoot]

I've heard of this a lot with Winchester ammo. Same thing causes FTE's in semi-autos. You'd think that all .22lr would be exactly the same size, but they aren't

 

[Retired W4]

.22's seem to be the most critical rounds when it comes to function. When ever I get a .22 caliber gun I take as many different types that I have and try them out in that gun. It all depends on what a particular gun likes. The same goes with accuracy. No one gets to reload .22's so we are stuck with factory loads. I had a problem with a new 617, sent it back to S&W and it shot most anything well afterwards. I guess they can open up the chambers if the gun is returned. I doubt you could get the same service from S&W on an old 17. Winchester Super X seems to work very well on all my S&W .22 revolvers. Your mileage may vary. Best of luck.

 

[P&R Fan]

I have a friend who has her late husbands Ruger Bearcat. It is an early one from the early '60s. She has shot it several times. One time we were looking at it and I tried to load it. I think it was Winchester cartridges. They would not seat in the chamber. I figured it was dirty, so we bought some Hoppes #9 and I cleaned it for her. Still wouldn't work. I tried another brand and they worked fine. I took the Winchester shells home with me and they worked in every .22 I own.
Still can't figure it out.
Jim

 

[TIMETRIPPER]

I have the same problems with Winchester 22 bulk ammo in the 333 size box. The chambers on my 17-3 are tighter than those on my recently acquired pre 17 from circa 1955. I also have an Iver Johnson Sealed Eight target model top break made in the fifties that has very tight chambers. One in five of the Win 333 rounds simply cannot be pushed in far enough to fit in any of it's 8 chambers. Careful inspection of the bullets in the offending cartridges points toward inconsistent bullet coating/lube. Some of the bullets seem to have a thicker coating.
I get flyers when shooting the IJ and believe them to be caused by the variations in bullet coating/lube. On the other hand, the old pre 17 does fairly well with them. Don't have much choice these days. I would prefer Federal but have to shoot what I can find.
John

 

[PPCSHOOTER]

TRY A BROWNELLS CHAMBER BRUSH.
REMEMBER A BULLET FITS INTO A CARTRIDGE CASE, THAN THE CARTRIDGE FITS INTO THE CHARGE HOLE IN THE CYLINDER. A BORE BRUSH DOES A POOR JOB OF CLEANING A CHARGE HOLE IN A CYLINDER. JP

 

[brucev]

Greetings,

I have an older S&W Model 17 22 LR revolver. I bought a box of ammo...Winchester 555 Rounds 1280 FPS 36 GR Plated Hollow Point...and they load with difficulty into the cylinder. Guy at the range said to clean all the cylinders and that should fix it but...nope. I literally have to use both thumbs to push most of the rounds in.

Another box I have...CCI 22 LR "Mini -Mag" 40 gr cartridges drop in and eject just fine. Am I correct in thinking the problem rests with the Winchester ammo? Is there/are there brands that are known to be of higher quality control?

Thanks,
SmithGuy

Your experience is typical of and mirrors mine w/ .22 LR ammunition made by various manufacturers and various S&W 17/18's. I have found some brands simply chamber easier and produce better on target results than do other brands. Surprisingly, the tight difficult to chamber ammunition is not always bulk quality.

The other day I was shooting some Aguila and Eley. I was also shooting Blazer and a bit of CCI Mini-Mags. The Aguila and Eley required very firm pressure to seat the rounds in the charge holes of the cylinder. Brushing the cylinder w/ a brass brush helped. The Blazer seated about the same or maybe even a bit easier. The CCI Mini-Mags virtually dropped into the charge holes w/o any problems. Accuracy on target was virtually identical w/ all four brands of ammo. Fired through a Marvel .22 LR conversion the Aguila has been simply outstanding in every respect. Out of several hundred rounds fired, there has never been a single failure to feed, fire or eject. Accuracy on target has been excellent. If I could afford it, I would only shoot CCI Mini-Mags and Aguila .22 LR ammo.

A few weeks ago I shot most of a box of Winchester 555 .22 LR ammo in my 18-3 along with a Marvel .22 LR 1911 conversion unit. Chambering was sometimes difficult w/ the 18-3. Everything chambered in the Marvel conversion unit. However there were occasional hangups in feeding. A shot of CLP and a wipe of a q-tip took care of that. I have some American Eagle .22 LR ammo in my shooting bag that will be fired in the 18-3 when I again get to go to the range. The American Eagle ammo chambers in this revolver as easily as the CCI MM's. The MM's have a copper washed bullet while the AM has a plain lubricated lead bullet.

 

[speedyquad]

i lucked out(or so i thought) and found 3 boxes of the 555 packs of winchester last labor day weekend at walmart. shooting the first box from my 15-22 some would not feed...upon further inspection, i found the bullet was seated crooked...some were bad enough that i just tossed them...

 

[brick]

I have the same problem with Winchester's in my 18-3, I can't seat them in the cylinder and have to pound them out. But, they fit fine in my pre-17. Go figure.

 

[brucev]

Re: Stuck .22 LR ammo. Given the reality of the current .22 LR shortage, I tend to buy whatever I can find whenever I can find it as long as the price is reasonable. Yesterday I shot a brick of Remington Thunderbolt .22 LR ammo. I know. Most folks consider it of low quality. No it is not Aguila, Mini-Mags, etc. But, out of 500 rds. I had no problems w/ firing, ejection from the Marvel 1911 .22 Conversion. There were about 20 feeding problems as some of the rounds were not tightly gripped by the case.

I was very pleased with the on target results obtained with the Thunderbolts. I have shot my 18-3 extensively shooting SA and DA out to 25 yds. on the B-27. The best I've ever done was 248/250 firing SA. Firing DA I have shot a 244/250. Yesterday I shot a 249/250 with this ammunition in the Marvel conversion unit. The trigger on the 1911 frame is simply service grade, i.e., no where near as nice and crisp as the 19-3.

I have another brick of the Thunderbolts. I intend to sit down and sort the rounds setting aside those which are firmly held by the casing for use in the Marvel conversion. Those rounds in which the bullet shows any movement will be set aside. They will be used in my 18-3 and my Ruger 77-22. Perhaps a similar approach might work with other brands of ammunition, i.e., check ahead of time to see what chambers easily and what chambers with difficulty. Segregate the ammunition that fits for use in the revolver/automatic. The remainder can be then used in firearms that are less closely fitted. At least until .22 LR ammo becomes more readily available/affordable, this will will allow one to continue to enjoy shooting. JMHO. Sincerely. brucev.

 

[drinva]

For us, and we shoot a fair amount, the Win 555, 525, or 333 has been the sorriest, worst shooting, lead up your barrels ammo I have ever tried. Remington Golden is 10X better, and it's far from the best. I just wont buy the Win bulk. I spent 4 afternoon's de-leading our barrels last year, and I dont ever want that task again. One rifle was so bad you couldn't hardly see through the barrel!

DR

 

[smithguy47]

Wow...well I guess I got my answer.

Many thanks to one and all.

SG47

 

[Ranger98]

I have the best luck with Federal Champion 22 cal.36 gr. Hollow Points in my revolvers.They seem to be the easiest to load and eject from the cylinder.

 

[WaMike]

"Yesterday I shot a brick of Remington Thunderbolt .22 LR ammo. I know. Most folks consider it of low quality."

Actually....several of us have used Thunderbolt for years on 'sage rats' (aka Belding ground squirrels). Since we're shooting several hundred rounds/hour, cheap is good. And Thunderbolts are very accurate in my Win. Mdl 75 rifle. Most shots are between 15 and 35 yds, but hits on tiny critters up to 50 yds are not uncommon (FWIW, I attribute the accuracy to the fact that the bullet is not copper washed....same as various target loads....and therefore not damaged by tumbling).

We've had good results with Thunderbolts in Ruger 10-22, Ruger 77-22, Anschutz rifles and various handguns .

Other accurate cartridges include Federal, various Remington plated and CCI.

Win bulk is the least accurate.....I just thought it was my firearms, but apparently not. Interesting.....

 

[Mac1184]

My 6" model 17 sometimes has the same issue. Keeping the chambers clean and dry helps. I have had the most trouble with the Non plated ammo and the best with CCI and Remington Golden bullets.

 

[Pisgah]

It may be the ammo, but it also may be a cleaning issue. I inherited a .22 Kit Gun with the problem and knowing the previous owner rarely cleaned the gun I chucked a slightly worn .30 cal. bore brush in to a drill, soaked it with CLP, and spent a bit of time running it in and out of the chambers. Problem solved -- but, most of my .22 revolvers will get sticky chambers after 25-50 rounds, so when I go shooting I carry a brush and cleaning rod along and run the dry brush through the chambers after every 2-3 loadings to prevent trouble.

 

[mrrick]

I had that problem with my 17, 4 inch. Starting using bulk Federal and problem solved.

 

[SMSgt]

Remember when Remington Green box and Winchester Super X was the good stuff?

 

[brucev]

Re: Thunderbolts. Your experience regarding accuracy is not uncommon at least with my rifles. I used to be able to buy the Thunderbolts at a local farm store for $8.99/brick. It was cheaper than anything else and I didn't have to drive 27 miles one way to buy it. I found that it gave extremely good results in my 77-22, about one inch at 50 yds. and even out at 100 yds., it was not uncommon to get ten shot groups of less than two inches. I've not used the Thunderbolts on small game, but on anything and everything out to about 125 yds., that round has been accurate in my little Win. 190 and Ruger 77-22.