Difficult extraction

[jkingrph]

I picked up what looks like a pristing 22/32 kit gun a couple of months ago and finally got to try it out. Extraction of standard velocity .22LR cases is extremely difficult, I actually had to pound on the extractor rod to get them out. Today after I got home, I took the cylinder out of the gun and then got some tight fitting patches and some Flitz and polished, by hand, inside each chamber, rotating the patch and some back and forth action. I did get some black residue out. I am hoping that will be enough to prevent this problem in the future, but would appreciate any comments on anything else I could do.

 

[Protocall_Design]

It is more likely the chambers are undersized and need to be reamed to the correct size. There are many threads about this. This problem has been going on for many decades.

 

[jkingrph]

Thanks. I will try shooting it once more then take to the gunsmith if the problem continues.

 

[glenwolde]

I've owned three S&W .22's and they all did this. I had the chambers honed and the problems were solved. As stated, this has been going on forever.

 

[StrawHat]

Somewhere on this forum is a thread with a 22 reamer that was to be loaned around to folks who needed it. A search may find it.

The reaming itself is not hard and necessary for easy extraction. Other methods can damage the chambers and make accuracy poorer or extraction more difficult.

Kevin

 

[murphydog]

You can also try different brands of .22 LR, but if several all run tight using a finishing reamer may be the best option.

 

[toroflow1]

I have found that Federal .22 ammo is the best for not sticking in my half-dozen J-frame .22s. Cheap Remington ammo is the worst.

 

[stansdds]

Sticky/difficult extraction seems to be a common issue among S&W revolvers. It can be the result of dirty chambers, so make sure they are clean. Not all .22 LR ammo is the same, some works better than others. Finally, minimum spec chambers seem to show up pretty frequently with S&W .22 LR revolvers, so the chambers may need the assistance of a finish reamer.

 

[bobsguns]

Using 0000 steel wool (4 ought) and use small strips in a patch eyelet, put a cleaning rod in a drill & polish the chambers using that.

Depending on the individual gun, it might be enough to smooth out the cylinder chambers enough to smooth out extraction.

A short-term fix, I run an oiled patch down each chamber, allowing a residue of oil to help with extraction.

My .o2

 

[jkingrph]

It along with another is down at the gunsmith. He said it should be finished between 2 & 3 this afternoon. I am going to take some of the ammo along so he can test. He said he had a match reamer and is going to try that one first.His charge for taking care of two guns is less than 1/4 the cost of a reamer. I am going to take some of the ammo I was using so he can try it when I pick them up this afternoon.

 

[jkingrph]

I got both back just before two this afternoon. He said no need to test fire, that both had chambers that were very tight, especially the little kit gun. I wonder how someone could keep and shoot a gun as old as either of these, the kit gun was over 50 years old, as I bought it from out of state as a C&R purchase, the M 15 I dated from the early 1980's. If I had one like that and wanted to shoot it I would have had it fixed. Honestly the Kit gun looks like it has never been fired or handled very much, like fresh out of the factory box, bright blueing, no wear there, all sharp corners and S&W stampings still sharp and clear.

 

[MajorD]

Especially decades ago, people didn’t shoot the volume we do today. Some people might shoot a partial box of ammo, then store away a gun for years. Some small handguns intended for home defense might be bought loaded, put in a nightstand and never fired at all.
I was lucky my current kit gun doesn’t have issues with tight chambers ( of the near dozen or so S&W 22’s I have owned over the years it is the only one that didn’t exhibit this issue!

 

[Rule3]

Use a bronze brush and some Flitz or similar and spin it on a drill.

 

[Spurdann]

Name the gunsmith, the turn around is phenomenal.
Yep been looking for an excuse to use “phenomenal “
Seriously same day wow.

 

[StrawHat]

Use a bronze brush and some Flitz or similar and spin it on a drill.

Great way to distort a chamber!

Kevin

 

[Rpg]

Smith 22 revolvers seem to almost universally display this malady.

Many are used in spite of it but fussy owners (and more serious shooters) routinely polish or ream the chambers to cure the problem. A competent gunsmith can fix the problem in 15 minutes.

 

[jkingrph]

Great way to distort a chamber!

Kevin

I polished with some Flitz on a patch in a slotted patch holder and turned by hand, Just got some med gray out using same patch on all six chambers so not dirty. That's when I decided to have someone who knew what they were doing fix it

Gunsmith was Superior Arms and Machine, Jacksonville, Tx. Run by a couple of guys who have other interests, one runs the adjacent bowling alley and I suspect that takes a lot of maintaince . They are only open two days a week from 11 to 5, so stay busy there. They had a bunch of old guns on consignment for sale. One I would have liked, an 1895 Swedish M 94 carbine, but $2400 price tag put it out of my price range, then a bunch of Swiss K 31 and some Swiss 1911 Schmidt Rubin rifles, along with two Swiss Vetterli( a 10.4mm rimfire caliber rifle) and a beautiful Argentine Mauser. All out of my price range. I did pick up, from other sources, six of the Swiss K 31 rifles for about $70-80 each and several Swedish Mausers, all about 20 years ago, and wish I had gotten more as it looks like they have increased about tenfold in value.

 

[jkingrph]

Name the gunsmith, the turn around is phenomenal.
Yep been looking for an excuse to use “phenomenal “
Seriously same day wow.

Superior arms and machine. Small shop in Jacksonvlle, Tx, only open two days a week. I have had small jobs done there for many years now and always excellent work and rather quick,

 

[Doug M.]

My recollection is that this issue has been around for decades. It is a while since I have read my copy of it, but I am pretty sure Elmer Keith mentions some problem of this nature in his book "Sixguns", the original edition of which came out in 1955 or so.

 

[Repeater]

My Model 48 had what I perceived to be extraction issues but, with .22WMR being notoriously dirty and leaving little bits of unburnt or burnt yellow "popcorn" residue, I started packing a nylon bore brush with it whenever I go shooting. Now, I keep one with all my .22 revolvers and just give the chambers a quick run through after a couple of cylinders worth of ammo. Boom! No more extraction issues.