empty shell case sticking in cylinder

[gregC.]

Hello all , I am noticing a small problem lately . My .22 cal. revolvers seem to be having trouble expelling the empty brass after just a few cylinders have been fired . Now a few yrs. ago I never had any trouble . I clean them after every range outing , do you think it could be the ammo , doesn't mater what brand I use , it all seems to do it though. I do clean the cylinder bore with a .22 cal . bore brush mounted on my hand drill ;same kind of brass brush I would clean the barrel bore with . I don't use the drill on the barrel or even the same brush. what do you think to aggressive for cleaning the the cylinder bores , dirty ammo . Thanks Greg

 

[TAROMAN]

You don't mention what ammo you're shooting.
Since the panic began, there have been issues with 22LR ammo aside from supply.
Had a similar issue with Federal Gold Medal Match. Failures to eject in my Buckmark. Tried it in a Ruger and a Colt Woodsman with the same result.
After chrono tests showed that it was properly loaded, we concluded that the brass itself was at fault.
Brass has to expand to seal the chamber then relax a slight bit to allow for extraction. In this case (and likely yours) this was the cause of extraction issues.

 

[Neumann]

Difficult extraction is a perennial problem with .22 LR ammunition. These bullets are lubricated externally, and the lubricant gets on the cases, ultimately the cylinder or chamber walls, and petrifies with heat. I have the fewest problems with top rated ammunition like CCI, but that's like finding unicorn milk these days.

I'm assuming you don't alternate with .22 short, which would simply exacerbate the problem.

I have the same problem with my .22 autos and K-22. I'm tempted to treat the cylinder with J-B Bore Brite and Bore Polish, which have a mild abrasive action, which removes all traces of brass, lead and lubricant without harming the bore.

Some day well see clean .22 ammunition again, even with nickel plated cases.

 

[tomcatt51]

My .22 cal. revolvers...

What .22 revolvers? Make and model.

Drill motor spinning the brush IS the way to clean chambers but you'll get better results with a .243 rifle bore brush (a bronze one, NO stainless brushes) vs a .22 brush.

 

[gregC.]

Thank you for all your replies , I did not want to bad mouth any ammo co. , but the wife and I just got back from the range and 24 duds this time alone out of a box of Winchester bulk 555 rnd. box . That's pretty sad , but I have FTF, FTE, DUDS , loose lead in the case , improper crimp on the brass (flair at the bullet ,cant even get in the cylinder) . Right after I wrote this I read the thread in the ammo section , I ain't the only one , I guess we have to wait for quality and production to both return . Thanks to all again , Greg ( PS mod. 17-2 and MP22 is what we had at the range today ) (PSPS thanks for the tips on cyld. cleaning)

 

[tomcatt51]

mod. 17-2

Your 17-2 will probably benefit from reaming the chambers. They tend to be undersize which manifests itself as the extraction (and chambering) issues you're seeing. I'm NOT talking about "hogging them" out as someone will probably infer, just reaming them with a SAAMI spec finish reamer.

It also has the side effect of helping with ignition because it will be easier to get the rds inserted all the way into the chambers so the rim(s) are fully seated in the bottom of the rim recesses.

I've reamed the chambers on a number of 17s, 18s and 617s. Makes them much nicer to shoot 'cause you're no longer beating on the extractor rod.

 

[chief38]

First of all most of the Companies these days are cranking out .22 ammo faster than ever and have noticed that quality is less than it should be. Remington is the absolute worst, while I find CCI and Federal a lot better. Some of the top offerings from Winchester (red plastic box of 100) are also pretty good.

Once in a while when my Model 17, 18, 63, etc. gets to be a real pain to load and eject spent cartridges from, I use JB Bore Paste on a Brownell's Cotton Mop. I cut an old cleaning rod to about 2 1/2" in length and screw in the bore mop pre coated with the JB. I use a .280 sized rifle Mop that I need to trim slightly to go in , but to go in snugly. The .22 Mops are just to loose to be effective with the JB. I just trim them with an old electric Barber's trimmer or a pair of scissors. I set the drill press on 300 rpm and remove the ER from the cylinder. I only do the rear portion of each cylinder (about an inch down) and after a few passes on each charge hole I clean up the whole cylinder including the center hole for the ER. Works like a charm and just polishes the rear of the holes making loading and unloading a pleasure.

Even if you religiously clean you 22's after each shooting, the charge holes always seem to get gunked up and need to be polished to remove residue and light score marks from powder and grit. I do NOT like using a bronze, brass or steel brush in an electric drill or drill press! I only use a Cotton Mop with the JB once every few years and that has worked well for me. As far as I can tell with my Starrett Calipers, no metal is being removed - at least any measurable amount.

 

[gm272gs]

I have never heard of anyone putting a bore brush on an electric drill and using it to clean anything on a firearm, until now.

To find that it may be a standard practice for some, is another eye-opener. I think that if they were meant to be used that way, they wouldn't have threads on them.

 

[tomcatt51]

I have never heard of anyone putting a bore brush on an electric drill and using it to clean anything on a firearm, until now.

To find that it may be a standard practice for some, is another eye-opener. I think that if they were meant to be used that way, they wouldn't have threads on them.

The threads are so I can screw the brush into the piece of cleaning rod chucked in my variable speed drill. It's extremely effective compared to just pushing a brush thru. A .243 bush in .22s, .40 cal brush in .38/.357, etc.

This is ONLY for the chambers. I've been doing this for quite a few yrs. Try it once and you'll be a believer. It's surprising how much crud you'll get out of a chamber you thought was clean. Turned my "before every match" chamber cleaning(s) into a MUCH faster AND more effective process.

It's also surprising how much metal you'll take out of 617 (an example, as I've probably done the most of them) chambers with a SAAMI spec finish reamer. I've reamed .22 semi-auto "match" chambers to "sport" spec and seen fewer chips... I'm not sure what S&W is/has been reaming .22 revolver chambers with but finish reaming them with a SAAMI spec reamer does wonders for chambering/extracting rds.

Just FWIW.

 

[jepp2]

I have never heard of anyone putting a bore brush on an electric drill and using it to clean anything on a firearm, until now.

Really? I'm not a Dremel on firearms kind of guy, but I do have a cut down solid brass cleaning rod that I use with chamber brushes to clean the cylinders. Easier on the brush and cylinder face than a back and forth action with it coming out the throat of the cylinder and I keep the speed low. JB bore cleaner works so well on rifle bores it would work just as well on cylinder walls.

I also polish all the full length sizing dies for bottleneck rifle cartridges I load. I use Flitz and a bore mop. No metal removal but it sure does reduce sizing effort. And when my handgun carbide sizing dies start slightly marking the brass I polish them with Flitz and it removes anything sticking to them.

 

[chief38]

I have never heard of anyone putting a bore brush on an electric drill and using it to clean anything on a firearm, until now.

To find that it may be a standard practice for some, is another eye-opener. I think that if they were meant to be used that way, they wouldn't have threads on them.

I too would NEVER use a drill to spin a Bore Brush in a gun - I was talking about and specified a 100% Cotton MOP with JB Paste. Mops are very soft and very flexible and will do no harm to the rear of the chambers if done carefully. I have never done this in a barrel. I also mentioned that I use a very slow speed on the drill press so controlling the action is very easy and simple.

NOTE: I do this on a drill press so that both hands are free to control the cylinder. I would be afraid to do this with a hand held drill for lack of control.

 

[tomcatt51]

I too would NEVER use a drill to spin a Bore Brush in a gun -

Then don't.

But I can say from actual experience doing this that it does no harm cleaning the chambers this way.

Pushing and rotating the brush (which is what you're doing using a drill motor) is more effective than just pushing the brush.

I'm not advocating spinning the brush 4,000 rpm. Use a variable speed drill, a slow speed, a liberal dose of your favorite solvent, and a little common sense.

I've done this for years on my revolvers included my aluminum cylindered 17 and 617 with no ill effects, no damge to the surface finish in the chambers, which is where you'd see any bad things first.

All it's done is clean the chambers better in much less time.

 

[NYlakesider]

I too would NEVER use a drill to spin a Bore Brush in a gun - I was talking about and specified a 100% Cotton MOP with JB Paste. Mops are very soft and very flexible and will do no harm to the rear of the chambers if done carefully. I have never done this in a barrel. I also mentioned that I use a very slow speed on the drill press so controlling the action is very easy and simple.

NOTE: I do this on a drill press so that both hands are free to control the cylinder. I would be afraid to do this with a hand held drill for lack of control.

No problem, just secure the removed cylinder in a well padded vise and you have both hands to control the SLOW MOVING drill. I use a piece of a old heavy gun belt as a protector.

Done this a few times with a few different .22s. Just a touch of valve grinding compound does a good job if it’s severe. It takes 2 or 3 brushes to do all 6 holes. Clean up extremely well when done including a compressed air blow.

 

[mscampbell2734]

I have never heard of anyone putting a bore brush on an electric drill and using it to clean anything on a firearm, until now.

To find that it may be a standard practice for some, is another eye-opener. I think that if they were meant to be used that way, they wouldn't have threads on them.

I've used this method to clean lead out of shotgun barrels after shooting slugs before. Some time back I believe Hoppes or someone else came out with a kit with a electric screwdriver type handle to do this.