Model 48 spent cartridges sticking

[Target Load]

Acquired a model 48-4 and went to the range yesterday. I was shooting CCI Maxi-Mags 22WMR. Cartridges loaded fine in cylinder, but empties were very hard to eject. Probably due to case expansion I'm thinking. Is this problem ammunition brand sensitive, is this normal, or is there a fix for this. Re cleaning the cylinder did not help.

Target Load

 

[wbraswell]

I would clean the cylinder very good with a bronze brush and good solvent. My Model 17 used to be that way until I really got after it with a brush.

 

[DAinTX]

1) Most any rimfire ammo is pretty dirty.

2) It's typical for rimfire revolvers to get difficult extraction pretty quickly due to #1 above coupled with case expansion.

 

[H Richard]

Have you put a bronze brush with plenty of solvent in a cordless drill and cleaned the chambers that way, then a swab with flitz or Mothers Mag Polish again in the cordless drill? Polishing the chambers can help.

 

[kimporter]

had the same trouble out mine,do what h richard says and it will be better,may have to do it 2 or more times but it will get better

 

[5 screw]

Target load,

Try running CCI standard velocity, or if you can find it, Remington standard velocity through it. If your chambers are clean I'll bet they'll drop right out. Just think of what a hassle it would be if you weren't shooting a wheel gun.

 

[5 screw]

Oh boy. Just went back and noticed you're shooting a .22 mag. Disregard my previous post suggesting std velocity LR ammo.

Those model 48's are great shooters though. I owned and shot one for a year or so back in 1973. Wound up swapping it off for a 5 screw k22 which I still own. Feeding that 48 was relatively expensive even back then.

 

[Old TexMex]

Just like H Richard said:
Bore brush on variable speed drill, polish the cylinders with that at low speed, then polish with flitz and a bore swab on low speed. That fixed my -4. It was sticky, unlike my two no dash 48s (which were slick as a kittys ear). Now it's perfecto.

 

[Hapworth]

OP: excellent advice you've gotten thus far.

I'll only add: 1) if you do polish the charge holes, go gently and briefly -- the dimensions are critical and thrown off even a thousandth can be catastrophic (the methods mentioned so far shouldn't have that effect, however); and 2) once squeaky clean, put a light to the charge holes and make certain there's no corrosion or pitting anywhere in any of them -- even a little pitting in one can cause the ejection issues you're experiencing.