I thought I had my repaired S&W Model 52 fixed - it seemed to work fine, loaded OK, fired every round...... for a while. Then it started acting up again yesterday. Once again, rounds did not fire, and didn't show any mark on the primer. I assumed it was the plunger issue from last time, and disassembled the gun to check, but the plunger was right where it should have been. I tested my ammo with the "plunk test", and it failed. After a thorough cleaning, my barrel and my chamber were spotless, and ammo dropped right in. I thought that would fix it.
I went to the range this morning, and for a while I thought I had the problem solved, as there were no issues. Then after 15 or 20 rounds, it started having issues where the next round didn't load (it was stuck, pointing up against the top of the chamber, and it hadn't moved into the chamber). I fixed this long ago by adjusting the "fingers" on the magazines, which correct the problem. I will check that again this afternoon.
In addition to that, I was getting misfires again - no mark at all on the primer. After struggling with this for 20 or so rounds, I had an idea. I only loaded one round into a magazine. With three of my magazines, this worked perfectly, absolutely no problems. The round always loaded properly, and always fired.
As I drove home, I thought I would remove the plunger under the rear sight, that's part of the magazine disconnect system. I might do that anyway, just to see if it makes a difference.
Clues:
I was only shooting Zero reloads today. If I take it to the range tomorrow, I'll see if using Federal or Magtech ammo makes a difference. I guess I should clean it again, doing another "plunk test" to see if the barrel and chamber got mucked up again.
I still have my own M-52, that I haven't fired all that much. It wouldn't hurt to take that to the range tomorrow, and shoot the Zero ammo with all three magazines, to see if the problem happens with that gun too.
Thinking about what I just wrote makes no sense. Why should the gun have firing issues or not - depending on how many rounds were in the magazine????
I went to the range this morning, and for a while I thought I had the problem solved, as there were no issues. Then after 15 or 20 rounds, it started having issues where the next round didn't load (it was stuck, pointing up against the top of the chamber, and it hadn't moved into the chamber). I fixed this long ago by adjusting the "fingers" on the magazines, which correct the problem. I will check that again this afternoon.
In addition to that, I was getting misfires again - no mark at all on the primer. After struggling with this for 20 or so rounds, I had an idea. I only loaded one round into a magazine. With three of my magazines, this worked perfectly, absolutely no problems. The round always loaded properly, and always fired.
As I drove home, I thought I would remove the plunger under the rear sight, that's part of the magazine disconnect system. I might do that anyway, just to see if it makes a difference.
Clues:
- Cleaning the barrel and the chamber allowed the gun to fire at least 15 rounds before the misfires and loading issues showed up.
- Even after that, if I loaded only one round, it fed into the gun and fired every time.
- The magazine(s) may be part of the problem, but this happens with three different magazines, one of which was new.
I was only shooting Zero reloads today. If I take it to the range tomorrow, I'll see if using Federal or Magtech ammo makes a difference. I guess I should clean it again, doing another "plunk test" to see if the barrel and chamber got mucked up again.
I still have my own M-52, that I haven't fired all that much. It wouldn't hurt to take that to the range tomorrow, and shoot the Zero ammo with all three magazines, to see if the problem happens with that gun too.
Thinking about what I just wrote makes no sense. Why should the gun have firing issues or not - depending on how many rounds were in the magazine????
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