Some days just don't work out so hot. I pastor four small rural churches. Monday is my off-day. This morning I finished and submitted four reports that were due today. About lunch I decided to head for the range. I loaded up the bag w/ a very old brick of Rem. Thunderbolts, a box of Win. 333 and a 100 rd. box of CCI Mini-Mags. In the pistol case went my RIA 1911-A1 with a Marvel .22LR conversion unit installed. I've had the Marvel for about a year. I've fired maybe two thousand rounds or so through it. It gives spectacular results w/ Aguila and CCI Mini-Mags. It gives very good accuracy w/ Rem. Golden bullets, but there are occasional feeding issues. The Rem. Thunderbolts work very well.
When I got to the range, I started with the CCI Mini-Mags. All went as normal. I shot two runs on the B-27 out to 25 yds. and scored 245 each time. I was very pleased. I then loaded up the Win. 333 and clipped on a new target. The first three rounds fired normally. The fourth round was nuclear bomb disaster. There was a lot of smoke and I felt something stinging me on my left hand. Something also spattered off the partition of the shooting lane and hit me in the side of the face. Thank God I was wearing glasses! My hands were really nasty looking, filthy, sooty. The slide was back w/ the fifth round jammed. It would not enter the chamber. I cleared the magazine and fifth round and checked the bore which was clear. I looked at the bolt face of the slide and the breech to see if there was anything wrong. I couldn't see anything at all. I removed the slide, etc. and then saw that the cartridge was still in the chamber, but the head of the round was missing. When I raised the muzzle up, the little piece of brass fell out in my hand. The head of the case was completely gone.
I checked the chamber and bore. All looked perfectly fine. The breech face, etc. was sooty but there was nothing else to see. I wiped it off with a paper towel, ran a brush through the chamber and a patch down the barrel. All looked fine. I dropped a round into the chamber and it entered normally. I reassembled the pistol and put the Win. 333 ammo aside. I fired the rest of the afternoon using the Rem. Thunderbolts which operated extremely well with only occasional failures to feed. In fact, I loaded up and fired 50 rounds just as fast as I could pull the trigger trying to make the pistol mess up. It ran like a champ, just like it always has. I don't normally use the plain lead bullets in this pistol as I've always thought it would work best with the copper coated .22 LR ammo. Out of several thousand rounds, it has always ran perfectly using the Aguila and CCI Mini-Mags. The manufacturer recommends CCI Mini-Mags.
I am at a loss as to what to do. I was able to buy three boxes of this 333 ammo and cannot just throw it all away. It is hard enough to find .22 LR ammo as it is. I am thinking I will just have to relegate it to use in my Ruger 77-22. Since it is a bolt action, I would think that it would be safe to use the ammo.
I have fired many many thousands of rounds of .22 LR ammo. Over the years it has always been something I could afford. I've always had a S&W 18... or sometimes a 17 to shoot. I've had the Ruger 77-22 since 1985. I've not ever had a single incident with any .22 LR ammo at all beyond and occasional round that would not fire. Even that has been a very seldom occurrence.
Has anyone else had a similar problem with the Win. 333 .22 LR ammo? Is this a problem peculiar to semi-automatic firearms? I've fired semi-automatic .22 LR pistols for over 30 years and have never had a cartridge mess up like this.
I apologize for this long post. It has been a long day. Sincerely. brucev.
When I got to the range, I started with the CCI Mini-Mags. All went as normal. I shot two runs on the B-27 out to 25 yds. and scored 245 each time. I was very pleased. I then loaded up the Win. 333 and clipped on a new target. The first three rounds fired normally. The fourth round was nuclear bomb disaster. There was a lot of smoke and I felt something stinging me on my left hand. Something also spattered off the partition of the shooting lane and hit me in the side of the face. Thank God I was wearing glasses! My hands were really nasty looking, filthy, sooty. The slide was back w/ the fifth round jammed. It would not enter the chamber. I cleared the magazine and fifth round and checked the bore which was clear. I looked at the bolt face of the slide and the breech to see if there was anything wrong. I couldn't see anything at all. I removed the slide, etc. and then saw that the cartridge was still in the chamber, but the head of the round was missing. When I raised the muzzle up, the little piece of brass fell out in my hand. The head of the case was completely gone.
I checked the chamber and bore. All looked perfectly fine. The breech face, etc. was sooty but there was nothing else to see. I wiped it off with a paper towel, ran a brush through the chamber and a patch down the barrel. All looked fine. I dropped a round into the chamber and it entered normally. I reassembled the pistol and put the Win. 333 ammo aside. I fired the rest of the afternoon using the Rem. Thunderbolts which operated extremely well with only occasional failures to feed. In fact, I loaded up and fired 50 rounds just as fast as I could pull the trigger trying to make the pistol mess up. It ran like a champ, just like it always has. I don't normally use the plain lead bullets in this pistol as I've always thought it would work best with the copper coated .22 LR ammo. Out of several thousand rounds, it has always ran perfectly using the Aguila and CCI Mini-Mags. The manufacturer recommends CCI Mini-Mags.
I am at a loss as to what to do. I was able to buy three boxes of this 333 ammo and cannot just throw it all away. It is hard enough to find .22 LR ammo as it is. I am thinking I will just have to relegate it to use in my Ruger 77-22. Since it is a bolt action, I would think that it would be safe to use the ammo.
I have fired many many thousands of rounds of .22 LR ammo. Over the years it has always been something I could afford. I've always had a S&W 18... or sometimes a 17 to shoot. I've had the Ruger 77-22 since 1985. I've not ever had a single incident with any .22 LR ammo at all beyond and occasional round that would not fire. Even that has been a very seldom occurrence.
Has anyone else had a similar problem with the Win. 333 .22 LR ammo? Is this a problem peculiar to semi-automatic firearms? I've fired semi-automatic .22 LR pistols for over 30 years and have never had a cartridge mess up like this.
I apologize for this long post. It has been a long day. Sincerely. brucev.
