I’ve had a K-22 and a Model 18-2 for years that have always been sticky. You know, fire a few rounds and they become difficult to load or extract. Pretty soon you’re banging the extractor rod on a tabletop to get the empties out. They’ve always been a pain to the point I hardly ever shot them. Recently, I acquired an old Ruger Single Six with both cylinders. The .22 mag was fine but I couldn’t get a cartridge in the .22 LR cylinder at all. Just wouldn’t go in, even after the cylinder was squeaky clean. Now I’m not particularly mechanically inclined but enough was enough. I’d read some of the threads on finish reaming .22 cylinders to solve this problem so I ordered up the appropriate reamer from Manson Precision and went to it. Used a lotta oil, cleaned the reamer frequently and proceeded slowly. Boom! Took about 20 minutes each and problem solved in all three guns. They now load and extract easily even after lotsa rounds and accuracy is excellent. Maybe better than they were before. So for those of you that have this problem with .22’s, and it’s common, but worry about ruining a good gun - fear not! Get the right tool, read a bit, go slowly and clean frequently. It’ll work and you’ll be delighted with your new “shootable” .22.
