SW22 Victory light strikes problem

[TrainorSW]

I have been having problems with light strikes with my SW22 Victory during the last few times out - about every 3 shots I’ll get a light strike. So far I’ve taken apart every part that is “user accessible”; cleaned it, replaced it, measured it, etc. Thus far I’ve put in a new bolt insert, firing pin, firing pin spring and buffer, bolt buffer, bolt guide rod and spring. Other upgrades include a TandemKross trigger and hammer. I swapped out the trigger and hammer with the originals and still have the same problem. I am at my wits’ end as far as what to do about this.
The trigger feel is definitely different when I am getting a light strike - there is significant drag until the hammer releases. That makes me wonder if it’s something below the seer in the non-user-accessible portion of the pistol that includes the mainspring. I am posting this to see if anyone else has experienced this and hopefully gather some suggestions. I've put about 30K+ rounds through this, so anything could be worn out. 99% of the ammo I use is Federal AutoMatch. I’ve also tried CCI SV and Aguila SE SV with the same results.
Thanks so much for your thoughts and comments!

 

[gmborkovic]

Mr. Trainor, dont mean to be personal but I think you may have a dirty, Groody firing pin hole in your slide. Or a small metal burr or just exhaust from the chamber.

 

[wproct]

I'm just spit-balling here. Did you by chance put a Tandemkross Halo on the slide? Reason I ask is I started having trouble on mine where the slide would not close right. I found out that I had tightened the Halo too tight and when I backed off the torque on the attaching screw it worked ok. I'm sorry, may be totally unrelated to your issue but just asking.

 

[TrainorSW]

Thanks!

I appreciate your reply. Unfortunately I do not have at TK Halo mounted on the slide.
Thanks!

 

[Kp321]

Today’s 22 ammo seems to be worse about leaving a carbon ring in the chamber. It takes a good scrubbing with a brass brush and solvent to get the chamber clean enough for most ammo to “plunk”. A dirty chamber can definitely cause light strikes.

 

[TrainorSW]

Thanks!

Thank you, I will do this.

 

[gmborkovic]

Mr.Kp, educate me on dirty chamber and light strikes.

 

[TrainorSW]

Dirty chamber and light strikes ... my $.02

I‘m not speaking for Mr KP, but this is how it makes sense to me; Inside of the bolt the hammer will, ideally, strike against the back of the firing pin and makes things go bang. There is a metal bar on the bolt that sets below the firing pin and serves to drag the hammer back to the cocked position when the bolt slides back. If the bolt does not slide forward far enough due to a dirty chamber and the cartridge, likewise, does not slide all of the way into the chamber, then the metal bar in the bolt that sets below the firing pin will act as a fulcrum that is shifted slightly backward and make the hammer act as a lever, and the head of the hammer will not rotate forward far enough to meet the firing pin. Thus, a light strike. My apologies if this borders on gibberish; I’ve been staring a this and thinking about it for a long time, and I’m not particularly good at explaining things. I can visualize it, but putting it into words often escapes me. I think it’d be similar to a metal burr from, for example, repeated dry firing, keeping cartridges from fully entering the chamber, and keeping the bolt from closing completely. Instead of a metal burr stopping the cartridge from completely entering the chamber, the buildup of carbon and lead may accomplish the same thing.

 

[gmborkovic]

Mr. Trainor, thanks. So, this scenario just pertains to the Victory model 22?

 

[Kp321]

Light strikes from a dirty chamber can occur in any rimfire, including bolt actions but is much more likely in semi autos. In my scenario, the cartridge is not quite seated in the chamber so some of the firing pin energy is used to finish seating it in the chamber. If you have a semi auto with an external hammer, re-cocking and dropping the hammer again will normally fire the cartridge.
In a center fire firearm, a poorly seated primer will cause the same problem. The first firing pin fall will finish seating the primer and a subsequent one will fire the cartridge.

 

[gmborkovic]

Mr. Kp, I would have thought the recessed center of the bolt face traveling forward would seat the cartridge fully in the chamber. Apparently my assumption is not correct.

 

[Kp321]

There always has to be some clearance between the breech face and the bolt recess. If there is zero clearance, slam fires are a very real possibility.

 

[bob56r]

I think I'm getting the exact same problem. My Victory has the Tandemkross Victory trigger and Thunder hammer. Normally the trigger is very light and crisp. Then all of sudden, I'm sqeezing the trigger. It should go boom. No boom. So I proceed to squeeze much harder and eventually get a little click sound. So, I drop the magazine and clear the round from the chamber. There is no firing pin mark on the round. I can deal with it for slow fire, but when shooting timed or rapid, it's as big problem. I've cleaned the heck out of the gun, tried removing the magazine disconnect safety, to no avail.

 

[Victoryshooter]

I was having the same issue. Light strikes with the thunder hammer or no strike. I brought the gun to my gunsmith and he found that the strut rod on the hammer did not fit into the notch on the hammer spring due to it being too big in diameter, He ground the end of the strut and now it fits into the spring correctly. 100 rounds through it and it seems to shoot good now

 

[S7695]

I'll get failure to fire with my Victory on occasion. I think it's because the edges of the chamber get dirty. Instead of the firing pin making the gun go boom, it just pushes the bullet in further. At least that's my theory. Every time it happens, I clean the breach face and run a bore snake through it, and the problem is solved.