SWS Brass Deflector is now available

[Majorlk]

I would say there's something wrong with the installation, although I am a loss as to what. I've put about 600 rounds through my 15-22 since I put the deflector on and haven't had any problems.

 

[Jyezahn]

It could be the ammo, as some have longer cases than others. Winchester M22 is shorter than CCI Stinger, for example. This difference in length can make a difference in how the case strikes the deflector, and depending on angle... well, you know.

 

[Freeway]

Not sure how much can go wrong with the installation. Besides, I have about 20 years as an aircraft mechanic, and several years working with motion simulators, projection systems (IMAX, etc), special effects, and all kinds of other things. One screw to mount the base to the rail, and two screws to mount the deflector to the base.

I have never used CCI Stingers (have some on order, but they may not show for awhile). Looking over my shooting log, the times it happened most were with Golden Bullets.

I'll mount it back up, and try again this week with different ammo. I have some CCI Blazer, Remington Target, CCI Tactical, and Federal Champion rounds I can try. Maybe the deflector just hates Golden Bullets!

This "research" could be grueling and take many, many trips to the range! The sacrifice must be made for science.

 

[heatedheavy]

Does the brass hit your hand when shooting? I wanna purchase this but I spent quite a bit of money on stuff this pay period. Need to wait til the first lol. My mailman hates me.

 

[SimpleWeaponSolutions]

Not sure how much can go wrong with the installation. Besides, I have about 20 years as an aircraft mechanic, and several years working with motion simulators, projection systems (IMAX, etc), special effects, and all kinds of other things. One screw to mount the base to the rail, and two screws to mount the deflector to the base.

I have never used CCI Stingers (have some on order, but they may not show for awhile). Looking over my shooting log, the times it happened most were with Golden Bullets.

I'll mount it back up, and try again this week with different ammo. I have some CCI Blazer, Remington Target, CCI Tactical, and Federal Champion rounds I can try. Maybe the deflector just hates Golden Bullets!

This "research" could be grueling and take many, many trips to the range! The sacrifice must be made for science.

I highly doubt that it is installed wrong. One of the things I was thinking that may be the issue, is how the rifle is being held. If you have it rolled over slightly, perhaps the brass is bouncing off the shield and back into the chamber, instead of dropping down. If you are still having issues when the next batch is done in a week or two, I will send you a replacement, it could be the shield is not bent correctly.

Does the brass hit your hand when shooting? I wanna purchase this but I spent quite a bit of money on stuff this pay period. Need to wait til the first lol. My mailman hates me.

The brass would only hit your hand if you are holding the rifle by the magwell or in that general area.

 

[speedyquad]

i just bought my 15-22 on saturday...once the wife give me back my money/debit card/ credit card..i'll be getting one of these...

i'm not a lefty, but my daughter is and she will be shooting this on occasion...and it would be nice in an outdoor setting to have everything nicely at your feet. i like to pick up my brass wherever i go...especially outside.

 

[Freeway]

I highly doubt that it is installed wrong. One of the things I was thinking that may be the issue, is how the rifle is being held. If you have it rolled over slightly, perhaps the brass is bouncing off the shield and back into the chamber, instead of dropping down. If you are still having issues when the next batch is done in a week or two, I will send you a replacement, it could be the shield is not bent correctly.

I don't think I am rolling the weapon while shooting. The next time I go to the range, I will try to pay attention to that (if I am rolling it, and in what direction).

Thank you for the replacement offer! Hopefully that will not be needed. Maybe it really was the Golden Bullets. One thing I noticed about that ammunition was that while they fired with few malfunctions, the sound constantly changed. Kind of like the power was different between rounds. None of the other ammo I have tried changes pitch like that.

 

[SimpleWeaponSolutions]

It could be the golden bullets. If you have some different ammo, try that out side by side with the golden bullets to see if there is a difference.

 

[Jyezahn]

Also, one thing that MAY play a part, and could just be one element of the perfect storm: Is it mounted on the last slot, or one slot forward? This would change the location of the deflector cutouts, and if you tie that in with different ammo, you get slightly different results. I'd say, to "research", fire 100 rds of your golden bullets with the deflector in its current position. Record the results. Then, move the deflector one slot forward (if it's already on the last slot) or one slot back. Then fire another 100 rds of the same ammo and record the results. Since you mentioned the sound changing erratically with that ammo, I'd guess that probably has a lot to do with it... inconsistent loads.

Then, when you get some different ammo, run the same tests as above. :-D

 

[Freeway]

Well... I'm all out of Golden Bullets. They did fire without many errors, but were dirty, and the differing sounds indicate inconsistency, so I will not likely buy more in the future.

I do have several different types to try, and hope to do just that this week.

I had the deflector mounted in the last slot (the base plate was flush with the end of the rail), and have mounted it that way again.

Here is a photo of the deflector mounted...

 

[Majorlk]

Well, the "bounce back into the chamber/stovepipe bug" has bitten me. After about 600 trouble-free rounds with the deflector installed, the last three trips to the range have resulted in about a 15 percent "error rate" with cases bouncing back into the chamber and getting smushed by the bolt as they stovepipe or simply laying lengthwise in the chamber, blocking the bolt. In virtually every case, dropping the mag and cycling the charging handle clears the problem and drops the fired case, and the next round, onto the bench.

This afternoon, in the middle of the range session, I removed the deflector and the problem went away. I am wondering if the deflector to chamber angle is too tight, and needs to be widened up a few degrees. I haven't yet done anything to mine, but may give it a try before the next range session. Unfortunately, it will be next week before I can make it back.

OPNOTE: no change in ammo - all Federal Champion.

 

[Freeway]

Majorlk,

This is what was happening to me. Of my last 700 rounds fired, 560 were CCI Blazer, and 140 were CCI Tactical. For each type of round, I broke things into 4 groups...

1) Sightmark & Deflector installed
2) Sightmark - NO deflector
3) NO Sightmark & Deflector installed
4) NO Sightmark - NO deflector
*** there was a question of the Sightmark interfering with the deflector, so I removed it.***

In both instances with the deflector installed, I had ~ 20% of the casings bounce back into the chamber. Never happened without the deflector installed.

SimpleWeaponsSolutions was kind enough to send me a replacement deflector (not the base, just the deflector, can't see the base as bad). I just installed it today, and the new deflector is longer than the old one, and I had to move the base forward one rail notch.

I hope to visit the range tomorrow, and will be testing the deflector in the same above conditions. Already have 140 rounds of CCI Tactical loaded.

Hopefully, the deflector will work as advertised. Others here are having good luck, so why can't I?

I will take some Federal Champion ammo (36g CPHP) along with a box of Mini-Mags (40g CPRN) and Federal Game-Shok (40g CPRN) to test. You mentioned the Federal Champion, so I will try it also.

I had thought about the angle of the deflector, so maybe that is a consideration.

So you know, SimpleWeaponsSolutions has been AWESOME through all of this. The way I have been treated will cause me to buy something else from him!

 

[Click-Click-BOOM]

I to had the same thing happen to me the last time out .
But only 3 time out of about 8 Mags

 

[SimpleWeaponSolutions]

Majorlk, did you start a new box of Federal around the same time the problem started? I wonder if there is enough variance between lots to cause an issue. I wish I could get my hands on some high velocity and subs to see if there is a pattern.

Freeway, good to hear you received the new shield. Let me know how everything works out on your next range trip.

Click-Click-BOOM, is this the first time you have had this issue?

Just a question for everyone to help me troubleshoot what is happening. What is your cadence of fire? Are you shooting for a tight group and taking a little bit of time between shots or are you rapid firing? I ran the 15-22 with the brass deflector installed last weekend in a carbine class. Large portion of the class we were working within 25 yards, so I used the 15-22 most of the time. Out of several hundred rounds of Federal automatch I only had one stovepipe/bounce back into the chamber while shooting on the move to a barricade. I however did not run into any problems when we were shooting in certain prone positions to shoot under a barricade. These prone positions had us on ours sides with the ejection port pointing towards the sky.

The only to problems that it could be, is the shield angle needs to be tweaked or I may need to make the mount a little thicker to space the shield a bit further away from upper.

Majorlk & Click-Click-BOOM, let me know if you would like me to send you a replacement shield.

 

[Freeway]

I very rarely rapid fire. The range here doesn't really like it. The quickest I fire is about 1 second between shots.

If it has problems, I could try adding a washer (or two) between the mount and the deflector if you think it would be alright.

 

[Majorlk]

Two different boxes, but I haven't checked lot numbers. The shooting is generally relaxed; I don't normally do rapid fire. I am at a loss to explain the sudden change. Also, the rifle IS being held vertically, not canted to either side.

 

[SimpleWeaponSolutions]

I very rarely rapid fire. The range here doesn't really like it. The quickest I fire is about 1 second between shots.

If it has problems, I could try adding a washer (or two) between the mount and the deflector if you think it would be alright.

I only go to ranges where I am able to fire as fast as I can acquire a clear sight picture.

The washers are a great idea. You will not be able to go too far out though due to the length of the screw. It uses a 10-32 with a thread length of 3/8, if your mount gets scratched up from the washers, let me know and I will send you another one.

 

[SimpleWeaponSolutions]

Two different boxes, but I haven't checked lot numbers. The shooting is generally relaxed; I don't normally do rapid fire. I am at a loss to explain the sudden change. Also, the rifle IS being held vertically, not canted to either side.

That is also throwing me for a loop too. I had my rifle in various positions in the carbine class and no issues except for that one round.

 

[Freeway]

I only go to ranges where I am able to fire as fast as I can acquire a clear sight picture.

The washers are a great idea. You will not be able to go too far out though due to the length of the screw. It uses a 10-32 with a thread length of 3/8, if your mount gets scratched up from the washers, let me know and I will send you another one.

I have some nylon washers for 10-32 screws, so that will not be a problem.

 

[Majorlk]

I only go to ranges where I am able to fire as fast as I can acquire a clear sight picture.

The washers are a great idea. You will not be able to go too far out though due to the length of the screw. It uses a 10-32 with a thread length of 3/8, if your mount gets scratched up from the washers, let me know and I will send you another one.

I am planning on doing the same thing. Too bad it will be the middle of next week before I can get back to the range.