Ruger 22/45 ignition problems??

[mikeAZ]

Well, have I over done it???. I shoot steel plate competition. Both my 22/45's have internal work done by myself (Brownells springs,-hammer,reduced power,bolt increased power,VQ extractors, etc. trigger stop, sears either polished or VQ). Last Sunday (very cold for AZ.), it took me 10 mags to get threw 5 runs on one stage because of no fires. I even switched back and forth between both guns (same mods and the guns were warm from firing) and still would have no fires. I tried several different brands of ammo that have always worked well and the result was the same... (all feed well, no problems there). These pistols have worked very well in the past, with few misfires no matter what the ammo. I can't see any damage to the firing pins and the unfired rounds have enough "hit" on them that I would think they should have fired BUT...... does anyone have the overall length of the firing pin??? I'm at a loss... To futher complicate things, the wife was shooting a unaltered Buckmark and had only 2 failures to fire for the whole match... we just use bulk pac ammo of various manufacturer's.

[blue68f100]

Was the round fully seated in the chamber? Some time cold temps make the chambers tight.

Are you using the VQ hammer or the factory one? The Factory is heavier and will have more energy. Make sure the hammer free floats on the pin and it is not dragging on the overrun area of the hammer.

[greener]

Sounds like the reduced power hammer could be giving you a problem.

[mikeAZ]

Factory hammers. I'm thinking firing pin???, reduced power main spring?? ( I don't know why) Her Buckmark had a stronger "wack" mark on the spent cases. Both of the 22/45's are new/ low round count guns. We would get a few failures to fire... I usually could trace it to the ammo we were using. Even after shooting the match, the ammo still chambers easily. Is there a firing pin contour that helps ignition??? Is the overall length of the firing pin a factor? I believe the outer edge has a stronger indent than the rest of the case...

[Bullseye]

Lots of elements here that could be causal factors for failures: cold weather, excessive lubricant usage, fouled firing pin channel, overtravel stop set too close causing the hammer to rub on the sear. Any of those things could be the root cause. First thing would be to eliminate the temperature factor, I'd try an indoor climate controlled facility and see if they work properly without any additional changes.

R,
Bullseye

[Bob & Wife]

Well, have I over done it???. I shoot steel plate competition. Both my 22/45's have internal work done by myself (Brownells springs,-hammer,reduced power,bolt increased power,VQ extractors, etc. trigger stop, sears either polished or VQ). Last Sunday (very cold for AZ.), it took me 10 mags to get threw 5 runs on one stage because of no fires. I even switched back and forth between both guns (same mods and the guns were warm from firing) and still would have no fires. I tried several different brands of ammo that have always worked well and the result was the same... (all feed well, no problems there). These pistols have worked very well in the past, with few misfires no matter what the ammo. I can't see any damage to the firing pins and the unfired rounds have enough "hit" on them that I would think they should have fired BUT...... does anyone have the overall length of the firing pin??? I'm at a loss... To futher complicate things, the wife was shooting a unaltered Buckmark and had only 2 failures to fire for the whole match... we just use bulk pac ammo of various manufacturer's.

DID YOU OVER OIL, MOST OILS ARE PENATRATING OILS AND WILL DEFINATELY PENITRATE THE AMMO, I know because I've done it too! Find an oil that is NOT penatrating oil and after cleaning wipe, wipe, wipe from the magazine to the pipe. I even use an air hose and reduced to nothing my FTF's.

[Baldy]

I have found over the years that reducing the hammer spring gains you very little, and usually causes more problems than its worth. YMMV. Good luck.

[mikeAZ]

YEP, I'll return to the stock hammer spring. Although, I checked another round today...very small but very defined mark on the spent case rim... In all the years I shot .22's I have never given a thought as to as how/what is required for ignition on a 22 round?, sure not like a centerfire round. Maybe it's time to move up to better ammo??? MiniMags the best choise in the long run??? i like the 40 grain bullet for the extra "wack" on the falling steel. Your thought's please...

[greener]

Part of the benefit of the more expensive ammo is the improved primer and quality control in putting the primer in. You might get a better ignition rate with the weaker spring with better ammo.

I've used the standard spring and have only one with the lighter target hammer. I haven't seen any difference between hammers, although the VQ target hammer has been attributed to failures to fire. What I have found is that FTF's seem to be (a) more prevalent in cheaper bulk ammo; (b) FTF's seem to be a lot-to-lot variation.

I think I get better accuracy and reproducibility with 40gr SV ammo. CCI SV and Federal Automatch seem to be the better lower priced ammo.

[mikeAZ]

5000 CCI Mini Mags & 1100 CCI SV's on the way. I'm gong to leave everything alone on both guns and try both at the next match. SO, where is the "primer" on a 22 round ???? I get a VERY pronounced indent on the very edge of both 22/45's......I've got 2 firing pins on the way also, just in case.. Any info on the general "factory" chamber condition from the Ruger factory??? I've got Clymer finish chamber reamer's for most of the pistol calibers I shoot.... What's the general condition from the factory on the Ruger's??? Another reamer in my future?? Also, THANKS for all the good info here!!! (I had to mod all my mags as they were tooo close to the ejector). Mike, "69" and still competitive....(when the gun works)

[Bullseye]

I have not seen a need to ream any of the Ruger chambers.

R,
Bullseye

[greener]

Good discussion of the rimfire cartridge

http://www.americanrifleman.org/article ... aign=SEALS

[bearandoldman]

Good discussion of the rimfire cartridge

http://www.americanrifleman.org/article ... aign=SEALS

Very interesting, almost more intelligence than this old man can absorb this ear;y in the day, later in the day would probably show no improvement either.

[mikeAZ]

Bullseye... how about a "sticky" for this article?? I had no idea how the cartridge is made. Great info.... thanks for the heads up on the reamer. Mike

[blue68f100]

There is another article that was more in detail on the mfg process. I think I saw it on RFC, ammo section. I guess I will see if I can find it this afternoon and post the link here. It may have been on wiki ....