Gunsmith's Top 5: Reasons Why Your .22 Stopped Working
Today we are reviewing the Top 5 reasons why your .22 isn’t working. These apply to all .22s and are the most common causes for .22s visiting our shop. Check out our top five reasons why your .22 stopped functioning:
#5 - Dirty Chamber
Chambers on .22s often get dirty because the ammunition is small and falls on the ground a lot. Most of us will just pick it up and load it in the mag without cleaning it off. This will cause the chamber to get dirty.
Use a flashlight to inspect your chamber. If it’s good and clean, it will be shiny and silver. If it’s neither of those things, the chamber needs to be cleaned.
If it’s a red or a dull grey, then the chamber should be polished professionally.
A special note for .22 short ammo shot through .22 long guns: you will need to clean your chamber when you switch from .22 short to .22 lr. .22 short will cause the front of the chamber will get dirty and prevent .22 lr from chambering.
#4 - Bad Ammo
If your .22 isn’t working, it could be your ammo. Here’s a list of bad ammo examples:
Ammo covered in pocket lint from your sock drawer
Your grandpa’s old ammo that he left in pill bottle
Ammo that’s rolling around on your floorboard
Ammo you found for cheap at a gun show
The ammo covered in green corrosion
Ammo from your dad’s junk drawer
Ammo you bought at a yard sale
The Ammo covered in dog hair
Rust covered ammo
Wet garage ammo
Estate sale ammo
Greasy Ammo
These will scratch your gun, hurt your chamber, and even prevent rounds from loading. It can also gunk up your magazines.
.22 might be hard to get right now. But don’t shoot corroded, greasy, or dirty ammo through your .22.
#3 - The Extractor
Extractors just break a lot on .22s.
If your .22 is not extracting, check to see if it has an extractor. Look at the right side of the bolt. You should see a little hook-like part. If you don’t see one, your extractor is probably broken.
Stop by the shop and we can order a new one and replace it for you.
#2 - It’s Dirty
Your .22 is probably not working because it’s dirty. All .22s get dirty.
Have you ever cleaned it? Did your grandpa ever clean it? No? That’s probably why it’s dirty.
Dirty .22s can cause broken firing pins, broken extractors, and scratched chambers.
.22s are notorious for being dirty. This is because the powder used in .22 ammo is a dirty burning ammo. Plus, because it is direct blowback, when the case extracts out of the chamber, there is still pressure and it blows carbon from the explosion back into the action.
#1 - The Firing Pin
Broken firing pins on .22s are a byproduct of the force required to set off the primer. .22s typically require 22 pounds of force to ignite primer. To put that in perspective, 9mm usually requires around 7 pounds.
So much force is required because .22s are rimfire. This means that the case has to be crushed to set off the primer resulting in repetitive stress on the firing pin.
If your firing pin is broken, stop by the shop and we will order a new one and replace it for you. And if we can’t order a new one because they don’t make it anymore, we will make a new firing pin for you.
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