Howdy all.
My mate has just got himself a Savage A22R. The last weekend we had it out sighting it in and having a bit of a shoot with all different ammo to see what it digs. One of the .22 LR Highland subsonics cracked on the base of the case(same as pictures), made a horrible noise plenty of smoke and carry on. We put it down to the ammo as we have had problems with Highland subsonic before. Ran it for the rest of the weekend 100 plus rounds - no Highland - not a single problem.
This weekend it did it again on Browning ammunition ( see pictures) . So I guess the question is - is it the gun? Anyone else had this problem ? Or have we done something real dumb?
Rifle is around a month old no pulling apart and messing with the insides has been done.
Haven’t had anything like that in any of my 22s, including A22R. Could it be that the bolt doesn’t go all the way into battery (not sure how to explain it). For example, you drop the lever and guide the bolt back by hand, rather than letting it ram the cartridge into the chamber. So thinking along the lines of headspace issues maybe. Either user caused or rifle. Seems odd to have it happened over multiple ammo brands.
Maybe it’s just dirty and needs a clean?
I’ve only put around 500 rounds through mine and nothings gone wrong apart from the magazine jamming up and failing to feed/rotate new rounds.
That includes 100 highland subsonics.
That looks like its slightly out of battery, might just need a clean as JS said or has the barrel moved forward a touch?
No problems like that in mine. I have had mine apart a lot not much that could be done to break it. they are pretty well built IMHO.
I have had a feed issue in the magazine with some RWS ammo it was just too waxy. There should be no headspace issues the bolt should close up tight against the barrel. If there is any problem it will be an individual manufacturing problem that has occurred. That is certainly not out of the question.
The bolt firing pin assembly is not likely to cause a problem due to the design. The firing pin is not pushed hard directly by the hammer onto the case. The hammer hits a pin at the back of the bolt that can only be moved forward several mm directly by the hammer. The actual firing pin needs to move about 6mm forward to strike the case. The firing pin does this just under kinetic energy no direct force.
Could it be that the extractor is in some way damaging the rim as the bolt closes? Weakening it?
Looks like it let go slightly right of where the firing pin hits. but Oldbloke makes a good point to investigate from. what is the location from the firing pin point of view. The extractor would be at 90 deg.
I had a look at a spent case from mine and was a little surprised the dent is a little sharp perhaps have a close look at some of the non damaged ones and the damaged. Seems like a brass issue and the easiest way to solve is use a different (perhaps better) brass. Or maybe the firing pin needs any sharp point removed.
Thanks for answering everyone. Will pass on the infomation to my mate and see if we can figure it out. Start with a good clean !
Looks to be like it may have fired out of battery, the whole case head looks ballooned slightly to me.
I’m not sure how that could work in that gun. Only thing I could think of would be sort of what JS suggested with the bolt not closing fully. That could be cleanliness or a manufacturing problem with something not straight.
They are a bit of a dirty gun, I suspect like a lot of semi autos or pistols maybe. Due to extracting the case immediately as it is fired or still venting. Lots of soot building up in front of the bolt in an area around the barrel. The barrel sitting about a cm into the receiver the bolt slams up against the barrel when the release is pulled.
I have found so far that even the subsonics send the bolt the full travel backwards. Perhaps a stronger bolt return spring could have been used. I think there are two being used for that. A part I have not taken apart and tinkered with as yet.
Had a big misfiring issue…
Really bad … anyone had the same issue ?