Out of battery event, .22LR

So: I was shooting steel with my Ruger MK IV, ammo was Aguila super extra. I had several light strikes and just figured the gun needed a good cleaning.

But then I fired a round and when the bolt cycled, the next round fired out of battery. There was an odd sounding pop, a puff of smoke and powder dust on my hand.

Inspection revealed that the firing pin spring was broken. Apparently it had gummed up the works such that the firing pin was held in the forward position and set the round off before going fully into battery


Tandem Kross sells a five pack for eleven bucks and one's on the way.

There was no injury and no damage. I thought it was funny in a way. The spring is tiny. Maybe I should treat it as a maintenance item and replace it once a year. I shoot it more than any other gun.

One of the reasons I always clean my 22LR guns after every range trip and keep them well oiled, 22 ammo is pretty dirty

Good info and thanks for the info. How difficult was it to replace the firing pin? I bought my Mark IV lite used, so to replace is cheap insurance...

I wonder why my Mk.III hasn't done the same, sometimes. While I'm OCD about clean guns, that one's such a PITA to break down and reassemble, that I just clean it with a bore snake a Q-tips.

Because of the dirty nature of 22 I find my 10/22, Mk II and 1911-22 run much more reliably with minimum lubrication. Oil attracts the powder fouling and turns it into mud which slows things down and results ejection and feed issues .

Glad you weren't hurt.

Rimfire sucks.

Replies:

It's a snap to pull the firing pin in the MK IV. Pull out the bolt, push out the pin, and lift out the firing pin.

I'm not replacing the firing pin. I inspected it and it's fine. Just the broken spring needs replacing.

Lubrication: With 10/22 I am now running it dry. No lube. I used to run it wet like an AR. 10/22 action somehow retains a lot of residue and it's trouble to take apart and clean, so it would run slower and slower . . . but now I run it dry and it very seldom needs cleaning. I don't think there's enough going on in there to wear much. I shoot it a lot, being my bench rest rifle, and hardly ever clean it.

Same for the Mark IV. I used to have it wet, now very little CLP, only on the outside of the bolt. It gets cleaned about every 500 to 600 rounds.


Smith 15-22. Now this gun needs to be cleaned thoroughly and moderately lubricated every time I shoot it, or it starts failing to go into battery.

G44: Hard to say; I haven't had it long enough. I'm thinking a clean every few hundred rounds should be good.

And thanks. No hurt.

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Originally Posted by Uni-Vibe

Replies:

It's a snap to pull the firing pin in the MK IV. Pull out the bolt, push out the pin, and lift out the firing pin.

I'm not replacing the firing pin. I inspected it and it's fine. Just the broken spring needs replacing.

Lubrication: With 10/22 I am now running it dry. No lube. I used to run it wet like an AR. 10/22 action somehow retains a lot of residue and it's trouble to take apart and clean, so it would run slower and slower . . . but now I run it dry and it very seldom needs cleaning. I don't think there's enough going on in there to wear much. I shoot it a lot, being my bench rest rifle, and hardly ever clean it.

Same for the Mark IV. I used to have it wet, now very little CLP, only on the outside of the bolt. It gets cleaned about every 500 to 600 rounds.


Smith 15-22. Now this gun needs to be cleaned thoroughly and moderately lubricated every time I shoot it, or it starts failing to go into battery.

G44: Hard to say; I haven't had it long enough. I'm thinking a clean every few hundred rounds should be good.

And thanks. No hurt.

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I do the same, once I started running dry malfunctions rarely happen.