Swarf, I don't think I could stuff rounds into this magazine to lock up the rims if I had to do it to save my life. There may be folks out there who could do it, but I lack the talent.
Still don't have my spare magazine, but I think I've figured this out...and I expect to hear a bunch of "you didn't know THAT??"
I determined that the dragging and binding of the follower was independent of the pistol itself, so Gemby is correct---it is most definitely NOT the follower spring dragging on the magazine catch. I was able to replicate the binding follower outside of the pistol, so I thought that maybe I just didn't get it (the magazine) clean enough. I disassembled it and gave it a very thorough cleaning, only to find that the binding was not eliminated.
Now, I've got an assortment of .22 LR to choose from but it seems that I just happened to grab a box of Federal Lightning for trying out this pistol, and it has always functioned acceptably in my rimfires and performed well enough for plinking. This is the ammo I've been fiddling with. However, a while ago when I tried some Super-X X22LRH1 the binding ceased, and the same held true for Remington Yellow Jacket (which I did NOT fire, I just manually cycled the action through a couple of magazine's worth). Federal Auto Match cycles reliably also, and it's a non copper-washed round also like the Lightning is. I don't want to try everything available to me, I'd be all night trying different ammo.
Maybe there's just something about how the old original magazine has worn, but Federal Lightning (later known as "Champion" I think) seems to bind on the tips of the bullet. When I get my spare mag I'll have to see if it suffers the same malady.
I don't recall Grandpappy's Woodsman being picky about ammo, but maybe I just didn't get to play with it enough. For that matter, I coulda worn the thing out myself and that STILL wouldn't have been enough.
