Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Rimfires 10/22 not firing

I had a 10/22 for years and sold it and a few years back bought a stainless/synthetic and it misfires at least 1/2 of the shots.There is a dent in the case where the hammer hits, and I pick up the shells reload and put the clip in another 10/22 I managed to pick up and they all fire.Old or new ammo all the same, no problem in the one 10/22 and 50-75% failure in the other.Anybody have any idea what could be wrong.

Is it a factory barrel or a replacement? I had this problem with a replacement barrel. I asked the same on another site and several good guys gave me some fine advice. They felt it was from the round not going the whole way into the chamber. WHen the firing pin hit, the round not seated the whole way absorbed the strike. Remedy, The camber needs opened up. This is common with Bentz type chambers and match chambers in semi's. Good luck, my suggestion, just grab another barrel. If it is factory, You can pick one up real cheap 15 bucks or so on any site. If not, go reasonable, Green Mtn. or so. Good luck

Another possibility is a weak hammer spring, there is a very simple way to determine if this is the problem since you have two 10/22's.

Take the trigger group out of the 10/22 that is reliable and put it into the one that doesn't fire consistently, if the problem goes away you have a weak hammer spring.

All that is required is to remove the action from the stock remove the two pins that hold the trigger group into the action and remove the trigger group. Do the same thing to the other one - switch trigger groups, if the probem goes to the other rifle you know that it is a weak hammer spring. If that is the problem they are easily replaced.

Those are both possible causes. You also might not have the barrel installed correctly. If there's grit or debris caught between the barrel shoulder and the receiver, you could have excessive headspace. If the barrel is correct, you could have something that's blocking the full forward movement of the bolt. Fouling is the most common cause for this, and it also causes excessive headspace.

Is the rifle stock?

If so I would suggest 4 things:

1. Chk Headspace by measuring the depth of the "pocket" in the bolt.

2. Clean the chamber VERY well with a BRASS brush. They get a ring of carbon/wax and the round does not seat all the way. When the firing pin hits the rim the blow is cushioned by the round being pushed further into the chamber. Get a 22 "Rifle" brush (they are the longer ones). Bend it into an "L". you can clean the chamber with this tool by putting the brush in through the ejection port and rocking it up and down and in and out. Use a good solvent while doing this.

3. Remove the bolt and push the chk the firing pin. Is the nose deformed? When you push the pin forward how much does it protrude into the "pocket" that hold the round? It should not go past the front of the bolt but you should get about .020" into the pocket.

4. Chk the hammer strut. Is it in the trigger assembly with the slot on the washer "up". If not make sure that it is.

If the rifle is not stock and has an over travel screw or an adjustable sear one or both may be out of adjustment. Back both off a 1/2 turn and see if that works.

you may want to go to rimfirecentral.com and ask there. Lots of great info.

Way to go Vincent, Leave it to a good old RFC'er to set us all straight. Way to go.

I kinda had the same problem with mine, my problem turned out to be a firing pin that would "float" above the rim of the case head.
My fix was to fill the bolt groove with JB weld and file it down until the firing pin would consistantly hit the case head and the bolt would move freely.

Tom264 also has a good point. Chk WHERE the firing pin hits the case rim.

As a bolt/firing pin wear the pin will hit further and further out from the edge of the rim.

The best fix is to "pin" the bolt. To do this the bolt is drilled across the top of the firing pin and and a cross pin is fitted. I actually drill it for an interference fit and then file/stone the top of the firing pin down until it just slides under the cross pin. This not only improves function but also can be beneficial to accuracy.

I had this problem, but all it took was a simple sharpen to the taper on my firing pin to fix the problem.

Thanks for all the info. I will tinker over the holidays.
Best to all.
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