Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Sticking .22 ammo.

Mule Deer, I was shooting my CZ yesterday at gophers. I was using Stingers.. Have shot hundreds of these through this CZ, but yesterday, I probably shot a hundred rounds, when the cases started sticking in the chamber.. This has never happened before. When I chamber either Mini Mags or Stingers, I cannot extract the loaded round.. Rem. and WW ok. When the CCI ammo is fired, I never had trouble until yesterday.. If I let the rifle sit and cool, I could fire about 9 rounds without a stuck case, but the 10th would stick..
When I came home, I ran a brush though the barrel.. It seemed like there was a lot of fouling in the chamber area going by the feel of the brush moving down the barrel.. The next couple passes it was noticeably smoother..This morning I went out and did some shooting, I must have shot close 100 rounds, when I stuck another Stinger case. When I got it out, I put a Rem. in and shot a shot.. After that the rifle operated normally.
Every so often I would shoot a Rem. though the rifle and everything seems fine.
I have no clue why this cropped up now.. All the Stinger ammo is from the same case.. Any ideas?

We had the same problem with Winchester Subsonics when I shot rabbits for a quid...it turned out to be build-up of the wax lubricant Winchester used, they changed it and the issue disappeared.

Both the CZs I had, a 455 and a 453, had tight chambers, one reason they shoot so well. All CCIs were a bit tight in my chambers, partly I think, because of the wide driving band on some of them. All this means is that you need to keep the chamber clean. A bore snake works well, and is pretty much all I ever use to clean my .22s these days. A little cleaner helps, but isn't really necessary for a quick cleaning in the field.

The ammo you've got on hand may just have a little more lube than usual.

Patient: "Doc, it hurts when I do this."
Doctor: "Don't do that."

I'd run a patch through it soaked in Mineral spirits or Acetone or kerosene. Something that will break down the lube from the ammo. Stingers have a copper plated bullet right? Maybe a swabbing with Sweet's or some other copper remover? After that many rounds, you could have a build up from it shaving off? Not like regular copper fouling of course. Pay special attention to the chamber and throat when cleaning.

The need to control the fouling in the area just ahead of the chamber is well known in smallbore accuracy circles.

I follow the routine described in the Lilja Barrel website, under Support, then Rimfire Maintenance. The relevant part is every couple of hundred rounds take a worn .22 pistol brush with solvent and scrub the chamber and a bit in front of it.

http://riflebarrels.com/support/22-rimfire-maintenance/

Paul

39, and everyone, thanks.. I did clean the bore with a wire brush and some JB.. That area in front of the chamber did seem like it held some fouling.. The second pass was much easier and I scrubbed that area before quitting..
I guess the thing that gets me is I have fired that many rounds though the rifle before, without a hitch. The ammo was from the same lot.. Who knows. Things seem back to noramal.

Try cleaning the chamber with a 22-24 cal bore brush.

Try cleaning the chamber with a 22-24 cal bore brush.

The Stinger case is longer than a regular .22 LR case. If you shoot regular LR's there will be carbon fouling that begins in the chamber at the end of a standard LR case.

If you then switch to Stingers without cleaning the rifle, that fouling can interfere with chambering and extracting the longer Stinger case in the same way that a chamber fouled by shooting .22 Shorts can cause problems with LR's, or a chamber fouled by the use of .38 Spl. ammo can cause difficulties with .357 Magnums.

I would think that cleaning the chamber when switching ammo would cure your ills.

This is correct. I believe that you are not supposed to shoot stingers in a CZ due to the longer case.

My 452 has a very tight chamber, and when unfired rounds start giving me trouble with extraction I clean the chamber and extractor.

wild and Terry, I cleaned up the CZ and it has functioned perfectly.. Thanks for the help..

Don't have a CZ handy, but over time the extractors on my Rugers and Anschutz bolts can eventually foul up. That's with thousands of rounds going through in a spring ground squirrel season. Anschutz has a tight chamber and has never extracted a loaded round. One has to fire that one to get it clear.