22 mag fired out of battery?

Originally Posted By: canineshooterLike I said I bought this gun less than a year ago. First time I've had a 22 mag. I have a ruger 1022 long rifle for 30 years and thousands of rounds and never had anything like this happen.
I really don't feel like shooting it without knowing exactly what happened.

I suspect that if you get with Magnum Research they will ship it on their dime for examination for you. They should be able to give you some definitive feedback.

Greg
 
Originally Posted By: GLShooterOriginally Posted By: canineshooterLike I said I bought this gun less than a year ago. First time I've had a 22 mag. I have a ruger 1022 long rifle for 30 years and thousands of rounds and never had anything like this happen.
I really don't feel like shooting it without knowing exactly what happened.

I suspect that if you get with Magnum Research they will ship it on their dime for examination for you. They should be able to give you some definitive feedback.

Greg

canineshooter: If you are not familiar with your rifle, GLShooter's advice is excellent. The Manual that came with my rifle as well as the orange caution stickers attached to my rifle explains the issues pretty well. If you have fired 600 rounds through the rifle, there is a good chance that the gas port is clogged and that it needs to be cleaned.

Below is a link with an explanation of how the Magnum Research 22 WMR rifle works, and it has a picture of the referenced gas port on the underside of the barrel. It is a blow-back design, but it uses the under-barrel gas port as a regulator to keep varying gas pressures from 22 WMR cartridges more consistent to avoid an issue like you experienced. My rifle is the Model with the Hogue stock which is what your rifle appears to be from the pic with a small portion of the stock showing. The rifle shown at the link below is the MR lightweight model. Both rifles operate the same.

http://americanshootingjournal.com/the-magnum-lite-22wmr/

A picture of the gas port from the link:

LSloc8Ul.jpg


DAA: As for the Marlin 922M 22 WMR rifles, I was told a few years back that having an issue with one of them wasn't an "if" issue but a "when" issue due to ammunition inconsistencies. I have one and shot it for years without a problem but after hearing that from what I consider to be a good source, I retired it and bought the MR rifle a few years back.

 
Winnyfan, thanks for refreshing my memory on the action. I forgot there was a gas pressure regulator under the barrel.
I have always shot 40 grain or heavier ammo. CCI TMJ Is what I have shot recently.
I took another look at the rifle this morning. The action won't cock the firing pin so it did more damage than I thought.
I left a message with Magnum Research. We'll see what happens.
 
Originally Posted By: canineshooterWinnyfan, thanks for refreshing my memory on the action. I forgot there was a gas pressure regulator under the barrel.
I have always shot 40 grain or heavier ammo. CCI TMJ Is what I have shot recently.
I took another look at the rifle this morning. The action won't cock the firing pin so it did more damage than I thought.
I left a message with Magnum Research. We'll see what happens.

Good luck. I hope that they take care of you. And please let us other MR 22 WMR owners know how it goes.
smile.gif
 
OUT OF BATTERY MEANS THE ROUND WAS NOT PROPERLY ALIGNED/SEATED AND THE ROUND BEING DETONATED WAS NOT IN THE CHAMBER PROPERLY, SOMETIMES IT CAN DETONATE THE ROUNDS IN THE CLIP.
 
Originally Posted By: canineshooterI was just shooting a semi auto 22 mag rim fire rifle. I don’t want to say the manufacturer of the rifle or the ammo until I have an idea what happened.
I bought the rifle new about 10 months ago. Probably around 600 rounds through it by now. http://

  • I was shooting targets in my yard. It was about the fifth shot from the magazine.
    I noticed it was a much louder shot. I was wearing earmuffs and my ears were ringing.
    Shrapnel hit my face between my eyes. Didn’t do any damage but startled the [beeep] out of me. The clip/magazine was pushed out halfway. I see a hair line crack in the clip now. The case was stuck in the chamber with a very deformed/exploded rim.
    I think it fired without the bolt tight to the chamber or the rim of the cartridge exploded.
    I will show some pics soon. Anyone ever have something like this happen?

    Rim thickness can vary with rimfires. I've seen it with 22Mag. You got a case with an unusually thick rim. Rare but it happens.
 
"Rim thickness can vary with rimfires." ..agree..
But the pics are after the fact, so the round may have been good, just not full in battery. So why not fully in ??
I see lots of brass chips/specs laying around the receiver, they'll do it for sure.
 
Originally Posted By: Ackman Originally Posted By: canineshooterI was just shooting a semi auto 22 mag rim fire rifle. I don’t want to say the manufacturer of the rifle or the ammo until I have an idea what happened.
I bought the rifle new about 10 months ago. Probably around 600 rounds through it by now. http://

  • I was shooting targets in my yard. It was about the fifth shot from the magazine.
    I noticed it was a much louder shot. I was wearing earmuffs and my ears were ringing.
    Shrapnel hit my face between my eyes. Didn’t do any damage but startled the [beeep] out of me. The clip/magazine was pushed out halfway. I see a hair line crack in the clip now. The case was stuck in the chamber with a very deformed/exploded rim.
    I think it fired without the bolt tight to the chamber or the rim of the cartridge exploded.
    I will show some pics soon. Anyone ever have something like this happen?

    Rim thickness can vary with rimfires. I've seen it with 22Mag. You got a case with an unusually thick rim. Rare but it happens.

    I'll explain a little more. Years ago I had a 77/22 magnum. Without going into great detail, the bolt had been done to very close tolerances. I shot only Win. 40JHP. The rim thickness on that ammunition can vary by a few thou or more. Occasionally, maybe once in 200-300rds, I'd get one with a particularly thick rim and it would fire as the bolt was locked down completely, at the end of it's travel. The fatter casehead was being compressed enough to make it go off. With a precision semiauto like yours, where the bolt is probably done to very close tolerances, that rare over-thick rim could cause the thing to fire before the bolt was completely forward. That's one scenario. Or as Canineshooter said, maybe a little crud or something in the chamber or barrel face kept the round from going in completely. Or something on the rim, a piece of grit maybe.
 
On my gun, a Ray Vin AR upper in .17 HMR, I have no idea why it blew out. After it did the manufacturer asked me to send it back. Once he had it he told me he was buying it back (for less than I paid, and shipping on me-twice). Then he quickly "retired".
It started to come out after I owned the gun that the design was flawed and the gun could be fired when in an OOB (out of battery condition, where the bolt is not completely locked up in the forward position).
After Ray Vin, the Garrow Firearm Development design showed up with the two locking ball design which supposedly addressed the issue, but now the owner of that company seems to have disappeared after taking some peoples $$.
I've have not heard of many problems with the .22 WMR. The .17 HMR is a different animal, the difficulty in producing a semi auto in that caliber were addressed by Savage in the A17 with it delayed blowback design. I have an A17 which is a great gun. For the $$, I like it enough that I had the barrel cut and threaded for a suppressor. After cutting, it got even more accurate (common) and is a blast to shoot even with the terrible fake AccuTrigger that occasionally double fires (Savage is aware of problem, but has done nothing to fix it). I even tried a Jard trigger ($250) to no avail. It is the third Jard trigger product I have tried in various firearms and it will be the last.
With the current brand being discussed in .22 WMR, it seems the only semi auto rimfire in .22 WMR or .17 HMR that I have not heard issues about is Alexander Arms.
 
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I called Magnum Research and told them the story. They had me mail them the rifle back on their dime. They called me after a few days and said they cleaned the rifle up and it shot fine. I said I didn't want that same rifle back. They sent me a new rifle back to me. They treated me very well. I asked them was it a rifle or ammo problem? They didn't give me a definite answer.
Still would like to know what caused the problem, can't complain though.
I have to say I was lucky I was wearing safety glasses when it blew. I have fired many rounds of ammo through the years without glasses on. You just never know when something can happen.
 
Canineshooter,
just had the same exact thing happen to me! Just bought an MR .22 mag this week for a gopher rifle for the wife and went out to sight it in for her. First three rounds, no problem on the fourth the gun blew up! Same thing with the frags in the face and eyes but also completely obliterated the magazine! What’s really weird though is the casing looked exactly like the one you have pictured. I was using federal 40 grain so hard to blame it on the ammo. Did you ever get a satisfactory answer from the MR company as to what caused it? I called and spoke with a guy named Scott who said they have never heard of this happening before. I will post pictures later.
 
Big fly, no I never was told exactly what caused the problem with my rifle. MR was very willing to replace the rifle with a different one. No company is going to admit openly that there is a on going problem with their products without facing an all out recall. I've read as much as I can find about 22 magnum and semi auto. It sounds like it's been a challenge for manufacturers to make it work.
If you find out what exactly happened let us know.
 
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