Why does the .22lr have misfires?

[@imrich884]

I had some Remington yellow jacket high velocity hollow point ammunition left over from a brick I bought when I got my 10/22 in the mid to late 80's. Recently got back into shooting. Gave the old Ruger a cleaning, headed to the range and the ammo worked fine, just like it did when Motley Crue and Cinderella were new on the scene. Rock on people.

[@dfpytwa]

When I was a kid living in Texas in the 70's I ran around the Big Thicket area with a .22 all the time. My dad usually bought me the bargain basement ammo too since we didn't have much for income back then. I was bringing in the dinner most of the time. Rabbits, squirrels, an occasional wild turkey and doves and such. I rarely had any misfires on my Marlin and I totally abused the cheap ammo. Carrying loose rounds around in my pockets sweating on them and getting rained on in hot humid weather, leaving them scattered and rattling around my foot locker for months. I went through an almost 30 year hiatus of not shooting my .22s while living in California mainly because I rarely bothered to hunt there due to their regulations and the short time I did was with my AR 7 before it ended up on their ban list shooting 20 year old surplus cheap ammo I had left over from Texas with no malfunctions. Now living out in the Arizona desert trying to retire with my new Ruger Mark IV and with my old AR 7 and Marlin I have to baby the ammo including the expensive stuff or I get misfires. Winchester Super X forget it 50% misfires or more. I found a handful of those 30 plus year old rounds in a tin in my old foot locker about 30 of them and cycled them through my Ruger with no problems. The .22 ammo made today is just garbage.

[@FireSkittlez85]

I'm pretty new to the .22LR scene but I'll definitely go on with that. I'm also gonna go out on a limb thinking there were ammo lines that were cheaper but actually performed better than the higher priced ones. If your dad bought the basement ammo, he probably knew a thing or two about it. Formulations for primer in .22 they know were ok but not perfect. It's always been an apples to oranges comparison with rimfire and centerfire as much as I've been reading more and more about it. Many anecdotes like yours share similar experiences while others know there are brands everyone loves to hate. It's such a small round that people like to invest in their curmudgeon with it and curse it but it's "cheap" at 2 to 7 cents a round for bulk boxes depending on where people got them. I can at least feel glad its a practice round and not a wicked dollar a round like some are today. Anyways thanks for sharing your story. Someone my lady and I ran into had a similar story with .410. Shot it all the time where they used to live in Oklahoma shooting rabbits and squirrels. Not exactly same layout in WA where I'm at.

[@chiliwuililopez2911]

@@FireSkittlez85 I have 410 Stevens 58c is good

[@ThousandWordImages]

Just shot some Remington and Winchester X that my Dad got in the 50's and 60's. No special storage--just in the old card board boxes-but kept inside the house. 100 % fire rate. Some of this stuff even had mold growing on it! I have to think manufacturers have cheapened up their manufacturing process.

[@jamescooper2618]

I have found that keeping a box of RF ammo in your car for a long period will cause several misfires due to bouncing and vibration. Storing ammo with bullet points UP seemed to almost eliminate that. This was tested over several years with ammo in the box or in revolvers. Primers down usually always fire. Bullets down had several failures.

[@ShortGuy1792]

About 50 years ago my grandpa worked at CCI when they were still Speer. He made bullets and later made some primers. I found a video on youtube that toured the facility and showed it to him. A lot of the machinery in the video was there when he worked there all those years ago.

[@johnjohnson7576]

Yeah they actually used to build things to last back in the day.Everything today is shit thats designed to break.Keeps America rollin....even though its all from china.

[@SONOFAZOMBIE2025]

I watched a factory tour of the Norma factory; they still use a machine from 1912 for the cases.

[@GarretGoodbarrel]

if it aint broke dont fix it ;)

[@dlighted8861]

Yep,why change a good thing?

[@abhie700]

Thank you so much 22 for your kind video. Although I do not own a .22 firearm, I recently fired one at a local firing range while attending a handgun safety class. Your views about this caliber did reflect on what I had gone through while using my instructor's .22 revolver. Although my aiming etc did pass with five stars, the reason for the failures was in fact week .22 ammo and some of it did not fire at all. I am a fan of the 9mm caliber and used my firearm to train on this morning. No missfires and each round out of 50 discharged successfully and hit the center of the target. Yet, I have to get me a .22 for target practice. Thanks again 22 and I will keep watching your videos.

[@mi777ke777]

We as consumers shouldn't have to worry about "being that guy". If the product is garbage then it needs to be known. Companies will continue to take advantage if they aren't called out. You can't trust everyones word, but I'd trust yours if you said a certain ammo didn't perform as advertised or as expected. Thanks for the great vids man.

[@ivobiancucci4528]

He didn't want to mention Winchester

[@jawnlaughlin5]

He doesnt want to lose out on free stuff

[@texasrex2222]

I have a bunch of old boxes of blue federal lightning 22LR that are decades old. Still shoots great!

[@geoffflato6065]

My uncle has probably a dozen or so boxes of Remington yellow jackets and CCI stingers that are probably 35+ years old. I was shooting some gophers with them the other summer, and they were flawless.

[@adrianlarkins7259]

The worst .22 ammo I found for misfires, duds, split cases and heavy fouling was Winchester Super X

[@pagamenews]

The reason I am here watching this video is because I have a Ruger Bearcat revolver that was giving me 1 or 2 misfires per cylinder of 6 rounds. Sometimes rotating the misfired cases did NOT work. The ammo I was using? Winchester. I was thinking that I might have to send the handgun back to Ruger for service - but decided to go back to the shooting range again and test other brands of ammo. Guess what? Remington Thunderbolts and CCI Min iMags worked 100 percent of the time. I hand wrote a note and put it in the box with the gun to remind me in the future to only feed the thing CCI or Remington brand rimfire ammunition.

[@dontrustwhiteyevery1]

Adrian Larkins Me too! I'm so pissed!

[@biteme263]

Hmm, oddly enough winchester is my favorite ammo lol. Never had a problem with it. What I hate is remington thunderbolt. I have never made it through a box without at least a couple of duds. Normally it is much more. And the bulk ammo for some reason is even worse.

[@phillam1040]

My Savage 64F works with CCI ONLY!. My brother in law 's Walther .22 is in the same situation.After he tested with many different brands CCI was the only one that worked.

[@22tcm34]

Adrian Larkins you are completely correct friend

[@mikessim5316]

Great explanation about the 22 primer misfire. never heard that before. Thanks Mike

[@blakelawrence1891]

i thought i had a massive crack in my phone from that wire hanging down

[@talisikid1618]

🤣🤣

[@imwalkanhheeaaa7709]

Mine is so cracked I didn’t even notice

[@teotwawki00]

😆😅🤣😂👍

[@jumpninthedarkalley]

Lmao

[@renegade125anime5]

I did too, then i saw this comment lol

[@slotcarfan]

Recently had trouble with a batch of Federal bulk .22lr.. Lot of underpowered and ftf. Contacted Federal and they replaced it including what I had shot. Replacement batch running VERY well. Great service.

[@BlackDogEddie]

I store all my ammo in a closet, in sealed ammo cans with a clay dessicant packet. The dessicant may be overkill but satisfies my OCD.

[@PeaceManBro]

Definately not overkill.

[@danefoss9679]

Desiccants are a must for me in all my '50cal' ammo storage cans

[@superbeast1098]

Also, Keeping yout rimfire gun clean is very important too. A dirty gun can cause misfires.....

[@Project-ri3kk]

Pro-Tip: Those oxygen absorber silica gel packs that come in boxes of new shoes, or anything like that, are really useful when storing ammunition. I keep a few in my ammo cans (work the best if theyre sealed cans aka have a rubber seal).

[@kellyskinner101]

I vacuum seal 100 rounds and put them in a ammo can

[@shelbyprosper7079]

Another reason for miss fires is when the manufacturer puts in the priming compound it some times does not make it around the whole rim of the cartridge

[@bigron26048]

I have a Savage bolt action Mark 2 that I've had for years and it is super reliable...it never misfired, never failed to function plus it was cheap..."Love It"

[@lmomechtech7709]

Nice one...many people don't have a clue on just how a rim fire round is made or constructed. Thanks for bringing to the forefront a tidbit on why sometimes a rim fire won't fire. Oh, and speaking about age, since the 'shortage' of ammo, I have dug into old stash as it was all I had. I was firing Winchester Wildcats from the 1970's. Most fired with very little misfires. Again, stored in military type ammo cans and down in the basement out of the way of all dampness and heat sources. Luckily, the 'old' rounds have been fully shot up and am making attempts to replenish supply with newer manufactured ones.

[@EnthalpyAndEntropy]

You're wrong about the priming compound and rough handling. It is applied through a process called spin coating. If enough primer isn't spun into the rim, there can be a gap no matter how carefully it is handled, or isn't. THAT is the reason you can get a failure to fire with a good strike and be able to turn the round and get it to fire. The firing pin hit a part of the rim without primer. THAT is a big part of why they aren't as reliable and not recommended for self defense like centerfire rounds.

[@arcanon5080]

He should know he watched cci make ammo

[@TexasCorgiGun]

Makes sense, like the people who does the shipping FedEx or UPS probably don't care much about been careful with the boxes. In that case all the rimfire ammo should have bad primers

[@henrywilson5204]

Back in the 50s when I was a kid we used to take 22 bullets one at a time and throw them against brick walls as hard as we could. Ninety percent of the time they went off, they sounded like firecrackers. Not exactly the smartest thing we could have done, but we did it anyway knowing it was dangerous. We kept doing it until dad found out and that was that. So kids, just because you get an idea don’t always act on it, we could have been injured or even killed.

[@EdwardSnortin]

Nothing bad could have happened to you. Without the pressure of the burning propellant being confined to a chamber and a barrel, the most you get is the pop of the primer and propellant. Same as throwing 22 LR in a fire. It'll pop but without a barrel to travel through and direct it, it wouldn't do anything.

[@jamiesloan5902]

You're exactly right, enemy. I started to tell him the same thing...

[@deandeann1541]

@@EdwardSnortin The bullets can fly fast enough to make a mark in plywood, certainly fast enough to destroy an eye. Maybe not every time but sometimes.

[@dougjohnson5243]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/o6OkqJVvpdmob7c

[@normanquan3239]

It’s all fun ‘n’ games till someone puts an eye out…

[@rayford21]

I don't know where 22 plinkster gets his rim fire primer information, but from what I've seen from manufacturers' videos the priming compound is inserted wet and the cartridge case is spun to cause this compound to lodge in the rim. This is done for safety reasons since priming compound cannot be ignited when wet. The gunpowder is also loaded into the case before the compound dries. If you strike the center of a live rim fire round it will probably not detonate because the compound is lodged in the rim. I stand to be corrected. Incidentally, some early lever action firearms did have dual firing pins for the larger rim fire ammo of the day.

[@magazineman3910]

Really informative, I never knew how the rimfire primer was set up. Thanks for your great channel and keep up the great work. Love the HD picture also. Dan

[@Kyle_Sentz]

I love cci, great ammo. I also use Winchester from time to time, no complaints from them either

[@raybrensike42]

The key to keeping .22 ammo seems to be keeping it dry, for the most part. Temperature may be important also, but definitely keep it dry, and by dry I mean not in a magazine in a room that has an open window sometimes. When ammo was difficult to get because of the shortage, I had some that was less then two years old and I had 9 duds out of a ten round magazine, while the same ammo fired without any duds, because it was in an ammo box in another room that never had a window open. One of my friends keeps his in plastic jars with screw on lids, and his always fire great, many years old.

[@makuwusky]

I've had a lot of malfunctions caused by out of spec ammunition. Was having a lot of problems like failure to feed and extract in both semi auto and bolt action rifles, and stovepipes in the semi auto, even after the gun had been cleaned. I measured some of the unfired cartridges with calipers and found they were too large. Not exactly on the same topic, but it came to mind with the subject of lower quality ammunition.

[@rdr99tube]

I am not sure Pliinkster described the way 22 rimfire priming compound is put in the case is correct. When I looked into it some years ago, the case was already formed and a drop of syrup like compound was dripped into the case, then the case was spun at a relatively high speed for a short time to use centrifugal force to get the compound into the rim. This all happens very quickly as the cases move along on the production line. Obviously if the compound is too thick, or does not dry correctly, or is handled roughly (Like Plinkster said) it can come out of the rim at a certain point or leave a gap that if you are unlucky enough to hit with your firing pin, will not detonate the cartridge. At least that's the way it used to be done. If they do it differently now it would be a surprise to me.

[@GetTheFO]

There's an older video that I saw that showed them scraping a disk of primer compound into the casing. I'm pretty sure he saw the same one.

[@northernmichiganoutdoors6276]

JustSomeGuy you pack the compound it to the rim and put a drop of acetone

[@Joed1261]

I have come to respect what you say in your reports and I would say your talent with the firearm is quite remarkable. Thanks for both demonstrations.

[@1964JEDAGI]

Well you are close. Actually the priming compound is in the rim of the case, not in the middle. When the firing pin strikes the rim of the case it crushes (pinches) the compound that is in the cavity in the rim, igniting the primer compound thus igniting the powder. Sometime the compound doesn't get all the way around the rim in the manufacturing process. That's why you can turn the cartridge so the the firing pin strikes in a different place and it will fire. That where the name rimfire comes from.

[@tct72]

There could also be inconsistencies in the thickness of the brass rim that makes certain areas of the rim harder then others not allowing the pin to crush it in far enough to ignite the primer.

[@crobulari2328]

tct72 How about head space??. Too much and the striker will not hit deep enough maybe. CCI and Federal are Allright

[@johnfuller6338]

I have 22lr ammo from the 1920s an 30s, given to me with an old revolver I bought, about 1100 rounds,of it all I had about 40 to 50 rounds fail to fire, that's because it had been stored properly, the gentleman that gave it to me was elderly an had bought it as a case lot, cheap before the depression era hit, he was an oldtime trapper an knew how to survive an keep an maintain his eguipment.

[@NipkowDisk]

Excellent information and advice. Although I almost never shoot .22LR, this was most useful to watch. Thank you for posting this!!!

[@cirvi17]

Going to necro a thread here, but I purchased 5, 1400 round bulk, Golden bullet ammunition buckets of a certain brand in 2010 for my 18th birthday. I used it for a long while then put it away and forgot about it when I could afford better ammo. In around late July this year (2018), I pulled it out of storage to teach my baby bros to shoot with. The bucket and a half I had left was full of holes from where mice chewed through the buckets and our hot, muggy Queensland weather had turned to brass green and some mould had started to grow. Even with the 8 years of disuse, mice, mould and poor weather, all bar 2 still fed and fired without a problem.

[@Limicola1]

Just want to share my experience with old 22 ammo. I had 3 shells blow up in my S&W 22 kit gun this summer. Two spit cases (which sounded funny when they fired) and then the rim blew out the back end of one and locked up the cylinder. The projectile fell out the barrel and landed on the bench. This ammunition was purchased back in the late 70s but it looks just fine and was stored well. I have older ammo that I've shot without a problem. I took the gun to a gunsmith to have the case removed from the one that blew out the back and they told me the ammo went bad. They tested the gun and there was no problem with the gun. I have never had 22 ammo split open before. The response from the manufacturer: "We have a one year warranty on our product from the date of manufacture but we generously extend that to 10 years if the ammo was stored properly." I have disposed of all my 22 ammo that is over 15 years old and the older ammo I only shoot out of a bolt action rifle.

[@petercbmadsen304]

I bought 550 box of Winchester 22 hollow point and was surprised to see they were packed in loose bulk. I had many misfires and thought it might be my Marlin lever action, which never did this before. Your review is very insightful and I will now use ICC. I also shot many rounds of old amo 50 year old and never had a misfire with many manufactures. I guess times have changed.

[@bobgarr6246]

First, let me say that I am a big fan. I think you do much to promote the shooting sports, and I enjoy your channel. Now, I am a certified gunsmth. That being said, I have some insight into your discussion on why .22 rimfires fail to go off. First, dry firing is not the damaging bug-a-boo people tend to think it is. If the firearm was made correctly to spec, and has not been altered and well maintained the firing pin should NOT hit the chamber mouth and pein it. Bu if it did it's easily remedied with a chamber ironing tool. The reason it should not be an issue is due to the following. SAMMI spec for rimfire cases is standardized, the case rim thickness would be around .038". The proper bolt head rim cut thickness should be .040". This prevents the bolt crushing the case rim and firing the cartridge. The firing pin is equally important, it must be of the proper steel, a 4140 type correctly heated and drawn back like a spring, or case hardened. Its length is extremely important. It's positive and absolute protrusion can not exceed the rim cut depth of the bolt face, this should be about .035". Otherwise, the firing pin will damage the chamber. This will lead to problems with extraction due to the chamber now being tight, which will lead to ejection problems. If the bolt face is out of spec. it will lead to misfires, to deep a cut, or slamfires, to shallow of a cut or a build up of crud on the boltface. As far as the misfires go the shape, width, length, bevel, depth on the rim face are huge factors in ignition. Concerning manfacture of .22RF cases the priming compound is droped into the case as a liquid and the case is spun useing centrifical force to assure equal distribution of the priming compound in the rim. This turns to granules which when abraded against one another ignite. So the proper form of the firing pin tip must be of a shape to crush, and if to wide, the force is blunted, to pointed and not enough surface area is contacted. There is much more to consider on firing pin fit and theory but this is the basics of it. So unless one knows for certain a good precaution is not to dry fire, as it makes little difference the age of the firearm but rather if it is still in spec. Hope this helped somewhat.

[@jamiesloan5902]

Great information!! I would like to add, that Tony Kidd himself, said that the optimum thickness for the tip of the firing pin is .025" for reliable ignition. Of course, he SELLS aftermarket firing pins, for the 10/22. But, those are his specs, after years of trial and error... No reason NOT to believe him, since he could have easily made them any thickness that he wanted, but he strongly felt like this was the right specs. Thx for commenting, sir. I value intelligent information, on KZbin. Theres kind of a shortage of it...at least in the comments. lol

[@NebukedNezzer]

I NEVER dry fire anything. Bad practice. A friend and I both bought matching NAA black widows in dual ammo. his worked fine. mine would not fire every time with winchester .22 magnum. Careful study of the hammer firing pin(all in one) on mine it was rough. I polished it with a fine stone and it never misfires now. I have old winchester expert .22 that is 50 years old and it shoots just fine. I have very very seldom had .22 misfire. I had my colt official police .38 special(built 1957) misfire like crazy. hammer spring was weak. got a nice new one made with better steel than original from numerich arms and that cured the problem. good video.

[@legion1a]

The only time I have ever had a .22 misfire was when I used some 30 year old ammo that I had misplaced. When I found it and tried it, it just didn't work. I remember reading about a man who was in his 80's, tired of living and tried to commit suicide with a .22 he bought in the 1920s. . the bullet stuck in his ear.

[@ddselvig]

Thanks or the info! I never really thought much about the mishandling aspect of rimfire ammo. Granted, I don't mishandle my rimfire ammo, but I guess it's good to be aware that the priming compound can be dislodged internally. I shoot mainly Federal ammo, the cheap stuff, and found it to be very reliable. Cabela's had a sale on 22 ammo for $7.49 a brick back in 2003. I bought a couple bricks and still have some left. They still shoot fine.

[@m1shadow]

Great video! I always liked Remington Thunderbolts.. had a few misfires, but not many.

[@freeslave8824]

Excellent video. Thanks for the great information. I've been shooting for over 40 years, and I just learned something. Kudos!

[@2fast2block]

Recently I used some old (at least 15 years) Thunderbolt 22lr ammo in some of my pistols. Golly jeepers, I had many rounds get stuck in the barrel and my semi autos often would not have the slide to all the way forward. Found out when I got home that the many rounds would fit very snug in the barrel. So it worried me that I just bought a bunch of Thunderbolt on sale. The new Thunderbolt has NO issues. Wow, was I happy to see that.

[@jesseroundtree3744]

I watched this video a couple years ago, I've been storing my 22lr upside down (label down, bullet head up) ever since... I recommend it, helps a lot...

[@themadscientest]

i remember the turn and refire from when i was in boyscouts. it worked every time.

[@valkry007]

And by the way, CCI mini mag was my go to ammo for years, their quality control is way down last couple of years. Have experienced FTF and seen it with others I was shooting with, even after being well struck. Been seeing this just the last 2 years, wonder if they changed manufacturing process. Prior to that I never had or saw a problem.

[@JohnPublic-dk7zd]

We live on bulk .22lr, the affordability ensures constant range time...this video is pretty accurate, and luckily our .22s are reasonably good about hitting the rim firmly...across all brands of cheapest .22lr we prefer federal, aguila, remington, and blazers, with winchester being the worst...but even with the prefered brands every now and then a box will underperform, and we just plow through it best we can, figuring the next box probably back to normal...our stash .22lr is cci and norma, which stays still, dry, and not too much temp change...the LCP is slightly finicky, but runs thunderbolts wonderfully, and the rest of our .22s don't care...a lot of issues for people come from running ammo ill suited for the firearm, such as very slow rounds in autos, or extremely fast ammo in same guns...good video...

[@RR2BOX46]

Excellent video, I think the number one reason for rimfire - misfire is dirty/non-maintained firearms. I've shot 10's of thousands of 22LR mostly the cheapest ammo I could find at the time and have had great success. Of course, excluding my Remington 597 experience, which was a catastrophic fail of a gun (when it did work it was a good 22 platform).

[@EmmL1223]

I had the similar idea of an Etch A Sketch when you were explaining the shift of the primer in poor handling of ammo. Seems like CCI Fed and Aguila are solid brands for 22Lr

[@billryan7682]

Yes, I also thought that the primer was not a solid disk, but only around the inner edges of the casing. Otherwise it would be a huge waste of primer. However he may be right in one aspect and that SOME of the primer falls away from the edge leaving a blank area with no primer, therefore turning the bullet a little will allow it to be fired. The only way to be sure is to actually pull apart a round which didn't fire and try to "see" the missing primer as a gap. Perhaps a little dangerous? Thanks for your long explanation!

[@SAAXLCH]

I use one of the brands you mentioned. So far, if I eject and reload a misfire @180 degrees so that the dented rim is opposite the firing pin, the round fires. last time I shot, I loaded the roughrider with 6 misfired rounds and they all went off.

[@JohnPublic-dk7zd]

Our rough rider used for the same duty...if round doesn't go off after rotated and hit then it is discarded as a true dud (actually pretty rare, maybe less than half dozen a year for us)...

[@SAAXLCH]

@@JohnPublic-dk7zd I added a shim behind the hammer spring and have not had a misfire since

[@cliftonhammock1152]

Excellent !!!!! Most folks don't take into consideration that gravity and other factors can have an effect on how the 22 rim fire round could fail especially when the ammo is in a box of bulk with the primer compound being jarred or shaking loose.....

[@JayWandersOut]

Thank you! I've had a few misfires but I'd just put it back in the magazine and almost all the time it would work the 2nd time. Now I know why.

[@00Klingon]

I love the play dough visual aid. There is an awesome video that shows how .22lr is manufactured by the Ammo Labs from the Outdoor Chennel here on youtube. Well worth the watch.

[@elektro3000]

Thanks for posting this video! I knew .22LR is more delicate that other cartridges just because of the thinner case walls but I never thought about dislodging the primer compound. I'm going to keep that in mind when handling rimfire ammunition from now on.

[@valkry007]

Why would you not be "THAT GUY" You r .22 plinkster ! These companies making crap ammo should be called out and taken to task! Maybe then they would start putting out a better product.

[@Venomousrl]

he's talking about remington.

[@chrisdowns422]

@@Venomousrl Remington does make crap .22

[@patriciareynolds2729]

ED here, found new firing pin, had to work it down, helped a lot. still missed a few, put small washer behind hammer spring and shooting well now. may need new hammerspring- know it was never oiled???

[@RichardUttingSharpshootingUK]

Good man. Interesting re the mishandling causing primer crumbling and movement - good point thanks

[@joshmusilek199]

I had some winchester wildcat that was left in an old pickup that quit running in the 80's. when I was going through stuff in there, I found a box of 50. it sat in there since that pickup was parked there in the 80's in the hot summers and cold winters and the rain and snow. I shot those off this fall and every one went off and shot really accurately, so in my opinion, rimfire cartrages will last a long time in any conditions.

[@joshmusilek199]

The rain could get inside the pickup, and the box had signs of slight water damage, but that had no effect. I have also done tests where I dropped .22 rounds in water for 30 seconds, let them fully dry, and see if they shoot. In most cases they did work fine. CCI or Remmington thunderbolt were the best. But as 22plinkster showed us, perfectly fine shells will have misfires. I have found that sometimes a missfiring round will still work if you try it in the gun again, only turn it a bit so the firing pin will strike the primer in a different place.

[@larrykemp9790]

+Josh Musilek I BOUGHT A BOX (50) SHELLS AND I WAS SHOOTING THEM THROUGH MY JC HIGGENS 22 SEMI AUTO AND ALL OF A SUDDON I HEARD A PSSSST AND WHEN I CHECKED THE GUN, I FOUND THAT ONE WAS A MISFIRE. if I HAD PULLED THE TRIGGER AGAIN THE BARREL MIGHT HAVE BLOWN UP BECAUSE THE BULLET WAS STUCK INSIDE THE BARREL.

[@PeaceManBro]

+Larry Kemp thats called a squib

[@kevinhurley7021]

I have a 22 H&R 686. Ammo is around 20 yrs ole. After this video i took the pistol to the range. Double whammy here , some worked great some didn't work so well. I saw another youtuber trying different types of 22 ammo. The ammo they pointed out as being junk , is some of what i have. Pretty funny Love these videos

[@julieb8762]

I have some PETERS 22lr that is 50 years old and it still fires every time. I did have some loaded in a High Standard double nine that was not fired in years and several misfired. Reloaded from the same box of Peters and they all fired. I think that is pretty good.

[@1967Twotone]

Hi there Plinkster. I very much enjoy your videos. However, I think you've got it wrong in this one. If your theory about the ease with which the priming compound can be dislodged were correct, semi auto guns would be very unreliable indeed due to the violence with which the cartridge is pushed upward in the magazine and rammed forward by the bolt. Also, think about all the vibration that may occur to ammunition during shipping. The priming compound in a rimfire is inserted into the case as a wet paste, the case is then spun to cause the primer to run out into the rim, where it dries and hardens in place. It is well secured by the groove in the rim and cannot turn sideways as you show. Also, it is a ring of priming compound, not a disk. Misfires that work after a second try are from poor quality control in which not enough priming compound was applied or the case was not spun long enough to distribute it fully. I'd be curious to hear if this is a theory you came up with on your own or you have some information regarding this that I'm not aware of. Thanks and keep the good videos coming,

[@Gunners_Mate_Guns]

Your theory sounds about right but for the fact that Plinkster is talking about ammo that was banged around, then left to sit for a while, allowing time for the priming compound to settle. That's quite a bit different from ammo that was banged around a bit, then immediately fired.

[@1967Twotone]

PinkOld I think if that were true then rimfire ammo shipped by truck, and by rimfire ammo shipped by truck I mean all rimfire ammo, would be very unreliable.

[@neelsvanrensburg1877]

MGG - You are perfectly correct on these misfires. If you go and look at the manufacturing process of rimfire ammo, it is self explanatory.

[@brettb.7425]

I thought he was a little off about a "disc" of primer because I remember it being spun into a ring instead. Good comment.

[@ineedmymodfixed]

don't know who will see this or not, but I purchased an old used 22 bolt action a while back. It would randomly decide to not drop the firing pin, until you went to pull the bolt up to open the action. As soon as you put tension on the bolt, it would decide to go off (only after the trigger had already been pulled). Turns out that the firing pin was mushroomed on the tip from dry firing from the previous owner, and it was causing it to bind up. New firing pin and all the issues are fixed. Dry firing can cause problems in other ways.

[@brettb.7425]

The primer is not really a disc as it is more of a ring. It is dripped into the case then spun into the rim forming a ring.

[@raybede]

This is very helpful information, particularly the misaligned primer compound, whichI had not suspected and could explain a number of my misfires.Cheers from the UK!

[@deuceandguns]

I've had a ton of issues with Remington's rimfire due to loose bullets jamming in a semiautomatic firearm. They worked fine in my revolver though far from being match quality ammo.

[@sik59rt]

I have tons of problems with remington ammo in my Walther p22 but not in my 10/22. I've always thought it was because of the loose bullets

[@clintondybala7684]

Definitely i bought a rem.582 it had a gouge in the barrel bought a new firing pin shoots great now.

[@douggrimes9428]

The primer mix is dropped into the case as a wet slurry like mix. The case is then spun so the wet primer mix is centrifficly thrown into the rim of the case. Then it is placed into a warm "dryer" and then filled.with propellent and bullet seated. Thats how they are primed.

[@nycdoc1500]

Rimfire ammo is made of brass, as the temps get lower the brass goes from being malleable to brittle, when the temps go below 40 farenheight the rims starts to get harder and the action of the firing pin may not have it's desired results. Die cast zinc also becomes brittle below 40. If you have rimfire ammo that shoots with no problem in colder climes, that use it in the winter.

[@jebolandutawacana]

This video is very informative. Thank you 22plinkster.

[@gitgeezer]

I've been shooting .22 LR ammo since 1961. From 1961 to 1999 I NEVER had a misfire or misfeed in any gun that I was shooting. Remington 514 Boys Carbine, Ruger 10/22, Ruger Single six, S&W 41, S&W 17, Ruger Mark 2 & 3...and others. Never a dud, never a failure to feed. Recently I've had a ton of misfeeds and misfires in a S&W 22 M&P Compact and a Browning 1911-22. In every instance, it was Winchester ammo. CCI, Aquila, Federal...no problems at all.

[@apvan9586]

Another added point...some manufacturers insert a wet paste, spin the case and then let it dry...drop the cartridge on a hard surface will fracture the primer compound, causing it to dislodge from its position, again, as you said, causing a void in the rim, resulting in a misfire.

[@3347861]

The chamber can also become dented through dry firing. With the case unsupported under the firing pin strike area the rim deflects and doesn't let firing pin energy affect the priming compound.....

[@456eec]

There are a few reasons you missed. In my opinion, misfires in rim fires can be caused by: -Ammunition issues for all the reasons you stated. -Inadequate firing pin protrusion due to damage from dry firing as you stated but also from wear, dirt inside the bolt or breech block or even just poor quality assurance at manufacture. -Excess head space caused by wear on the locking surfaces. This can be where the bolt handle locks into the receiver on bolt actions or the locking shoulder in the receiver can be peened in other repeaters. This can sometimes be corrected by judicious peening of the metal back in place. -Weak mainspring. This can be seen in any rim fire but is more common in hammer less designs such as pump actions where they can not easily be de-cocked and are often stored for long periods in a cocked condition. -Firearms that need a good clean can have dirt and gummed up old lubricant in the firing mechanism that slows the fall of the striker or hammer resulting in misfires.

[@mnpd3]

I'm 65 and been shooing since age 13. My experiences with failed rimfire ignition has been the fault of the rifle --- a weak pin strike mostly. I have seen some badly chambered/damaged rifles where the cartridge doesn't fully seat, and the firing pin strike just seats the cartridge with no ignition. But in the million rounds I've shot (? I really don't know how many), I can count the true defective cartridge misfires on both hands. Most of them WILL ignite on the second time around when the firing pin strikes a different part of the rim. But, some cartridges are true defects and will not ignite period. I've always wondered if those few bad cartridges over the decades were the result of a manufacturing defect, or if some contaminant had worked its way into the priming compound. Dunno! I do know three concrete facts about me and ammo; (1) I have never had a single factory centerfire cartridge fail to fire ---- those have only happened with reloads, (2) rimfire and centerfire cartridges that have been sprayed with WD-40 quite often fail to fire, and (3) misfires with ANY cartridge is extremely rare. The worse thing to happen is a squib load where the primer fires but the propellant fails to ignite. Sometimes the primer will propel the bullet a few feet from the end of the barrel, but usually the bullet sticks in the barrel. Never seen a gun blow up if the bullet isn't removed before re-firing, and both bullets will exit the barrel, but a a barrel swell will occur at the point of obstruction. You can see the swell from outside the barrel since it appears as a often-elevated bright ring --- especially with a .22. The firearm is still safe to shoot, and the accuracy doesn't seem to suffer, but it hurts your feelings to look at it.

[@NikkFlo]

mnpd3 how did you correct the soft strike? I was going to break the ol girl down and give her a clean. Just curious if i may need a new part or just a little tlc?!

[@SuperCoyotecaller]

Agree with the firing pin. Although I know some guns wear do to use and not dry fire. I had a savage 17 HMR that I never dry fired. I bought it new. I put a couple thousand rounds though it and got to a point in would dry fire 1 in 10 shots. Sent it in got a new bolt and firing pin and worked fine after that.

[@eugenelayton5231]

I have a brick of American Eagle from the early 90s. I've kept it stored in a dry location. I'm waiting for my Henry to come in and then I'll break open the old brick and see if it's still good.

[@PovRayMan]

I didn't understand why I felt so uncomfortable watching this until I realized you weren't wearing sunglasses.

[@georgerector9252]

As a firearms instructor for decades, the number one reason for misfires in any gun (especially rimfires) is a dirty gun. A dirty chamber may cause the round to not fully seat. When the firing strikes the case rim, it pushes the case further into the camber but lessening the force on the primer/rim. This may be only a 0.001” or so. Most often with semi-auto rimfires.

[@eddiegardner8232]

I just shot a couple hundred rounds of rimfire in a Ruger Mark IV that was over 40 years old, CCI and Federal. No failures. Florida resident; stored here at least 25 years.

[@michaelo1492]

Love your channel, and have watched many other channels with regard to .22 ammo. Just back from the range testing my new S&W compact .22. I took a variety of ammo with me to see what type my pistol preferred. I fired Winchester in a white box of 333 rds. Winchester Super X in a 100 pack sleeve, Remington Thunderbolt in a 500 carton. and finally some CCI LR in 50 rd. pack. I had 1 misfire with the Super X brand. The bulk Winchester and Remington fired perfectly. The CCI which I have always heard is about the best brand around, couldn't even fire two rounds in a row with out stove-piping. All of the ammo is less than 6 months old. After the CCI problem I switched back to the other brands and all worked fine. So I guess my CCI buying is over...

[@PeaceManBro]

I had a squib recently with that winchester 36 grain hp

[@southernexposure123]

My neighbor and I went out yesterday to shoot and his small .22 cal revolver snapped most of the time. Some of the cartridges didn't even have a divot after the trigger was pulled. The pistol was really hard to make the cylinder rotate pulling the trigger, but it was easy to get the cylinder to rotate and the hammer to go down if cocked first. When I pulled the trigger and released the hammer by hand, with the cylinder opened as if I was about to load the cylinder, and then pushed against the hammer the firing pin would protrude through the frame from 1/16 inch to maybe as much as 1/8 inch. The cylinder doesn't flop with slack on its rotation pin. There's a bright spot on the hammer, but no divot I could feel with my finger nail. My friend inherited the pistol from his dad recently and we have no idea how much it was used. It looks clean (well no rust) the plastic? grips have RG identifier. I don't know if that stands for Ruger or some other brand. There's a screw going through the grips with a nut on one side. I don't know if that's normal or if its a getto repair to hold the grips on the revolver. Do you think a cleaning of the action of the trigger would help or do you think its better to carry the revolver to a gunsmith? Thank you.

[@javierfabian8852]

Great info! Thank you!! I am working on a GSG Firefly and it is not firing I’ve completely disassembled it and stripped all old lubricants, re-lubricated it like the manual says. No luck. Any helpful tips?

[@mattsmedley.onehandedgamin9029]

Hello. I have recently purchased a GSG Firefly (I'm in the UK) I'm still in the process of breaking in this pistol & have only put 100 rounds through it at this point, new from factory. Yes I'm having a few light primer strikes and a couple of failure to feed. I'm using Eley plus HV ammo. Yes cleaning pistol each time it has been to the range (twice now).

[@charlesbarnett4240]

I have several boxes of winchester wildcat 22lr ammo which my nephew who worked at a western auto store gave him because it was over 10 years old that was 25 years ago I have used it for plinking and even on gophers in my yard still have some and have never had a misfire.

[@joerobo682]

Never had problems with the US made .22lr. the problems i had was with some of the bargain priced foreign .22 ammo.

[@archangel20031]

I have quite a few boxes of Sears red box 22LR and 22 short from the 60's or 70's and 1 box of another brand still having the Kmart sticker that says $1.87, and they still fire fine.

[@migs1575]

CCI is the best in my opinion. I've never had a misfire with that brand. Even after I left CCI Stingers submerged in a cup full of PB Blaster (the most penetrating of the pentetrating oils I could think of) they shot without a hiccup.

[@dougjohnson5243]

But maybe with just a burp.......

[@SGobuck]

CCI has been absolutely trash.

[@Bobex63]

By the way, I just went through a couple packs of .22 snap caps, and, boy did my Henry make some deep indentations. I won’t be expecting any miss-fires there!!

[@pnotuner1]

I spent an hour at the range yesterday. Old Marlin 60. Zero misfire through 200 rounds. but tried Winchester M-22 45 grain and 2 out of 10 failed and 1 would not extract. Everything else ran perfectly, including Winchester 333 Western, Aguila Super Extra copper plated, CCI MiniMags, CCI Blazers, and CCI Standard Velocity

[@DerekWitt]

Several years ago when qualifying for my CCW, I was using an M&P 22 using CCI ammo. It fired just fine, but it wouldn't have enough power or gas to eject the spent casing. I had to rack the slide after each shot just to eject the casing. In my case, I was using the wrong ammo (CCI Quiet 22LR).

[@monarchpixels]

I just put a large loop on my henry 22 mag, feeds and works ok, however test firing had several misfires some ammo was 22 factory seconds by CCI

[@trevorolsen4642]

Here is something you could add to the "will it penetrate" series like how many text books a .22 lr will go through. Just a suggestion.

[@jonasga]

I have about 5000 rounds of bulk Remington 22LR in mason jars in my closet. It's been there about 7 years, I tend to buy a new box of CCI if I want to go out shooting. That Remington bulk pack stuff isn't very reliable, but it's nice to have around. probably have to shoot it up and replace it eventually. Get all the friends together have have a watermelon holocaust with the 10/22s :P

[@CardiacTactical]

Might want to reconsider long term storage of ammunition or ammunition components in class jars. Glass is prone to condensation which is not healthy for ammo. Would hate for it to go to waist. -Wyatt

[@Zoroaster4]

Cardiac Tactical easy fix every time you eat jurky put the old pack in one of the jars

[@Zoroaster4]

Jacob Brunberg that is the do not eat paket

[@mutualin4mation]

Cardiac Tactical Mason jars have been proven to be pretty effective from sealing the inside from the outside for 150 years. I can't see how water will get in to condense where the ammo is.

[@Zoroaster4]

mutualin4mation when its present in the air when closing the jars

[@MistPassiert]

I'll call out a brand for you. Winchester M-22 ammunition. Comes in a black box, stamped Super-X on the bottom. I think I suffered 10-15% FTF. CCI and Federal bulk is definitely some of the best .22 out there.

[@zenadventurer69]

Saw the commercial for the Axil. AVOID. Sound quality is terrible and the unit is prone to uncontrollable feedback when you touch an ear bud or turn the hearing protection on and hit the volume up button only 2 or 3 times. A great idea that needs a lot of work.

[@davetuscano5939]

I found NEW 22 mags. Shot in a new NAA Ranger. Many misfires, I rotated them, till they went off. I took the empty cases home to inspect. I compared to CCI's. They were about .006" smaller on the rim dia. And also on the rim length. Caused the bullet to go in that much farther into the cylinder. So, the hammer couldn't strike the rim deep enough to fire it. Very obvious LITE strike. Even a half strike sometimes. I'm a retired tool&die maker. I know how machines wear & fail, so I won't mention the ammo co. Name. Get some calipers. Check stuff.

[@Marvin.Runyon]

There is a video on youtube of .22 manufacturing, possibly from Federal, it showed that they place the priming compound before it dries and then spin the case, so centrifugal force pushes it into the rim cavity. The cases were already shaped at this point in the process.

[@Marvin.Runyon]

It was CCI, the video is called: ".22 LR How it is made courtesy of Ammo Labs from the Outdoor Channel."

[@kawadude]

Bought 2,000 rounds of Aquilla super last December and 2,000 more in March. Paid less than $25 a brick. Bought these for steel and I use CCI for targets. I love cheap ammo for steel even though probability of a failure is greater. Why? Because it's cheap. So, I bought these Aguillas because they were the cheapest 22lr ammo I have ever found. This ammo ran great in my Victory, Marlin 60 and P17. But there is a problem with this ammo, it does not like steel magazines. The coating on the shells will make the rounds stick in a steel mag causing the next round not to index up to the top of mag. I originally thought that I need to replace mag springs (over 20,000 rounds). Bought new springs and compared to old springs, which were 5 coils shorter. No help and upon further investigation the problem was the lube. Remedy - I dump several hundred rounds on a towel in one nice pile. Spray WD40 on them and then roll around in towel. Takes less than a minute to do and shazzam, you're ready to go. And yes, I do have a 22lr addiction. Please help by sending ammo. Just kidding.

[@GP-mk5tj]

I had problems with CCI 22lr ammo. Used a different handgun, same thing. Ammo was only 5 years old. Never again. Separate incidents years ago when the ammo sounded weak after firing.

[@BCUMF03]

i bought a case of 5000 SUPERSPORT from Australia and never had a missfire. Winchester Wildcat failed to cycle in my Ruger semi auto .22. Remington never failed. CCI never failed. i have shot a lot for 40 years.Federal is good too. A Henry.22. pump is my favourite .22.

[@44hawk28]

22 long rifles probably the ammunition that is least affected by age. The biggest problem the 22 long rifle has is that American companies have never used the primer charge that European countries have. Fiocchi ammo for example if you pull the bullet empty the powder and put the bullet back into the shell. The primer charge alone is enough to get the bullet out of the barrel in most applications. Inadequate primer mixture that doesn't feel the rim is the issue.

[@jimeckenrode1271]

I have some PETERS 22lr AMMO that is at least 50 years old and it still fires. I recently shot some in a Ruger SR22 and two of the rounds felt very soft but the gun still cycled as it should.