Pietta PPS 50

SpoonMan said:
Okay, whent to the range after work today and tried 3 kinds of ammo with the drum mag.
1st - Winchester Xpert HV = Jam - Jam and Jam
Unable to feed with this ammo as the bullet will not go in the chamber.
2nd- Blazer 40gr = Jam 50% hard time to feed again.
3rd- Remington Thunderbolt Round Nose = Almost perfect, no jamming problem only 4 did not go.

I tried all 3 kinds of ammo with the 10 round magazine and had no issues at all.
As for accuracy, well i'll get back to the range and post the results here next weekend.

SM
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Holy crap, there IS a time and place for Thunderbolts? Whoda thunk it.

That Blazer sure is good stuff, though.
 
I have used only Federal Champion 36 grain high velocity plated hollow points in my PPS50. On the first 3 full drums there was one failure to feed on the last round, and one failure to feed about midway through the 3rd drum load. Since then I have fired 7 or 8 full drums without any failures, no matter how fast I fire. This is with the Pietta factory steel drum from Marstar. The 30 round stick mag never had any kind of failure. Accuracy, fit and finish are excellent. The only complaint is the long reach on the trigger, which I have gotten use to. With a red dot scope it is awesome fun, and easy to keep all rounds in a 4 inch circle at 70 yards. Just watch the scope mounts don't shake loose. I'm delighted with it.
 
I just broke down and bought one today with a 30 rounder and a metal drum off of Shooterschoice.ca, Can't wait to get my hands on her.

You guys convinced me to, now im $593 lighter......

She'll make a nice addition to the collection though, especially when the dreaded confiscation list is gone and its safe from the anti gun lunatics.


As for the thunderbolts, they are dirty little bastards but I'v never had feeding issues with them in my semi's, so I'm not really suprised.
 
sore fingers

johNTO said:
I had the "synthetic" stock version. It made the rifle look and feel toy like.
The wood stock looks so much better and the added heft would be welcomed.
The factory metal drum worked with very few failures to feed, provided you find the "right" ammo for it.
My only complaint was the lame loading tool and the amount of time it took to load 50 rnds.
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Whats with the loading tool. Just received two metal drum mags for my PPS with no instructions on how to use it.
Also had to take apart magazines to clean grease and oil off of them. I have reset tension at 1-1/2 turns on spring. This seems to be to much.
I have a Blackdog Puma mag that I can load with fingers. I can take apart mags again but dealing with that little blocking pin is driving me insane!
 
zamboniman said:
Whats with the loading tool. Just received two metal drum mags for my PPS with no instructions on how to use it.
Also had to take apart magazines to clean grease and oil off of them. I have reset tension at 1-1/2 turns on spring. This seems to be to much.
I have a Blackdog Puma mag that I can load with fingers. I can take apart mags again but dealing with that little blocking pin is driving me insane!
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Ya the drums are a bit of a pain to strip. The loading tool inserts in the hole at the top of the mag, use it as a lever to depress the follower and load a round, then repeat until full. Some guys don't like the tool much but I can get the drums loaded pretty quick so it doesn't bother me.

PPS50-50-L.jpg
 
Thanks

Vimy Ridge said:
Ya the drums are a bit of a pain to strip. The loading tool inserts in the hole at the top of the mag, use it as a lever to depress the follower and load a round, then repeat until full. Some guys don't like the tool much but I can get the drums loaded pretty quick so it doesn't bother me.

PPS50-50-L.jpg
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Thanks. The way I was using it today, it was an accident waiting to happen. I was pushing down on the round from the top. Using a metal tool to push a rimfire round was asking for a round to go off in my hand.
Been playing around with spring tension, 3/4 to 1 full turn on the spring seemed to give enough tension.
Haven't shoot her yet. Waiting for new wooden stocked PPS from dealer.
In one blog I run the gun down, then I turn around and order another. I must be a gunnut.
 
#1 BC SHOOTER;
"Sounds like the drum is a POS. You would think a company would do proper R&D on a product before inflicting it on the consumer.
Is there anything in the manual about drum FTF's ? "

I hope folks will be clear on this, the plastic drums are a hit andmiss affair at best, some work fine some ar no go....
However we have sold hundreds of the metal drums, no problems....Providing you use a good quality ammo
John
 
johnone said:
#1 BC SHOOTER;
"Sounds like the drum is a POS. You would think a company would do proper R&D on a product before inflicting it on the consumer.
Is there anything in the manual about drum FTF's ? "

I hope folks will be clear on this, the plastic drums are a hit andmiss affair at best, some work fine some ar no go....
However we have sold hundreds of the metal drums, no problems....Providing you use a good quality ammo
John
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What ammos have you found personally that they like to eat the best?.
 
I went and bought Dyna-points, Thunderbolts, wildcats, winchester 333, CCI 40gr CPRN, CCI 40gr LRN, blazers, stingers and some others I can't remember. I guess I'll find out in the next day or two when my gun arrives.

I'll be sure to let you all know which ones mine likes best out of the mentioned lot above.

You guys figure the drum will be loaded up with oil inside and out eh?, probably have to clean her up good before use.

On a side note, who else here thinks this is by far the coolest non restricted .22LR currently available in Canada?, I honestly havent been this excited about a new gun in awhile.
 
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CCI Blazer works flawlessly in my drum.. 1-2 jams in 500rd.. And even those were for a different reason. PPS 50 is awesome , by far my favorite rimfire so far.
 
spring tension

Vimy Ridge said:
This thread inspired me to take the plunge. :cheers:

I took one of my drums apart and it's not super easy to get it back together, but doable. Refer to the manual's drum diagram for the part names I'm using. http://www.pietta.us/pdf/MAN PPSPUMAweb.pdf My drums came soaked in oil as well and I found there is oil on the plastic rotor inside. I think it would be a good idea to get that off, not to mention when cleaning the drums after lots of firing I would like to be able to strip and assemble them.

So the main issue when reassembling the drum is that the rotor spring needs to have enough tension on it when you put it back together or you can hear the rotor rattle inside, the other drum I didn't take apart you can hear the spring but not the rotor. Another way to tell is by using the loading tool to depress the follower/dummy rounds, they should snap back up to the top if there is enough pressure. It's a little finicky getting those dummy rounds to sit right when reassembling the drum. It's best to spin the rotor until they rounds are sitting in the proper position before continuing. There is also another pin (not shown on the manual's diagram) which holds the inner part of the spring on the center pin, make sure that the end of the spring is in the slot in the center pin, put in the pin and make sure it is flush.

There is a tiny block pin that sets the tension when put in one of the four holes in the center pin. You basically need to spin the center pin around from the rear side using the magazine plug and hold it until you can put on the front cover which locks the block pin in place through a hole in the front cover. Then you put on the other magazine plug which secures the block pin in place from the other side. The front mag plug has a groove on the underside where that block pin fits into. The rear plug doesn't have this groove.

All I did was crank it around as much as I could, dropped the block pin in the corresponding hole in the center pin and then quickly put on the front drum cover and then the front plug. If one of the dealers can find out from Pietta the proper factory tension on the spring that would be nice (how many turns to set the tension). I imagine though as long as there is enough pressure from the spring to feed the rounds you should be okay.

Hopefully I can go test this puppy today and see how both drums function. I'll let you guys know.
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Just got off the phone with Pietta,USA office.You would think I just broke all ten commandments! No help with spring tension question.
 
zamboniman said:
I shoot CCI Minimags 40 gr rn and CCI Stingers in mine.
Remember the manual for the gun calls for 22's with velocity of 1400 fps.
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I thought it was 1300 fps?.

CCI mini mags are only running at 1235fps anyway, same as the blazers ect and they cycle fine so the 1300fps must not be completely mandatory.
 
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