.22 Luger stovepipes every shot.. asking before I start dicking around

BBq_Woa!

BBq_Woa!

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Hi there.
I have an otherwise lovely .22 erma luger with a bit of a quirk.
every shot, even using high velocity ammo, stovepipes.
every shot.

Now, I have a couple ideas of what it may be, and a friend at my club has offered the equivalent of 2 replacement top ends and bolts in spare parts for the thing.
SO. bearing that in mind, i figure I can afford to try fixing it myself.

My main impression is that the recoil spring is simply too strong.
it is a .22, it is blowback operated, and the thing has a spring like a 9mm..
I figure I may try trimming the spring, say, one ...link at a time, re-assembling, and testing..

the thing, when assembled, puts initial pressure on this spring. a lot of it.
so I figure I can afford to remove a bit of its length.

do you folks agree that this may be a possible fix?

thanks very much.

-Derek
 
Most .22 pistol issues are ammo related. I would buy a box of several different types of .22 ammo and see if the problem doesn't clear up with that. If the problem persists, then I would look at the mecanics of the pistol.
 
Its a .22rf. Clean it. Then clean it again. When you are done cleaning it, clean it some more. Finished cleaning it? Good. Now go clean it again!:D

Seriously, its most likely some minute bit of crude in some hard to reach or inaccessible place. Try soaking the bolt/slide in solvent for a while, use toothbrushes, picks and q-tips to get to the hard to reach areas and go very light with the oil when relubricating.

Then, try about a dozen different brands of .22rf ammo. They really are that finicky.

Strong springs are required for blowback guns. If you start monkeying with the spring, you risk creating premature ejection and that will result in:

1. blown cases and rims and/or
2. violent ejection that will batter the gun over time
 
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Cutting the spring will just make it shorter until it won't be long enough to keep tension on the bolt when closed.It will still have the same amount of tension in it but just be too short to work :S..The solution if that is indeed the problem, would be have to have it heat treated and made "softer"
 
I have the same problems with mine.

As mentioned above, make sure it is clean and take a look at the extractor and make sure it is not worn.

Also make sure the chamber is very clean. I have used Flitz on a bore mop in the chuck of a cordless drill to polish the chamber a bit so the cartridges don't stick. Polished the chamber for about 30 seconds at a moderate RPM. It doesn't remove (much) metal but certainly removes all deposits and polishes the chamber a bit.

I love it but it can be a PITA sometimes.
 
I had similar ejection problems with my Erma Luger.
Gave it a good cleaning and still had problems.
Tried high velocity ammo and this just made it worse - every shot.
Then tried Remington Subsonic and it seemed to work pretty darn good - perhaps 95% of the time and I can live with this.
Hope this helps.
CD
 
stovepipes from my personal experience caused by two things
- ejector is bend or missing, depending on design
- action is way to fast. that in itself caused by either ammo too hot ( like velositors/stingers and alike), bolt too light ( light bolt accelerates faster in both directions), or as you already mentioned recoil spring being way too stiff.

I suggest you go from there. I am not familiar with design of your luger - have careful look where ejector is located and if it still where it supposed to be. Ejectors on some designs are rather thin metal strip that can be easily bent out of shape. If ejector appears ok - try subsonic ammo. Have fun.
 
It sounds like you have a mag problem. Stove piping happens on the load cycle not on the extract cycle. Do you have more mags to try?
Is this an EP .22 or an LA .22?
The EP had a way better firing pin system than did the LA.
I have fired my LA so much I'm on my 2nd barrel assembly and I had a new toggle ling manufactued from steel to replace the white metal one.
Erma still seems to have some parts for these guns and they answer questions
questions when you write.

Scott
 
Yea, is it stovepiping live rounds or spent shells? Stove piping to me is live rounds and 99% of the time is a mag problem. It used to happen to both my ruger mkI and Star model F. Torneds out it was the mags feed lips bent out and werent gripping the nose of the round well enough thus causing a missfeed.
 
My understanding is - stove pipe is when spent case is cought by returning bolt and jammed perpendicularly to the bore line, sticking out of ejection port like stove pipe, hence is the name. You will not see it happening on your Ljungman :)
 
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