Browning Medalist Breechblock hangup solved.

bushwhacker

bushwhacker

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My Medalist started misfiring. I stripped down the breechblock, removing crud and lubricated. Problem persisted. Close examination revealed that the breechblock would hang open by about 1/32". I could make it work by leaving the draw-down screw for the barrel slightly loose. Nobody could seem to offer any insight. After a lot of colourful language I stopped using it much. One day after cleaning, I tightend the barrel down, picked the pistol up, racked the Breechblock and checked. Yep open a crack. For no apparent reason, this time I lifted up the rear sight AND THE BREECHBLOCK CLOSED. I pulled up on the rear sight, nope, didn't help, pulled slightly harder, and my problem was solved. On these pistols, the sight is fixed to the barrel and the breechblock has a groove to slide over the base of the sight. No the gun was never dropped, but maybe I bumped the sight when cleaning. For those of you who think I should have caught on to this right away, sorry. I post this not just to make myself look silly, but because someone else may have the same problem.
 
I love the first series of Browning 22 pistols... at least the Challenger and Medalist (haven't shot the Nomad): They are accurate, simple to clean and reliable with decent ammunition.

When I clean mine I usually detach the barrel from the receiver: doing so as you note the rear sight/bar comes off with it. Never had the problem you mentioned but I'd suspect the rear sight elevation screw/bar has a burr (or just excess friction) that catches on the block in the groove it sits.(the sight is elevated by pressure onto the block groove by the elevation screw) I have always put a drop of lube here to minimize wear...
 
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