NEW Pietta PPS50 SBR 12" Barrel 22LR NON-Restricted
- Thread starter MarstarCanada
- Start date
I've heard that Golden Bullets have improved in quality over the years, and they're not hot garbage like they used to be.
That's interesting, I'll have to try some of those out.
I did initially read in the Pietta owners manual, that it is recommended to run ammo with velocities 1,300+ FPS for proper functioning. All the ammo I've run through this so far, is 1,235 fps (with malfunctions). I'm really curious if hotter ammo will produce better reliability.
Have you had a chance to clean your PPS-50 yet?
I’ve just done my second cleaning and found heavy lead and carbon ring about six inches from the chamber.
The fouling was so built up that my .22 cleaning rod couldn’t pass through, even with a lot of force! The fouling might be from all the ammo testing, but it’s definitely something to watch for, this rifle can burn through a lot of rounds in a session, and it really needs a thorough cleaning afterward.
I ended up drenching the innards of the barrel in Lucas CLP and Hoppe’s No. 9, scrubbing it with a smaller-caliber copper brush, and letting the bore cleaner sit overnight before I could finally push a cleaning rod through.
Here are some photos of my barrel even after cleaning with swaps and Hoppes No. 9 - the clean looking photo is at the muzzle end, the dirty pictures are about 6 inches from the chamber.
I just ordered a .20 cal brush and .17 cal cleaning rod to hopefully better scrub out the barrel.
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Man, that looks pretty dirty!
Are GBs dirtier than other ammo?
I've cleaned mine after the initial range day of ~700 rounds, but I only used a bore snake with some Hoppe's bore cleaner (I forget the name of the solvent) to clean the barrel. I didn't inspect the barrel much, but the snake removed quite a bit of fouling. I'll have to do a thorough cleaning after the next time I take it shooting and inspect the barrel closer.
I'm hoping to get out again next week to run some more Mini-Mags, Blazer, and other ammo through this beast. I'll report back.
never were
It depends heavily upon the ammo and which mag (stick or drum) you are using.
I had serious leading issues with Remington thunderbolt in my Glock 44 .22
I only noticed when the bullets started keyholing
Looked very similar, sheets of lead came out and took a lot of cleaning.
Funny thing is they never leaded in any of my other .22 barrels.
Sometimes there’s just incompatibility with certain rifling and ammunition
I had a chance to go back to the range today and test the PPS-50:
- Remington Golden Bullet, 36 gr, 1,280 FPS runs very well.
- The drum magazine is garbage; it will not feed properly.
- Stick magazines run fine.
- Out of ~150 rounds, I had two FTFs.
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Thanks for the feedback coolspot.
The Drum is probably the main draw for many people that like that classic look, hopefully Marstar will weigh in at some point with some possible tips on how to load or run the Drum with better results!
Hey Guys,
It has been a few years since we grabbed a new production PPS-50 and tested it for reliability. I can confirm a few things based on previous testing experience;
1) This rifle is picky with bullets. I can echo that Minimags and CCI Blazer have given me the most consistent performance with my rifle, I've had decent success with Federal Bulk 525 Boxes, but I haven't run a significant number of these rounds to date.. I use Blazer for light shooting days, and prefer Minimags for higher volumes (strictly to reduce the amount of leading I have to deal with later).
2) My rifle, stick mags and drums have been generally reliable. I get ~1-2 jams per hundred on average with both sticks and drums, with a higher incidence as the rifle gets dirtier. That said, my rifle and magazines is a different generation than the current batch, so I will have our smith get out and test these for reliability.
3) The rifle does not like the cold. I get far better performance in 10C+ temperatures, and Frankly, I've stopped taking my rifle out below 5C as I have better rifles suited to those temperatures.
4) When loading the drums, use the wheel in the rear of the magazine to remove spring tension on the follower when loading (especially the first round). The follower is plastic, and it is a rimmed cartridge. Having tension on the spring for the first round will cause wear and tear on the follower, potentially cause damage, and can cause reliability issues on feeding. Ideally, the round should just drop in place with no friction. How the drum is actually loaded doesn't make a difference from what I've seen (loaded drum = loaded drum), but damage (bumps, scratches etc) to the follower can cause extra resistance during feeding and become a source of aggravation.
5) Modern Rifles are generally mass produced parts slapped together and function tested/fired at the factory. Rifle break for semis is a real thing that I believe in, and reliability (for me at least) improves as parts begin to mesh and work together properly.
I'll have our smith test one of these rifles for reliability when the weather improves. I'll post an update here with what we find.
It has been a few years since we grabbed a new production PPS-50 and tested it for reliability. I can confirm a few things based on previous testing experience;
1) This rifle is picky with bullets. I can echo that Minimags and CCI Blazer have given me the most consistent performance with my rifle, I've had decent success with Federal Bulk 525 Boxes, but I haven't run a significant number of these rounds to date.. I use Blazer for light shooting days, and prefer Minimags for higher volumes (strictly to reduce the amount of leading I have to deal with later).
2) My rifle, stick mags and drums have been generally reliable. I get ~1-2 jams per hundred on average with both sticks and drums, with a higher incidence as the rifle gets dirtier. That said, my rifle and magazines is a different generation than the current batch, so I will have our smith get out and test these for reliability.
3) The rifle does not like the cold. I get far better performance in 10C+ temperatures, and Frankly, I've stopped taking my rifle out below 5C as I have better rifles suited to those temperatures.
4) When loading the drums, use the wheel in the rear of the magazine to remove spring tension on the follower when loading (especially the first round). The follower is plastic, and it is a rimmed cartridge. Having tension on the spring for the first round will cause wear and tear on the follower, potentially cause damage, and can cause reliability issues on feeding. Ideally, the round should just drop in place with no friction. How the drum is actually loaded doesn't make a difference from what I've seen (loaded drum = loaded drum), but damage (bumps, scratches etc) to the follower can cause extra resistance during feeding and become a source of aggravation.
5) Modern Rifles are generally mass produced parts slapped together and function tested/fired at the factory. Rifle break for semis is a real thing that I believe in, and reliability (for me at least) improves as parts begin to mesh and work together properly.
I'll have our smith test one of these rifles for reliability when the weather improves. I'll post an update here with what we find.
Yes, we offer them with stick mag instead of drum if you prefer:
https://marstar.ca/?s=pps50+stick&p...butes=0&tags=1&sku=1&orderby=sku-DESC&ixwps=1
I've found that mine works ok in coldish weather (around zero degrees).
I was out with it today (zero degrees), and I fired around 300 rounds of Mini Mags CPRN 40gr (as I had been before). I had 12 FTF malfunctions, so 4% failure rate or so. Not bad, but not great for a rimfire SA. I've got ~1,500 rounds through the gun now, and the rate of malfunctions seems pretty stable. Perhaps in warm weather it would do better.
I want to try Federal Automatch next, and also some CCI Velocitors. I'll have to report back once I try those out.
Has anyone else had any luck with other ammo?
