My P22 died on the weekend. 
I had been experiencing a problem with it over the past few months that I couldn't figure out. Sometimes the movement of the slide would not lock the hammer into the fully cocked position - especially if you cycled it by hand in a not very "brisk" way. The cycling of the gun by a round would lock the hammer back basically 100% of the time, but it was like 75% of the time by hand. After much experimentation I determined that it was nothing to do with the hammer or receiver, it seemed that the slide was not fitting as tightly to the receiver as it needed to be - but I couldn't figure out why. The rails at the back were not worn down much - certainly not enough to do anything like this - and the metal "runners" inside the slide didn't appear to have moved or anything like that.
This weekend my girlfriend and I had another couple with us at the range. I was watching my friend's wife shooting the P22 and all of a sudden the frame flies off the front of the gun and lands about 4-5 feet in front of the bench in the snow! The spring and the guide rod just dribbled out the front of the gun and landed on the table. All of us were like, "what the fu*k?" When we went to look at the gun during ceasefire, this is what we found:
I think what was happening the last few months was that the inability of the slide to lock the hammer down unless it was forced back quickly was because of a crack that was developing at the front of the slide. The physics involved in the slide flying off the front of the gun like that are pretty mind-boggling. The slide would have to have been forced back so hard that the front of it cracked, it bent upwards enough to clear the fixed barrel (as on disassembly) and flew forward. My friend's wife thought it was something she did. I'm just glad nobody got hurt.
This gun had around 35,000 rounds through it in it's short life. Sometimes as many as 525 in one day. It also ate a steady diet of CCI Mini-mag, Velocitor, Stinger, Yellowjacket and other high and hyper velocity ammo. I am recommending that people don't do this with their P22's if they want them to live. At the very least stay away from Stingers. I thought it was o.k., but it seems to have killed the gun off in less than 2 years. Use of the heavy duty ammo was mostly in the last year. The ammo we were using when the gun died was Remmington Cyclone.
Well... she was a good gun. Fun to shoot, she served us well. Now I have to think about what I am going to do for a .22 pistol. I sold my Mosquito and now my P22 has died. I'm thinking about getting one of those Beretta target .22's, but I have to decide what to so with the P22 "carcass". I suppose I could get it de-registered and sell off whatever parts I can - the 106mm barrel, the 4 mags I have, etc. Either that or I could try and find another slide or another P22 to get back in business with this brand of gun.
I'd like to hear what you guys think. A slide is probably going to be impossible to get. Anybody that busted another part of the gun and wants to sell the slide?
I had been experiencing a problem with it over the past few months that I couldn't figure out. Sometimes the movement of the slide would not lock the hammer into the fully cocked position - especially if you cycled it by hand in a not very "brisk" way. The cycling of the gun by a round would lock the hammer back basically 100% of the time, but it was like 75% of the time by hand. After much experimentation I determined that it was nothing to do with the hammer or receiver, it seemed that the slide was not fitting as tightly to the receiver as it needed to be - but I couldn't figure out why. The rails at the back were not worn down much - certainly not enough to do anything like this - and the metal "runners" inside the slide didn't appear to have moved or anything like that.
This weekend my girlfriend and I had another couple with us at the range. I was watching my friend's wife shooting the P22 and all of a sudden the frame flies off the front of the gun and lands about 4-5 feet in front of the bench in the snow! The spring and the guide rod just dribbled out the front of the gun and landed on the table. All of us were like, "what the fu*k?" When we went to look at the gun during ceasefire, this is what we found:
I think what was happening the last few months was that the inability of the slide to lock the hammer down unless it was forced back quickly was because of a crack that was developing at the front of the slide. The physics involved in the slide flying off the front of the gun like that are pretty mind-boggling. The slide would have to have been forced back so hard that the front of it cracked, it bent upwards enough to clear the fixed barrel (as on disassembly) and flew forward. My friend's wife thought it was something she did. I'm just glad nobody got hurt.
This gun had around 35,000 rounds through it in it's short life. Sometimes as many as 525 in one day. It also ate a steady diet of CCI Mini-mag, Velocitor, Stinger, Yellowjacket and other high and hyper velocity ammo. I am recommending that people don't do this with their P22's if they want them to live. At the very least stay away from Stingers. I thought it was o.k., but it seems to have killed the gun off in less than 2 years. Use of the heavy duty ammo was mostly in the last year. The ammo we were using when the gun died was Remmington Cyclone.
Well... she was a good gun. Fun to shoot, she served us well. Now I have to think about what I am going to do for a .22 pistol. I sold my Mosquito and now my P22 has died. I'm thinking about getting one of those Beretta target .22's, but I have to decide what to so with the P22 "carcass". I suppose I could get it de-registered and sell off whatever parts I can - the 106mm barrel, the 4 mags I have, etc. Either that or I could try and find another slide or another P22 to get back in business with this brand of gun.
I'd like to hear what you guys think. A slide is probably going to be impossible to get. Anybody that busted another part of the gun and wants to sell the slide?
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