S&W 617 4" primer strike issues?

[hufnagel]

Ammo: Federal FED750 lot 1HJ631

Picture shows:
(left) Beretta M9-22 primer strike
(middle) S&W 617 primer strikes
(right) Ruger SR-22 primer strike

The Beretta and Ruger have had no noticeable recurring primer strike issues. The S&W 617 has been exhibiting regular FTF problems. As you can see every round ignited after a second strike. I'm wondering if anyone else has one of these, and can compare what their primer strikes look like in relation to mine? I'm thinking about sending it back to S&W and gave them give it a going over, but I want to check around first.

Thanks!

note: the picture source is YUGE, so open it in a new tab to get some serious magnification, if you want.

[jandbj]

Check the strain screw. Also, does it only happen with that ammo? Some of the bulk pack Federal I have from years back is gtg, some recent stuff seems to have spotty QC.

[Malamute]

If the mainspring strain screw in the front of the grip frame is snug, and cleaning and lubing dont help, Id try a new factory mainspring from Brownells or Midway or whoever first. Saving the time, shipping wait and potential loss and such would be worth trying a new spring first to me.


https://www.brownells.com/handgun-pa...ith+%26+wesson

[hufnagel]

The only other ammo I've shot in bulk as been a bunch of CI that I bought near the end of The Great Drought. That stuff was/is (all gone now) horrid in everything, so I wasn't faulting the pistol for any troubles I was having.

In the case of this ammo I can tell you at this last outing we shot...
98 through the kid's Henry rifle
195 through the Ruger SR-22 (also the kid)
345 through the Beretta M9-22 (mostly me)
140 through the S&W 617

only the 617 experienced any issues, and while I didn't keep exact notes on failures, it was at least 10.

[farscott]

Have you tried a "plunk test" in each of the cylinder's charge holes? I am wondering if the first firing pin strike is fully seating the round and the second is firing it. If the rounds do not fully drop into each charge hole, a good cleaning is indicated. A common issue is a carbon ring that forms at the point on the charge hole where the bullet enters the case. A good chamber scrubbing after a soak with a nice powder solvent will eliminate any carbon ring.

[Wheeler]

Those are pretty solid dimples, I’d suspect a combination of ammo and firing pin geometry. Try something different and see if you get the same level of inconsistency.

For instance, if you are getting five failures per 100 rounds with the 617 run 100 rounds of the same ammo through a different gun and see if the failure rate is the same. Then swap ammo.

Keep in mind the reputation .22LR has for failures is directly related to the quality of the ammo. Bulk pack ammo being the biggest culprit.

[Pistol Pete 10]

Try some CCI ammo, the others are suspect.

[LtDave]

Try some CCI ammo, the others are suspect.

Back when I used to gauge rim thickness on my .22 ammo for match use, I found that CCI rims ran thicker than a lot of other brands. Thinner rims will increase headspace and can lead to misfires. The CCI stuff was consistently a lot closer to .040 than some other cheaper bulk stuff that would go as low as .035. Sorting by rim thickness helped eliminate a lot of unexplained fliers at longer ranges in my rifles.

[hufnagel]

Got back out a couple days ago, after having completely disassembled the firearm, cleaned it thoroughly (especially the firing pin channel), lubed and reassembled.
Finished off some remainders of Federal.... 128 of 750 and 128 of 745 (don't ask about the weird numbers.) each part number had 2-3 2nd strike requiring rounds each.
Ran a 100 count of CCI 0031 .22LR 36 HP through it with no failures.

The strike marks on the rounds that didn't fire initially looked notably less indented.

[RevolverRob]

It strikes me as odd when a DA revolver won't set off a primer. When I shot bullseye I shot a lot of rimfire, most of it through a Smith 41 and an H&R Target Revolver. I found that most everything would ignite in the revolver double action, but mediocre primers had trouble in the Smith. That said, I've long suspected that this is because of the firing pin shape and size. I've never understood why Smith went with a round firing pin on the 617 (or the 41 for that matter), flat and long firing pins (like those in the M9-22 you show) seem to more reliably ignite questionable ammo.

Make sure you've cleaned the firing pin channel. Anything that slows the interior of a rimfire firing pin can cause FTFs.