Ruger SR22 feeding and extracting problems

[Trucker76]

So this past xmas I got my 12yo daughter a ruger sr22 as her first handgun. It's had about 500 rounds through it and it's having some issues feeding. Racking the slide by hand sometimes you have to push it forward to feed the first round out of the clip. The nose will hang up on the feed ramp. Also we have been having some issues with the fired case not extracting from the chamber. Now while this is giving her good practice clearing jams it is an issue and we joined a .22 bullseye league starting in a few weeks. Usually the stuck case needs pried out with a fine flathead screwdriver.

Now I am a budding amateur gunsmith. I have been doing a ton of reading and watching gunsmithing videos and I think I can tackle this one myself. I'm thinking polishing the feed ramp and chamber could fix the problem. I don't have any stones yet for polishing the feed ramp but I do have a rotary tool with polishing compound and attachments. Would this be ok for polishing the feed ramp? Also the technique I have seen for polishing the chamber involves taping a strip of fine grit sandpaper to a rotary tool shaft and spinning it in the chamber letting the centrifugal force press the paper against the chamber walls smoothing them out. Does this sound right? If so what grit would be recommended?

Before you ask yes the weapon is cleaned after each use. I have her take it to the bench, field strip it, clean out the action and barrel, and run a lightly oiled patch through the barrel before reassembly. Even with the weapon freshly cleaned these extraction problems can happen from the first clip. I did notice the extractor spring isn't very stiff, but then again I'm not sure how stiff a .22 extractor should be. I know my xd45 extractor is very stiff.

[HSMaxim]

Being inexperienced, I'd avoid using any power tool.
Google dremel polish feedramp and you'll see why.

You risk getting the power tool into the rifling and if you polish the ramp too much, you risk bulging cases.

Anything you try, do it by hand.
I suggest you try a wool mop or wire brush covered in J-B compound turned by hand to polish the chamber.


One last thing, if the gun has been dry fired, you may have an indentation in the chamber area from the firing pin, this can allow the cases to get stuck.
There is a proper way to fix this, a file or dremmel is not the proper way.

[Trucker76]

Being inexperienced, I'd avoid using any power tool.
Google dremel polish feedramp and you'll see why.

You risk getting the power tool into the rifling and if you polish the ramp too much, you risk bulging cases.

Anything you try, do it by hand.
I suggest you try a wool mop or wire brush covered in J-B compound turned by hand to polish the chamber.


One last thing, if the gun has been dry fired, you may have an indentation in the chamber area from the firing pin, this can allow the cases to get stuck.
There is a proper way to fix this, a file or dremmel is not the proper way.

Thanks, still deciding what I want to do. There are no marks from the firing pin on the chamber mouth and there is a pretty good flat spot between the top of the feed ramp and the chamber mouth, I'd have to take off a pretty noticeable amount of metal to get to the point that the cases would bulge. I did a little more research and as far as the feed ramp I have seen everything from cotton swabs and toothpaste to "feedramps don't need polished" so it seems this is one of those questions there is no correct answer to, just a lot of different methods and you have to use your best judgement and pick one.

[Gunsnwater]

You didn't mention cleaning the mag. I would try that if you didn't.

[Grumpa72]

My SR22 was unreliable from the beginning and wouldn't load or extract reliably and systematically. Sometimes one brand of ammo would work and other times it wouldn't. I cleaned it after buying it new, cleaned the mags and it shot horribly. It wouldn't cycle or extract with regularity. After three range sessions, including cleaning it at and the mags at the range it still wasn't reliable. The final and fourth cleaning I stripped it of all lube that could be wiped off and it worked reliably. Was it the final cleaning, was it wiping off all lube or was it the 500 rounds that went through it? Yours seems to have migrated to the opposite of mine. Oth, when I shoot a lot at the range and the pistol gets dirty, it starts to become slightly bad at feeding. If it does this, I strip the slide and wipe the ramp clean as well as the rails and it starts to function as designed.

Good luck and let us know what is the final answer.

[ngum Rights]

I had the same issue with my SR22.

The fix turned out to be quite simple. Make sure that the rounds "float" freely in the magazine. If you for example, tap the magazine to make sure that they are all aligned they tend to jam.

Make sure that she is not "limp wrist-ing" either. My wife had that issue.

Neil

[ngum Rights]

I had the same issue with my SR22.

The fix turned out to be quite simple. Make sure that the rounds "float" freely in the magazine. If you for example, tap the magazine to make sure that they are all aligned they tend to jam.

Make sure that she is not "limp wrist-ing" either. My wife had that issue.

Neil

[ScorpioIM]

The first box of ammo I used when I bought my SR22 was a box of Winchester. FTF and FTE throughout the entire box. I started using CCI ammo, never had another problem.

If you were to use a Dremel for polishing, I'd just stay with the buffing wheel and med - light grade jewelers rouge.

As for what grade sandpaper.......I polished a Ruger 6" SS GP100. I started with 600 grit, then 1000 grit, then 2000 grit, which is basically removing all the hairline scratches. I then followed up with the buffing wheel and jewelers rouge.

It took some time, AND I rubbed my fingers to the bone, especially on that fluted cylinder, but the end results were worth it. Much easier to clean now. (plus it looks real good all shiny)

If you "were" to use sandpaper inside the chamber, I'd use 2000 grit. Anything more course, and you'll just be adding scratches.

[sean7]

Before removing any metal from the gun, I'd suggest the following three things:

1. Try different ammo.

2. I've seen different reports from other SR22 owners that say the recoil spring must be properly seated on the guide rod or else FTEs and FTFs occur. The spring needs to be fully seated over the little ridge at the end.

3. Galloway Precision makes a very nice metal guide rod & captured recoil spring for the SR22. It's available on Amazon ~ $24. Several reviewers claimed the part cured their FTE/FTFs.

I have a SR22 and have not experienced any problems with it. I still decided to pick up the Galloway replacement because I thought it was a quality part and better than the original.

[Trucker76]

Well, based on posts here I tried a few things. First I stripped and completely degreased the weapon and the magazines. Then I put a drop of oil in the action, nothing in the barrel. We went to the range and shot the last of our federal ammo and still had a few issues. Then we went to the new box of remington ammo and didn't have one issue. As usual I tended to overthink the problem looking for the most complicated solution.