Gun and Game Forum banner

.22 Short ... lesson learned, again

1K views 5 replies 5 participants last post by  Ten Man 
#1 ·
I have a Winchester Model 74 that a friend said would only work manually and refused to operate semi-automatically as designed. The M74 was made in two iterations, a .22S and a .22LR...his is the .22S . He dropped it off a couple of weeks ago and I did my research on these.
They are a tubular receiver with a strong action and very well made external fit is very good internals are fit where they need to be and machine marks remain where they do not have any effect on reliability. I disasembled the rifle completely and all parts are in very good condition for their age, I saw minimal wear...I did find congealed oil/grease, the springs on the bolt springs and they were cleaned and lightly oiled before reassembly. All bolt races were cleaned of the crud as were spring rod and firing pin...I asked my friend to give me a quantity of .22S ctgs to work with, he did. He gave me about 25 rounds in a baggy told me they are CCI .22S ; got the gun all set reassembled and took the gun down to the Savage Range Systems Snail, I put my hearing protection on and loaded two rounds into the tubular mag, cycled the action, it fed and chambered perfectly..pulled the trigger and it fired but did not eject...cycled the action and tried the 2nd round, same thing. It has to be the ammo, I called the guy and asked him if he has the box the ammo came in...he did and he sent me a picture..it is CCI .22S CB! I have a partial of some Federal .22S I loaded up 5 rounds, cycled the first round and pulled...bang..clank,bang..clank the gun naturally works with the proper full power ammo! I will give him his rifle back and tell him that it did indeed need a major cleaning and a light oiling...but the main culprit is the CB rounds...great quiet stuff but no ummmph to operate the action...I am glad it worked out..he has a really nice old rifle that needed to be cleaned...it'll run well with full power 22S.
 
See less See more
#3 ·
THAT is the greatest disappointment of getting old - losing the eyesight that made shooting so easy and enjoyable!
 
#6 ·
One might even call it "Supremely Enjoyable." LOL!!
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top