1922 fn miss fire

D

dherman

Inactive
New to the forums been reading all moring just great, so to the problem i am having with my 1922 fn 32 auto (browning) it wouldnt fire so took it to a gunsmith he cleaned and polished but it would only fire if i directly put the shell in the chamber would not fire from mag. so i contacted someone else said i needed recoil spring and firing pin spring put those in now if i put more than two shells in the mag. it missfires all but the last two and the last empty hangs. just wondering it anybody could help i hate to buy a new mag. if i dont need to any help would be great thanks
 
When you say that it won't fire with more than two in the mag, does it actually chamber the third round? That is, if you fire the gun twice, when the third one doesn't fire, is it fully loaded, as in the round is seated in the chamber and the slide is closed and locked? If you manually cycle the slide, does it extract and eject that round, or is the round jammed or not fully loaded?

It's hard to say for sure, but if the first two rounds work correctly, but the third one is hanging up, it may be a magazine spring issue. It's just conjecture on my part, though.
 
If the last couple or rounds are not chambering then I would suspect a weak magazine spring. You can check with Wolff Springs to see if they make a replacement. I have one of those pistols and I have never had a problem with it.
 
Take a look at the firing pin. The front of the firing pin should have a thin part about 1/4 inch long that will stick out almost that much from the front of the breech face when the firing pin is forward. If the front of the firing pin is broken off, you can get misfires or, if the round fires, the empty case will not eject and the gun will hang up because the firing pin is the ejector.

Jim
 
miss fire

I will try to explain a little better if I load 3 shells in the mag. it misfires the first than i rack another shell in than it fires the last two shells fine except the last shell hangs, if i put 4 shells in its misfires twice and than fires the last two, it makes no sence to me why its doing this, the fire pin looks fine got about 3/8" sticking out not bent or anything. to me its seems that the more shells in the mag. the more presser you would have i could understand if it shot the first two and than misfired? i clues
 
My first question is what does the primer look like on the case of the round that didn't fire? Is there a good indentation in the primer? If there is I would think the problem might be ammo related. Feeding problems are normally related to the magazine but, could also be related to the bullet profile of the ammo you are using. The firing pin should move easily in the channel of the slide. There is also a pin on the rear of the spring that must be there as well. The length of the small round part of the firing pin that sticks through the breach is about 8.5 mm long.

Check the indentation on the cases that didn't fire and the firing pin demention as well as making certain the guide pin on the rear of the firing pin spring is there. Let us know what you find.
 
there is a very small dimple on all the miss fired shellcaseings, of course the ones that do fire it very deep into the pirimer, the back pin is in place
 
The things that seem most likely are:

Something in the channel or on the firing pin is slowing down the firing pin. Could also be a weak firing pin spring.

The slide might not be fully forward every time. That would make the firing pin too far back to strike the primer properly. This could be checked by just trying to move the slide further forward before trying the first round.

My only other thought is with the ammo. Have you tried a different brand of ammo just to remove the possibility of it not seating correctly?

What type of lubrication are you using for the rails? I'm just trying to think of something that might link to something above.

It would be easier to try to figure out this problem if I could have it side by side with mine.
 
thanks for your imput the gun came right back from a local gunsmith clean and oiled and polished up so i dont know the type of oil but i think the fire pin maybe the problem because when i broke the gun down to install new recoil and fireing pin springs the gun would not rack back all the way to the forward safety notch i had to put the mag back in to get it completey back but if i took the firing pin assb. out it seemed to work the way it should the springs were supposed to be new browning FN parts, i have the same problem when i reassembely had to put the mag in to lock the slide back i thought that was odd is yours that way?
 
Mine is from the German army (WWII). It doesn't lock the slide to the rear when the last round is fired. It was never designed to do that. There are two notches for the safety lever. The first is used when there is a round in the chamber. The second notch is used to lock the slide in the proper position to turn the barrel to remove the slide. It also works in that position to put it back together again.

I wonder if they possibly sent you a slide spring for a 1910 instead of the one for a 1922. I believe the 1922 has a longer barrel and would need a longer slide spring. The firing pin spring does put some forward pressure on the slide but it probably wouldn't be quite enough to move it all the way forward if a round was chambering. I think you can get the right spring from Wolff Springs. At least they did have springs listed for this pistol a couple of years ago. That is the last time I remember looking for them.
 
Thread resurrection; similar problem

So, I have a post-war FN Browning 1922 ("A" prefix). Beautiful gun! The problem is that is won't fire with more than two rounds in the magazine (and I've tried more than one magazine). And note that I say it won't "fire". Not that it won't cycle properly - it won't fire. No firing pin marks on the ammo (and yes, different ammo types, too).

With more than two rounds in the mag, it goes click. With two rounds in the mag, it goes bang and cycles both rounds properly. Both my mags are proper, period correct FN mags - one came with the gun, the other bought separately.

Any ideas?
 
I'll venture a guess: something is activating the magazine safety. Maybe some crud, maybe the heavier loaded magazine is sitting a bit lower in its well than it should... My advice is to look at the mag safety.
 
micromontenegro said:
I'll venture a guess: something is activating the magazine safety.
Click to expand...
I don't think this is the case, and here's why.
groovedoggie1 said:
No firing pin marks on the ammo (and yes, different ammo types, too).

With more than two rounds in the mag, it goes click.
Click to expand...
The mag disconnect in a 1922 works by locking the grip safety in the disengaged (i.e. not depressed) position. The grip safety in a 1922 solidly locks up the trigger; IOW if the mag disconnect is not engaged, the grip safety will not move, the trigger won't do anything. This doesn't jibe with groovedoggie1's description of events: the gun "clicks" when the trigger is pulled, but it does not fire, and no firing pin impression is left on the primer.

I find this problem quite baffling because the 1910/1922 series lacks any sort of backup safety device for the striker (aka firing pin); the only thing that holds it back is the sear. If the trigger is pulled and the striker is released, the pistol should go BANG! unless something blocks the striker's forward travel.

I'm going to go out on a limb here. :) My guess is that the striker is out of spec and/or the striker spring is too weak, and the projection that engages the sear is projecting from the striker channel underneath the slide and hanging up on the cartridge rim as it travels forward. My theory is that when the magazine only contains 1-2 cartridges, the upwards pressure on the remaining rounds is light enough that the striker can "skip" over the rims as it contacts them.

Here's my suggestion: Load up a full magazine, chamber a round, and attempt to fire the pistol. If the pistol "clicks" and fails to fire, KEEP IT POINTED DOWNRANGE TOWARDS A SAFE BACKSTOP, and remove the magazine with the round still in the chamber. CAUTION: THE PISTOL MAY FIRE WHEN THE MAGAZINE IS REMOVED!! If it does not fire, eject the round and check it for a shallow firing pin impression in the primer. If the pistol fires, or leaves a shallow firing pin impression, this indicates that striker is hanging up.

If the test works, I suggest coloring the rim of the second cartridge in the magazine with permanent marker, and repeating the test. After ejecting the mag, check for a bright mark on the cartridge rim where the striker hit it.

I suggest measuring the striker with a micrometer or a good set of calipers. It is removed by field-stripping the pistol and shaking the slide, with the muzzle end pointed upwards, over a table or workbench. The striker, striker spring, and spring guide should fall out. (On some postwar 1922 and 1955 pistols, the spring guide incorporates a smaller-diameter, rearwards-pointing "signal pin" and a shorter second spring; when the striker is cocked, the signal pin projects from a small hole in the spring retainer on the frame. If your spring guide has a signal pin, make sure to reassemble it large-end forward with both springs in the correct relationship.) According to my reference sources, the body of the striker is supposed to be 0.248" in diameter, and it should measure 0.302" over the sear projection. The striker's overall length should be 1.076" measured to the end of the firing pin.

If the striker is out of spec, replace it. If the striker measures correctly, try replacing the spring(s). Another possibility is to check the striker projection for burrs, but I would recommend against filing the forward side of the projection, as this surface engages the sear; removing excess metal may render the pistol unsafe. :eek:
 
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Carguychris: Yes, the click is incompatible with my theory, but nothing better came to mind, and maybe, just maybe the click was colloquial... But anyway, I think you probably nailed it: the firing pin must somehow be dragging the upper cartridge.
 
"...the projection that engages the sear is projecting from the striker channel underneath the slide and hanging up on the cartridge rim as it travels forward. My theory is that when the magazine only contains 1-2 cartridges, the upwards pressure on the remaining rounds is light enough that the striker can "skip" over the rims as it contacts them."

My thinking exactly.

FWIW, the firing pins for the 1906, 1910, 1922, and the 1908 Colt Vest Pocket .25 are interchangeable.

Jim
 
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