.22 Revolver Misfiring

C

ckpj99

New member
I have an old, but very well-maintained H&R Sidekick. It's a 9-shot .22 revolver.

I've shot it several times since inheriting it, but I keep having a misfiring problem. It's not on a specific chamber, and it's not predictable.

I have noticed it ends to increase slightly throughout a shoot. The first 9 rounds might fire with no problem, then I reload and I get one or two misfires.

When this happens, I typically rotate the cylinder to the unspent cartridge and drop the hammer on it again, which usually fires the round.

I've checked the impressions on the shell casings, and they seem to be aligned.

I'm thinking it's one of two things: 1) the spring has weakened from use or 2) the hammer has worn down.

Are these the most likely problems, or am I missing something. Also, what can I do to solve either of these problems?

Is there a particular ammo that doesn't require as much force from the hammer to fire?

The gun has been well-cared for and is well-lubricated. Any suggestions?

Thanks.
 
Could be the mainspring, but my gut is telling me it is fouling in the chambers keeping the rounds from seating fully: the blow from the hammer seats the cartridges but is cushioned by the gap under the rim of the cartridge. Anyway, either way it is easy to fix, either replace the mainspring or scrub the chambers with a good bore brush.
 
I'll venture a guess that it's ammo problems, and further that it's relatively newly manufactured Remington ammo, or old ammo of any make. (I've recently had misfire rates of 2-3% in several brands of Remington ammo). Try rotating the cartridge 180 degrees in the cylinder, and refiring it. If that works, it's likely from poorly applied priming compound, and not the fault of your revolver.

It's likely gun related if you can fire a .22 by hitting the same firing pin mark a second time. That would indicate a weak spring, as would a very light firing pin mark.

Filthy chambers are also a possibility. I ran into that once while running an entire brick of .22s through a Taurus M94 in one sitting.
 
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