I have a Model 17 made in 1960 that I picked up at a pawn shop. Looked to me like it had never been fired! If it had, only a few rounds were shot. Took it to the range and put 300+ rounds of PMC and Winchester .22 LR through it. During the shoot, I noticed the expended brass became harder and harder to extract indicating an expansion factor that was mostly an annoyance. After about the first 50 rounds, each cylinder load of expended brass had to be extracted by lightly tapping the extractor rod with the handled end of a screw driver whereupon the brass broke free and the extraction proceeded easily. Then it became apparent that the round seating in the recessed cylinder required a thumbnail "push" to clear the recoil plate when replacing the cylinder into the action.
After thorough cleaning upon my return home, I tried loading exercises and noticed the cylinder chambers were still quite tight fitting around the loaded ammo. Is there a problem with the cylinder or is modern .22 LR higher pressure or dimensionally fatter than the stuff made in 1960? My Marlin 39A from 1959 digests modern .22 LR ammo without a hitch. Any ideas? Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
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Safe shooting - PKAY
After thorough cleaning upon my return home, I tried loading exercises and noticed the cylinder chambers were still quite tight fitting around the loaded ammo. Is there a problem with the cylinder or is modern .22 LR higher pressure or dimensionally fatter than the stuff made in 1960? My Marlin 39A from 1959 digests modern .22 LR ammo without a hitch. Any ideas? Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
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Safe shooting - PKAY