My first rifle (a question about Romanian .22s)

Smokey Jones

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(Warning, I don't know much about guns yet, so this is probably going to seem a little long winded and stupid. My apologies.)

I just bought my first ever gun. It is a Romanian .22 bolt-action rifle, and I've got to say for the money it's turned out to be a pretty decent purchase. I bought an Outers cleaning kit and cleaned and oiled the barrel and all of the slidy bits that seemed important (basically, I cleaned and lubed the whole thing with the exception of the trigger mechanism).

Experimenting in my apartment (safety on, barrel pointed at the couch!), I initially had some problems with failure to feed reliably from the magazine. Often, the front of the first cartridge in the magazine would pop up (literally, spring up) and get jammed in the action. Also the back of the last cartridge would not advance properly and the bottom of the bolt would miss it as I was sliding the action forward.

I was able to clear up the problem of the last cartridge not feeding properly. I took apart the magazine, and I discovered that the rhomboid upside-down U shaped thing that pushes the bullets up was bent so I bent it back.

Yesterday I took it to the range for the first time, and it worked pretty well. However, there are still two rather annoying problems that I would like to clear up if at all possible.

The first cartridge in the magazine - while it's not doing this as often as it was - still pops up too far in front and jams the action.

The second problem is when I pull the bolt back it is not reliably ejecting the brass, even when I am forceful in pulling back the bolt. While not a super-critical problem (hey, I realize it's just a $50 rifle) - I can always tip it to the side and make the brass fall out - it would be nice if I could cycle the action while keeping the rifle upright and pointed at the target.
 
This is a common problem with these rifles and it is easily fixed.

There is a bar on the left side of the bolt that slides back and forth in a recess. This is a combination firing pin and ejector. A buildup of crud in the recess and possibly a burr or two on the pin is causing it to stick, causing the feeding and ejection problems you have described.

The firing pin/ejector is held in place with a small pin that fits vertically through the bolt. Take a small punch and drive the retaining pin out. Now pull out the firing pin/ejector from the recess. Thoroughly clean everything. Then polish the firing pin/ejector to remove any burrs. I used a dremel for this but you could do just as well with some crokus cloth or another polishing agent.

Lightly lubricate and reassemble. The firing pin should move freely back and forth in it's recess now and you problem should be solved.

I love my rifle. It is very accurate (.5" at 50 yds with RWS subsonic hollow points) and very reliable. I normally shoot Remington 36gr HVHP Golen Bullets through mine and it is "minute of squirrel"accurate out to 50 yds. with the iron sights.
 
Ok, I removed the firing pin/ejector thingy and polished it some with a wire brush bit that I had in my Dremel kit (careful not to wear down the edges). After I did that, I oiled that and the slot in the bolt and reinstalled it. It seems to slide back and forth a lot more freely now, but I haven't tested it yet so here's to hoping it fixed the problem.
 
That should do the trick. If not I'd say you are having magazine problems. I have heard a person or two complain about the mags but I don't recall anything specific. I have 3 and they are all flawless. Good luck and let us know how you make out.
 
Hmm, I'm starting to think I may be having problems with the magazine. The firing pin/ejector slides back and forth freely in the bolt and doesn't get hung up on anything, so I don't think that's the problem anymore. I did notice in my inspection that the bottom of the extractor seems a tiny bit worn, but I don't know if that's something to be concerned about or not. The cartridges seem to fall out before the bolt reaches the extent of it's rearward travel. Is there some adjustment that I can perform to the extractor that may help to remedy this problem?
 
Smokey, I don't think doing anything to the extractor will help. Sounds like the magazine has damaged/worn lips and is not holding the cartridge well enough.

My advice:

First choice: get a few more magazines and try them out. You needed more anyway, right? Spares?

2nd choice: bend the feed lips slightly to get a slightly better hold on the cartridge. This can cause more problems if you're not sure how/where to bend. But sometimes you can fix a mag this way.
 
Well, you're right about the magazine thing. I established that last night by manipulating the magazine follower with pliers. I finally got it to feed CCI Green Tag reliably, however CCI CB Long jams on the first and second round. I'm fairly confident that a new magazine would solve the feeding problem.

The extraction problem still has me perplexed. There is some (very) minor damage and scuff marks on the back of the barrel around the lip of the chamber. I'm currently wondering if this is affecting the grip of the extraction mechanism when I slide the bolt back. I think some inspection with a flashlight and a magnifying glass is in order.

Still, I've got to say for a $50 rifle it shoots pretty well.
 
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