OK... Decided to *really* check into this `situation'. Got out a couple three four friends with `SpeedMasters' (Semi-Autos) and `FieldMasters' (Pump) this afternoon (16 Apr.) and we tried .22CB (*True* CB *not* `CB Cap'), .22short, .22long, and .22long rifle rounds from some different makers. (I also hauled out my Win Model 61 pump as sort of a `check'.)
Despite what Rem says about the `SpeedMaster' there is `no joy in Mudville tonight'. Unless it is a .22long rifle don't expect reliable `cycling' from the `SpeedMaster' even if it's an `older' version. The .22long `cycling' was dependant upon cartridge maker and even with the `best' cycling ammo one could expect to have to manually `cycle' the bolt about every 5th to 7th round. With *all* of the .22short ammo it was *strictly* maunual `cycling'.
Now the `FieldMasters' were a bit better. .22Long ammo would feed fairly well once one figured out just how to work the pump on whichever one one was shooting at the time. (The running `joke' was that one had to hold one's tongue just right. {WAN GRIN!}) With the .22short ammo things became quite a bit more `dicey'. `Malfs' were pretty much the order of the day unless one just happened to `hit a rhythm' for a couple three or four rounds.
The Win Model 61, OTOH, seemed to ingest everything we threw at it. It did have some problems with some crimped brass birdshot ammo we tried but after we all finally figured out that if one didn't try to be `Machinegun Kelly' with them it smoothed out and fed them quite well. We even went as far as to give the same `test' to a pair of Win 9422s to see how they faired. Not to shabby. Only the .22short and *true* .22CB ammo caused any problems, in the 9422s, and those were overcome by being a bit more careful feeding them. (About a couple problems for every three tubes full.)
Now, why the problems? Well... After carefully examining *how* the various rifles fed the ammo it was generally agreed that the Remingtons didn't `control' the feed as much or as well as the Winchesters. The Rems pretty much just `throw' the round up from the tube and give on cursory `guidance' on the way up. Also the `bolts?' on the Rems don't seem to be either as well made and don't really seem to `hold' the rounds. The Winchesters, OTOH, `lift' the round into place and the bolt has `control' of the round right from the begining. I *will* say that none of us are MEs, and none of us are also gunsmiths, but it seems that the Wins seem to have a `leg up' on the Rems *and* I'd expect that this *may* be also true of some of the `re-pops' of the Winchester rifles that are out just *may* also be that way, too.
BTW, I *do* own a Remington rifle that I really like. {GRIN!} In fact I like it so much I actually have had it re-barreled because I managed to shoot out the original and wanted to be able to continue shooting it. It's a Model 788 in .222. (And it keeps right up with my Browning A-Bolt `Varminters' whether shooting `Pasture Poodles' or `punching paper'. {BSE GRIN!})
