M22 broken in

[Michigan Joe]

I had been a little upset over my ISSC M22 pistol because it jammed a lot. Today, however, when I took it out and put at least 200 rounds through it, there were ZERO jams. No failures to feed and no failure to fire. I used Blazer uncoated roundnose ammo.

I took it out two weeks ago and it did jam a couple of times. I had not cleaned it since, yet it worked perfectly.

I have probably put through at least a thousand rounds through it, maybe 1500. It certainly feels like a different gun. Everything feels smoother.

In addition, I had been having trouble hitting the target with it. I took care of that by adopting the hints contained in the U.S. Army pistol training manual that I posted on this site a few weeks back. My accuracy improved greatly by studying the basics set out in the training manual. I don't think I'll ever be shooting quarters out of the air by moonlight any time soon, but I am beginning to see what might be charitably classified as a "group" on the target.

By the way, 70 degrees and sunny in the Great Lakes State today. Perfect shooting weather, as is every day.

[imschur]

yep some guns need a few hundred rounds to smooth them out

[Microgunner]

My M22 came with two recoil springs of different rates. One or the other usually has been able to make the pistol run reliably.

[Michigan Joe]

I heard there were modifications that could be made to smooth out the trigger pull on the M22. Mine is really rough. I don't know if that will improve with time. Dies anyone know of these modifications? 

Oh, one thing that I did in desperation that I forgot to mention was use synthetic motor oil instead of gun oil when I cleaned the M22 last. I never did that before with any weapon. I use that oil on the gears of old radios to get them moving smooth.

Well, it certainly did not hurt it or  gum up anything I can see. Of course, I used just a light coating.

[Michigan Joe]

To those who are considering an ISSC M22 pistol, which sells for $200 most places, I'll bring you up to date on my latest trip to the shooting area out back.

I went out back today for about an hour and shot my M22, Browning Buckmark Challenger II (bought in 1983), and the Sig 522 rifle. The only ammo I used was CCI Blazers.  They are 40 grain roundnose. I shot as fast as I could load magazines and finished up a 525 bullet box of the Blazers that I had started a few weeks ago.

The M22, which had a lot of failures to eject when it was new, repeated its excellent performance this time out.  I know for sure that I fired at least 15 full magazines of ten rounds.  There was one failure to fire.  Zero failures to eject.  The gun worked flawlessly.  I must have at least 1500 - 2000 rounds through it by now. I recommend that if you buy one you shoot up a 1,000 rounds at least before you judge what it can do.

Of course, the Buckmark worked the same way, no problems.  I shot up at least 80 rounds, and there was one failure to fire. No failures to eject.  By the way, the trigger on the Buckmark is just really super nice and smooth.  The trigger on the M22 is really terrible by comparison.  I think it needs to be worked on somehow.  I wish I knew something about triggers other than when you pull them the gun goes bang.

The Sig 522 worked great also.  Fired about 120 rounds.  No failures to fire, no failures to eject.  I think the trigger on that gun is just fine.  What a great rifle.  I think it is well balanced too.  I was shooting most of the time in a sitting position, bracing my elbows on my knees.  It feels very natural to shoot. For accuracy, however, the heavy Remington VTR, (with lead shotgun shell shot filling up the cleaning kit cavity in the A2 stock), is really a tack driver. The Sig 522 is just a different type of rifle.  A great plinker.

I am going to pick up my ISSC MK22 next week and it will have to be something else to beat the Sig 522 for fun.  Although, the weight is 7.5 lbs, so it will certainly be different. 

So, Blazer roundnose ammo did the job today with all three of the guns.