sr22 and lead bullets

Me and a friends sr22's do not cycle lead bullets well but no trouble with plated.
Has anyone else had this trouble? Seems like they catch on the sharp leading edge of the chamber.
Does anyone have a cure for this problem?

ALL 22lr bullets (except a very few nontoxic variants) are swaged lead.

Yep. I just don't use anything except the plated bullets now. Had the same problem in my previous similar pistol, a P22. Simplest solution was just to avoid the non-plated rounds. Gave my remaining half a box to a friend (of course that was back when I could replace the box with new plated rounds for $18).

Mobuck said:

ALL 22lr bullets (except a very few nontoxic variants) are swaged lead.

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Yep! If they're copper "plated", it's nowhere near thick enough to make a difference. You can scratch it off with a fingernail. Feeding has to do with the bullet's shape, not what it's lubed with. Even most copper washed loads are coated with the same type of wax-based lube used on unplated bullets.

hittman said:

Not trying to be a wise guy but ..... the cure is to not use lead bullets.

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LOL !

Even though the plating is just a dipped thin coat ... It matters .... Makes it just a little harder than naked lead.

REV

macduff said:

Me and a friends sr22's do not cycle lead bullets well but no trouble with plated.
Has anyone else had this trouble? Seems like they catch on the sharp leading edge of the chamber.
Does anyone have a cure for this problem?

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When you say "lead bullets", how many different brands of lead nose have you tried? Are they high velocity, sub sonic, or standard velocity? Lot of different lead nose 22's out there. Same goes for plated ammo as well. My SR likes a lot of plated and lead nose bullets and it also has a small handful of each that it doesn't like.

May need to try a few brands.

Jwp721 said:

macduff said:

Me and a friends sr22's do not cycle lead bullets well but no trouble with plated.
Has anyone else had this trouble? Seems like they catch on the sharp leading edge of the chamber.
Does anyone have a cure for this problem?

Click to expand...

When you say "lead bullets", how many different brands of lead nose have you tried? Are they high velocity, sub sonic, or standard velocity? Lot of different lead nose 22's out there. Same goes for plated ammo as well. My SR likes a lot of plated and lead nose bullets and it also has a small handful of each that it doesn't like.

May need to try a few brands.

Click to expand...

I share the same problem with the OP. My wife's SR22 also would not feed non-copper plated bullets.

We broke the gun in on Fed Bulk, and then after about 1000 rounds I tried a bunch of other ammo I had in stock. WW Wildcat, Regular (HV) Winchester and even some std. velocity. Four different types in all and had a problem with each. Switch back to any type of copper plated and the gun functioned flawlessy.

Recently I inherited 3 bricks of Remington .22 Thunderbolt, mfg circa 1993. The bullets have what appears to be a shiny clear plating. They all ran well, but about 3 out of 50 only went "pop". Now, you couldn't pay me to use Remington ammo, but in memory of my Dad we shot them anyway. Still have 2 1/2 bricks left.

My bottom line is that yes unplated lead is a problem!!

^ sorry for you problems with lead nose ammo. SR 22s are each unique in their likes....that is very apparent.

Shot 250 rounds of CCI Standard Velocity LRN yesterday at the range without a single issue. Centurions are another brand of lead nose ammo that my SR really likes. Most likey gone through 1,500 round of the Centurions with only a few that required a double strike. Even the Remington Thunderbolts which are dirty as all get out and do leave lead in my barrel, load and eject perfectly.

Never polished my feed ramp, nothing unusal about my loading technique except the occasional magazine tap with the palm of the hand. Weird how one has problems and another does not.