Snap cap damages SR22...is this possible?

[RugerFan1911]

Went to the range today with a couple of shooting pals. All 3 of us have, among other guns, SR22s. When one of my friends put in a magazine into his SR and racked the slide the round would not go into the chamber. We couldn't get it in just trying to shove it in by hand.

This gun is only 3 months old and has less than 500 rounds through. It has never had this problem before. I put the same magazine into my SR and it feed the rounds just fine.

I ran a swap and brush with some Hoppes #9 through his barrel...still had the same problem.

I asked my friend if he had dropped the gun or could think of anything that could have damaged the chamber in any way. He said the only thing he could think of was he had to A LOT OF DRY FIRING over the past couple of weeks. He had been using some commercial orange plastic snap caps.

The range had a gunsmith so he took the gun to talk to him. He came back to the lane about 15 minutes later and said the gunsmith said there was nothing wrong with the gun, but that the snap cap had "coated" the barrel to the point that a round would not go in without a lot of force. He was going to work on the gun over the weekend...cost would be is usual rate of $60.

I would have thought that running my bore snake and bristle brush through it as many times as I did would have taken care of it, but obviously not.

He also told him a .22 should not be dry fired at lot and that when you did it would be best to use a spent casing and rotate a little every couple of shots.

I told him I had dry fired my SR many times without ever using a snap cap or spent casing. Ruger has in their manual that the SR 22, unlike many other 22s, CAN BE DRY FIRED without hurting the gun.

It appears in this case the snap cap was the culprit. I'm betting the gunsmith simply puts a cleaning brush in his drill and gives it a few spins in the chamber and problem solved.

Have any of you ever had or heard of this being an issue.

 

[mohavesam]

I cannot imagine how a snap cap could transfer plastic to the metal. More likely cheapo ammo or laquered cases (Russian ammo?) could. A case only goes into a 22 chamber one way, any good daylight visual would detect any foreign material so get at it with a bronze brush and clean everything like you mean it.

 

[6gun]

The gun smith is trying to make a fast $60, if any plastic coating did get in the barrel which I highly doubt it can be removered using your normal brass cleaning brush and patches.

There is no reason to use snap caps in a Ruger SR22 in the first place to dry fire, bad idea, if he has been shooting cheap Remington 22 in the gun the barrel could be leaded up and needing a good cleaning to remove the lead.

 

[Mobuck]

Snap caps couldn't "coat the barrel" since they're only in the chamber. I'd give the barrel a thorough cleaning with #9 and then look at it closely. What may have happened is the snap caps got shaved while being chambered and left some residue in the chamber which is easily removed.
Sounds like someone's trying to score an easy $60.
PS
I'm old school and any dry fire in a 22 is a no-no.

 

[clayflingythingy]

Never, ever, take a gun to this gunsmith again.

 

[SteelShooter]

Think the plastic "snap caps" are for function check only and are not really snap caps. Brownells sells some non-functional 22 LR ammo that can be used (black painted cases), or simply use a spent rim fire cartridge in the future.

I agree, if I dry fire, regardless of what manufacturer says, always use a snap cap.

 

[rugerguy]

ah so, another case of "snap cap abuse", you beat it to death....... :wink:

(never heard of such a thing, yes, it could happen, fail? smear, and pound into the surrounding area??) doubt it..but a simple cleaning should have done the trick, the chamber sounds "fouled", but ,by and with 'WHAT" ???

 

[RugerFan1911]

I appreciate the comments, but here's what I can't understand...I did use Hoppes 9 on it there at the range. I put some on a Q tip and ran it back and forth in the chamber several times. No black residue was found on the Q tip. I ran a brass brush through it several times. I ran my bore snake through it at least 6 times. We still couldn't get a bullet to go all the way into the chamber without racking it twice.

My SR, on the other hand, I could take a 22 bullet and just drop it and it would fall into the chamber on its own. With his gun, even after cleaning, I had to push it in with my thumb...and push it hard.

I also know that he had been using Federal Auto Match ammo...not bad ammo usually. He also said he
ran a bore snake after EVERY shooting and had done a complete break down of the gun for cleaning not too long ago.

He did have 2 kinds of snap caps. The orange plastic ones and another pack that were purple and looked to be a metal/aluminum casing. That pack even stated they were for practicing loading and were not "snap caps" for firing. He hadn't noticed that comment, but had not opened the pack.

He left it with the gunsmith. I'll be curious to see what is final report is.

 

[rugerguy]

Just running a Q-tip or a "soft" bore snake through the bore and chamber does NOTR , NOT cleanout any and all fouling or residue ,such as in this case possibly "plastic"???
Must use at least a bore brush or chamber brush...I've had worked on some cylinders and chambers that were so fouled, we had to actually run a 'finish reamer' into the chamber, one can even use something like a Lewis Lead remover when it gets that bad from fouling, but for the most part the leading is in the bore ,not in the chambers,so a good solvent and in the case of "plastic" ( like in shotguns) we have used Shooters Choice, made over here in Middlefield,Ohio does a good job, but so does Hoppes and they have bettered their formulation as well.............use a brush, not a Q-tip or bore snake.................just MY .02 cents
the 22 bullet bullet ( ammo) should just about 'drop in' :wink:


thought about another point, is the chamber actually "round"?? not oval? and is the extractor 'cutout' in good shape ( the slot that's next to the chamber for the extractor to slip in, and 'hook" the rim of the .22 case...) with time and a LOT of shooting OR a "misfit" (oversized) extractor, they get mushed into the 'thin' edge of the 22 chamber.... :roll:

 

[RugerFan1911]

Thanks again...not having the gun I can't really answer about the shape of the chamber or the extractor.
I'll post after he gets it back from the gunsmith as to what he's told the problem was.

 

[RugerFan1911]

Update...the gunsmith told my friend he needs to send the SR22 back to Ruger. He said the barrel and firing pin have been damaged by dry firing with snap caps beyond the point of repair. I'll be curious to hear what Ruger has to say.

They claim in the SR22 manual that dry firing it is fine. Is it the fact they he was using snap caps the problem?

I'll update when he gets the gun back and see what they have to say.

 

[Mobuck]

They're a fairly cheap gun. Just buy another and keep the damaged one to "play" with. Obviously, the owner exceeded what Ruger considered to be prudent dry firing.