AMT Lightning Light Strike/Misfires

[Noah]

My Dad came upon an AMT Lightning .22LR Pistol that his friend no longer wanted. The gun had not been fired in years. He had me strip and clean it, and then we took it out back for a try. First 2 rounds didn't fire (light strike? The firing pin had hit the round but the indentation was noticeably small) and from then on we had 2 FTEs (an old clone .22, no surprise) and a misfire rate of 10-60% through maybe 50-75 rounds.

So any of you people with way more experience have any good ideas to fix it? The mag was stiff, but feeding was not an issue. The finish (SS) was in good shape, and the internals looked a little worn but not too bad. We think the issue is with the firing pin (it was quite recessed in the bolt) , but we could be totally wrong. Would replacing the firing pin and its spring for less than $20 be a quick fix?

EDIT: Could it be a problem with the hammer? The hammer is quite looses when the gun is stripped...

 

[wally]

Mine was plagued by this from day one. Eventually I put in a genuine Ruger mainspring and its been fine since, although the trigger got a bit heavier. PITA job, not for the faint of heart.

I doubt its the firring pin unless someone fired it without the firing pin retainer cross-pin in the bolt. I swapped these first to no effect because it was so easy to do.

 

[Noah]

Yes that would be a pain... Another clear issue that may have something to do with it, the recoil spring assembly is not nearly as tight in the bolt as it should be, could this be allowing a tiny space between the end of the bolt and the chamber/barrel that is causing frequent light strikes?


To cut to the chase, is this gun worth the effort, troubleshooting, and parts? He hasn't bought it from his friend yet (I don't even know if he'd want anything for it), he just said, "here check this out, I haven't shot it in years, used to be great, etc" upon hearing my Dad was looking at a Ruger Mk II/III, but was, as always, low budget. For a certain son's birthday, actually.

And (16 y/o ignorance here) what would replacing the mainspring in the dissassembly lever do for light strike problems? Or do you mean the recoil spring? Oh and the gun seemed to snap apart/back together much easier than the manual and all the Ruger takedown videos would seem to say it should, if that helps at all.

 

[tuj]

I would replace the mainspring (reason: the mainspring gives the hammer its power) and the firing pin if you can. The firing pin can round off and dull over time, but this is probably not the issue as it takes a lot of rounds. Now if there is a headspace issue (the space between the front of the bolt and the chamber face), then that could also contribute to light strikes. So I would replace the recoil spring as well to help get the gun fully into battery.

Also, what ammo where you using? Try CCI or Eley; they have better priming than Remington.

As for the Ruger, well the MK-series are great guns and well worth the money.

 

[Noah]

Ok, thanks a lot for the help guys! I am using Winchester JHP Target rounds. Once the rain goes away I'll see if I can spot any patterns with the headspace or anything else.

 

[cpallenjr]

AMT Lightning Misfires

I've had my Lightning since the early eighties or maybe even longer. It was an upgrade from my Ruger Standard .22 (which I still have too).

I used to have problems with FTF and FTE until someone told me to use the Ruger magazines. The problems went away if not completley then enough that I don't notice. It wasn't as if the Ruger was ever 100% flawless either.

The pistol is really solid, accurate, and has some nice aftermarket/3rd party components. It's worth sticking with it to fix but isn't worth much on the market.



Good luck with it!

 

[Noah]

OK so looks like I should: Buy a Ruger mainspring and magazines (Mk II mags?), and replace the firing pin and its spring, and replace the recoil spring? Anyone want to add to or trim that list?

EDIT: Is http://www.gunpartscorp.com/catalog/Products.aspx?catid=8559 a good place to order what I need?

And thanks again!

 

[cpallenjr]

Maybe trying one thing at a time would be good. You can get Ruger mags at pretty much any gun shop.
Owner's Manual :
http://www.glossover.co.uk/amt/pdf/LightningPistol.pdf
You already found the parts supplier (Lightning Parts from Numrich):
http://www.gunpartscorp.com/catalog/Products.aspx?catid=8559

 

[wally]

so looks like I should: Buy a Ruger mainspring and magazines (Mk II mags?), and replace the firing pin and its spring, and replace the recoil spring? Anyone want to add to or trim that list?

Unless you are having a lot of feed failures and/or stovepipes on the rounds that do fire, new mags won't do anything for you, unless you just want extra mags. MK II mags are what you want.

Ruger mainspring and recoil spring (get the assembly!) are IMHO the top priority. The firing pin spring should be fine unless you are getting slam fires. Odds are the firing pin is OK, but nothing wrong with having a spare if yours is still fine.

I get new parts straight from Ruger, or Brownell's. Just get the part numbers form a MK II manual and call Ruger, or use Brownell's web site.