Strange suggestion from S&W

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H&R Glock

H&R Glock

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Took my S&W 22A-1 to the range. With a plastic box of 100 rounds Remington Golden Bullet ammo.
The gun had frequent FTF due to light firing pin strikes. All rounds did fire when given a 2nd. chance.
I wrote S&W an e-mail about this.
They responded that I should try a higher quality ammo. Hmmm I have never seen light firing pin strikes due to ammo quality. They also sent a printable return label so I could send the gun back to them on warranty. Well, that part I liked.
I tuned in on YOU-TUBE and learned how to dis-assemble the firing pin yesterday. Cleaned it and the block carefully. Returned to the range today with an identical box of 100 Remingtons and the gun never failed!
Prior to cleaning the FP and block, this gun had not had over 500 rounds through it, and the FTF was not new to this gun.
Light strikes with this model is not a rarity. I see rants and raves about it on the internet. Built in handicap?
 
DocRock: the surprise for me is that Golden Bullet is the only ammo type I've tried in my "S&W" (German-made) M&P and new Ruger Mark IV Standard--including trying CCI Minimags--which is very reliable in Both guns.

Twice last week in the nearest Academy Sports (to keep "reserve' ammo quantities high) I found lower-cost 9mm ammo ...

...but each time I was hoping to find Golden Bullet instead. Nope.
 
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When you restruck the rim was it in the same spot as the first strike?
I don't like remingtons ammo. Not the rimfire, not the centerfire. The 22a is a good shooting gun but I've had less than perfect reliability with the one I had for 5ish years, sold it.
 
I am also not a big fan of Remington rimfire ammo. Years ago it was fairly decent stuff, both in terms of accuracy and reliability. Haven't found that to be the case for any number of years now. I pretty much stick with CCI, Wolf, and Federal for my .22 ammo choices.
 
Allways a good routine with any new firearm to totally disassemble and thoroughly clean it...I have always found them to be excessively packed with grease...probably to protect them in storage. My opinion is that unless a firearm is designed for a specific type of ammo (my sig saur 938 directions state you should only use 124 grain 9mm) a gun should run with anything off the shelf...but certainly ammo can vary according to quality and dependability . For forty years I have shot almost exclusively CCI mini mags...only last week I had my first EVER failure to fire! bummed.
 
Golden bullet has been good to me over the years, Ive had alot more trouble with Winchester .22.

The 22A was the worst rimfire handgun Ive ever owned. Mostly stovepiping and failure to chamber. I know some folks have had good luck with them, but I wanted to throw mine in the gulf.
 
I used to be a big fan of RP .22 ammos, in particular the Remington Vipers... I bought 2 CASES of them. They turned out to be complete garbage with about 1 in 5 or 6 not firing. Up to this point they had been 100%, so I started tearing my guns down looking for problems, or wondered if my shooting skillz were starting to wane. 1 box of CCI proved it was the ammos...

I still have 3 bricks of Viper left, I use them as bookends for my reloading manuals.

I love RP centerfire ammos, but I won't ever buy a box of RP rimfire.
 
Texas10 and I have the same thoughts on Remingtom ammo. The bulk boxes of 500 rounds are total junk and are to be avoided. Their quality can be great or trash depending on your luck of the draw. The plastic 100 pack seem to be consistently good. Go figure.
I still can't figure out why S&W seems to think that a visual "light strike" can be caused by ammo )*&&^*(&*!!*
Who has the best priced Aguila for sale these days?
 
total recoil said:
I still can't figure out why S&W seems to think that a visual "light strike" can be caused by ammo )*&&^*(&*!!*
Click to expand...

Without looking at the gun itself, how can they diagnose an issue? They sent you a label and offered to look at it for free, what do you have to lose? Crappy ammo in .22 is the number one reason for FTF, whatever the platform. For them to suggest trying a better quality ammo is pretty much standard procedure. The fact that an actual cleaning of the gun seemed to eliminate the problem, is telling. One reason most of us clean any new gun before taking it to the range.
 
It is pretty easy to blame the ammo you are firing for a failure. It is the manufacturer equivalent to blaming the sights when someone can't hit a target.
 
I'm glad the cleaning sorted it out for you. But I've had nothing but problems with Remington rimfire ammo.
 
total recoil said:
Took my S&W 22A-1 to the range. With a plastic box of 100 rounds Remington Golden Bullet ammo.
The gun had frequent FTF due to light firing pin strikes. All rounds did fire when given a 2nd. chance.
I wrote S&W an e-mail about this.
They responded that I should try a higher quality ammo. Hmmm I have never seen light firing pin strikes due to ammo quality. They also sent a printable return label so I could send the gun back to them on warranty. Well, that part I liked.
I tuned in on YOU-TUBE and learned how to dis-assemble the firing pin yesterday. Cleaned it and the block carefully. Returned to the range today with an identical box of 100 Remingtons and the gun never failed!
Prior to cleaning the FP and block, this gun had not had over 500 rounds through it, and the FTF was not new to this gun.
Light strikes with this model is not a rarity. I see rants and raves about it on the internet. Built in handicap?
Click to expand...

Since you confess you had to look up on you tube how to disassemble the firing pin (?, maybe how to disassemble to the point of cleaning the firing pin?), this means you did not disassemble the gun before initially firing it. Manufacturers put corrosion inhibitors on and inside of guns before shipping them. These can quickly gum up an action if not removed first. I'm sorry you had to learn this the hard way, hopefully this will be the last time. Before shooting a factory new gun, disassemble and clean to get the corrosion inhibitors out. That and like others have said, Rem. Golden Bullets are not a good choice for most .22's.
 
The fix was definitely in cleaning the block and FP. S&W however does not tell you how to dis assemble these parts in it's owners manual. Therefore I cannot believe a new gun should have to be taken down before using just to clean these parts.
On surplus or used guns I agree, but not with this gun.
The main gist of my post is that Smith says ammo can cause light primer strikes. No way Jose! :)
 
No problem with Remington Golden's. Maybe occasionally will get a bad round out of the Bucket size shipments which I expect because of the way the primers can shift due to the packaging and transit. I have shot this ammo for years. I guess I have guns that just shoot it fine. I buy all kinds of different 22.cal ammo. If Goldens have a sale, then more than fine with me. And I shoot mostly handguns. Rifles I am more picky for target but not for plinkin.
 
total recoil said:
Therefore I cannot believe a new gun should have to be taken down before using just to clean these parts.
Click to expand...

Believe what you will. The fact is manufacturers put corrosion inhibitors on and in their guns before shipping. This is because they don't know how long they will sit, and in what conditions. Some guns can be taken out of the box at the range and fired to no ill effect. Others cannot. Most manufacturers will not include directions on how to disassemble past basic field stripping because far too many people have two left thumbs, and should not go past major field stripping.
Perhaps it's just the years of working in gunshops, both in sales and as a smith, but I take down any new gun I buy, and if I can't, (rare) or don't need to (more common) take it down, I hose it down good with the plastic-safe brake cleaner or Gun Scrubber to be sure to get all the corrosion inhibitors out-then relube.
 
My experience is that the bulk pack Rem Golden Bullet .22 Long is really dirty ammo.

It's the only ammo that ever fouled up my Marlin 60, which has run like a top with all other brands.
 
total recoil said:
The fix was definitely in cleaning the block and FP. S&W however does not tell you how to dis assemble these parts in it's owners manual. Therefore I cannot believe a new gun should have to be taken down before using just to clean these parts.
On surplus or used guns I agree, but not with this gun.
The main gist of my post is that Smith says ammo can cause light primer strikes. No way Jose! :)
Click to expand...
I had an issue with Amscor .22 with light primer strikes. Took some fired cases home and squished em with pliers- they were clearly made of a thicker/harder alloy than the Remington and CCI cases I compared it to.
 
I don't and never would even consider using .22 for self defense. I do shoot a lot of bullseye with .22 and one of several I would never use is golden bullet.
 
total recoil said:
I wrote S&W an e-mail about this.
They responded that I should try a higher quality ammo.
Click to expand...

I'm glad the steps you took helped but S&W was correct.
Remington Golden Bullets are garbage. I have had failures ranging from FTFs to split cases in every .22 I have ever tried them in.
I even had a case split in my TC Contender 22 match barrel. I have no idea how that could even happen in a that tight chamber.
 
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