A22 22WMR Misfires

[A22shooter]

I picked up a NIB A22 22WMR from a seller on CGN (Canadian Gun Nutz). This is my first savage rifle - I'm a winchester/marlin guy, but I wanted a 22wmr auto, so options were somewhat limited. It shoots well, but misfires with winchester super-X - about a third of the time. If I retry the round, it usually fires on the second round. I've picked up a couple of other brands (CCI, Horndady) that I'll try this weekend.

I've checked online and the mis-fire seems to be a fairly common problem with A22's. Is anyone aware of a fix for this? A replacement firing pin spring maybe?

More that a bit disappointed with this and considering the design and quality of this rifle, not reliably firing seems really out-of-line. Other manufacturers had this problem solved over a century ago. What the hell happened at Savage??? Even the "poorly made rifles" of the last half-decade - post 64 winchesters and the marlin/remington misfits always fire when you pull the trigger.

Thanks in advance for any tips you can provide.

Werner

[Don G]

It will be interesting to see if it's the ammo. I have a A22 (LR) that I shoot CCI standard velocity in tactical Matches. Never had a failure to fire. Started out with CCI mini mags - never had a failure to fire with them either - but they were not accurate past 50 yards. The A22 is mounted on a Boyd stock. I also have a MarkII BV that I use in Prone Matches - never had a failure to fire with it but have had some failure to extract problems, which I've solved.

[A22shooter]

Tried the CCI ammo. 100 rounds, no misfires.
Tried the hornady vmax. 50 rounds, 1 misfire.
Looks like the A22 is very picky about what ammo is used.

[mark2052]

I have the A22 mag and it will not cycle the winchester ammo. Very under powered. Runs every thing else just fine.

[TEMcCrea]

Just a little over four years ago I bought my A22 Magnum and experienced immediate disappointment. Failed to load, failed to fire and failed to eject. When I did get a round to fire, it just kinda fell out of the receiver rather than being ejected. The first attempt was with CCI Landry Signature ammo, then tried some Remington and later, CCI A22 Magnum ammo. Never did get a full magazine to fire successfully. I returned the rifle and explained that I had found a burr in the hole for the extractor spring and had fixed it, but still had problems. A couple weeks later the rifle was returned to me and it seemed to be worse. I bought two additional magazines and nothing seems to help. Biggest problem is the bolt riding over the cartridge rim and hitting the case about half way up. I have been so discouraged the rifle spends all its time in the cabinet. Three weeks ago I sent an email through the Savage website to Customer Service and have had no reply.

If anyone has had similar problems and found a fix, I sure would like to know about it so I can try to get this thing working. A couple days ago I pulled the gun out of the cabinet and fiddled with it a bit. I noticed that the bolt handle had a rough edge and it would not move smoothly to the front end of the groove it rides in. When it hits a bind, it would limit the firing pin travel. I think I have it cleaned up, but have not had a chance to test fire.

[Back2Wyo]

I have a K serial numbered A22 Magnum. It shoots Armscor and Winchester with no issues. I have had a few round that would not fire at all, but all fired rounds eject and fly about 20 feet. Have you taken the bolt out and cleaned it to make sure that there is no gunk that is slowing or restricting the firing pin? Also, have you put a little light grease on the top of the receiver where the lock lug is.

I had an issue with my CZ 455 17HMR and found that there was gunk on the firing pin. Cleaned and lube it. Runs like new.

The only issue I've had was when I put the A22 in a Boyd At-One stock. I had mag issues in that stock. Boyd has that stock for review. The same type of stock works fine with my A17.