Rough Bore on Compact .22?

Not the same pistol, but perhaps the same method of manufacture.

I bought a brand new S&W SW22 Victory about a month ago. The bore looked so awful that I sent it back to S&W. They replaced the barrel.

The new barrel is far better. No comparison whatsoever. So that proves that they are capable of producing a good bore.

I don't know how they broach these things, but the first barrel I had was unacceptable, and clearly they agreed because they replaced it for me. They also sent me another magazine when they returned the gun, so I don't feel "badly used".

Here are a couple of photos I took of the muzzle end of the bore before I sent it away. Does yours look like this?







I almost hate posting those again because I feel like I'm beating up on S&W for something that they corrected for me. But your thread caught my eye.

I emailed some of the photos I'd taken of the bore to them, and they had me send the gun in. Maybe some photos of your bore would get a better response from them if it really is bad.

Just FYI: I used light shone in from the chamber end of the barrel to illuminate things for the photos taken from the muzzle end.

Dang it...looked in my bore and it looks bad too. Mine is on the way back to Smith. Called and they sent a shipping label. No wonder it wasn't out shooting the old P22. It was sorta good but kept throwing flyers. I asked em to inspect the barrels and get me a match grade one.... M1911



Way too much of this...and now I know why. 5 round groups at 82'/25M



P22 groups just for a comparison. 5" barrel on an old P22. The Ruger MKIII target had 5 round groups under 1/2".





as I recall, JimWY has a really good camera and knows how to use it.....me, not so much.

compact .22 Rough Bore

Hi all:

I also just purchased a S&W compact .22 noticed a rough spot in the bore when cleaning it before going to shoot it for the first time. I was hoping it wouldn't affect anything after approximately 200 rounds mostly m-22 and 20 browning BPR. The groups were not tight at all at 5-7 yards and an excess of leading at the muzzle and it was not an even leading more like 1/2 at the muzzle. It did however cycle everything flawless.

Not real pleased at this point called Smith and Wesson described what happened they emailed me label and its off to get checked out, hopefully get the barrel replaced.

Bought it on 04-12-2016 sent it out 04-13-2016 not how I like to start out with a new firearm. Really hope they take care of the issue time will tell 3-5 week turn around the kind gentleman on the phone said.

Rustynail said:

please let us know how yours looks. Mine didn't shoot as well as my walther p22, so your at least good there. Mine also leaded up quick.

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I checked my bore a bit closer this morning, not perfect but not as bad as the ones pictured. I just got it yesterday to replace a lousy P22 I picked up last month.

My story: The P22 functioned ok, no complaints there, the trigger was not that great, the accuracy was not very good as far as group sizes, and I could not get the sights "dialed in". It shot very low at all ranges and way left. I had to move the rear sight way over, so much so that it looked very odd being way off center. The elevation I could do nothing with as no one makes a rear sight adjustable for windage and it already has the lowest front on it. I just decided to cut my loses and dump it. It probably had a barrel issue and I could have sent it in but I chose to just get rid of it. Enter the M&P22c.

I just picked up the 22c yesterday, came home and gave it a quick bore wipe and it looked nice and shiny, oiled it and headed out to the range. I shot approx. 650 rds without much issue. From a solid pistol rest the sights were dead on at 25 yds, slightly low at 10-15, so I tweeked them a bit to get a happy medium. Group size was decent for a 3.5" barrel and far better than the P22 I had. In fact, I say it was like night and day. I used the same ammo I shot in the P22. It's not as accurate as my 10" MKII or my 8" mod17 but it's acceptable to me for a fun plinker. I have a rimfire suppressor in jail and this is why I was looking for a small plinker with threaded barrel.

Rem Golden bulk worked fine but had two duds, not the gun's fault. Rotated and refired them and they worked.
CCI mini mags- no issues
Winchester 333 bulk pack- no issues
Federal Match 325 rd bulk, lead bullets, not plated or jacketed. I was leary of running them through a semi auto as I always prefer plated/jacketed but I tried it and they worked great, in fact they shot the best groups. I used up the entire 325 rds but did have some stovepipes after the 600 rd mark.

I cleaned it last night and did a number of "tweeks" to it. The barrel was leaded up but not as bad as I expected. What I did have was a very heavy buildup of lead on the inside of the suppressor adaptor. That stuff needed scraping and came off in big chunks. The barrel seemed to clean up ok and looked shiny but my aging eyes are not the best. After seeing this post last night I decided to check it closer this morning.

I do see some machining marks in the grooves, the lands look far better and only see a few very minor chatter marks. I decided to lap it this morning. Ran some extra fine valve compound through it with a tight patch and jag. Followed that up with some JB's bore paste and then some buffing paste. Darn thing shows a huge improvement. It shot good to start with so I'll see what it does now on my next trip out, hopefully sometime this week. The range is closed today for a hunter ed class.

Rustynail said:

Great write up! I would be interested to know how the leading and the accuracy goes after the tune up.

It's not very encouraging about the tool marks. Tough to take when a airsoft manufacture make of a barrel is what I would expect of a gun manufacture. I hope there are some clear bores out there and ours are just an isolated few.

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I got back out with the MP22 during the week, ran about 500 rds through it of various makes. This time I added Federal gold match 40 gr lead.

My "trigger job" is a nice improvement but I think I could go a bit more. Small increments at a time is better than overdoing it in one try. Smoothed and polished the feed ramp and other contact surfaces and it feels so much smoother now, reminds of my Sig P320 and some of my well used 1911's.

Leading was cut down drastically, in fact this time I had almost no buildup inside the suppressor adaptor, it was mostly carbon/powder buildup. My first time out I had a ton of lead stuck inside it.

Accuracy seemed better but I did not take actual measurements. Definite improvement in overall group sizes with less flyers (normally caused by me anyway). I did find that it definitely seems to like plain old lead bullets the best vs copper plated. My best groups were with the Gold match at both 15 yds and 25 yds.

With the improvements I see just from a quick hand bore lapping, I've decided to take it a step further and fire lap it. No time this weekend for that so hopefully sometime during the week I can get back out after work. As of now I am very happy with the way it's shooting. Not quite as good as my long barrel MKll or 17-2 but for a 3" semi auto I'm good with it.

I also got a set of Dawson sights for it. I want to get those on before I go out next. I'm just hoping they regulate ok. While I like the adjustable rear sight option, the sight is one of the filmiest I've ever had. It's spring loaded and compresses so easy the elevation screw sometimes turns just shooting it. Dawson says they will work with you getting the correct combination of front sight if it's not zeroed so I figured I'd try the fixed rear they offer. I got the set with fiber optic rear and front. I'll update next weekend if I can make it out.