I joined this community namely because back in May of 2016 I like many others purchased a Savage A22 chambered in .22 WMR and after taking the time to bore mop polish the button cut rifled barrel and lap the mating surfaces of the trigger group?...once at the range I was met with all the FTF's...(failure to feed) & (failure to fire) with a number of different flavors of ammo which grouped great but it seemed every 3rd shot or so resulted in nothing but dinged cases that failed to feed and lightly struck rims that failed to fire...
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Aggravated and disheartened my A22 found its rightful place in the distant corner of my gun safe never to see the light of day again...until recently when I figured that since its been 6 long years since I purchased it that maybe somebody has homed in on a remedy and googled up "Savage A22 Problems" and was met with compelling thread titles such as "Savage A22 Worst Gun Ever"...which is when I took it as a personal challenge to troubleshoot what the heck is up with this gun?
(Cred Note: Before proceeding with the reading?...I guess now would be a good time to mention I'm 63 years old and have been an aerospace machinist/fabricator the past 35 years along with having built a few race guns for IPSC tactical competitions back in the early to late 90's)
So that said?...I also noticed that there seemed to be a wide range of just how bad folks new Savage A22 rifles sucked...while some could occasionally get through a full mag of specific ammo?...others found themselves clearing their weapon every other (if not every) shot no matter what they fed it and that's when it hit me because before Glock coined the term "Perfection"?...it was common place with any semi-auto to not even begin to judge its reliability or function until ya put 200-500rds through it as a...
"BREAK-IN PERIOD"
Now I may've put close to 200rds through mine before sentencing it to 6 years without parole but soon realized that my A22 responded far better with 40gr loadings (CCI & Armscor) than the lighter 30gr Hornady V-Max which just didn't seem to either attain or retain enough backpressure long enough to allow the delayed blowback action to cycle correctly which set my mind to racing of whether to decrease the recoil spring pressure or take steps to very gradually machine weight off the bolt or both and no matter what I did I promised myself I would exercise extreme patience and proceed with caution AND PLEASE NOTE/DISCLAIMER: If you do not feel qualified to proceed with the following operations DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS YOURSELF!
"First Things First": Was a great idea in that I first went after remedying the "Light Strike/Failure to Fire" issue where I did read in my research that someone cited "Burrs on The Firing Pin" as the culprit and thankfully?...this long story gets real short form here as I....
1: Removed the bolt and cleaned everything
2: Carefully punch out the 3/32ths pin to remove the firing pin & firing pin spring
(Take care to "Note The Position Of" and not lose your 2 locking lug pieces as the firing pin retains those)
3: File/Stone Deburr and break/polish all sharp edges of your firing pin
"Secondary Observations/Actions": It was at this point of bolt dis-assy that I noticed some wear marks on leading edges and corners of the bolt body itself which is when I decided to save ammo and aggravation and expedite the break-in process by stoning on a slight breakedge on all leading edges and corners along with polishing the entire bolt body and did the same with the engaging surfaces of the (2) locking lug bits.
"Bolt Reassembly & Critical Lubrication Methods": You want to lubricant the firing pin with as little lubrication as possible...I used "A Very Light Film" of break-free synthetic gun oil because to much lube on or in the firing pin channel will serve to bog it down and result in light strike FTF's and the same goes for the 2 locking lug parts but after the bolt is fully reassembled?...oil the heck out of the now polished bolt body itself and plan on running your A22 "WET" but?....
"ZERO GREASE ANYWHERE": As the A22 is a delicate operation action wise and as such?...it doesn't appreciate anything bogging it down including light lithium grease that once exposed to the dirt, grime and unburnt powder can rapidly go from greased to gummy....not good.
"A WORD ON TRIGGER CONTROL/OPERATOR ERROR": The rumor regarding keeping the trigger depressed is true and the reason it is true is because the design of this delayed blowback action of Savages A22 requires that the bolt and its locking lug return to their fully locked positions BEFORE this mechanism allows "Trigger Reset" to occur and done right?....your trigger finger "can feel it happen"
"A WORD ABOUT BUTLER CREEK 25RD VS FACTORY 10RD MAGAZINES": I would advise sticking with factory 10rd rotary magazines as opposed to the aftermarket simply because the rim-lock of the Butler Creek mags is aggravating as is any linear loading mag made for non-rebated rim ammo as opposed to the very reliable rotary design and the great news here?...It seems the A22's mag also goes through somewhat of a break-in as the more times you load it?...the easier it gets to load.
In Closing:
Many 22mag auto's have come and gone over the years and the tears experienced simply because the cartridge itself doesn't lend itself to ease of function in a semi-auto action because Length to Diameter?...its the longest most slender cartridge design out there which in and of itself serves to amplify feed control issues but after executing these few simple deburr & polishing actions above my A22 went from the redheaded stepchild of my gun safe to my favorite range rifle (especially at approx .30 cents a round these days as opposed to CF ammo) where my A22 now feeds and fires everything from 45gr Hornady Critical Defense to 30gr Hornady V-MAX (that often times shoots one ragged hole at 100yds on a calm day) with?..."100% RELIABILITY"...
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View attachment 302040
and the ironic part here is?...
"Savage?...If You're LISTENING": Your design engineers did a spectacular job but you should find and immediately fire whatever freaking bean counter decided that saving a few bucks by not deburring firing pins or polishing bolts was a great idea because all it did was give your wonderful A22 a real bad name right out of the box! FIRE THEM!!!
I hope everyone and/or anyone who has a Savage A22 that they regret buying reads this and acts on it so they to can relieve themselves of the regret and treat themselves to the enjoyment of what is the wonderful firearm contained within the durrs and sharp corners of their Savage A22!
Heck of a first post here huh? LOL!
View attachment 302025
Aggravated and disheartened my A22 found its rightful place in the distant corner of my gun safe never to see the light of day again...until recently when I figured that since its been 6 long years since I purchased it that maybe somebody has homed in on a remedy and googled up "Savage A22 Problems" and was met with compelling thread titles such as "Savage A22 Worst Gun Ever"...which is when I took it as a personal challenge to troubleshoot what the heck is up with this gun?
(Cred Note: Before proceeding with the reading?...I guess now would be a good time to mention I'm 63 years old and have been an aerospace machinist/fabricator the past 35 years along with having built a few race guns for IPSC tactical competitions back in the early to late 90's)
So that said?...I also noticed that there seemed to be a wide range of just how bad folks new Savage A22 rifles sucked...while some could occasionally get through a full mag of specific ammo?...others found themselves clearing their weapon every other (if not every) shot no matter what they fed it and that's when it hit me because before Glock coined the term "Perfection"?...it was common place with any semi-auto to not even begin to judge its reliability or function until ya put 200-500rds through it as a...
"BREAK-IN PERIOD"
Now I may've put close to 200rds through mine before sentencing it to 6 years without parole but soon realized that my A22 responded far better with 40gr loadings (CCI & Armscor) than the lighter 30gr Hornady V-Max which just didn't seem to either attain or retain enough backpressure long enough to allow the delayed blowback action to cycle correctly which set my mind to racing of whether to decrease the recoil spring pressure or take steps to very gradually machine weight off the bolt or both and no matter what I did I promised myself I would exercise extreme patience and proceed with caution AND PLEASE NOTE/DISCLAIMER: If you do not feel qualified to proceed with the following operations DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS YOURSELF!
"First Things First": Was a great idea in that I first went after remedying the "Light Strike/Failure to Fire" issue where I did read in my research that someone cited "Burrs on The Firing Pin" as the culprit and thankfully?...this long story gets real short form here as I....
1: Removed the bolt and cleaned everything
2: Carefully punch out the 3/32ths pin to remove the firing pin & firing pin spring
(Take care to "Note The Position Of" and not lose your 2 locking lug pieces as the firing pin retains those)
3: File/Stone Deburr and break/polish all sharp edges of your firing pin
"Secondary Observations/Actions": It was at this point of bolt dis-assy that I noticed some wear marks on leading edges and corners of the bolt body itself which is when I decided to save ammo and aggravation and expedite the break-in process by stoning on a slight breakedge on all leading edges and corners along with polishing the entire bolt body and did the same with the engaging surfaces of the (2) locking lug bits.
"Bolt Reassembly & Critical Lubrication Methods": You want to lubricant the firing pin with as little lubrication as possible...I used "A Very Light Film" of break-free synthetic gun oil because to much lube on or in the firing pin channel will serve to bog it down and result in light strike FTF's and the same goes for the 2 locking lug parts but after the bolt is fully reassembled?...oil the heck out of the now polished bolt body itself and plan on running your A22 "WET" but?....
"ZERO GREASE ANYWHERE": As the A22 is a delicate operation action wise and as such?...it doesn't appreciate anything bogging it down including light lithium grease that once exposed to the dirt, grime and unburnt powder can rapidly go from greased to gummy....not good.
"A WORD ON TRIGGER CONTROL/OPERATOR ERROR": The rumor regarding keeping the trigger depressed is true and the reason it is true is because the design of this delayed blowback action of Savages A22 requires that the bolt and its locking lug return to their fully locked positions BEFORE this mechanism allows "Trigger Reset" to occur and done right?....your trigger finger "can feel it happen"
"A WORD ABOUT BUTLER CREEK 25RD VS FACTORY 10RD MAGAZINES": I would advise sticking with factory 10rd rotary magazines as opposed to the aftermarket simply because the rim-lock of the Butler Creek mags is aggravating as is any linear loading mag made for non-rebated rim ammo as opposed to the very reliable rotary design and the great news here?...It seems the A22's mag also goes through somewhat of a break-in as the more times you load it?...the easier it gets to load.
In Closing:
Many 22mag auto's have come and gone over the years and the tears experienced simply because the cartridge itself doesn't lend itself to ease of function in a semi-auto action because Length to Diameter?...its the longest most slender cartridge design out there which in and of itself serves to amplify feed control issues but after executing these few simple deburr & polishing actions above my A22 went from the redheaded stepchild of my gun safe to my favorite range rifle (especially at approx .30 cents a round these days as opposed to CF ammo) where my A22 now feeds and fires everything from 45gr Hornady Critical Defense to 30gr Hornady V-MAX (that often times shoots one ragged hole at 100yds on a calm day) with?..."100% RELIABILITY"...
View attachment 302038
View attachment 302040
and the ironic part here is?...
"Savage?...If You're LISTENING": Your design engineers did a spectacular job but you should find and immediately fire whatever freaking bean counter decided that saving a few bucks by not deburring firing pins or polishing bolts was a great idea because all it did was give your wonderful A22 a real bad name right out of the box! FIRE THEM!!!
I hope everyone and/or anyone who has a Savage A22 that they regret buying reads this and acts on it so they to can relieve themselves of the regret and treat themselves to the enjoyment of what is the wonderful firearm contained within the durrs and sharp corners of their Savage A22!
Heck of a first post here huh? LOL!
