A classic example of something that can cause this issue is a dirty chamber. In most semi autos too. If the chamber gets dirty, and they do rather rapidly sometimes, a round won't fully seat even with the slide slamming shut. When the firing pin hits the rim it will sometimes shove the round further into the chamber. Should you inspect the round at this point you will likely see a light firing pin strike. Cock the hammer for a second strike and the round will usually fire since the first strike seated it. The cure.....clean the chamber. The test, lock the slide back or remove it and try dropping several rounds into the chamber, muzzle down. They should easily drop all the way in, fully seating. The extractor not pulling the round out of the chamber is a second indicator of a dirty chamber that has caused the case to bind.

That is the first test. Yepper, the firing pin channel can get dirty. The firing pin is too short to reach the rim when the hammer is on it. It is inertia driven. More important than the forward motion is that the tiny spring inside of the breech block must push the firing pin all the way rearward between shots so that the hammer can give it a solid whack. I like to remove the slide, tilt it muzzle down, spray cleaner in the rear of the firing pin slot....work the firing pin back and forth with something like a pencil point. Spray it again, work it back and forth again. Finish with a very light oil like RemRemoil and blow all of that out. To completely clean and inspect the breech block must be removed which can be a bit tricky.

Did the pistol ever run reliably? Could be old oil but my Subaru STI never laid down when running on M1. 1917

 

A classic example of something that can cause this issue is a dirty chamber. In most semi autos too. If the chamber gets dirty, and they do rather rapidly sometimes, a round won't fully seat even with the slide slamming shut. When the firing pin hits the rim it will sometimes shove the round further into the chamber. Should you inspect the round at this point you will likely see a light firing pin strike. Cock the hammer for a second strike and the round will usually fire since the first strike seated it. The cure.....clean the chamber. The test, lock the slide back or remove it and try dropping several rounds into the chamber, muzzle down. They should easily drop all the way in, fully seating. The extractor not pulling the round out of the chamber is a second indicator of a dirty chamber that has caused the case to bind.

That is the first test. Yepper, the firing pin channel can get dirty. The firing pin is too short to reach the rim when the hammer is on it. It is inertia driven. More important than the forward motion is that the tiny spring inside of the breech block must push the firing pin all the way rearward between shots so that the hammer can give it a solid whack. I like to remove the slide, tilt it muzzle down, spray cleaner in the rear of the firing pin slot....work the firing pin back and forth with something like a pencil point. Spray it again, work it back and forth again. Finish with a very light oil like RemRemoil and blow all of that out. To completely clean and inspect the breech block must be removed which can be a bit tricky.

Did the pistol ever run reliably? Could be old oil but my Subaru STI never laid down when running on M1. 1917

Good timing! I literally just returned from the range and all is well after thorough cleaning and 80 rounds without an issue. I shot rounds from two different lots of Mini Mags from four magazines.

I think the primary issue was grime in the chamber and maybe some under the extractor. Good advice on cleaning the firing pin channel, too.

Yes, this has been a very reliable little pistol since I bought it, Mini Mags being it's only diet.

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The P22 doesn't have the best designed extractor. We've discussed that for years. What you can do to pull a stubborn case or round out is press in hard on the nose of the extractor. That way it is harder for it to hop over the rim. It is also possible to accidentally press in on the rear leg of the extractor which lifts the working end. Glad it is up and running.....keep the chamber clean....that gets dirty fast. 1917