M2 springfield misfires

I recently acquired a beautiful unaltered and pristine service Springfield M2 , #5569, in 90% +condition. I have looked for an unaltered collectible M2 for many years and this is a nice one.

I just returned from the range where it misfired 15 of 20 rounds of Wolf Match. 13 of the 15 detonated after recocking the bolt and firing a second time. The remaining 2 rounds required three efforts to detonate.

The gun also misfired 6 of 10 rounds of CCI standard velocity, but interestingly fired 10 rounds of 40 year old Remington HV HPs without failure.

The rifle has the "stage 2" safety lug mounted headspace adjustment with the slotted screw and a smaller transverse slotted lock screw. Although the lead seal has been removed, the screw slots are sharp and unmolested.

Examination of the interior of the bolt sleeves and striker assembly revealed what appears to be clean, unworn, crisp parts in new condition.

I'm inclined to assume that I have a headspace problem, but hate to apply my amateur gunsmithing skills to those pristine screw heads without pleading for some expertise from the Higher Powers who contribute to this forum. Should I try a new striker spring? firing pin? Is it possible to obtain and apply the washer-style shims used on the "stage one" bolt? I really hate to mess with the bolt unless absolutely necessary.

All advice and opinions will be gratefully received. R Rubrecht

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I'd start with another brand of ammo or two first. The one thing I can tell you for sure is .22 ammo has gone way down hill over the years. More misfires and less consistency than ever before. Try a few better brands of ammo...?

I have experienced similar failures to fire with M2 rifles. It is frustrating and I know of no solution other than to swap parts. Headspace can be checked without turning the adjustment screw and set screw. I am not familiar with the 1922M1 washer type headspace adjustment shims. How do they work?

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Originally Posted by browningautorifle

I'd start with another brand of ammo or two first. The one thing I can tell you for sure is .22 ammo has gone way down hill over the years. More misfires and less consistency than ever before. Try a few better brands of ammo...?

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I agree completely with Jims statement. Modern .22 ammo have thinner rims which essentialy changes headspace. Either change ammo to correct function or, since the M2 bolt can be adjusted to improve headspace ( correcting misfire issues ). Your choice. I seriously doubt you have a mechanical problem as long as the bolt is clean & lubed properly.

Thanks to all for the replies. No magic, I guess. Time to break out the good screwdrivers.

Herschel: I am under the impression that the 1922, the M1922m1 and the "stage one" M2 bolt, all without headspace adjustment, used very thin washers as shims between the rear bolt body/handle and the front bolt body to decrease excessive headspace. I stand to be corrected.

Regards, Dokcop

I just got two 1922's (M2) and had the same problem with both shooting certain ammo. Remington Match, Eley Match and Wolf all misfired quite frequently. One ammo that I tried did not have any misfires and that was Norma TAC 22. It is with regret that I report it is also very accurate. I regret that because everyone will start buying it and dry up the supply.

Now I did stumble upon a fix that may or may not have merit. I tightened and loosened the deflector knob on the back of the firing pin and found that had a big (positive) effect on the number of misfires. Not much, just a little - a few clicks. I did not get to spend much time determining which way was better, but it seems that they both wanted to be tightened - which neither was when I first started shooting them.

I did measure the rim thickness of the brands and found quite a bit of difference between the brands, but the Norma had the thinest rim.

dokcop, i had a similar problem with misfires on my M2 after i had given the bolt a thorough disassembly and cleaning. It turned out that i had failed to fully tighten the knurled nut cocking piece on re-assembly. i would check coking piece/firing pin before changing the headspace setting.

Regards,
Jim

I believe that the firing pin nut on the M2 should be tightened all the way and not adjusted to correct the firing pin length. The M2 22 was designed so that one could "dry fire" the rifle unlike the M1922M1. If you loosen the nut I do not believe that you have any effect on firing pin protrusion. I believe that the firing pin protrusion is controlled by the round part of the firing pin hitting a shoulder in the bolt head - though I may be incorrect.
It also seems to me that if one were to put shims between the bolt head and the bolt handle, this could adversely affect the strike of the firing pin. I believe that Brophy in his book shows a picture of a set up for grinding the locking lug to set up initial headspace. This was probably used on the early M2's, then they added the headspace adjustment to the bolt handle which made assembly simpler.
JMHO

Success! I applied a little more finger pressure than I would normally use on an eighty year old screw, which I thought I had snugged down tight, and got another "click" out of the bolt knob. Wolf match and CCI each detonated 20x20. Many thanks to all for the good advice.

Regards, Dokcop

---------- Post added at 09:28 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:18 AM ----------

Herschel: I believe that very fine, perhaps two or three thousandths washers, identical in outside diameter to the bolt diameter, were applied between the rear and front bolt body to decrease headspace. I cannot quote the source of this info, but I recall an early stage one M2 bolt handle, with one of the headspacing washers attached, was offered for sale several months ago on the CMP for sale website. I checked and it is still there. Wish I knew how to provide you with the link, but if you search "Peconga" you will find it.

Now we need to see a target...I love the way these full size sub cal guns shoot. Just a dream compared to full caliber, for those of us that are a little beat up...

I took my M1922 and a cheapie .22 to the range sometime back. The cheapie .22 worked like a champ, the M1922 misfired about half the time. Have to take a look at that advice.

dokcop, I can see how the shims could work. I have three or four rifles with the early type M2 bolts. I will check them and see if any have the shims. I may have never taken the bolts apart on these rifles. I don't recall ever seeing those shims mentioned in any of my reference books.

---------- Post added at 10:52 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:50 PM ----------

I agree with cosine26's comment above.

Jim: I did zero the rifle at 25 yds (indoors)…too damn cold to hit the rifle range… before the misfire problem was solved. It shot several respectable +- .75 inch five shot groups, (respectable inasmuch as I had to recock after almost every shot.) I'm hoping to get those groups at 100 yds when the world up here unfreezes. Last year that was mid April…

Regards to all. dokcop