Today I gave my Ruger SR22 pistol a deep cleaning. The last time I shot it I had several rounds which failed to go off on the first hit, but which went off on the second hit on the same spot on the rim. This isn't too unusual with .22 rimfire ammo but neither of the other two pistols I shot in the same session had the same problem. So, I think I was getting the occasional light strike.
First I field stripped the Ruger and cleaned the barrel, paying particular attention to the chamber. It had some build up in it which I removed with a bronze brush and Kroil. After I was done I pushed a few dry patches through the bore. The barrel is made from stainless steel and in my environment doesn't need any oil to prevent rust.
My final check for the chamber's cleanliness was to drop several rounds into it (Remington Golden Bullet, CCI Standard Velocity, and Aguial Super Extra SV). I tried with 2 or 3 examples of each and most freely dropped all the way in. A couple required a slight touch. I expect this kind of variance in .22 rimfire ammo.
The next thing I did was to detail strip the slide so I could ensure the firing pin channel was clean and dry, and that there weren't any burrs on the firing pin itself. To do so I used the instructions here:
If you remove the breech block from an SR22 slide, be careful. There are several small parts and springs. I dropped the firing pin safety and had to get on my hands and knees to find it.
While I had it apart I lightly polished the sides, top, and bottom of the firing pin on a gunsmith's stone.
After blasting it with solvent and then with compressed air until everything was dry, I reassembled it. To prevent any oil from migrating up into the breech block I removed what oil I had on the slide and rails, and put a small dab of white lithium grease on the slide rails before putting the gun back together.
I wanted to remove the lockwork from the grip frame but that pin was really stubborn and I did not want to really wail on it at this time.
It may be a week or two before I'm able to test fire the Ruger. I'm hoping for better reliability.
Several years ago I put together the first version of this cleaning kit to accompany an M1 Carbine I used as a road trip gun. I updated it today to keep with my Beretta 71.
Contents:
1 pull through with loops on each end to hold a cleaning patch. This was made from two of the conductors stripped from a piece of CAT5e network cable. It's plastic coated so it won't damage the bore, and coils up to fit in the plastic bag at lower left. A boresnake or sectional cleaning rod could be substituted. I might make a short brass cleaning rod for the kit because then I could use it to push out bore obstructions.
1 plastic bag containing some .22 - .270 cotton flannel cleaning patches, and two pipe cleaners.
1 "Norton's Universal Cleaning Stick" from Countycomm.com. This is a thin plastic bar that can be used for scraping or pushing a cleaning patch through crevices.
1 USGI-type gun cleaning brush.
1 plastic bag containing a 1 oz. bottle of Rem Oil and a rag torn from an old T-shirt. Rem Oil isn't the best gun oil but it works well as a CLP for short term use and the bottle size is handy. Use your favorite gun oil or CLP.
1 USGI Vietnam-era surplus "Chieu Hoi" bag, into which everything fits. These were originally intended to use as covers for 20 round M16 magazines in Vietnam. The idea was that they'd be discarded on the battlefield to induce any Viet Cong who picked them up to defect. They are still readily available and make good storage parts for small parts or kits like this one.
Naturally, this isn't a comprehensive maintenance kit. Rather, it's intended to be an ultra compact cleaning kit to keep in the pistol case to keep it running as part of a grab and go kit.
The pistol, extra magazines, and cleaning kit all fit into this US Peacekeeper attache-style gun case (Amazon affiliate link). A 100 round box of .22LR ammo should also fit.
This weekend I got to the range with a few .22 pistols:
Ruger 22/45 Lite
Ruger SR22
High Standard R-100 Sentinel
I'd recently remounted a Bushnell TRS-25 red dot sight on the 22/45 and it needed to be zeroed. It wasn't too far off at 7 yards so zeroing it didn't take long. However, my plan is to do the final sighting in at 25 yards. The piece ran flawlessly through a mix of CCI Mini Mags, Federal Game Shocks, and Remington Golden Bullets.
Next up was the SR22. The last time I shot it I had a few rounds which required more than one hit on the rim to go off. That's not terribly unusual with .22 rimfire ammo but the SR22 seemed to be a bit more prone to it, so I gave it as thorough a cleaning as possible with removing the breech block from the slide. Unfortunately, I had a few rounds which required more than one hit, both Federal and Remington. From what I can tell, the SR22 would benefit with a slightly stronger hammer spring.
Finally, I put a few different types of .22LR through the High Standard that I bought a week previously. These included Aguila Super Extra and CCI, both standard velocity, Remington Viper Hyper Velocity, and Remington Golden Bullets.
Except for the final cylinder, I shot the Sentinel single action. It whacks the case rims with authority and I had no failures to fire. It seemed to give slightly better accuracy with the standard velocity ammunition.
I only put 9 rounds (one cylinder-full) of Vipers through the H-S. After a few shots the gun became more difficult to cock as the cylinder rotated. I think what happened is that on one round brass flowed back and was dragging. When I went to eject the empties it required a lot of force, unlike the other types of ammo. So, no more Vipers for that gun.
I really wish someone could design a small framed double action .22 revolver that would be reliable without a ridiculously heavy DA trigger pull. My medium-framed S&W Model 18 has a tolerable DA pull but if someone was able to come up with something smaller that reliably ignited rimfire ammo and had a similar DA, they'd have a real winner. And no, the Ruger LCP ain't it.
As an aside, I've had positive experiences with Remington Golden Bullet .22 ammo manufactured in the past 6 or 7 years. Overall in my experience, CCI has been the most reliable .22 rimfire ammo, but in the 5 years or so prior to their bankruptcy, Remington really improved the quality of their .22 ammo. I hope that now that Remington ammo is back in production the quality will be high.
My Remington 550-1 and Nylon 77 rifles both shoot Golden Bullets really well. Also, they are loaded noticeably hotter than CCI Mini Mags. I haven't shot any game with them but a friend gave up on GB hollow points for squirrels because they are too destructive. To paraphrase, "They blow the guts out."
Today I spent a little time playing with my Beretta Model 71 "Jaguar," and found a used factory 10 round magazine on eBay for the Model 73, 74, 76, and 101. These fit the 71 but stick out a bit from the butt. The price was about $70 but for a real Beretta mag it should be worth it. While I had the gun out I painted the front sight with a bright green. I've been doing this on many of my pistols because it makes the sight much easier to see.
Back in the 1940s through the 1980s, High Standard was well known for their excellent semiautomatic .22 pistols. Many serious bullseye shooters favored High Standard autoloaders.
As I started my search I ran across numerous blog and forum posts about the Sentinels, the vast majority of which were very positive. Among other well known shooters, Skeeter Skelton, Mas Ayoob, Elmer Keith, and Chic Gaylord liked and spoke highly of them.
Hickok45 has a video about the Revelation Model 99 that belonged to his father. It's simply a rebranded High Standard.
Revelation was a house brand of the old Western Auto store chain. They resold guns from several makers under this brand name. Sears did the same thing with the J.C. Higgins and Ted Williams brands.
Last week I found a 1950s-vintage Sentinel R-101 on Gunbroker at a gun store in NJ. I waited until the end of the auction and was able to get it for the asking price. After I called the dealer to arrange payment he overnighted it to my local FFL, where I picked it up yesterday morning.
I photographed it next to my K-Frame S&W Model 18-3 for scale.
The steel 3" barrel and cylinder, and the aluminum alloy frame of my revolver are nickel plated. The plating remains almost entirely intact.
Looking it over I could tell that it had been barely, if ever fired. There was no powder or lead fouling on the gun and the front of the cylinder lacked the telltale black marks of a gun shot with lead bullets. The cylinder has no endshake and locks up tight. Timing is perfect.
The rear sight was damaged at some point, with the right corner being chipped. This doesn't affect usage but I may replace it anyway.
Upon getting it home I dismounted the cylinder and grip, then hosed out the action with Rem Oil and compressed air, then relubed it with G-96 CLP.
This video on YouTube details basic takedown of the Sentinels and really shows the clever nature of their design.
Further disassembly isn't needed unless it's to replace a part. The action is held together with pins, so it can be challenging to reassemble. In other words, don't, unless you really need to do so.
I put around 60 rounds through it last night at an indoor range at 10 and 7 yards, shooting Federal Game Shock high velocity .22 LR 36 grain hollowpoints. The single action trigger pull is excellent, probably breaking at no more than 4 lbs., with no creep. The double action pull is another story. As expected it's heavy, probably about 14 lbs. but at least it's smooth. As I understand it not much can be done about the DA pull without affecting the SA pull. I regard this as a single action revolver with emergency double action capability.
Groups with the Federal ammo were nothing to brag about. .22s in general can be very finicky as to what ammo they'll shoot well so I plan to try it with a variety from my stash.
It also shot about 1" to 2" high. Numrich Arms has replacement front sights, one of which I may order and modify in my milling machine to take a taller blade. I'd like to see point of aim and point of impact coincide at 10 yards.
The revolver functioned perfectly, delivering good hammer strikes to the case rims. Unlike a friend's Ruger LCR in .22 LR, it does not seem prone to being easily short-stroked, which will cause a misfire.
Before I fired the High Standard I put 70 shots through my S&W Model 18-3, also in .22 LR. The Smith is a higher quality gun but the cylinder holds 6, compared with 9 in the HS. It also has tighter chambers than the HS, so even though the Sentinel holds half again as many rounds, ejecting spent brass from the Model 18 requires more effort.
The Sentinel is just a little smaller than a S&W K-Frame but it's noticeably lighter due to the alloy frame. I tried it out in a Pacific Canvas and Leather shoulder holster made for S&W Victory Models. It's a little loose but it fits and the strap will hold it securely in place.
As noted at the beginning of this post, the High Standard revolvers were generally well thought of by some experienced handgunners as well as many others. Last year, Diamondback Firearms introduced the Sidekick, which is a Western-styled DA/SA revolver like the old High Standard Double Nine. In fact, the Sidekick appears to be based very closely on the High Standards and has the advantage of shipping with two cylinders, one for .22 LR and the other for .22 Magnum.
I expect this High Standard Sentinel to make a nice little gun for plinking and woods bumming.
Continuing a theme from previous posts, today I installed these Uncle Mike's rubber Combat Grips on a pencil barreled S&W Model 10-5 .38 Special revolver. The piece previously had a set of Pachmayr Gripper Pros on it. The new grips fit my hand better.
Uncle Mike's no longer makes these grips, which for awhile came standard on several Smith & Wesson revolvers. I found this set on eBay.
I recently posted about putting new target stocks on my S&W Model 15-3 Combat Masterpiece .38. I also have an example of the Model 15's understudy, the Model 18, chambered for .22 Long Rifle.
For years, I've had a set of Uncle Mike's Boot Grips on the Model 18. They are functional but not aesthetically pleasing. About a week and a half ago I found that Herrett's Stocks had some smooth Honduran rosewood target stocks for sale on their eBay store, so I ordered a set.
What an improvement.
They look about a million times better than black rubber and fit my hands well. I took the gun to the range last night and it was a joy to shoot with them.
Last week I was on the BK Grips web site and saw his comment stating that his K-Frame adaptors may fit Colt Bisleys. I decided to give it a try and order one. I figured if it doesn't fit I can always put it on a K-Frame.
A few days later I was rummaging around the midden and ran across a Pachmayr K-Frame adaptor that I'd known I had but didn't remember where I put it. (Doesn't it always work that way?) I had to give it a try on the Bisley, and hot damn, it fits!
Last night I took the Bisley to an indoor range. I was pleased to see that augmenting the grip did not change the point of impact, nor did it make the gun uncomfortable shoot. I'll be leaving this grip adaptor on the gun.
When the USPS deigns to deliver the adaptor I'll put it on my S&W Model 1905, 4th Change Target Model.
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