1x9 twist P22 barrel trials

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dixiecricket
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Location: TN

1x9 twist P22 barrel trials

Post by dixiecricket »

I've been reading the forum for a while and have learned a lot here, enough to get a F1 submitted and get more interested in suppressed shooting. Thanks.

Now, I love tinkering with guns and was really disappointed with the performance of my new P22 in general because the barrel severely leaded after 100rnds of CCI STD VEL and would start putting bullets sideways. I also wanted to shoot the Aguila SSS ammo without the bullets destabilizing. What to do? I got to work in the shop and made a new barrel extension from scratch and turned down a barrel from some .223CF stock I had sitting around and hard soldered them together.

Range report: the SSS and STD VEL ammo stabilized correctly and shot groups as good as the CCI STD VEL. I used a Bentz Match chamber reamer from another rimfire pistol project. Function with the SSS ammo was acceptable, but I think the next barrel will get a standard sporting reamer. There was some bulging near the rim where I chamfered too much for the feed ramp. This batch of STD VEL does not function as well as my last batch. I have two pistols with chambers cut by the same reamer, and they both don't function as well with this brick as the last one.

Once I figure out picture posting, I will get some targets on here. No pictures of the barrel until it gets back from a proper blueing.
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daviscustom
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Re: 1x9 twist P22 barrel trials

Post by daviscustom »

I will be interested to hear how it performs with a suppressor. I don't think you will have any problems cycling, but I wonder if you will have port noise issues due to the very short case length quickly opening up the chamber.

I enjoy the huge downrange SMACK of these rounds.....would be fun to have a pistol set up to shoot them as long as there isn't a port noise problem.

Hope you were able to line up the grooves between the barrel and the extension.....any leading problems at the transition point? I suppose the slightly larger bore might keep it from leading too bad.
The myopic majority will be our republic's undoing.
dixiecricket
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Posts: 10
Joined: Mon Jul 21, 2008 7:36 pm
Location: TN

Re: 1x9 twist P22 barrel trials

Post by dixiecricket »

daviscustom,

I didn't have any leading problems with the new barrel, although an oversized barrel with lead bullets could cause leading because of gas cutting along the heel of the bullet depositing lead in the barrel. I dont know if the soft rimfire bullets are upsetting enough to seal off the bore.

As for port noise, I can't comment. I dont have my form 1 yet, and I didnt bring a friend out with a can.

The P22 cycling problems are another issue to deal with. I once did an experiment with and old High Standard pistol barrel trying to see how short it could be cut before it had cycling issues. I lathe turned the 5" barrel to 0.30" dia up to the mounting point and took it to the range. I then cut off 0.5" sections at a time and would shoot a few mags of STDVEL through it. It functioned fine until I hit 3.5". As I cut the barrel shorter, the pistol ceased to cycle at 2". My conclusion is there must be enough barrel length for the cartridge to develop its full area under the pressure curve for reliable functioning. One of my next experiments will be another barrel for the P22 but 6" long. I will repeat my earlyer High Standard experiment with the P22.
dixiecricket
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Posts: 10
Joined: Mon Jul 21, 2008 7:36 pm
Location: TN

Re: 1x9 twist P22 barrel trials

Post by dixiecricket »

OK,
finally back from deployment and settled back down. Time to get back to work this project. I made up two different barrels, a standard 3.5" and a 6" version for experimentation. I used the Bentz reamer again, but a new standard reamer is on order. I only test fired a few rounds through the 6" barrel and a more extensive test will happen in a few days. I believe that the 3.5" barrel is just too short to be reliable with a large variety of ammo. Maybe a 4" version will to the trick.

Here are a few pictures of my project. If anyone would like to see some different versions, let me know. I can make any length shroud and barrel combo, but I am not manufacturing the barrel nuts at this time. There are plenty of other people making these already. I am thinking about making a front sight that mounts on the barrel shroud for longer versions of the barrel. Think Walther P38.

Here is the 6" barrel and shroud version. It will get parkarized for the finish.
Image

Here is a picture of the breech
Image

Test target. CCI Quiet-22 on left, Aguila SSS on the right. 5yds, 5shots
Image

Here is another modification that I do. Adding a hole in the guide rod to capture it in the slide. Eliminates that stupid plastic assembly pin.
Image
dixiecricket
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Joined: Mon Jul 21, 2008 7:36 pm
Location: TN

Re: 1x9 twist P22 barrel trials

Post by dixiecricket »

finally got the standard reamer in the mail. The 3.4" barrel now works great! The Aguila SSS fires, stabilizes and ejects reliable. it does hang up half way out of the mags sometimes. I will clean the mags and see if that fixes it.


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rockman96
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Re: 1x9 twist P22 barrel trials

Post by rockman96 »

Old thread, I know, but I just ran across it. It doesn't surprise me that standard reamed chamber functions better with the short barrel... that Bentz chamber is pretty snug comparatively. Interesting experiments!
dixiecricket
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Joined: Mon Jul 21, 2008 7:36 pm
Location: TN

Re: 1x9 twist P22 barrel trials

Post by dixiecricket »

Thanks rockman.

I finally finished a batch of those barrels and they turned out nice with a parked finish. Unfortunately, my distributor can't find buyers because .22 ammo is still scarce.
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