Odd problem with Browning Buckmark

[vito]

I've had my Buckmark for many years, and have had very few issues with it. I always leave it with the slide locked back since it is really hard to pull back the slide other than the first time when the gun is reassembled after cleaning (I called Browning once and was advised to do this since they admitted pulling the slide is not easy). But as long as I did this the gun almost always fires as it should. However, occasionally, it will reload a round and then fail to fire. Sure, it might be a defective round, but it when it happens it ALWAYS is the last round in the magazine.

At that point I struggle to pull the slide back, ejecting the unfired round, and usually just throw it into the defective rounds box at the range. But why it would always be the last round in the magazine is beyond me. What am I missing?

 

[NoSecondBest]

Vito, at one time I owned and shot three of these guns at a variety of competitions. Believe it or not, but I shot well over 250,000 rounds out of these three guns in about a twelve year period. Other than replacing a few small parts, I never had any real problems with any of them. If your gun is that hard to open the slide, something's wrong with the gun. All three of mine only required a good grip on the slide and a moderate amount of pressure to pull back. If your gun is not firing on the last shot, and leaving a mark on the case rim, check the mark on the rim to see if it's as deep as the preceeding nine shots. Is the slide closing completely on the last round? If it is, and the mark on the rim is deep enough to fire the round, I suspect your gun has a very dirty and waxy chamber. Try giving the chamber a very good scrubbing with a wire brush and solvent and see what happens. If it fires well for a while and then begins to act up, it's wax and dirt in the chamber. Certain ammo will cause this condition to appear pretty quick.....Remington ammo instantly comes to mind. It's really covered in wax and does this pretty fast. It's also really bad rimfire ammo in regards to accuracy. Try a different brand of ammo if what you're using has a heavy coating of wax on it.

 

[chris in va]

When was the last time you cleaned the firing pin channel? I took my CZ Kadet apart and was shocked to find how much powder residue had built up.

 

[mete]

Yes , it's often forgotten to clean firing pin, spring and channel and the same with the extractor !
The 22 pistols are " blow back" action They do also blow powder residue back into the action etc.

 

[vito]

To NoSecondBest: thanks for the tip about Remington ammo. In fact the last three times at the range I have been shooting from a box of 500 Remington.

I clean the gun after every trip to the range, but only as described in the owners manual. I have never tried taking it further apart. Maybe I just need to be more diligent in cleaning, and maybe take a bore snake with me to the range and run it through every 50 or 100 rounds.

 

[jmstr]

Bore snake is a good idea. Personally, I like to clean firing pin channel before I hit the 4000 round mark.

Thats when a new spring goes on the firing pin on many of my guns. Buckmark is really easy to get at to clean it.

Just don't over-tighten sight rib bolts when reinstalling it.

 

[FrankenMauser]

Browning used to advise taking the sight rail off (top strap on non-rail models), to allow for slide removal and deep cleaning. But when they went to the 'new style' firing pin and slide, those instructions were removed from the manuals (perhaps around 1998 or so?).

New style or old style slide, I always pull the top strap / rail during cleaning. It keeps crap from building up and causing light strikes if you're using dirty ammo, and lets you inspect some of the parts that are otherwise hidden. (A Buck Mark in my family once went an estimated 15-20k rounds with a broken firing pin, because the owner didn't want to remove the rail for cleaning. But, due to the design, it was still working.)

As for the difficulty in operating the slide...
Unless you have weak hands, something is wrong. If you can't diagnose the problem yourself, get the pistol to a good gunsmith.

(I would say, "competent gunsmith" but every year that goes by leads me, more and more, to believe that they're about as rare as honest politicians. )

 

[Bart Noir]

The last time I had feeding & firing problems with mine, it was corrected by tightening those two bolts on the sight rib. The forward one was quite loose.

I agree that it should not take all that much effort to pull the slide back. This is a .22 blowback, after all, and it doesn't need a very strong recoil spring.

When you take that sight rib off, to remove the bolt and do some thorough cleaning, just remember to safely store the lock washer from each bolt. In fact, I suspect the previous owner of my gun lost one since the two washers are not identical.

And don't forget to put the washers back on, and this is where the mystery starts.

The Numrich diagram shows the washers on top of the rib, right under the bolt head.

The Brownells diagram shows the washers under the rib, so that the bolt head snugs won onto the rib directly.

Which is right???? I don't remember which way works on my gun and will have to take a look at it. But it looks like the Buck Mark manual shows that it the washers are held down on top of the sight rib.

More good info on this gun is here: Rimfire Central forum

 

[James K]

One possibility is that the magazine follower is interfering with the slide and slowing it down. That results in the slide failing to go fully into battery so the energy of the hammer, instead of being transferred to the firing pin, is wasted on closing the slide.

Jim

 

[jmstr]

I have a 1996 Buckmark and it is a pain to rack the slide.

It isn't so much the spring and overcoming the spring tension.

It is more the small groove to grip and the awkward way you have to go about it.

When I first cleaned it with CLP I couldn't get enough grip to rack the slide. My hands slipped off.

It is almost bad enough to make me want to buy a new slide with 'ears' and refit it to my frame.

Almost.



One other thought about your issue: mag cleaning?

How many rounds through the mags since you pulled them apart to clean them?

Not sure this would cause your problem. More likely to cause a problem with failure to load the last round properly.

However, it is always a good idea to clean your mags periodically.

The number that was given to me was somewhere around 500-1000 rounds through the mag and it is time to open it up, wipe it down and reassemble.

Since I have 5 mags, that means every 2500-5000 rounds I have to clean my mags.

Probably won't solve anything, but shouldn't hurt [if done properly]: and it eliminates another variable.

Also, that was the only thing that seemed to be a likely cause for all three mags, instead of just one.

Maybe the mag follower is sticking up [as was mentioned: good thought James] and the tube is so filthy the follower doesn't want to instantly drop back down into the tube?

Or I may be channeling cosmic rays from the 12th planet...

 

[jglsprings]

I've got one of the old, old, old buckmarks that must have been from the mid 80's. It doesn't seem to have this problem. Is this specific to the new models?

If I put mine back together and tighten the screws down to hard you won't be able to run the slide. But, that's keeps it from firing as well. The screws need to be snug - not tightened down hard.

Any idea when they changed the design?

 

[jonnyc]

Ever since I figured my Buckmark out I haven't had any problems with it. I "Loc-Tited" the top screws down and I just shoot it 'til I have a gritty trigger or some other issue. Then I lock the slide back and literally spray the crap out of it, including the mags and firing-pin channel, with a synthetic safe spray cleaner. Then I spray it out with air and lube what needs to be lubed. I tend to redo that every 5000-6000 rounds. I do not clean the barrel at all.

 

[stephen426]

My Buckmark is also of the older variety. The way the slide is cut, I can see it being hard to grip. I have gotten used to it and don't really have too much trouble. I don't believe the new slides with "ears" are compatible with the older models. I did change the barrel on my 5.5" standard to the full bull barrel and added the top rail. I have owned my for almost 20 years!!!