Kimber .22 magazine feed

[grvj]

I have a Yonkers Kimber .22 Hunter with feed problems with 3 of 4 magazines. I looked at all 3 - feed lips, ramp, polish - compared to the 4th and see no difference. The mis-feed seems to be the 4th round maybe a little high but sometimes the 3rd - no pattern.

Initially I used RWS subsonics which worked great and found that truncated rounds seem to be more of the offenders compared to a regular round nose lead. Now the RWS will occasionally misfeed. This rifle needs a positive, snappy bolt action - no slow movement - to eject a shot round. I have looked at the throat for maybe a ding or rough entrance to the chamber and it looks clean

A few years back, I sent the mags to Kimber, they sent them back with no real explanation and I accepted that this rifle/magazine is ammo particular. I recall a comment that the stated ammo quality/dimensions were not always consistent and this was a common element in mis-feeds.

Does anyone else have the same issue?, any fix?, is it just a pick-the-right-ammo-and-get-a-lot-of-it thing?

[Graybeard]

Such feeding issues are almost always related to the magazine. That one of the four does not have the problem further confirms that it is a magazine issue not an ammo issue. It takes a good smith who knows his stuff to fix a magazine that isn't working right. There is a difference in them even if your eyes can't see it.

I've never been good at fixing such issues myself and generally just replace the offending magazine. What should happen is Kimber should make it right but if it wasn't made by the current Kimber then they likely won't as Kimber has gone thru several different owners and iterations over the years.

[grvj]

Greybeard...thank you for the response. I also feel that magazines would be my issue though after inspecting these, I don't see what would cause 3rd or 4th round to pop up a little higher and why that should even be a problem.

The breach is just a squared off round hole and on a sticking round I can see the top of the lead slightly shaved off. I can understand that if a .22 round is a few thousands thinner than another, it might rise higher in the feed lips and catch the top of the breech. I just don't see why it seems to be the 3rd and 4th rounds.

I recall 1911 magazines and various feed issues but this seems to be a toss-up between mediocre magazine quality combined with everyone's version of a feed ramp.

What is humorous to me is that the brand that seems to feed the best is your Federal 500 box bargain pack. This maybe because they are plated and unlike exposed lead may slide by the breach easier.

On a recent Boy Scout outing in the California desert, about 700 rounds were run through this rifle by a number of parents and Scouts. I found I needed to instruct the shooters how to manipulate the bolt quick enough to eject a spent case as well as positively chamber a fresh round. If the hand action was limp or cautious there were more shot cases that stayed in the load opening and fresh rounds that did not chamber.

I need to go through another shoot session and analyze which mags are an issue and call Kimber again.

One this forum, I was looking for other Kimber .22 owners and their experience with anything similar. I noticed that .22's are no longer part of Kimber's on-line catalog - have they been dropped?

[Graybeard]

I honestly don't know. As I mentioned Kimber has folded and come back at least two or three times maybe more. The owners today are likely not the owners when yours was made. Still I think the current owners are or were involved in the orginal company in some way. They might have knowledge to help but if the rimfires are no longer made might not have any parts help to offer. Mostly I just don't know as I've never owned a Kimber.

[Rangr44]

[I looked at all 3 - feed lips, ramp, polish - compared to the 4th and see no difference.]

My money's on the magazine latch slot/hole, punched into the sheet metal of the magazine body, being a thousandth (or two) too low in relation to the good magazine's, allowing/making that/those particular magazines to latch too high up in the magazine well - ergo feeding cartridge too high, also.

.

[gunnut69]

I'm not in the shop just now but Kimber mags are usually pretty good. It's fairkly easy to alter feed angles on most rimfire box mags. The height and angle are set by the lip opening width. There are two sets of lips. The front are mainly guides to align the round with the chamber. they don't retain the cartridge, usually. The rear lips must be far enough apart to allow the round to ride up enough to be pushed forward by the bolt. The width of the slot also combined with the follower angle sets the pick up attitude. Your problem because of its being the 3-4 round from the mag is likely related to the follower and/or the spring tension, which can also change how the rounds react to the followers pressure. Are the followers loose in the magazine body? Do they tip front to back when at the top of their travel? There are several things to look at but a dial calipher and a set of chain nose pliers and a stone of two and a bit of time can work wonders. I'll try to help if you wish but don't get to this thread often. If there is still problems start a thread on the gunsmithing thread and perhaps we can help..

[grvj]

Gunnut69...thank you for the information. I inspected all 4 for general dimensions, the lock at the back of each magazine and how they fit into the stock  - they are near identical.

You mentioned the follower position and shape. These have two lips at the rear of the follower that bear around a the rear of a round -  no lips at the front. Viewed from the rear forward, two of the followers are slightly higher than the others. Pushing the follower down against spring tension and rocking fore-aft, they all seem the same.

Viewed from the side, the same two followers have a slight more of a center bend and protrude about .010 higher. This bend could push a round up a little but what I need to do is take a half dozen rimfire brands and hit the range to isolate the magazines again.

I just find that none of these magazines seem to vary significantly from each other so it must be a combination of ammo variance combined with subtle magazine difference that cause the misfeed.

[gunnut69]

Sorry I haven't been back for a while.. The front feed lips usually just align the round toward the chamber mouth. The rear lips control round height and angle. If the lips are closed the round goes down, if they are farther apart the round rises. If the the feed angle has to be adjusted then the width of the front part of the rear lips or the rear of the rear lips are opened or closed. Altering the feed angle nose up requires opening the front part and/or closing the rear part. The rear lips control both overall height and height of the front of the round. Both the front and rear of those rear lips must remain open wide enough to allow the bolt to move thru to push the round forward. A dial calupher is accurate enough to allow adjusting the lips, which is done usually with a chain nose pliers. These have jaws that are tapered smooth and round. Do not bend back and forth too much as they can and will work harden and break off. If the quality is good and Kimbers usually are they can all be made to work just fine with any ammo.. If the rear of the chamber is too sharp one sometimes must break the edge with a stone. Don't remove much just remove the sharp edge. I will try to get back but monitor the gunsmithing thread here much more closely.