S&W Airlite .22LR ejection problems

[375RUGER]

Got a buddy's Airlite here. He reports that it is hard to eject spent brass. He also says that it practically locks up on him to the point that you have to manually assist the cylinder to rotate.
I shot it today and it is hard to eject the spent brass. A lot harder than I think it should be. I was not able to get it to "lock up" but one cylinder full seemed to be harder to fire DA.
The chambers have some very minor machine marks but I don't think that's the problem. Maybe they are not minor for an alumimum cylinder.
Doesn't appear to be a great amount of fouling in the cylinder either.
I shot 3 different ammos and the Blazers seemed to eject the easiest, but still too hard.

Anybody else ever run across this problem in an Airlite? Fix it? Live with it?

[looseprojectile]

I would have no problem with using J&B bore cleaner in the chambers.
Since that could be easily over done with an aluminum cylinder I would say to clean under the ejector star and polish the chambers with something for use on aluminum. Try spining a tight patch with some Aero Kroil on it in the chambers.
It probably needs a detail cleaning.
At one time I had a S&W model 17 that needed the ejector rod bumped on a fence post to eject the empties till I polished the chambers. After that the empties nearly fell out.



Life is good

[375RUGER]

OK Good. I have JB on hand. I also have his Model 17 that is giving some problems too. It's chambers definately need to be polished a little. I haven't shot it yet though.
Both of these pistols give him fits even after a good cleaning.

It'll be a few days before I can get back to this, Is there any thing I should know about S&W before attempting to remove the cylinder from the crane to clean in there?
Thanks

[EdS]

As was suggested, I'd want to be very sure that all residue is cleaned out of the ejector recess in the cylinder and also the bottom of the ejector "star" itself. I save old tooth brushes for this kind of cleaning. Once cleaned, I'd recommend leaving the ejector "dry".

I have the same two revolvers mentioned, and have experienced trouble loading the M-17 after firing several cyllinders full. It can take some thumb pressure to fully seat the LRs in the chambers. This has to be related to chambers building up fouling rather than the ejector.

-Ed

[MtGun44]

Clean the cyl very well. I have one, it is slightly sticky, but no real issue.

Bill

[Ernest]

before I went to far I would contact S&W. There have been some problems with the Airlites. They may offer a trade out or free repair. That really is not acceptable for the empties to not eject freely after a good cleaning. The chambers should be polished smooth and trouble free before the revolver leaves the factory.

[375RUGER]

I got the airlite up to speed.

The M17, .22 mag, is another story. I polished the chambers and it ejects pretty good now. It needed a good cleaning inside and it doesn't lock up anymore. But, I can't get rid of the light firing pin hits in DA mode. SA is fine no problems.
I thought it was just a weak hammer spring, because when I put a shim under the strain screw it fires just fine. But then you can't put the grips on because the spring is in the way. So I got a Wilson spring, but it didn't fix the problem.
Does anybody know if the Cylinder and Slide duty carry spring kit is extra power?
Thanks

[Mk42gunner]

I thought the Model 17 was the K-22 and the magnum was the Model 18? Regardless, if it worked with a shim between the strain screw and the mainspring; I would check the length of the strain screw, or probably just order a new one.

People used to shorten those screws, instead of actually doing a trigger job.

Robert

[375RUGER]

this one is marked 17-2.

Yes it works with the shim, But then you can't put the grips on because the spring is in the way of the grip screw-gets pushed further back.

I can't find a main spring that has more force than the standard.