Topic: Birthday this weekend, picked up a 522 Carbine on Friday. (Read 952 times)

EvanWeeks · « **on:** December 31, 2011, 11:05:36 PM »

So I figured I'd join the club.

I've ordered a viking tactics 2-pt sling, a retractable stock and a case for it with some gift money from Christmas. This gun is already earning some serious love, as it was the catalyst for my Dad and I (I'm 32, he's 57) getting out to the range together for the first time in years. We both fell in love with the gun, not so much the ammunition I'd picked to bring (Aquila 22LR High Velocity). We had a few instances of the firing hammer not striking deeply or hard enough to cause the primer to ignite (something I've read is a problem with this rifle), but removing the mag, cycling the bolt shut and then replacing the mag before pulling the trigger again seems to have cleared it every time.

The ammo, though... omfg. First indication besides the greasy feel was an effect I had never seen before: smoke trails, like coriolis effect on larger rounds at longer ranges, leading all the way out to the target (@75yds) with each shot. I should have stopped, but I didn't. Next indicator were a few failures to extract, stuck casings in the breach. Again, I should have stopped, but I didn't. Last but certainly not least was a near-catastrophic failure. The casing got stuck in the breach, but the extractor ripped the primer rim right off, dropping it into the mag well. It tried to feed another round into the breach, and of course jammed, smoke billowing everywhere. Thankfully the round had cleared the barrel. It took me a minute to figure out what had happened, pulled the casing out by pressing the red "clear" tab into the breach and carefully sliding the casing out. Finally realizing just how bad the ammo was and what it was doing to my gun... I stopped.

2 hours of scrubbing, swabbing, soaking with solvent, and repeating, and patches came through clean.

For such a crappy, dirty ammo, we did manage to put about 200 rds through the weapon before the major malfunctions started showing up. I'm impressed, and so was my Dad. So far it seems to be a well-made little gun, perfect for plinking and hunting small stuff for the rest of the season. The Sightpoint green dot reflex I have on it zeroed pretty easily, and is effective in sunlight. Me likey.

Overall, it contributed to one of the best birthdays I've had in years, even with the screw-ups. I'm sure it'll be a source of much fun in the future.