Issue with (new to me) Pardini SP

New to posting but longtime lurker on the forum. Hoping someone might be able to give some advice.

My first time out with my (new to me) Nygord Pardini SP. About 1 in 7 rounds would not fire. There were impact marks on the primers but no ignition. Brands Eley Target, SP Standard Plus and Gemtech. Pistol came with 2 other firing pins and both had the same result. Sometimes if I cycled the gun and tried the same round again it would ignite, other time no luck. My only theory is that it might have some thick oil in the hammer area causing a sluggish fall. Previous owner says they never had a problem with it.

My next step was going to be a ultrasonic bath followed by very light oil in the internals, but I thought I would ask around first in case someone might have experienced this before.

Thanks for any help you can offer!

Previous owners are used car salesman.

Ultrasonic bath and see what it does

Did you change recoil (slide) spring?

Be careful with the ultrasonic.They'll eat aluminum.-Mike

Is the chamber clean?

Sometimes when my Nelson chamber gets dirty the rounds won’t seat completely and it will look like a light strike because when the hammer drops some of the energy seats the round and not enough goes to the firing pin. 

When this happens a second strike usually sets it off.

+1 on the chamber

Whats the temp where you are at verses the seller?  We have guys here where their guns run fine during the summer but have an occasional problem in the indoor winter leagues where the temps are often in the 40s when it's below zero outside.
- Dave

+1 on recoil spring replacement

Make sure bolt is snug which holds barrel to frame

Use pipe cleaner, long Q tip or something similar to clean out the hole in the bolt where the recoil spring and guide go into.

Check for crud buildup on breach face & of course chamber as previously mentioned

james r chapman / Allgoodhits wrote:Did you change recoil (slide) spring?

Thanks for the recommendation. It's only $15 + shipping, will get one ordered. Any other spare parts I need to keep on hand?

atrfod wrote:Be careful with the ultrasonic.They'll eat aluminum.-Mike

Thanks. I typically go light on the baths, I know how damaging they can be over long periods. I honestly don't know why some people recommend anything over 5 minutes. Will try a 1 minute and see where that gets me.

expendable / dronning wrote:Is the chamber clean?

I did not think think of that, but makes sense the way it's described. The chamber face looks okay but that does not mean there isn't some lubricant in the throat preventing it from seating to the rim.

If you replaced the firing pin I assume that you cleaned out the firing pin recess in the bolt.  I have had a bunch of cleaning gunk build up there and deliver light strikes but you should have cleaned that out when replacing the pin.  

I would do a plop test, that is, remove the barrel and see if a loaded round slides all the way in on its weight alone.  Take a good look at the chamber and make sure that is clean.  Maybe it needs reaming or polishing but that should be visibly evident.  

Did you try CCI SV?  Generally speaking the CCI SV is my number one choice as it is the cheapest reliable ammo available although I have heard of some malfunctions lately with the recently produced ammo.  Wolf Match Target (Produced by SK), SK pistol match, SK pistol match special and SK pistol match special plus are also ammo that has proven reliable in my pistol.  

Aquilla Super extra, Eley Target, and Eley Sport have proven not to be reliable in my pistol in cold weather.  They work fine in the summer but are regulated to practice ammo.  
Before you ultrasound the whole pistol, if you are hesitant to disassemble farther then a field strip, I would recommend a lighter fluid bath followed by compressed air.  do not spray a light gun oil in the mechanism, the lighter fluid is perfect.  This is what bench rest guys use on their triggers saying that it does a good job lubricating the trigger parts without a residue that collects grime.  

spare parts I would have on hand include a extractor, extractor spring, extractor pin, firing pin, firing pin spring, and firing pin pin, and recoil buffer.  Main recoil spring and guide rod as well.  Couple extra magazines wouldn't hurt either. 

I think that the ejector is mounted on the magazine like the new models (like my pistol).  As such, when you change the magazine you get a new ejector.  

Regards, 
Crankster

I am getting a used Nygord Pardini SP this week.  Prior owner was very helpful in answering questions.  The gun is 20 years old approx and has less than 1,000 rounds through it. It sounded like he kept good care of this pistol.  What kind of cleaning fluid does everyone use?   I have been using shooters lube, stage one solvent with my other pistols.  Will that be ok on the Pardini. Also previous owner used Ely Tenex as his ammo.  Don’t know if he tried others. I have some CCI SV coming this week as well, is it just trial and error to see if that will work.  It’s much cheaper than the Tenex.  Will appreciate any comments, thoughts.

+++ on clean chamber -drop test.  Also be sure the barrel shroud rabbit fit /mating surfaces to the frame  surfaces are clean.  Be sure the firing pin bore is clean.  Some Pardini's don't like the slightly larger OAL of Eley and RW S. CCI SV seems to work well in most Pardini's.  My old SP 22 loves almost anything and I always practiced and short line with Federal 711b and RWS and Eley for match slow fire.  My new SP 22 Bullseye 5" loves CCI SV and doesn't like RWS and some Eley ( so far , gun is only 3 months old ) Most of this is what others have said.
 Please post what you find as the issue.

I'm not sure what year your SP22 is. I had the 2nd generation (4 piston). Don always told me to keep it clean and make sure every nook and cranny was clean. He recommended using RWS Target Rifle as his first choice. I have no idea on the 3rd or any later generation. Each gun likes something different. I also measured the rim thickness and made separate lots. PITA but that was another variable eliminated.

I changed all the springs every 2 cases (10K rounds) or earlier. I would lay the new springs side by side with the current ones to see the static compression difference. I trained 4 to 5 days a week. I used that gun. Over all no problems.

Older firing pins broke because of defective steel. That was addressed by Pardini. I've owned AW93, Hammerli, the Russian 22 ?? and early on Rugers along with SW41s (early mid 1980's were best used for door stops as per an employed S&W gunsmith told me). I have a 2019 M41 and had it worked over by Roddy Toyota. The Pardini was by far the best for me.

Success! 5 different kinds of ammo, no failures.
 
I did 2 things, so I don’t know what one solved the issue, but it is solved. My theory is that a small piece of the broken recoil buffer ended up somewhere it should not have.
 
For anyone who needs to replace the recoil buffer the tools you need are: some sort of dowel or extension long enough to seat the buffer from the barrel end of the receiver, a set of dental picks or something similar to puzzle the buffer into position, and a lot of patience.
 
After using a allen wrench to push the remains of the old buffer out and shaking the rest of the bits clear, I ended up needing to slowly work the new buffer down through the receiver past the frame pins and into the correct position to use an extra long allen to seat it in position. It did not take a ton of time, was just a little tedious.
 
Thanks all for all your help, it is really appreciated!