Ammo for my Pardini

First topic message reminder :

Can some one help me match the ammo to the gun?  My Pardini SP is two months old with about 1200 rounds down range.  I shot 812/900-10X about two weeks ago with Aguilla pistol match but the cases are sticking to the bolt and will not extract.  Rate: 2 or 3 per hundred.  On slow fire its recoverable ... rapid or timed ... I cannot recover.  I read in another thread about cold wax ... that's a thought.  I'm thinking ... better ammo?

The question was never about accuracy, it was about whether the ammo would properly cycle the OP's gun correctly.  I think it doesn't.  Very simple to shoot a few boxes of 1100fps+ stuff through it and see if that is correct.  If the very low energy Aguila pistol match is on the verge of not cycling his bolt far enough to hit the ejector then problem solved, if it is on the verge of not cycling properly then a little limp wrist on one shot could cause the malfunction.  Larry

Hiya,

I'm a bit late to the thread. The issue your having can be either a bad mag with a short ejector tang or a short stroking bolt.

The first is easily troubleshot, number your mags with an engraving tool, keep shooting the gun and when the failure happens, note the mag number. If all the failures happen with the same mag, you have a mag problem, simply replace it and relegate the bad one to practice use.

The second is a little more effort. First let me say that you need to put at least 2500 rounds through a Pardini before it can be considered "broken in". All of my Pardini's start out life using either CCI SV or blue box Remington Target for 2500 rounds before they shoot in a match. (the last 2 have been able to use CCI whereas the earlier ones it was too long to function.)

OK, onto the causes of short stroking.
1) Cold temps. Because the frame/barrel shroud are made out of aluminum and the bolt/barrel are made out of steel, they have different rates of expansion/contraction with changes in temps. When it's cold, the aluminum reacts to it more and contracts to a greater degree, closing up clearances and making more drag on moving parts. Solution: Keep the gun above 60 degrees and you will find it cycles more reliably. Same goes for the ammo, 22lr is sensitive to cold and really wants to be about 70 degrees to perform at it's best so keep it in your pocket.

2) Your choice of lube. I use very little wet lube and supplement with dry graphite. I coat the bolt friction surfaces lightly with synthetic oil and dust it with dry graphite. I find that this makes them much more reliable in winter temps. As far as wear, I talked to Don Nygord before I did this on my first Pardini, he said it was fine and I haven't worn a bolt or hammer out yet.

3) Chamber residue. The chambers in the Pardini barrels aren't the finest example of a match chamber, they are on the rough side and the ones I have seen have a tendency to accumulate hard carbon deposits. Every few hundred rounds I stick a chamber brush in and give it a few turns to clean. I never clean the entire bore, just the chamber.

4) Ammo. Yes,  Aguila can be problematic however, I have used it in all of mine without much fuss. The SE "blue" has more than enough umph to cycle even new pistols, the SE "purple" sub-sonic needs a well broken in pistol to run reliably and even then the pistol and ammo need to be warm. I have used the pistol and rifle match ammo, it seems to fall between the 2 SE speeds.

OK, this turned out a lot longer than I planned but hopefully I have given you some things to look at that should help.

Tom

For best function Pardini recommends euro sourced ammo.  Think Eley, lapua, SK... I have noticed when shooting CCI it tends to be longer OAL and the second round can get stuck in the mag and will not get picked up.

A few recommended Norma TAC-22.  It uses an RWS case and functions really well. This is my go to for 50ft and 25 yds.  I always make sure the second round is angled up (parallel to first round) when I load my mags to ensure I get 100% function.

Tried Norma TAC last night in a club indoor 900.  Shot 810 with two FTE.  One in slow fire was frustrating, but recoverable.  One in RF required an alibi.  I'm getting sick of alibis.

Bought some Hoppes Elite she is getting a bath tonight.  I did notice the bullet does not "fall" into the chamber.  Wax build up ... I'm guessing.  No brush has ever touched this bore, only cotton patches with Gun Juice.

Have you tried the chamber brush as described earlier in the thread. The best think that I have found for wax is Kroil.

The Pardini SPBE does not have a (green) buffer but if you bought it with a .32ACP conversion, it might have the buffer which is standard on the HP model.  You'll probably have to remove the grip to see it clearly -- look below the rear sight.  If you don't have the buffer, you can ignore the rest of this.

I shoot the .32ACP conversion so the buffer is installed.  Pardini USA recommended that I remove the area of the buffer that corresponds to the place where the rear of the .22 ejector will strike.  The buffer resembles a flat mushroom with the stem facing the rear of the gun and fitting into the hole below the rear sight.  If you look at the .22LR bolt, you'll also see the half-moon shaped rear of the extractor.  When you remove the buffer, you'll probably see a clear mark where the rear of the extractor has been hitting.  It's easy to use a razor blade to remove that section of the buffer.

To remove the buffer, remove the grip, cock the gun (to get the hammer out of the way) and remove the barrel from the frame.  Point the frame down onto a surface and gently push the buffer toward the front of the gun through the hole below the rear sight.  Once you get the "stem" clear of the hole, you may have to shake the frame a bit to get the buffer to tumble out the front.  Once you've done your surgery on the buffer, reinstall.  Getting the buffer aligned for re-installation is a bit tricky and may take some time and fiddling.

Having an unmodified buffer in the gun when shooting .22 means the recoil impulse will get buffered.  The difference isn't huge but since your FTE rate is only ~3%, it might be enough to solve the problem.

I have been shooting Norma TAC-22 in my Pardini with good results.  Oh, one has to keep the gun clean and lubed more than most 1911's but remember it's just a .22 LR.  There is not a lot of recoil energy nor is there a heavy recoil spring. 

I might not shoot TAC-22 in the National Matches but for practice it's great!