New Walther P22Q Problems ,seeking advice

Let me begin by saying I am a novice and please keep the flaming to a minimal

I purchased a brand new P22Q at the gun show last weekend and took it to the range last night. When I was shooting i was getting a large puff of smoke coming out of the barrel and a very distinct smell. I have shot P22s before and this was different than any I have shot. I shot around 250rds last night and the smoke or smell did not get any better.

A couple of notes:
I was using CCI mini mag 40gr that I also bought at the gun show

I took the gun and original magazine apart and thoroughly cleaned the gun after I bought it

I bought two extra brand new magazines that I used last night and did not clean them before I used them and when I took them apart today to clean saw a LOT of gunk inside the mags (gunk being grease/oil/preservative)

Also while cleaning out the barrrel today the first swipe of Hoppes #9 and a patch took out a good amount of metal out of the barrel.



Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks

Quote:

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Originally Posted by NCWalrus

...I purchased a brand new P22Q at the gun show last weekend and took it to the range last night. When I was shooting i was getting a large puff of smoke coming out of the barrel and a very distinct smell. I have shot P22s before and this was different than any I have shot. I shot around 250rds last night and the smoke or smell did not get any better...

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If you did not fully solvent-clean the pistol before shooting it, the smoke might've been burning oil or grease.
New guns come coated with protective material that needs to be removed, before you shoot the gun.
However... (see below)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by NCWalrus

Also while cleaning out the barrrel today the first swipe of Hoppes #9 and a patch took out a good amount of metal out of the barrel...

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That metal is called "leading," and it means that the bullets going through your gun's barrel are leaving significant amounts of metallic lead behind.
Did you notice whether the gun was accurate, or whether the gun's accuracy seemed to deteriorate while you were shooting it? Inaccuracy would indicate leading, and progressive inaccuracy would indicate a leading build-up.
This may also be the source of the smoke and smell, although I would not ordinarily suspect CCI cartridges to have been mis-loaded or otherwise badly manufactured. CCI has a good reputation. Maybe the "smoke" was atomized lead, spraying out of the gun's muzzle. This would certainly smell wrong.

I am suspicious of "bargains" purchased at gun shows.
Maybe the gun's barrel is defective, or it had been internally rust-pitted due to poor storage.

I suggest carefully and completely cleaning the gun's bore, using lots of elbow grease, and also using up a couple of bronze bore brushes in the process. In short, "get the lead out." Get it all out, all the way down to bare steel.
Then dry the bore thoroughly, and, using some sort of light source from one end, examine the bore carefully from the other end. Light source: mirror, acrylic-plastic light pipe, even a slip of bright white paper as a reflector. Not the direct light of a bright flashlight: you'll ruin your eye.
Look for anything that does not seem to be mirror-smooth and bright. It could be roughness, bad polishing, or even a ring (uniform bulge) in the barrel where someone shot a bullet through another bullet that had gotten stuck. (I suspect a barrel ring, because that would most definitely start the leading process.)
See what you can find.

I assume that you can buy a replacement barrel, if you have to.
But it won't be a bargain then.

I appreciate your advice

I will thoroughly clean the gun again and inspect

Also I don't believe it to be a problem from the gun show as it was bought from a reputable dealer and appeared to never have been touched.


I truly appreciate ur help

Just a heads up, there have been some bad lots from CCI. Don't know why since they are very good rounds in my opinion, but I had some .22 smokers from them about a month ago and both my P22 and my Neos smoked a bit and had extra barrel build up when cleaning. I would do what Steve said but also grab some Remington Thunderbolts or Golden Bullets and see what it does. Both my guns love that ammo, but they are not near as clean as CCI but in your case they weren't either! Another suggestion is to buy a bore snake, they make cleaning the barrel very simple and do a great job on just a couple of pass through's.

Aha!
Well, if the two of you have separately had the exact same trouble with CCI cartridges, then Mr. Wilson's suggestion to try different ammunition is an excellent one.

I have a new .22LR PPQ and love it. I have shot 500+round through it with no problems, well at least with the 500 CCi MMs. The plus 500 were a mix of stuff I wanted to get rid of the worst being Lapua Pistol King, enough wax on those to polish the kitchen table.

This may seem very basic to you problem. I note you said you took it to the range in the evening, could it be that the sun was setting or set and the flash would then be very notable?? Also was it possible that wind was in your face?? I am not being smart here, but just sometimes we think it is the gun when it is external. Failing that if you shot 250 rounds, that would have cleared your barrel a 100 times so as someone else said, try new ammo; even new CCiMMs.

I hope you get it sorted.
I also phurched the threaded end for a moderator, changes in about 3 mins. It stabalises the gun and more accurate.