Hammerli208S, Extractor Ejector Problem

[CA Bullseye]

Dear Fellow Shooter:

I’m seeking your help and suggestions regarding my Hammerli 208S. I have a red dot mounted on a Knapp scope mount. I’ve been shooting with the red dot for about two years with no problems up until a month ago. While shooting during a match a spent case would get caught up in the chamber preventing the slide from cycling another round. I’ve changed ammo, cleaned the gun with no success. When I take off the scope mount the firearm functions normally.

I’ve had the firearm for over six years and have about 21K rounds through it. It's never been serviced, because it's been functioning fine up until now. I’m thinking the extractor and ejector need replacing or could it be the main spring? I’d be interested in hearing from any one who has had a similar problem and their fix.

In advance, thanks for your comments and suggestions.

cabullseye

[Nev C]

The slide does not pull a fired case out of the chamber, the spent case pushes the slide back, the extractor claw is only of use when extracting an unfired round. If your cases are sticking in the chamber, the problem is not with the extractor or the ejector.
Do you mean "stovepipe" or is the case stuck in the chamber?
Cheers from Oz

[Ed Hall]

The first thing I'd do is take the slide off the gun and see if a case sits properly in the cutout and that the extractor keeps a good hold on it. The cutout can close at the top due to peening and/or the side opposite the extractor can peen away, leaving the round somewhat loose. If the case isn't held well enough, it will droop, or even fall out, prior to getting to the ejector. If it droops at all, it will hit the left rear magazine lip instead of making it to the ejector. When this happens with a scope mount present, the case is often bounced back into the breech and trapped by the closing slide. If the cutout has closed, it can be recut by Larry Carter Larry's Guns. If the side opposite the extractor has opened, he might suggest a new slide - not a very inexpensive option. I have had some limited success with my original slide by dimpling the metal beside the cutout to move the opposing side back in a little. I eventually purchased a new slide for competition and use the older one for leagues and training.

Take Care,
Ed Hall
U.S. Air Force Competitive Shooting Teams
Bullseye (and International) CompetitionThings

[Nev C]

I'm a bit confused here, are the cases sticking in the chamber or are they jamming in the ejection port ( stovepipe)?

[David Levene]

As Nev said, are the cases sticking in the chamber or jamming in the area around the ejection port?

If the latter then I would have a close look at the extractor through a magnifier. Its only purpose during normal shooting on the 208 (and most competition 22s) is to act as a pivot point for ejecting the empty case. If a corner has chipped off the extractor then the effective pivot point may have changed, resulting in the cases ejecting in a different direction. This could result in the ejected cases now hitting the Red Dot / scope mount and bouncing back through the ejection port.

[Misny]

If you mean that the empty bounces back between slide and barrel chamber area, I've corrected two of these problems in Hammerli 208s pistols by putting a very small amount of light oil (I use FP-10) on the first round in a magazine. Don't use a full drop of oil, more is not better. I've found that SK Jagd PM ammo has more lube and there is no need to apply the oil, but with some other ammos, like Aguila PM, I need the oil.

[Bob Fleming]

This is one of the few problems that we get with the 208S. The magazine may be knocking the empty shell loose from the extractor before it gets to the ejector. Does it do it with all of your magazines or only some? Do the emptys allways fly out the same direction or does it change with different magazines? Does this happen mostly on the last shot?
Bob Fleming

[Bob Fleming]

I just realized that you said that you have 21K rounds on the recoil spring and mainspring. You should replace the recoil spring when it develops visible flat spots on the outside. Wear on the mainspring will reduce the trigger pull weight and cause misfires with some ammo.
A weak recoil spring will allow slide battering and frame cracking just as if you used a lot of high velocity ammo in it.
Bob

[Bob Fleming]

When the 208S is ejecting correctly the extractor holds on to the spent brass long enough for the ejector to kick it out at the face of the competitor to your right. If the magazine is sitting a little high the feed lip of the mag will knock the brass off of the extractor and your brass will bounce around more or less randomly. Are you using a different mag? There is a little tab on the back bottom of the mag at the mag base. It engages the mag latch. This little tab determines how high the mag sits. Has the mag catch been changed in any way? That would cause all mags to malfunction. Mine did not malfunction right away but took a good while, like yours before things got weird. I numbered all my mags so I could figure out which ones were the troublemakers. The failures were rare but no one should tolerate an alibi caused by a top of the line pistol. I also cut the back off my scope mount off to prevent the brass bouncing back and getting trapped so easily.
I used a die makers file one stroke at a time to shorten that tab ever so slightly until it was reliably displaying the very rude habit these pistols seem to have been designed to do: Throw every piece brass in your friends face. Yes My 208S has been put up for sale on gunbroker.
Bob Fleming

[Bob Fleming]

WOW! sorry about digging up such an old thread. Still had a search for 208S open from days ago and replied by mistake.