TargetTalk

I have an issue and I thought I would throw it out in case anyone else has experienced this. Every once in a while, maybe 10 times so far, the slide will not go all the way forward and I get a misfire.

If I open the slide, the bullet is still in the chamber and does not eject. I have to pry it out with my fingernail. This means the ejector is not gripping the rim of the bullet to pull it out because when the round was chambered, the slide did not close all the way forward.

I know the importance of the position of the first round in the clip and this is well documented by Walther. I also know to pull the slide all the way back and release it so it can properly chamber the first round.

If the clip is out, the action of the slide is very crisp and seems very normal. When the pistol chambers the first round, it feels 'mushy'. I thought maybe it was the ammo or the wax on the ammo. I am using Eley Sport .22 LR.

Has any other SSP owners experienced this?

How old is you pistol? I shoot an SSP and felt the same musshyness in the begining, but as I shot it more & more, it got better.
I have not had any issues with the slide not closing fully. I used to shoot Eley standard, but we had so many problems with the last batch that we gave up and now I am shooting Lapua Standard. It seems to like Lapua much better than Eley.
Hope this helps.

The pistol is new, less than 200 shots. I am glad to hear it improved for you. Do you have any advice for minor cleaning after shooting? Without breaking the pistol down every 2000 rounds, is there a procedure to clean around the chamber and ejector? Should anything be lubricated, including the slide, on a regular basis? As you know, Walther did not over do it with English documentation and I am new to pistols and bullseye shooting.

Thanks.

I am over 5000 rounds but haven't done any major cleaning (taking apart the pistol) yet. I do clean the chamber area with a cloth and that is it. Actually I find it easier to clean this ahcmber area on this pistol compared to the others that I own.
I noticed tonight while shooting a practice match that my mags are getting dirty so I will need to clean those. Also the only lubrication that I have done on the pistol is apply the grease, that came with the gun, on the frame where slide mark is.

Sorry to ask such 'noobee' questions, but do you use anything on your cloth as you clean around the chamber? I notice wax also builds there.

Thanks,

I use Mpro-7, sometimes only. Most of the time I have noticed the wax buildup will come off easily and the feed ramp looks shiny just after cleaning with a soft cloth.

I'd try different ammo. If you've only fired 200 rounds, it hasn't had time to get seriously dirty. It may just be that either your ammo is running on the large side, or your chamber is tight. If either is marginal, a little bit of fouling & lube could do you in.

With a freshly cleaned chamber, you should be able to drop a round pretty much all the way into the chamber with nothing but gravity. If you have to manually pry rounds out, something isn't right.

A quick expedient for cleaning the chamber is a bronze brush bent at a right angle so you can slip it into the chamber & wiggle it back & forth. A pull-though cleaner with a patch (like the "PatchWorm") will get the loose debris out. That way you can give the chamber a quick cleaning without having to completely disassemble the pistol.

Personally I have made a chamber cleaning brush with a standard .22 cal brass brush with about 3/4 bent at a right angle and then epoxy the threaded end into a piece of brass tubing, available at hobby shops called K & S tubing. With this I scrub out the chamber before each match. Additionally you could (shudder) open up the chamber with a simple chambering reamer, available from Brownells. Best bet, shoot it more and see what happens to the problem, and yes magazines should be kept cleaner on these over-engineered guns. "Doc"

Hi R042wal:(excuse me for my bad english)
I live in the Netherlands and first shot my SSP at 12/10/2009; I experienced the same problems as you have; one last bullet would not chamber and when i tried to remove the magazine id would not move an inch; so i was fumbling with my fingernail to remove the last round; it was humiliating because everyone on the range was watching me; i read several items on the net that the SSP has feeding and jamming problems; should walther not solve this problem because to me it seems a structural one.
greetings, werner

Heard strong rumours there are several modifications coming including removal of the pneumatic damper and new magazines.

I've seen a very neat hinged (at the back) and spring loaded barrel weight.

Several modifications coming? After how many years? A good thing this is not concerning a Matchguns product, or the board would get flooded...

Couple of years ago, when I decided to replace my GSP Expert with something with a better trigger, I discussed with the Walther importer (who didn't know I had a GSP Expert) in my country about buying an SSP and he advised me to buy... a GSP Expert instead !

Follow-up to my original post: I have tried Lapua Standard Plus and RWS Target Pistol and had much better results than the Eley I was using. Otherwise, I am quite pleased with my SSP.

I have also encountered a couple of stovepipes and this happened with both the Eley and RWS ammo.

Does anyone use a rolling trigger release (no second stage) for any rapid fire or precision fire event with their SSP? Did your scores improve?