FWB AW93 Feeding Issue

[zugtar]

fwb.txt

Hi

I have been reading through the AW93 post, in particular the feeding issues.

TLDR;
Will it get better as its used more?

My AW93 is new, and a little stiff compared to the club gun, as you would probably expect.

I am still trying to figure out if it is not ejecting correctly or not loading correctly, or both.

The ammo that i have had the most issues with is Geco Semi-Automatic. In some cases when I drop the round into the chamber (with slide removed) it stick out up to 1cm, and would need a good push to get it in.

Ammo from worst to best
- Geco Semi-Automatic 200ish rounds, and it will cycle between 2 and 5 times
- Ely Pistol Match - about 20 rounds. I think 2 failed to feed correctly
- SK - about the same as Ely
-CCI - shot 50 with no issues

I have measured each brand and found that that the geco is quite inconsistent and mostly not round, where as the others seem to be mostly round and the CCI almost always round

Shell diameter
Measured on the brass, just below the bullet
CCI - 5.67 mm or 0.2235 inch
Ely - 5.70 mm or 0.2245 inch
Geco - 5.69 mm or 0.2240 inch

rim diameter
6.90 0.2715
6.89 0.2710
6.88 0.2705

My question, would i expect the feeding to improve after things start to wear a bit more?


Thanks

[JamesH]

The ammo that i have had the most issues with is Geco Semi-Automatic. In some cases when I drop the round into the chamber (with slide removed) it stick out up to 1cm, and would need a good push to get it in.

From what I have heard FWB AW93s generally have tight match chambers, many have been recut with 'semi-auto' (Bentz?) chambers and work better.

David Moore is on here and has done a few I think.

Your choice is to find ammunition which works, wait for it to wear in, or adjust it so it works with any ammunition.
I would think it would take about forever to 'wear-in'.

[SteveT]

I remember when I got a Hammerli and had some difficulties shooting cheap ammo our local Bullseye gun guru told me if you buy an expensive European target pistol you may have to shoot the expensive European target ammo it was designed to shoot. Switched to SK and Eley and have not had any problems since in that or the FWB's I shoot now.

[Gwhite]

If it's relatively new, it's unlikely to be carbon build up in the chamber, but mixing ammo flavors can cause problems of its own unless you clean the chamber carefully between brands. I think some lubes react with others & can gum up the works. If cleaning at the range is an issue, shoot at least 10 rounds of the new ammo before you start drawing conclusions.

Also, check out: viewtopic.php?p=326441#p326441

If the AW93 starts with a tight chamber, a little bit of crud will only make matters worse. As a diagnostic tool, put a drop of oil (FP-10 is good, NOT RemOil) on the top round of the magazine. If that helps, then you have an issue with the chamber of some sort (too tight, too dirty, ammo too fat, etc.).

[zugtar]

Thanks for the info everyone.

[Oleg G]

I have two FW93s and neither had any issues with feeding. Extraction is another story. My approach was: find what ammo works well in the pistol and stick with it. Examples:
1. One of the pistols would not reliably extract Aguila ammo (worst), or Wolf Match, or Eley. Sometimes, it has problems with new CCI SV
2. The other pistol works with Aguila but not Wolf or Eley, or new CCI SV.
3. Both pistols are 100% reliable with SK Pistol Match, old Geco Match, and old CCI SV.

Conclusion: experiment with ammo, find what your pistol likes and stick with it. If it likes more expensive ammo, use it for matches and the cheaper ones for training.

Best Regards,
Oleg.

[David M]

The chamber problem causing extraction problems is not just a FWB problem.
Extraction is a problem for a lot of pistols.
The main cause is the change of primer compound away from lead styphnate monohydrate as a primer to modern compounds.
The new primers have three basic components a friction material, a initatior and a fuel/oxidiser.
The friction material is ground glass.
When struck the movement of the glass crystals create heat/friction that ignites the initator which in turn sets the fuel off
and we have primer flash.
The problem is the spent glass material finds its way into the walls of the chamber and helps to hold the
case delaying extraction and causes a misfeed.
The worst offenders are the very tight chambers and Stainless Steel barrels.
Reaming/Polishing or Lapping the chambers a small amount seems to fix the problem without hurting accuracy.

[SP22]

In the reading I have done, AW93 chambers are tight and like Euro ammo. I do know many Camp Perry shooters shoot from a wet chamber. I'm practicing with mine, spraying first round with "Tri-Flow'. I get few misfeeds, even using Federal Auto-match. I do this also for the Pardini SP22 and Walther GSP. I have not tried CCI SV in the guns.

I have no (wild) idea if one could possibly burnish the chamber with compound. Possibly the Techs at Brownells would know.

[Gwhite]

Feeding problems are often affected by the magazines. Label them, and see if there is any difference in how often you get mis-feeds with each one.

Does the mis-feed mostly occur with a particular round? First round jams may have difference causes from 5th round jams.

You can also feed a round, but don't fire it. Carefully remove it and see if there is damage to the bullet. You can mark the top of the case with a marker, and that can help you see if the rounds are feeding too high, or too low.

Different ammo has different bullet shapes. Pistols that have feeding problems may work better with rounds that don't have a large/sharp shoulder on the bullet. Here's a comparison of Aguila, CCI, and RWS:

RWS tends to feed better in fussy pistols than the other two. Norma TAC-22 is loaded by RWS (the cases have an RWS headstamp), and is an economical alternative to a lot of the more expensive European ammo.