Fixing a Fussy Pardini SP?

Gwhite · Post by **Gwhite** » Fri Sep 19, 2008 8:54 am

My wife has an older SP, and it has always been a little fussy about ammo. I got a case of Aguila Subsonic several years ago at the recommendation of Greg Derr, and with the exception of one box, it has performed flawlessly. Despite it being a nominally slower round, the subsonic has a relatively sharp recoil that this pistol seems to like.

That case has just about run out, and we've tried:

Aguila Standard Velocity (recent): Very soft recoil, doesn't cycle reliably
Aguila Standard Velocity (old): Mostly works, but marginal(?)
CCI Standard: Doesn't cycle reliably (tight in magazine)
Federal 711B: Doesn't cycle reliably
Winchester T22 (old): Doesn't cycle reliably

My usual approach to ammo buying is to find a local dealer who has a fresh shipment of ammo, burn through a brick quickly to see if it's reliable, and buy a case of the same lot if it shoots OK. This doesn't work with "exotic" ammo like Ely, RWS, Lapua, etc., because nobody stocks it. If I buy a case and it doesn't work, I'm out a lot of money and no closer to finding a solution.

Rather than spending our lives trying to find one brand of ammo that will function well, I'd like to see if there is anything I can do to the pistol to make it more forgiving. I have an SP New that will shoot everything I've tried in it except the newer Aguila Standard Velocity, so it's certainly not impossible for a Pardini to be relatively ammo insensitive.

Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of details to work with. My wife will just tell me that the ammo doesn't work, without too being specific about the exact nature of the failure. From what I've seen, it's a mix of feeding failures and short cycling. She's got three magazines, and they all behave similarly. The problems occur largely independently of how recently it's been cleaned.

One thing that is odd about this pistol is that there is a manufacturing flaw in the slide. The hole for the recoil spring intersects one of the cutouts in the bottom of the side, so there is a very thin slot along a good part of the length of the hole. The spring seems to move OK in the hole, but I'm wondering if there might be some small burrs in there that are adding a little drag to it. I noticed this a couple years after I bought it, and have assumed it's not serious enough to buy a new slide, but maybe it is.

Are there any specific things to look out for or experiments to try with these guns?

Thanks!

Fred Mannis · Post by **Fred Mannis** » Fri Sep 19, 2008 9:51 am

Gwhite wrote: One thing that is odd about this pistol is that there is a manufacturing flaw in the slide. The hole for the recoil spring intersects one of the cutouts in the bottom of the side, so there is a very thin slot along a good part of the length of the hole. The spring seems to move OK in the hole, but I'm wondering if there might be some small burrs in there that are adding a little drag to it. I noticed this a couple years after I bought it, and have assumed it's not serious enough to buy a new slide, but maybe it is.

Are there any specific things to look out for or experiments to try with these guns?

I have a Pardini SPE, which is previous to your model, that has the same opening between the recoil spring hole and the bottom of the slide. I have always assumed that this was part of the design.

I had problems with mine until Don Nygord polished the chamber. Probably lost a little accuracy, but it has been 100% since then using Eley Practice (white label no longer available) and Eley Target Pistol (yellow label no longer available). I have about another season's worth and then I am going to have to find ammo that works. :-(
I shoot SK Pistol Match and Wolfe in my other guns, so will probably start with those.

Hard to diagnose without more info on the nature of the problem, but I would try replacing the usual 'consumables' - recoil spring, extractor/extractor spring, and magazine spring. I found replacing all my mag springs (they were ~ 20 yrs old at the time) helped.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Sep 19, 2008 10:09 am

Hello,
I own a Pardini SP, from my experience it and other SP's shoot just about any ammo fine. There's one thing in the design that could cause problems, namely the magazine catch and magazine. The ejector is a part of the magazine and could be bent or worn. Also if magazine sits low, ejection and feeding may not be consistent. Would SP NEW magazines fit in the old SP to test them? Or can you try another magazine, or try those old magazines in another SP to single out the problem. One of my magazines was a bit tight, so I loosened it a little by bending the tubes narrow middle section outwards with a big screwdriver. Maybe you can think of a smarter way to do that.

The recoil spring could also be worn out, though that is unusual with a .22.
Is the guide rod straight?

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Sep 19, 2008 10:15 am

^^^ I've recently been using CCI std. and it works 100%.

loud223 · Post by **loud223** » Fri Sep 19, 2008 9:43 pm

GWhite,
Greg recomends sk standard. He swears by it for gallery matches. I think he uses SK match for the long line. I know he would be glad to take a look at the pistol. He's a good smith for the pardini.
Lou

MichaelB · Post by **MichaelB** » Sat Sep 20, 2008 7:36 am

I've only recently taken possession of a Pardini SP (#B1302, if that means anything). It's been very happy so far with CCI Standard, and SK Standard Plus, though I've had one failure to cycle properly with the SK (I think it was a bit soft to eject properly.. dunno), and CCI Standard sometimes misfires - just doesn't fire at first. I've had the same trouble with CCI Std in my Toz35, and I gather it might be something to do with QA/QC of the primer: a bit of a jiggle, or reload the round and it fires fine.

$0.02c (@ pre-sub-prime crisis rates)

K38 · Post by **K38** » Sat Sep 20, 2008 8:04 am

My Sp can be a bit fussy about ammo, for instance it does not seem to like Eley. Don Nygord (of blessed memory) used to recommend RWS ammo for the SP. He was right on the money, ever since I started to use RWS I have never had a stoppage of any kind. Champion's choice has a selection and I usually use one of the cheaper ones for Bullseye in my SP.

Respectfully,

Dwight

william · Post by **william** » Sat Sep 20, 2008 8:33 am

Let me make the point as directly as the much missed Don Nygord did: RWS ONLY! He even included a brick of it when he would sell an SP.

SK and its Wolf equivalents seem to work in friends' guns. Everything else is a crapshoot. A few years ago, just to see what would happen, I put 2500 rounds of RWS through my SP - without cleaning and without so much as a bobble (OK, Steve, don't tell me what a dopey thing that was; I know).

If you'd like a catalog of ammo related failures in my Pardinis since 1991, send me a PM and I'll be happy to share.

Depending on where you are in Massachusetts, you may want to drive to Hooksett, NH. Riley's Sport Shop has both RWS and Wolf in stock on the shelf as of 6 PM yesterday.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Sep 20, 2008 3:12 pm

Anonymous wrote:^^^ I've recently been using CCI std. and it works 100%.

I will now retract that statement. Today I had all sorts of problems at the range. First I found that the follower had cracked, causing feeding failures. I switched to another magazine, but problems continued, the cartridges didn't feed in all the way, and wax clogged up the magazine quickly. Cleaning and oiling helped but only for a couple of shots. Perhaps the cold weather made the wax stickier, or the rounds in the new brick were slightly longer. Changing over to Lapua ammo cured everything and I was able to finish the match.

I was told by fellow shooters that there have been issues with some Pardinis as the magazines can be a bit short for some brands of ammo. I think pistols with magazine in the gripframe are more tolerant of longer ammunition but a more upright magazine such as Pardini can hang up.
Never had this happen to me before! Live and learn...

Gwhite · Post by **Gwhite** » Sun Sep 21, 2008 7:19 pm

william wrote:Depending on where you are in Massachusetts, you may want to drive to Hooksett, NH. Riley's Sport Shop has both RWS and Wolf in stock on the shelf as of 6 PM yesterday.

That is good to know. It's a bit of a haul, but I drove past Hooksett this weekend. They are certainly within striking distance if we don't come up with another fix. Their web site is a bit thin, and doesn't list RWS, but I'll call to make sure they have plenty of RWS in stock first. I have some Wolf kicking around somewhere, but I found it really dirty when I tested it in my Benelli a few years ago.

Friday my wife tried the Aquila Standard Velocity, and the first 10 rounds worked fine. After that, it frequently wouldn't recoil enough to pick up the next round, and after a few more shots, it occasionally wouldn't even cock the hammer. One problem is that it's had a variety of stuff fired in it since I cleaned it last, and the mix of lubes may be gunking it up. Despite that, when she switched back to Aquila Subsonic, it was fine.

I spoke with Larry's Guns, and Larry recommended sending the slide up for a quick once over. Apparently there are some known things to look for, and it's quicker & simpler than shipping the whole pistol. I'm going to give it a thorough bath, do some careful testing on Tuesday, and then send the slide off Priority Mail on Wednesday.

ikao · Post by **ikao** » Tue Sep 23, 2008 9:18 am

does anyone know if champion's choice still ships to massachusetts? or...what's the price of RWS at riley's sport shop?

edit: or is there any other place that still ships ammo to massachusetts?

Gwhite · Post by **Gwhite** » Tue Sep 23, 2008 5:05 pm

I've managed to buy bullets from CC in recent years, so they may be a small enough operation that the attorney general hasn't bothered bullying them into submission.

I was going to call Ryley's this week to see what their prices were. I assume folks are shooting plain RWS, and not RWS 50 or 100. I almost fainted when I saw what a case of that stuff goes for.

K38 · Post by **K38** » Tue Sep 23, 2008 5:44 pm

[

. I assume folks are shooting plain RWS, and not RWS 50 or 100. I almost fainted when I saw what a case of that stuff goes for.[/quote]

Yup, just the cheap stuff. If you shoot well enough with the standard/sport pistol that you can get the advantage out of R50 or R100 you are a pistol god!

Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Click (couldn't ever count to five)

Dwight

ikao · Post by **ikao** » Tue Sep 23, 2008 10:43 pm

ya, just the RWS target rifle. I had ordered 2 cases of it about 2 years ago. I thought I had heard that they don't ship to MA anymore, but haven't found any confirmation. if they still ship to MA, I'll need to order more from them :P. my supply is drying up quickly :P

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Fixing a Fussy Pardini SP?

Fixing a Fussy Pardini SP?

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