My Dad’s old .22, now owned by my son, has developed a very inconsistent and occasional stovepipe jam. At least some of it may be attributed to operator error, a loose sleeve on my son’s coat might have rubbed on the breech block (on the bottom of the 241, mostly identical to the Browning SA .22 rifle). But, it has happened to me, as well, and I had a T-shirt on, and nothing was contacting the breech block, for sure, when it did it to me. It seems to occur more often with high velocity.22 ammunition. If it happened more often, I could likely figure it out, eventually. The gun is cleaned after each use, always has been, since my Dad bought it in 1947. There is no burr on the end of the barrel from the gun being dry fired, a new round drops right in and right back out again. It has been very well cared for.
I’m stumped. Any suggestions?

Best,
Ted

Perhaps ammo specific?

First thing comes to mind is a weak or broken extractor spring, or possibly a broken or bent extractor. Either might let the spent round leave the bolt face before it hits the ejector. High velocity rounds might push the bolt back faster causing the higher likelihood of separation. The empty has enough momentum to clear the chamber but isn’t ejected out of the receiver when the bolt comes back forward.

A repair could be as simple as removing the bolt and soak in lacquer thinner to free up the spring. It seems to dissolve hidden gunk better than anything else I use. While it’s out give the extractor a visual inspection. Slide a cartridge in and out of the extractor to get a feel for whether it’s grabbing the rim well enough. If confident enough to disassemble the extractor you can just replace the spring. Can’t hurt to freshen an old spring like that.

I know you said you clean it, but do you clean all the right places? My Rem 241 is pretty reliable with any ammunition but I quit using high velocity stuff about 20 yrs ago.

They are wonderful guns and many times better than the Browning, in my opinion.

It's usually the Extractor.
But it can also be the Cartridge Guide alone or along with the Extractor.

The Cartridge Guide has 2 legs at the front of it that you can see when you open the bolt all the way and look down into the action.
Those legs are the Ejector. They are what the upper rim of the case strikes as the bolt is pushed to the rear upon firing or manually.

If those legs get worn or damaged, the spent round won't always pivot off of the bolt face in the direction and speed needed to clear the ejection port.
Add to that a worn Extractor that may be interfering as it's supposed to be the lower pivot for the case to kick off of the bolt face and you can get stove pipe jams.
Sometimes cases that don't clear can get crushed end to end along with a new round partially chambered as well.

Some aftermarket parts work just fine as drop in's. Some need some ( very little) touch up to smooth mfg'ring edges.

Most of the guns could use a good cleaning as well.
The guns are made for HS ammo but usually work just fine w/ Std Vel too.

Good tips. I thank you all.

I get the cleaning tip. I have been on the end of somebody telling me a gun was “cleaned” and dismantling the thing to find filth everywhere it shouldn’t be. This gun was dismantled, by me, and the bits scrubbed, lubed and reassembled. Which, it didn’t need-it was my Father’s, a guy who taught every nuance of rifle craft to Marines over 22 years of active duty. He was anal about gun cleaning. A few of the various springs in the gun look aged (they are old) and there are no replacement parts in the gun, it is as Remington sold it 76 years ago.

This is a recent phenomenon. I don’t remember this happening when we were kids shooting with my Dad.

I, too, find the 241 to be much superior to the Browning SA 22. The 241 isn’t as accurate as my 581, or, my 552, but, it is accurate enough. “Minute of Orange” dad used to say. A takedown design is always at a disadvantage in that regard.

I will look into your suggestions at the bench, when time allows. Perhaps sooner, as the kid is pestering me to get it 100%.

Thanks again.

Best,
Ted

I couldn’t find anything amiss:





I got my toothbrush out, cleaned the extractor spring and the area the extractor sits in out, examined the extractor ends, which, had visible serrations on either side of the legs, cleaned the pocket the extractor spring rides in, lubed everything with a few drops of Breakfree, scratched my head, put it together, and put it away. Son watched me in the garage, hopeful that his gun will be a runner at the range next time.

It is a handsome little gun.

Best,
Ted

Try standard velocity ammo if you can find it. Some of these older guns work much better without the 'zing' factor.

I was aware of that. HOWEVER, due to circumstances of friends who are no longer here, I have about 10,000 rounds of the other stuff on hand. Looking at the few places I shop, you can buy the HV stuff all day, standard velocity is tougher to come by, and I would have to spend money.

I did give all the Winchester Wildcats away, stuff was filthy in the autoloaders.

Best,
Ted

Hyper velocity 22LRs often use lighter bullets to increase speed, but with a different impulse on the bolt. You may need to buy a box of ammo that works in the Remington and a different rifle to use the inherited ammo.
Mike

Also make sure that the ammo isn't cold.

I had CCI Mini Mags not function well in 20-30 degree weather and leaving the magazines in my pocket until right before I shot the gun solved the problem

Well, good points. My range is heated, so, cold weather isn’t a factor. The last batch of ammunition through the old girl was indeed CCI mini mag solid points, I have a few thousand rounds of that in the orange plastic boxes. The last box of CCI ammunition I bought was a fifty round pack of some stuff that was hollow point, with silver cases, that I shot a squirrel head on with, and it literally blew him up, rendering a nice, fat, boar unfit for the table. This was about 45 seasons ago, and a few years back,while digging in my stuff, I found the box, blue plastic, with 50 rounds, missing one bullet. Never shot another round.
The magazine on the 241 is tubular, and in the stock. If it is cold out, the ammunition will be cold, too. The 581 has a clip, but, is a lefty gun, bought when I still fit that profile. I’m right handed, today. Not by choice, you understand, by circumstance.
The 552 Remington semi auto is the bomb, eats anything, and is just as accurate as the 581. I have to reverse the safety back to right hand use, but, that gun with the deflector on the side was pretty left hand friendly. In my little rimfire world, it is the standard by which all others are judged. I preferred using shorts for hunting, and haunted garage sales as a kid, buying long and short ammunition that nobody wanted, to feed to the 552. My friends all owned guns that only used LR, and were perpetually short, while I was swimming in several different types. I was the first kid to get glasses in the neighborhood (3rd grade) and the first kid to buy a scope, a Weaver K4 1”, that my Dad recommended. His guns all had 1.5-4 power optics, but, that was more than tween me could afford. The K4 is still there. I remember a sunny afternoon at an outdoor range, with a few friends and their 22s, when Dad sat down with that setup and shot a ten yard group that you could cover with a dime at the 50 yard mark.I lost most of my interest in his 241, at that point.
My kid loves that 241. His only connection to Grandpa, who died when he was three, are some of his things that were left to him, and various pictures of him. My interest, at this point, is seeing it run trouble free, so the kid and I have some fun with it.
They, my Dad and my boy, would have really clicked about now.

Wasn’t to be.

Thanks.

Best,
Ted

Ted,
I'm sorry your son lost his Grandpa and your Dad didn't have a chance to see his grandson grow up. My dad said one grandbaby was worth three of his own children.
Mike

Spent about a half hour putting ammunition down range with the old gun today. No improvement that I could tell, it is very infrequent however. I went by myself to avoid explaining to the boy why his old man didn’t hit it out of the park the first try.

Jack first has new ejectors and springs for the gun. I’m going to give that a try.

Best,
Ted

I guess 70 years of shooting .22s and owning dozens of .22 rifles doesn't educate me in "stovepipe". Yes, I have read the entire thread. Please explain.

eightbore, I think most any 22LRs, and particularly autoloaders can have all manner of jams. The picture in my mind is the bolt partly closed on a spent shell, sticking out of the ejection port?

Ted, just a thought, but has the edge of the chamber picked up dry firing damage. Sorry if it's already been gone over, but that could throw off cycle timing enough to affect reliability that the rifle once had. Good luck with it.

Stovepipe jam:



Craig, way back at the beginning, I mentioned that a cartridge drops right in and right back out of the chamber, indicating the burr wasn’t an issue that I could tell. Good tip, but, at the range a fellow told me a 241 wasn’t affected by dry firing, first time I ever heard that. Out of habit, I can’t see myself starting to dry fire the gun, or, any .22 rimfire gun. I could probably add 5mm rim fire to that as well, but, no longer own one or any ammunition for it.

Thanks for the tip. I’m going to order a few parts, tonight.

Best,
Ted

Hey Ted, yup, way back on your first post. Worthy project, thanks for the updates.

20-30 deg F is not cold- I'm calling BS. Some of these old semi-auto guns just like a particular brand of ammo which may or may not be available in this day and time. What did Grand Pa shoot? Suspect whatever was on the shelf but most likely standard velocity ammo. You may need to buy various brands and try them- they are available online- or maybe get a GS to make you a slightly stronger spring to accommodate for the HV ammo. Save the CCI for the manual extractor and/or modern guns. That said maybe some worn parts if shot 10's of thousands of rounds. I would love to know exactly how many rounds of .22 's I have shot. You may be on the right track with some parts exchange.

For what it is worth, I’m pretty sure I noted my range is heated. Someone else had a problem with cold .22 ammunition.


Best,
Ted