GSG 522 Light primer strike issues ?

[Bikerdad61]

Posting this to see if any other GSG 522 owners have had the same problem. I'm using a brand name High Velocity ammo and have completely stripped the gun and thoroughly cleaned and oiled it. Every 2nd or 3rd round will not fire. It is feeding rounds from the magazine just fine. It appears the firing pin is not striking the case hard enough. I got the gun used, but it does not appear to have been used heavily or abused.
I'm thinking maybe a new firing pin (it's actually a stamped plate) or new hammer spring ? See what others thoughts are. I have had for several years one of the early GSG-5 carbines and it functions flawless and feeds anything I load in it. My next idea was to exchange the bolt carrier out of it and see if the GSG 522 will then fire every round. That might indicate a worn firing pin.

All feedback welcome.
Brett

 

[Restroyer]

I bought the GSG 522 two years ago brand new. I have 3 factory mags. All of them have issues. When I first bought the rifle it did not jam much but at that time it was a scarce ammo market so I bought what I could find and only had Eley Match Hollowpoint and CCI Mini Mag rounds (higher grade ammo). These seem to only jam once in a while. Since then I have used 8 other types of cheaper priced ammo from manufacturers like Remington, Winchester, Aguila, Federal and they all jamb constantly (failure to fire, failure to cycle, failure to eject). It is so frustrating. A month or so ago I see these you tube videos claiming the magazines are the problem and they show step by step process of how to take the magazines apart and sand down the magazine along the slide assist. I recently did that and I have not yet had a chance to try and see if that fixed the issue. I hope it does otherwise I got a piece of junk that only likes the more expensive ammo. I should also note that I have cleaned it a lot so it's not a dirty gun issue. If I get time this weekend I'll try and shoot it and see if the sanding of the mags worked and post the results. It's real accurate and fun weapon when it's not jamming but I hate the unreliability. You may want to look at the you tube videos on sanding down the mags and see if it helps you.

 

[Bikerdad61]

Doubt the mags are a problem. They all feed fine in my other GSG-5.

 

[Hawkwind2112]

I have the GSG5PK and I am not sure what the differences are between all of the models. Is there any major resistance when pushing the firing pin forward by hand? Does the firing pin stick out far enough to hit the case properly when you push it forward by hand? Have you taken the bolt carrier assembly out and then apart and cleaned it thoroughly then lightly lubed it?

 

[Bikerdad61]

Yes I stripped the carrier completely down and cleaned and oiled it. I pulled the bolt carrier out of my other GSG-5 today and swapped it in the 522, it functions fine with the different carrier. So the issue has to be the firing pin. Now I have to see where I can get a replacement firing pin. Found a parts breakdown on the web, guess I'll call ATI first of the week.

 

[Hawkwind2112]

Did you bother with taking out both firing pins and comparing them? It might be a problem that you can correct yourself. And yes, ATI seems like the obvious first choice for a firing pin replacement. You could also be having a headspace depth problem though. Maybe the rim of the ammo is just not fitting into the bolt face properly.

 

[shootersix]

ok try this, call ati(the importer) and ask them, dont tell them its used, (you'll need the serial number when you call), it has a 3 year waranty on it(to the original purchaser), when i called them about my dads gsg5sd it was doing the same thing as yours!, when i gave them the serial# they told me it(the waranty) had never been registered/activated, so she took my info, and that night i activated the waranty! so even tho he had bought the gun used, and it was at least 2 years old, it got fixed for free! (i did have to pay shipping to them) and he now has a 3 year waranty!

on a side note, i had to include a magazine when i shipped it to them, and they kept it!...i called them to complain and a few days later i got a new mag in the mail!

and all this took less than 2 weeks!

they replaced the spring and fireing pin, and test fired it, we took it out and it shoots perfect now!

 

[Hawkwind2112]

ok try this, call ati(the importer) and ask them, dont tell them its used, (you'll need the serial number when you call), it has a 3 year waranty on it(to the original purchaser), when i called them about my dads gsg5sd it was doing the same thing as yours!, when i gave them the serial# they told me it(the waranty) had never been registered/activated, so she took my info, and that night i activated the waranty! so even tho he had bought the gun used, and it was at least 2 years old, it got fixed for free! (i did have to pay shipping to them) and he now has a 3 year waranty!

on a side note, i had to include a magazine when i shipped it to them, and they kept it!...i called them to complain and a few days later i got a new mag in the mail!

and all this took less than 2 weeks!

they replaced the spring and fireing pin, and test fired it, we took it out and it shoots perfect now!

Most places require that you provide the original purchase receipt for warranty purposes. I think your Dad was really lucky to slip by them the fact that it was a used 2 year old gun.

 

[Bikerdad61]

I ordered two factory firing pins from HOTGUNPARTS.COM . $27.00 including shipping for both. I'm pretty confident this will fix the problem. Just waiting on the snail mail to get here.

 

[Restroyer]

I ordered two factory firing pins from HOTGUNPARTS.COM . $27.00 including shipping for both. I'm pretty confident this will fix the problem. Just waiting on the snail mail to get here.

Please post a follow up if it does or does not fix the problem. I might order a new firing pin also since I have got no response from their customer service this week.

 

[nightgaunt]

ATI send me a new firing pin and spring, and recoil lug (plate?) all for free. Great customer service. Installed everything, cleaned everything including all the bolt parts, and what do you know, STILL has light strikes. Looked into lots of other fixes online, including removing the drop safety bolt (may rub on firing pin during cycling). Did that, and STILL light strikes. Going to try more mods to get this to run consistently. Bought a couple new factory mags and that's not the issue. Very finicky gun

 

[Hawkwind2112]

Very finicky gun

When I first bought my GSG522 PK it would not fire a 10 round magazine without having at least 2 failures to feed or eject. Most of the time it would have more than that. I tried using Hyper Velocity ammo (Aquila Interceptor or CCI Velocitor) in it and it greatly reduced the amount of failures but did not eliminate them entirely. I ended up calling ATI and they authorized a return and sent me a prepaid shipping label and RFID tag. They returned it to me within a week with an explanation that the barrel was found to be defective and out of spec so it was replaced. I have had no problems with it since then.

If you can't diagnose the problem that you are having with your gun then I would suggest letting ATI have a crack at repairing it. It may cost a few bucks if it is not under warranty but it might be worth it not to have to hassle with it yourself.

 

[DragonGunner]

I have the first year GSG5 and had problems and went to Federal High velocity in the blue box and shoots great, ammo also shoots good in the GSG 1911. However started having problems not feeding but its the magazines, got three of them and they don't slide the ammo up, tried cleanig them, taking them apart, greasing, sanding different area so they slide better….frustrating **^^**$## magazines…..lost faith in them, haven't shot the gun in 3 years now.

 

[Bikerdad61]

Received the new firing pins from HOT GUN PARTS, installed one of them in the GSG522 and same results (fired every other round or so and light primer strike) So I swapped my trigger group off my other GSG5 thinking the 522 may have a weak hammer spring ? Then gun functioned just fine ! Next I put the suspect trigger group from the 522 on my old GSG5...........and it shot just fine !!!! WHAT THE %#@ !!! I ended up swapping out the bolt carrier groups from one gun to the other and now they both function great. Fire, eject and feed EVERY round as fast as you can pull the trigger. At this point I'm leaving them alone and going with what's working. Tried several different mags and ammo types in both with no issues. As another member posted, it may be a bolt to chamber headspace issue and just a few thousands of an inch enough that it causes light primer strikes in the 522.

 

[Hawkwind2112]

I have the first year GSG5 and had problems and went to Federal High velocity in the blue box and shoots great, ammo also shoots good in the GSG 1911. However started having problems not feeding but its the magazines, got three of them and they don't slide the ammo up, tried cleanig them, taking them apart, greasing, sanding different area so they slide better….frustrating **^^**$## magazines…..lost faith in them, haven't shot the gun in 3 years now.

I also had slight problems with the magazine followers not sliding freely. I followed the procedure in the following video and it completely cured the problem. I did away with the grease and opted for some Rem-DriLube with teflon instead.

[video=youtube;2eAXL7BSs9A]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eAXL7BSs9A[/video]

Received the new firing pins from HOT GUN PARTS, installed one of them in the GSG522 and same results (fired every other round or so and light primer strike) So I swapped my trigger group off my other GSG5 thinking the 522 may have a weak hammer spring ? Then gun functioned just fine ! Next I put the suspect trigger group from the 522 on my old GSG5...........and it shot just fine !!!! WHAT THE %#@ !!! I ended up swapping out the bolt carrier groups from one gun to the other and now they both function great. Fire, eject and feed EVERY round as fast as you can pull the trigger. At this point I'm leaving them alone and going with what's working. Tried several different mags and ammo types in both with no issues. As another member posted, it may be a bolt to chamber headspace issue and just a few thousands of an inch enough that it causes light primer strikes in the 522.

Yes, I mentioned that it could be a headspace issue, which seems more likely now that you have ruled out firing pin issues. It could also be that the mating between the trigger and carrier groups is impeding the hammer fall on one of the combinations. I will add that I have found Federal 22 ammo to have a minutely narrower width of case rim than Winchester or CCI 22 ammo does. I am not sure if the Federal rim is also thinner than the other brands.

Anyhow, you seem to have found a way to get both guns running. I would call the problem resolved and go to the range for some shooting activity!

 

[Bikerdad61]

Nice video on how to re work the Magazines ! Not aware that any of mine are binding up but i'll have to check them out.

 

[Restroyer]

Nice video on how to re work the Magazines ! Not aware that any of mine are binding up but i'll have to check them out.

The magazine sanding issue is what I first posted to you about originally. I will say I have taken apart my mags and sanded them and while it does reduce the jamming issues it does not cure them as I still have about 2 jams per every 25 round magazine. I contacted ATI this week and they are also sending me a free firing pin, spring, and bolt carrier stop block. If that doesn't work then I will send it in to them and see if they can fix it.

 

[Hawkwind2112]

Sanding and DriLube completely fixed my magazine feed issues. There were several areas that needed attention on my mags. Did you not smooth yours out enough or maybe even go to far with it allowing the follower too much play?

 

[Restroyer]

I thought I sanded them enough. I could tell a difference but I still get a lot of FTF. I am hoping that the pin and spring they are sending me fixes it. ATI seemed to know there is a repetitive issue / complaint. They claim this will fix the problem but based on other posts I am not real confident this will work.

 

[nightgaunt]

Ran through 66 rounds with only 1 feed issue. No light strikes. Took the new replacement firing pin from ATI and polished the flat surfaces nice and smooth with high grit paper. Seemed to run fine, but time will tell.