Pardini SP not functioning well

[Mike m]

I have a SP and have owned it since new. I have always had problems with spent cases getting hung up and not ejecting all the way. I have tried many different types of ammo, but nothing seems to help. I know they are great guns and would love to get it to function properly. Any thoughts would really be appreciated.

[Ernie Rodriguez]

Mike-I presume the chamber is clean.Next did you take apart and thoroughly clean?Is there any mechanical binding?Did you try higher speed std vel ammo used for semi autos?(1120fps)If none of this is applicable-order a new recoil spring.If this doesn't work,cut off 1 coil at a time from the old spring and see if that works.I forgot to mention-does it malfunction with both clips?? Regards Ernie

[Tom]

Hi,

Here are a few areas to look at:

1) Recoil spring. If it has anything close to or over 5000 rounds through it, it's junk. Throw it away and get a new one. Sooty cases are an early sign of a weak recoil spring.

2) Extractor. If crud has built up under the extractor it may not be gripping the rim enough to control the case until the ejector hits it. Also, make sure it moves freely on it's pivot and that it has good tension.

3) Ejector. Since the ejector on the SP is a tab on the mag, this is easy to test. Number the mags, the one that causes the pistol to have ejection issues is the bad one. Toss it and get a new one.

Try these areas in the above order. I have found that the recoil spring fixes about 90% of feeding/extraction/ejection issues. I change my recoil springs once per year.

Hope it helps,

Tom

[James Hurr]

Don't know much detail on pardinis, but related to the mag ejector if the mag retaining lug is worn it can hold the mag too low for the ejector to work properly.

In this case both mags would show the same problem.

[PETE S]

How often does the problem occur? one round in 5, one in 50, or one in 5000?

Has anyone else fired the weapon? Do they have the problem with this pistol?

All the mechanical problems others have replied with are correct.

However, the correct change of the trigger nut (or grip nut) and the ejection or feeding problem is solved. The reason is that some trigger nuts or grip nuts if you prefer, tend to break their wirsts, relax the arm, jerk the pistol, or ride the recoil at just the right moment to prevent proper ejection or feeding of the next round.

Have you sand bagged the pistol?




BTW The trigger nut is a removalable item that is only attached when the pistol is pointed safely down range or during dry fire exercises. Some say the trigger nut is the shooter.

[Wee Hooker]

You don't mention what ammo you are using. My Sp had similar issues right out of the box with anything less than hotter target ammo. Subsonics gave it fits. I tore it apart and cleaned it good then polished the bolt with 600 grt in key moving /interface areas. No problems since.

[F. Paul in Denver]

The Wee Hooker may be on to something there. For sure, all the advice you have been given so far is solid but you should also not dismiss the possibility that it might be an ammo compatability problem.

My SP will ONLY digest RWS and Wolf (either the match extra or the more expensive match target). Anything else either stove pipes or results in light hits.

Also, Don Nygord recommended cleaning out the chamber in this gun by using a .223 brass brush and bending it at ninety degrees at the base of the bristles and just above the threads. Insert the brush and then use the threaded portion to ream out the crud. The chamber is extremely tight and it doesnt take much dirt to affect reliability.

Good luck - it's a fine gun when when you figure out its quirks.

F. Paul in Denver

[sparky]

How long have you had it? If it's still new, you might still be in the "break-in" period. Otherwise, many of the above problems might be the case.

BTW, for anyone about to throw a mag in the trash because of a bad ejector, I will gladly take it off your hands.

Hi,

Here are a few areas to look at:

3) Ejector. Since the ejector on the SP is a tab on the mag, this is easy to test. Number the mags, the one that causes the pistol to have ejection issues is the bad one. Toss it and get a new one.

Tom

[Tom]

Hi,

I realize that tossing mags is not an option for some shooters, especially when they cost about $60 US each. Unfortunatly Pardini designed it wth the ejector tab built in.

The reason I toss mags that give me trouble is:

First, the amount of time and effort to troubleshoot and correct a problem mag can be extensive. I wrestled with one S&W 52 mag for an entire weekends worth of practice and managed to get it working. However, after all that time I would have been better off tossing it and move onto practice.

The other reason I toss problem mags is that no matter if you get it working again, there will always be doubt in your mind when you use it.

I'll bet everyone on this board has a mag somewhere that dosen't work as well as the others. It may not fail a lot but it does have a problem. What do you think of when you load this mag? I'll bet it's something like "I hope this dosen't give me a problem today" If your thinking that when your shooting, your not thinking of shooting.

That's my story,

Tom

[Willard]

I have had the same problem with my Pardini as well. I have disassembled the gun and found the rubber buffing pad that is behind the bolt in the frame chewed to pieces. The actuating spring needed to be replaced, and the firing pin is hardly long enough to do the job.
Find a German, or European ammo for it. With the barrel assembly off the gun, see if the ammo you are using is binding in the chamber end of the barrel. Simply place a live round, carefully, in the end of the barrel and see if it is sticky when you push it in place. Find an ammo that doesn't stick or resist. European ammo is about 1/1000th smaller in diameter than american. It makes a differance. I actually TIG welded a small amount onto the striker end of a firing pin and ground it back down to give the pin a little length. I found that even pushing the pin into the bolt as far as it would go by hand, it hardly came through the face of the bolt far enough to fire the cartridge. I ordered a new firing pin but it miked out the exact same measurement as the old beat one. They need to be a little longer. I cleaned this gun, cleaner than it was when I bought it. Cleaned the mags. Went to the range, and used Wolf Match Target. Put a round in the chamber and "Click" Nothing, no bang. Looked at the cartridge and there was just enough of a mark on it to see that the firing pin just scratched the casing, but not long enough to fire it. Pardini is well known for being one of the most FINNIKY pistols on the market. But when it shoots it's one of the best balanced and most accurate. I really love this handgun, they just need to be tuned up a little to make'm run right.
Hope I was some help!!!

[pilkguns]

Is the Willard who used to work at Wolf Creek????

if so, please contact me, by phone or e-mail
Scott

[F. Paul in Denver]

Willard - I have always been able to cure my SP of the same symptoms you described by changing out the recoil spring. I have about 20K rounds thru my SP. It is now on its fourth recoil spring which Don Nygord suggested changing at 5K rounds or whenever you started getting light hits - whichever came first.

In fact I just changed mine out this weekend after a series of light hits. I have put 250 rounds thru it since installing the new spring without a single problem.


When I compared the length of the new spring to the old, I found that the latter was shorter by almost 3/8 of an inch. I'm no engineer but I think this is pretty significant. A weaker, shorter spring just isnt capable of giving the bolt sufficient inertia to fully seat the next round esp in a tight chamber.

Larry Carter at www.larrysguns.com carries spares. I always keep a spare on hand to avoid downtime.


My SP is still working fine on it's original firing pin.

A scrupulously clean chamber and bolt face are also musts. The only ammo mine will shoot reliably is Wolf and RWS. I did not notice any performance advantages using the more costly RWS. I have heard some shooters say they had the rather tight chamber of the SP reamed out to better accommodate a wider range of ammo.

I'm too chicken to have it done - the Wolf .22 ammo is reasonable both in price and availability.


Good luck - I agree that when you get it working right, the SP rewards the shooter very nicely.


F. Paul

[Tom]

Willard,

I have noticed a good deal of variations in length of SP/SPE firing pins however when I have had problems it has always been with pins that are too long.

As I understood the SP system, the pin has a stop shoulder the controls the max forward movement in the bolt. Did you relieve the stop before/in conjunction with adding material to the rear of the pin?

When I have had trouble with light hits and it's not a worn recoil spring causing the bolt to not go all the way home, it's either been a broken firing pin return spring or crud built up in the firing pin cavity stopping forward movement or a combination of both.

Your mention of the chamber and some shooters reaming it out to make more brands of ammo work in my experence is not needed. I find that the light "stick" of rounds on seating is more than overcome by a fresh recoil spring. A worn spring will not have enough energy to overcome the small bit of resistance and drive the bolt all the way into battery.

Tom

[Willard]

My Pardini has been cleaned, I'm talking by means of a complete dis- assembly and washing it in the sink with JOY dishwashing liquid. Scrubbed and rinsed in hot water. Spotless. Dried and reassembled with a new firing pin, a new forward advance spring, new buffer pad, light oiling with breakfree. Clean, clean,clean...I went to the range with this gun in like new condition, and with a box of Wolf match target, loaded 5 rounds, chambered the first round and pulled the trigger for an uneventful "CLICK". Needless to say my heart sunk, because I felt that I had surely cured the problem. Not so! And in that box of 50 rounds this happened approximately 5 to 6 times. Not something you want during compatition. I didn't weld to the back of the pin, I welded to the striking end of the pin. Very tricky! A TIG welder on exceptionaly low heat setting
was like welding to the end of a welding rod. I used a 32nd in. stainless rod to add droplets of weld on this tiny end of the firing pin and then ground it back to it's propper diameter. then matching the striker edge with the new spare pin I bought just in case this attemped modification didn't work.After putting the pin back into the bolt and checking the clearance through the bolt and what I believed was sufficient to give me a propper strike on the cartridge, I returned to the range to try this modification out. I loaded the gun with 5 rounds, chambered the first and flawlessly went through the 5 rounds, and the rest of the box, slow, timed, and rappid. I even went through a box of scoremaster without a flaw. But I did notice that in the casing of the scoremaster near the base of the casing on a couple rounds there was a very slight belly-ing in the case where it hadn't seated in the chamber all the way. That is why I had enphasixed that the ammunition should be checked to the chamber to make sure there isn't a resistance there. The ammo should fit in the chamber snug, but you shouldn't meet resistance. European ammo is about 1/1000th smaller in diameter than american made and it makes a difference. I tried the chamber with the barrel off the gun, the scoremaster had to be pushed into the chamber, met resistance. The wolfhead slid in nicely, no resistance. It functions nicely and is less likely to give you problems than a cartridge that is fitting too tight. I recomend checking your choice of ammo this way. It's easy and can save you a lot of headaches. As far as the firing pin is concerned, what I did might not be the best way to go, but I don't know where to get a longer pin for this pistol. If I thought I could buy one, I would. But my modification worked for me. The gun works fine now, and I honestly think that I will do much better shooting because I'm not going to be wondering if the next round is going to fired or not.
It's nice to knock the ten ring out of that paper!!! It's nice to be cocintrating on the paper and not on the guns function. Each shot as if it were the only shot. That makes it!
And for the fellow that was asking if I was the same Willard he knew, well, no I'm not, but it's nice to be known.

[Fred Mannis]

Everyone seems to have their own Pardini story. I suffered through a whole season with problems similar to what Willard has described. After trying all the usual - new springs, cleaning, different ammo,... - I sent the gun to Don Nygord who reamed the chamber of my SPE. It now works flawlessly and I have settled on Eley white label for practice and yellow for matches. It is annoying that such an expensive high end gun would require so much effort to get it to function reliably.

[Willard]

This is very true! You'd think that the company itself must be aware of the situation by now. I think they should tweek the design a little bit. That would better the gun and their reputation. I don't think it would be very difficult to program their lathes to open the chamber, let's say the differance between an american ammo and Euro ammo. Split the differance!!! Make that firing pin a little longer! As long as it's not poking a hole in the end of the casing on impact it wouldn't hurt to know your round is going to go off. They really have a wonderfully designed hadgun, tac driver, and to think that just a couple of modifications would bring such great joy to their customers. For the price of the gun, there shouldn't be a need to send it to anyone with a problem. They should work flawlessly.