Convertible jams with Mag cylinder

[Kensterfly]

I have not fired my Mini in about 20 years until I took it out a few days ago and shot it several times.  I gave it a good cleaning and am giving it to my wife to carry until such time she decides she will carry a larger gun.  I took her out into our woods today for a little training.   On the third cylinder full the gun jammed after the first shot or two was fired.  She could not recock the gun.
I had no luck either.  I wiggled the cylinder back and forth a bit and was finally able to cock it.  It jammed several more times.
After a jam, and I got it unjammed and fired all five shots, I found that the empty shells were very difficult to knock out of the chambers.   Is this because the cylinder gets hot and swells?  I never heard of any gun doing that.   

Could it be an ammo problem.  The first couple of cylinders were hollow points, the rest were solid, FMJs.   They are really old rounds.  This is from my deceased father in law's stash and he wrote the date of Dec. 26, 1997 on the box.  But they've been inside a gun cabinet in the house for all these years.  No rust or tarnish or dirt on the rounds.

My wife is not real big on guns and now she does not even trust this gun, which should be 'bullet proof.'

FWIW, I switched cylinders and put ten rounds of LR through it with no issue.  But I'd rather have Mags in her carry piece.

And yes, I know this is not an ideal primary carry but, for now, it's the Mini or nothing.

Comments and guidance greatly appreciated.

[pocketcarry]

I had that problem a few years back and NAA replaced the gun. Good luc

[grayelky]

Did the rounds seem to be okay prior to firing them?

Once you got the cylinder out, did you look inside the frame to see if there was any type of obstruction or anything that could have gotten n the way? If you have another 22 mag, try that ammo in it and see if the results are the same. There should not be an issue with the ammo under the conditions you described it was stored in. I would by a new box and try it anyway. If the problem getaway worked out, you would want modern, fresh ammo any way for carry. If you can locate it, try some Speer Gold Dots and/or Hornady Critical Defense. If new ammo does the same. Contact the factory.

Do let us know the end results. In the mean time, load the LR cylinder for your Bride to carry, provided it worked as it should. It will be better than trying to call 911.

[Kensterfly]

I checked out the LR cylinder with about 20 rounds today and it was flawless, so that leads me to believe that the issue was with the Mag cylinder or the Ammo.  I've got lots of other Mag ammo, several different brands though everything is probably that old.  I'll test the other Ammo and report back.

PS, does the posting verification thing ever go away?  It's really irritating to do it every single post.  I post on probably 50 other boards: trucks, tractors, classic cars, guns, etc and not a single one of them requires a verification code after registration.

[ikoiko]

Posting code goes on for 10 or 20 posts. One can go to the test area and try things out.

[theysayimnotme]

There is a common problem with magnum rounds. The cylinder pin jumps forward under the recoil & jambs the gun. This problem appears to be most common with the Black Widow & they redesigned the cylinder pin to solve this problem. You might find that using ammo that produces less recoil could solve the issue if that is the root of your problem. It might be solved by simply replacing the cylinder pin if the spring that holds the ball has lost it's tension.
You should contact customer service & they might send you a new pin for free.

[G50AE]

PS, does the posting verification thing ever go away?  It's really irritating to do it every single post.  I post on probably 50 other boards: trucks, tractors, classic cars, guns, etc and not a single one of them requires a verification code after registration.

Just out of curiosity are you a CB'er?

[Kensterfly]

Just out of curiosity are you a CB'er?

CB?  As in CB radio?

Not in the last 35 years or so.

[G50AE]

CB?  As in CB radio?

That's a big 10-4! 

Not in the last 35 years or so.

Or I guess in your case little 10-4. 

[TwoGunJayne]

FWIW, I switched cylinders and put ten rounds of LR through it with no issue.  But I'd rather have Mags in her carry piece.

By the way, the shorter the barrel gets, the closer the ballistics get with .22 mag versus .22 lr. Some cases it's less than 5-15% difference. Some say that every bit counts.

I'd carry mags in a SD piece personally, because they are louder with more muzzle flash. With street statistics being what they are, a BG is likely to have powder burns as well in a SD event. Its like a mag mini comes with a free blast of pepper spray with each shot.

Some pistol instructors say to not bother training with your SD pistol at more than 21 feet!

[Kensterfly]

I agree with the 21 foot rule.   At more than 25 feet, you are likely to have other options besides shooting anyway, even with a more powerful gun.

[Uncle_Lee]

Now days I have trouble seeing past 25 feet.
Hard to tell what the girls look like when we are at Wal-Mart.

[Goatpacker]

At some of the Walmarts I've been to that is not such a bad thing!!!

[theysayimnotme]

I had that problem after I had the laser eye surgery. I thought being able to see better without glasses would be wonderful until I went to the swimming pool at the senior citizens center.

[redhawk4]

I had that problem after I had the laser eye surgery. I thought being able to see better without glasses would be wonderful until I went to the swimming pool at the senior citizens center.

Perhaps God is just being kind to us, letting our eyesight fail as we age - there are a lot of things we don't want to see close up with 20/10 vision, even on ourselves!!

The OP's problem sounds like either the pin backing out as others have said or two tight a cylinder gap getting fouled with soot as he fired 3 cylinders before it occurred.