FN 1922 Breakdown Question

[mallcrawler]

Not quite sure if this is allowed in California handguns or not, but I have an old FN 1922 WaA103. I can break it down up to the point where you remove the barrel from the slide, but I cant go past that. I know you're supposed to twist the barrel back up to 12 o'clock and it should come straight out, but on mine it looks like there's a block that wont allow the barrel to come out. Any other 1922 owner have this issue? I can take pictures if needed.

[redcliff]

I assume you've watched and followed the youtube video guide and still are having problems? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2sIhkqq5p0

[mallcrawler]

Yessir. Note how the barrel slides right out in the video. On mine, the lugs get caught on the slide. I dont know if anyone else's has this but it looks like extra material was added to the slide so that the barrel cant be removed.

[mallcrawler]

btt for help. anyone?

[redcliff]

How about this page, step by step takedown instructions at the bottom: http://www.olarmyjoel.com/Virtual%20...ing%201922.htm

Other than that I don't know what to tell you. Perhaps you missed a step. Perhaps part of your barrel is peened making disassembly difficult. To add material to the slide purposely to prevent barrel removal would make no sense, and would need to be done by welding after the slide/barrel was assembled.

I have handled these pistols, in fact help take one down many years ago, but I followed instructions in a disassembly guide and it all worked like it was supposed to. I don't own one to examine and compare to see what your problem may be.

[mallcrawler]

The site you linked was one of the first I viewed when looking up information on the pistol itself. I'm at a loss since I've followed the instructions exactly and the barrel wont come out. I'll take some pictures tomorrow/today and get them up to show my steps and the contact point.

And I agree that adding material after assembly makes no sense, but I've seen and heard of stranger things being done to firearms... haha.

[mallcrawler]

Ok, here goes. Photos are kinda shoddy since I took them with my phone. My brother snagged my camera before running over to Catalina for the week... so good photos are out for now. So here's the 1922.


Steps in next post for image restrictions.

[mallcrawler]

Remove mag and check for empty chamber


Remove the barrel end and recoil spring


Twist the barrel and remove the slide.


And the problem begins here. The barrel wont come out further than this:


You can see the overlap here:


And looking from the front of the slide, you can kind of see (sorry its not that great) what almost looks like impeding material:


So... I'm stuck.

[Czsp-01-9mm]

Maybe old carbon build up?

[redcliff]

Look down the barrel with a light shining from the breach end, do you see any place where the barrel is bulged?

Other than that, barrel lug peening or extreme carbon build-up are the only possibilities I can think of.

[John Browning]

Look down the barrel with a light shining from the breach end, do you see any place where the barrel is bulged?

Other than that, barrel lug peening or extreme carbon build-up are the only possibilities I can think of.

Those are my thoughts, too.

[mallcrawler]

Light through the barrel shows no bulges. The first lug is peened, but not enough (IMO) that it alone would result in an inability to remove the barrel. Is it possible that the slide could be peened also where the two make contact? And would carbon only build on the lower section of the slide? In the last picture I added, the slide is upside down.

Whats the best way to get rid of the peening?

[redcliff]

Hmm I'm hesitant to recommend you take a micro-file to the barrel lugs to clean up the peening.

Using a light and magnifying glass can you move the barrel back towardd the breach and rotate it around to give it a close visual inspection? I imagine you probably have done that numerous times already.

It may be getting to the point where you want a knowledgeable gunsmith to check it out and see what he sees.

[Czsp-01-9mm]

Wooden dowel and a few taps from the chamber might break it lose

[mallcrawler]

Hmm I'm hesitant to recommend you take a micro-file to the barrel lugs to clean up the peening.

Using a light and magnifying glass can you move the barrel back towardd the breach and rotate it around to give it a close visual inspection? I imagine you probably have done that numerous times already.

It may be getting to the point where you want a knowledgeable gunsmith to check it out and see what he sees.

Yeah, I have pretty good hands but it would probably be better to run it to a gunsmith. I'll have to ask on the la/oc section of the board about trustworthy gunsmiths since I don't know about em.

Wooden dowel and a few taps from the chamber might break it lose

I thought about doing that, but decided against it since there's a good possibility that the peening would get worse.