22LR conversion kit full size problems

[AnonymousCitizen]

I have a 22LR kit that I use on a full size Tanfoglio (EAA Witness) .45 - it's been back to customer service for fitting, and it's still not reliable - I would like to make a few changes to the upper, mainly removing the firing pin safety, but I haven't been able to figure out how to get the firing pin safety out of the 22LR slide - the firing pin retainer comes off OK, but the firing pin will not come out when I push in on the firing pin safety either partially or fully.  One post I read somewhere mentioned pulling the firing pin out brute force with a pliers and finding a burr on the firing pin or the safety that was preventing the pin from coming out, but before I try that approach, I thought I'd check here - what's the correct approach to get the firing pin out?  Thanks!

[Frigpig]

I have found.....before you rip that slide apart......that high velocity ammo pretty much eliminates 22lr issues in conversion kits. CCI Mini Mags are awesome for this. 

Edited December 9, 2019 by Frigpig

[124gr9mm]

I have the same gun and I have a .22lr conversion slide.

 

I have found that I have to keep it VERY clean for things to operate smoothly.  My daughter uses it for steel challenge and other practice matches, and if I don't clean and oil it the night before a match there will be jams.

 

Now that we have several hundred rounds through it, I can see the wear points on the slide so I'm going to polish them.  I just ordered a new gun lube so I'll try that as well.

 

The biggest improvement we saw was in the magazines we used.  The magazines MUST have a metal spacing/retention clip on them or they will not cycle rounds reliably.  The magazine will seat into the mag well if the clip isn't there, but it will cycle like garbage.

 

Almost all of the hollow point ammo I have gets stuck at some point so I don't even try it anymore.  I tried the mini-mags but they didn't seem to cycle that much better than others.  The most consistent ammo we've used has been the regular box CCI Blazer:

[AnonymousCitizen]

User "slimpartywagon" sent me the following PM after I sent a PM to him about a post he made regarding the 22LR slide:

__________

The firing pin has to be pushed way in. I used a small Allen Key to get it past the block.

I am glad you found my thread useful.

__________

 

I haven't tried his suggestion yet, but I'll report back when I do.

 

I've had similar good results with the hi-velocity 22LR ammo in the EAA Witness 22LR upper, as with pretty much any gun that shoots 22LR and has problems with normal 22LR ammo - I use CCI Stingers (muzzle velocity = 1640) and CCI Velocitors (muzzle velocity = 1435), but what I was getting frustrated with was a requirement for 22LR hi-velocity -I wanted to shoot normal 22LR, reliably, like I do in my Ruger pistols and rifles. (Winchester 333 @ 1280, and Remington Golden Bullet @ 1280).  Another tip I picked up somewhere had to do with something called "buzzing the chamber" - keeping the chamber completely clean.  

[AnonymousCitizen]

124gr9mm - "The magazines MUST have a metal spacing/retention clip on them or they will not cycle rounds reliably.  The magazine will seat into the mag well if the clip isn't there, but it will cycle like garbage." - I'm not sure what you're referring to - I'm looking at a picture of the magazine on the EAA web site (http://eaacorp.com/gun_accessories/index.php/parts/tanfoglio/witness/magazine/large-frame/22lr.html), and don't see a metal spacing / retention clip - please explain - thanks!

[124gr9mm]

Here's the metal clip I'm talking about:

 

https://imgur.com/a/BJ4Exno

[wcube2]

Has anyone tried to 3D print a 22LR magazine insert that would fit in a 45 ACP mag body?

 

Increase the magazine capacity 

Eliminate the problem with the mag catch