Pardini SPE /SP malfunction / maintenance question

PaulB · Post by **PaulB** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 11:11 am

The college pistol team that I coach has been using 3 Pardini SPE (1989) and 3 early SP (1998) pistols for over 20 years. They have been pretty reliable (I can't remember ever replacing any part) but we have recently have been having various feeding and/or misfiring problems with some of them. Sometimes, a misfired round's tip will show evidence that the round struck the edge of the chamber when being loaded. The following actions help sometimes but not always: (1) good cleaning, (2) trying different magazines, (3) changing ammo types. I aslo need to mention that we sometimes shoot in an indoor range that is cold (~30-40 F) so thickening lube could be an issue.

How does one figure out which of the various problems that might be occuring is actually the problem(s) that you have, since there might be more than one problem? Is there a quantitative series of steps to follow? How do you control the variables so you are only testing one thing at a time? How many shots should be fired during each portion of the testing? What is an "acceptable" malfunction rate? How often (number of rounds) should parts like the firing pin and/or firing pin spring be changed as part of "preventative" maintenance. Any suggestions?

I should mention that we also use Walther GSP, Unique DES69, Hammerli 280, High Standard Military and Ruger Mark II/III pistols. The Rugers are the only ones that give us a lot of malfuntioning, mostly because we don't clean them very often.

Gwhite · Post by **Gwhite** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 1:40 pm

I have two SP's, one old one "New". When I got them, the one thing I was told was that they need to have the recoil springs replaced periodically. Also, the buffer behind the slide can deteriorate.

The spring would be the first thing I would try.

yana · Post by **yana** » Sat Jan 21, 2012 4:47 am

How often did it had full service in those 20yrs?
I'd start with a full service: all springs, buffer, incl mag springs.
NO failure with GOOD ammo is acceptable imo.
When a pistol is well maintained, and clean, it should function flawlessly.

orionshooter · Post by **orionshooter** » Sat Jan 21, 2012 10:14 am

I also have a Pardini SP I have been using for about ten years. I completely agree with GWHITE - Job one is to change out the recoil spring and then retest. An absolutely clean chamber is another must for optimal performance in this gun.

Next....THOROUGHLY clean the mags. This is the most often neglected part of any shooting system even among the most savvy. It takes very little time and saves alot of headaches.....you will be amazed at how much dirt and gunk builds up in a rim fire magazine due to the waxy nature of the ammo we commonly use.

Once you have those two accomplished and if you are still experiencing malfunctions, I would see if those malfunctions are attributable to a particular mag(s). Number each mag and keep a log of which one was in use when the malfunction(s) occur. With enough data you should be able to make an intelligent guess about whether mags are the problem.

I also agree with Yana.....the gun should function flawlessly.

Richard H · Post by **Richard H** » Sat Jan 21, 2012 10:30 am

All good suggestions, I don't know if your magazines are marked but it's a good idea to mark them to see if the malfunctions can be tracked a particular magazine.

If nothing has been done to the pistols it sounds like time to pull them apart and replace some of the consumable components buffers, recoil springs, mag springs. If I was going to go to all that trouble I'd change firing pins extractors and such too.

djsomers · Post by **djsomers** » Sat Jan 21, 2012 8:28 pm

I recently bought a used Pardini SP. Had a couple of minor feeding issues. I ordered two new magazines and noticed the springs in them were much much stiffer than the used mags. Replaced mag springs in the used ones and no problems since.

One more thing to try.

Fred Mannis · Post by **Fred Mannis** » Sat Jan 21, 2012 8:49 pm

I have been shooting a Pardini Fiocchi SPE since the late '80's. I agree with all the previous suggestions on new sprngs and thorough cleaning. New firing pin and extractor wouldn't hurt. My gun was/is very sensitive to ammo and was only reliable with Eley and RWS. Don Nygord recommended only RWS for the SP/E pistols.

Suggest you install new springs and do a thorough cleaning first, and if that doesn't do it, try the RWS ammo next. My first set of magazine springs lasted about 10 years, but the recoil spring probably should be changed out every season if you are doing a lot of shooting with the gun. You shouldn't have more than 1-2 failures per brick of 500 rounds.

Gwhite · Post by **Gwhite** » Sun Jan 22, 2012 10:03 am

Fred Mannis wrote:<snip>My first set of magazine springs lasted about 10 years, but the recoil spring probably should be changed out every season if you are doing a lot of shooting with the gun. You shouldn't have more than 1-2 failures per brick of 500 rounds.

That's still WAY too many. My wife & I both shoot SP's (hers is old, mine is a New), and if we get a failure due to anything other than lack of cleaning more often than every 2,000 rounds, it's unusual. Hers likes Aguila subsonic & Eley Sport, mine works great with CCI standard velocity. We each have over 15,000 rounds through ours, and I changed her recoil spring after about 5 years. Mine is about that old, and still works fine. I've never replaced any other parts on either pistol.

"The plural of anecdote is not data", so maybe we've just been lucky.

I've noticed a couple folks mention the extractor. Remember, the extractor doesn't PULL the case out of the chamber. The case pushes the slide to the rear, and once mouth of the case clears the chamber, the momentum of the case and the slide carry them both the rest of the way. The spring behind the slide is slowing it down, so the case's momentum should actually hold it against the slide face. Some larger caliber semi-autos will work fine without an extractor (unless you need to remove a loaded round). However, most .22's require a tighter grip on the case to eject properly. The extractor has to hang onto the case long enough & firmly enough to make sure it bounces it off the ejector with enough force to kick it well clear of the pistol.

One test that works with most semi-auto .22's is to hold the slide horizontally, and see if the extractor is sharp enough & springy enough to hold a loaded .22 clipped to the face of the slide. If not, take the extractor assembly apart, check the parts for damage, clean & oil them and try again. If more people were aware of this simple check, extractor sales would plummet.

Coastwatcher · Post by **Coastwatcher** » Sun Jan 22, 2012 12:05 pm

Pardini SPs have an extractor and an ejector. The ejector is a tab on the top of the magazine. As the slide moves rearward the extrator claw holds the right side of the casing. As the left side of the casing hits the ejector tab it is thrown sideways out the ejection port. Older magazines often had worn, broken, or bent tabs that cause ejection problems.

rk · Post by rk » Sun Jan 22, 2012 7:20 pm

I've had the same problem in the past. Completely reliable Pardini SP then similiar problems. Cleaned everything including mags, tried different ammos, then bought new mags. Turned out to be a broken firing pin. Fracture was at the "retaining notch" of the firing pin. Gun still functioned, but feeding issues seemed to be related to the pin still sticking out of the breechface firing pin hole (because the oblique fracture would sometimes keep the firing pin from retracting immediately back into the hole) hanging up the cartridge rim so that it wouldn't feed "straight" into the chamber. Usually the gun would still fire a chambered cartridge because the hammer force would still make it across the fracure in the firing pin (which caused a significant delay in diagnosis). Happened again. Then I switched back to using the Pardini dry fire plug (instead of a Hammerli "true" plug type); I think a conventional type dry fire plug doesn't absorb enough force to prevent an abnormal stress-riser at the firing pin retaining notch. Or maybe something else.