I purchased a Browning Buckmark about 6 months agon. I knew I should have went with another Ruger but I liked the look of the bull barreled Camp model Buckmark. I have a Ruger Mark 2 slabside and have had absolutely no ejection or feeding problems from this pistol, even when it is dirty!
I mainly purchased the Buckmark to plink with and to fill the hands of my son while his sister is shooting the Ruger.

The problem I have found with this pistol is that it will routinely jam. Now to be fair, I haven't tried the premium ammo much in this weapon. Mostly I use the bulk Federal HPs from Wal-Mart cause the kids burn up the ammo when at the range. Usually, we can get through the first magazine without any problems, but then the jamming will start. There is no rhyme or reason to it. It could be the third, fifth, nineth, or whatever round, but it will start jammming every other round or so. I also have instances when the slide will not lock-up good and it will misfire.

I am gettin really aggrevated with this pistol. Not only because of the jamming issues, but because of the unsafe condition that could occur with a jammed weapon in the hands of my children. They have even come to the point of not wanting to shoot it because of the problems.

I know there will be those who suggest to use other ammo, and I intend to, but my peeve is that it should function on the same ammo that my Ruger does! I have looked to see if there are aftermarket recoil springs for this pistol but I have been unable to find any.

I am open to any suggestions, so suggest away! Thanks.

Have you stripped down this pistol yet? There is a small plastic disc that can wear out and possibly cause feeding problems. Its about 1/2 inch square with a hole in the middle of it and they do wear out or maybe was malformed from the factory. I dont believe that you could wear out the recoil spring in one unless there has been thousands of rounds through it. Also try buying a new magazine. Many issues of feeding with autoloader start with the magazine. Also make sure that they are loaded correctly. I know that sounds like a gimmie, but if the rounds are fully seated back against the rear of the magazine and they arent stacked correctly, that also can lead to problems. I usually smack the backs of all my auto mags to seat them all to the rear before I load them into the pistols. You stated the try different ammo approach and that could solve it. I know you want to shoot inexpensive ammo out of it as does everyone with a .22, but try the next step up. I have used CCI Mini Mags in everything and they never fail. The solid points are the most reliable over hollow points. If you purchased the pistol new, and you still have issues you should take it back to the dealer you purchased it through and have them send it to Browning. It should be under some sort of warranty after only 6 months. But start with field stripping this pistol and make sure that everything is in order and that there is no debris in the action, and that the little plastic disc is in good order. Check and make sure the allen screws that hold the action together arent working loose, that the ammo is seated in the magazine correctly, and maybe try another cheap brand that maybe isnt hollow points or a different brand of hollow points.

I have not had the experience with the buckmark, but worked with a gunsmith for 4 years, andf they came in often for the same problem. They just needed cleaned. For some reason the buckmarks seem to need cleaned often to keep them from jamming.

Brushedchrome and Gismo,

Thanks for the replies. Being dirty was my first thought. So I stripped it as suggested by Brushedchrome and cleaned all the parts, making sure the allen screws were tightened once I put it all back together. Gees, speaking of that, I thought the Mark 2's were difficult to strip. The Buckmark gave me almost as much difficulty putting it together!

I do have some CCI MiniMags that I use for hunting purposes and will try some of them as well as some other bulk brands. I just find it disheartening that a pistol with such a good following would have jam issues issues. If I would have known this I would have opted for another Mark 2 for the additional $75. I agree that the spring should not be worn out yet, but it is week on the slide closing action, as apposed to the Ruger. Is this normal for a Buckmark?

I really liked the looks of this pistol and thought of carying it for squirrels during deer season. The Mark 2 is much more cumberson than the Buckmark would be in the field, plus it ain't Stainless. I'll include a pick of the two shortly.

Thanks for the replies. If anybody knows where to get a stronger spring for the Buckmark, I would appreciate it.

Here is the pic of the two pistols. Buckmark on the Left, Mark 2 on the Right, Holster I make for the Buckmark is in the middle.

Thanks for the replies. If anybody knows where to get a stronger spring for the Buckmark, I would appreciate it.Installing a stronger spring may not solve your problem, in fact, it may aggravate it. While a stronger spring is helpful when the slide returns to battery, it also increases the resistance when the slide should be opening. If the slide does not travel back far enough, it may fail to pick up the round in the magazine.

Believe Brushedchrome and Gismo have given you some good advice. Clean your Buckmark regularly, try different brands of ammo until you find a brand that will reliably cycle the action, and try another magazine if all else fails. Might look for someone at the range with a Buckmark and ask if you might try swapping magazines to see if this could be your problem. If nothing works, send the Buckmark back to Browning and let them look at it. Chances are, they have seen this problem before. Best wishes.

Of all the bulk ammo Federal is the most troublesome in my auto 22's. I've had the best luck with the Winchester bulk ammo for autos and the bolts too. I get it at Wally world also.

I've got two grand daughters whom can go thru a lot of it in a days shooting.

I finally got rid of the 10-22's and went to bolt action CZ 452's and double action revolvers. Makes the kids concentrate on shooting accuratly rather than just emptying the magazine.

CCI Mini Mags are my first choice. Very clean. Winchesters are right there with them as far as clean goes, but I will give the nod to the CCI's.

Thanks to all who have replied. I will try some Winchester bulk and see if this makes a difference. I have two factory magazines and the problem persists with either one, so I don't believe it to be the mags.

I do notice that the Federals are not as "clean" as the CCI's I shoot while hunting. Just figured that a magazine full should not gum up a Browning product. Guess I was wrong; well hopefully changing ammo will fix my problem.

Thanks again. This forum does a wonderful service to the shooter and hunter alike.

I am not terribly familiar with problem solving for the buckmark other than your typical autoloader problems, but I have shot my fathers buckmark, and my boss' buckmark. Then my wife got one for me for a christmas gift. After shooting many rounds through all of them, I have had one hiccup (in my gun) One round failed to eject completely and hung up in the bolt keeping the gun from finishing its complete cycle. I have been very pleased with the accuracy & reliability of these guns. In my experience it it an excellent design. So far I have mainly shot the crummy Remington Golden bullets through mine, accuracy and operation have been good nonetheless. Hope you can iron out the problem, it is a great little gun in my book.

I have a Buckmark from new, and have tried various types of ammo. Eley Standard: Short recoil, case jams during ejection.
Same result with Lapua standard, federal standard and CCI Standard. The ammo of choice is the CCI Minimags. Not one misfire or jam so far. I have fired thousands of these through it even in competition and no problems what so ever.

I'll go along with the recommendation for CCI MiniMags. They generally shoot very well in all of my guns. In fact, the two Buckmarks I have are probably the most accurate handguns I have, even with the MiniMags. They have also both been 100% reliable with the MiniMags.

None of my guns, including the Buckmarks, will shoot the cheap bulk ammo very well. None of it has been particularly accurate or reliable. It's even worse in my S&W 617. With the Remington bulk ammo, I would often get as many as two rounds per cylinder that wouldn't even fire. I think I gave the last two bricks of bulk ammo away, because done of my guns would shoot it. I kind of think of buying the cheap bulk ammo about like driving down the road and holding my wallet out the window to let the money blow away.

Probably the worst ammo for the Buckmarks, however, was the CCI Stingers. It wasn't accurate, and it wouldn't cycle at all.

To sum everything up, I'd say try the MiniMags in your Buckmark before you do anything to it. The MiniMags are as far down the food chain as I'll go for ammo with any of my 22's. If they work in yours, try not to think that it cost TWICE AS MUCH as the bulk stuff, but rather that it only costs less than 2 cents per shot more. IMO.

I have several Buckmarks now, including the buckmark rifle.
I have to agree with da boys here, Federal is the lousiest ammo in these guns...for some reason, it won't run in them. Remington bulk however, seems to be the best bulk in my guns. CCI stingers run a close second.

Go here:
http://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/index.php?

and ask around the Browning section....
There also may be an issue with your mags being gunked up.

VA Bigbore. The Buckmark is ammo tempermental. Between the Ruger adn the Browning, most of us here have the Browning and every one of us has reached the same conclusion. 38 to 40 grain bullet at about 1100 fps according to the label on the box seems to be the break point for reliability. Brand at that point doesn't matter. The one glaring exception to that is Federal Lightning in the red box. It FTEs so often and in the Buckmark, the 10/22, the P22 and the Mark 2 so I won't even buy it for my bolt actions. Watch your rear allen screw at the top of the slide as that tends to be the one that gets loose. Only use factory mags and a light tap to bring all the cartridges to the back of the mag is all it will need. These are great little autoloaders. They just have their own idiosincracies.

My good friend bought a Buckmark and had problems very similar to what you describe. Frequent cleaning helped but ultimately what solved the problem was oiling the bejeebers out of it -- I mean, oiling it until it oozed and spattered your glasses! After about 2000 rounds, excessive oiling became unnecessary, the problem went away. I assume something finally "wore in".

Thanks for all the posts. I will definately keep trying with the Buckmark. At least I now know that my problems are not unique and there are ways of dealing with them. Thanks again.

I must have gotten lucky with my Buckmark 5.5 field it eats whatever I feed it.
I love it.
Federal, CCI, Winchester ammo all cycle great (knocking on wood as I write this).
I bought it for comp shooting, was putting 500 + a week through it for the first 2 or 3 years I owned.

I now just plink and hunt with it.

A customer had a similar experience which finally resolved itself. What I noticed was a rough ramp which resulted in a complicated transition into the chamber. I have had the same experience with Federal and Remington ammo as well as some of the off shore stuff. CCI mini mags seem to do the best until you get about 2000 rounds through the weapon and then it seems that its manners improve. Try DuPont dry lube on this pistol. It works for me.

My good friend bought a Buckmark and had problems very similar to what you describe. Frequent cleaning helped but ultimately what solved the problem was oiling the bejeebers out of it -- I mean, oiling it until it oozed and spattered your glasses! After about 2000 rounds, excessive oiling became unnecessary, the problem went away. I assume something finally "wore in".