I have recently fallen in love with my .22 pistols again. Ammo cost aside, I find myself spending a lot more time at the range shooting and having a ball. I have also began "competing" on Tuesday nights at my local shop with a few other guys. Like many of us here, I just couldn't leave well enough alone, so I purchased a Tac-Sol Pac-Lite 4.5" barrel to shed some significant weight. They had another 6" barrel on a rental gun, and I informed the owner that I would like dibs on that barrel when he chose to offload it. He said he would do better and sell me the barrel at the rental counter and the other remaining new 4.5" barrel that was still for sale at the counter for a discounted price just to offload his remaining Pac-Lite inventory that had been collecting dust for around 5 years.
So here I am with 3 Pac-Lite barrels, and only 1 Mark III to put them on. I have had worse problems, but moving along. I also decided to get a Volquartsen bolt to take my pistol to the next level of smooth, jam free, eat anything operation. I could not have went more in the opposite direction, essentially turning my semiautomatic pistol into a bolt action. Every time I pulled the trigger, FTE & FTF. I may get one or two rounds off, but then FTE/FTF again and again. Very frustrated, I contacted Tactical Solutions and inquired about any problems with the combination of the Tac-Sol Barrel and the VQ bolt. He said that he wasn't aware of any issues with the combination that I mentioned, but there was some issues with the MK IV when they were first released.
During all of the frustration, I added just about every VQ part that you can fit in the MK III, essentially turning it into a VQ pistol minus the frame. The trigger is awesome! I decided to take it to the range and try it out again, and I had a round discharge in battery after a few frustrating magazines, at which point I had to call it a day because the casing was still in the chamber. I took it home and removed the casing without much effort. The next night was competition night, and it did it again, except on the first magazine, one of the chambered rounds blew out of the ass end and sent my extractor plunger to the moon. Somehow the spring and the extractor were able to be found. Game over!
I called Volquartsen the next day and I was told that my bolt would not work with the Pac-Lite barrel, but that he would send me a new I found that to be odd, but I read something about Tac-Sol's milling tolerances to be on the low end and VQ's on the high end (or vice-versa), essentially creating a tighter fit to allow for smooth operation. There did not seem to be any problems with the initial fit of the bolt during reassembly.
Moving forward, I decided to try my stock bolt with the Pac-Lite barrel with the same results, minus the battery explosions. It just would not feed or eject. I have now put my stock barrel back on with the VQ bolt, but I have not tried to run that combination just yet. I will try it out tomorrow night before competition, but I will take my MK IV just in case I need a backup. It is all stock and runs like a watch, but damn it is heavy.
Oh! My dad has a MK II and I decided to give him one of the new Pac-Lite 4.5" barrels, and it ran just fine with the stock bolt.
So, to simplify my rather long winded dilemma - Here is my list of combinations and failures -
MKIII Frame + Pac-Lite Barrel + VQ Bolt = Failure + Explosion
MKIII Frame + Pac-Lite Barrel + Stock Bolt = Failure
MKII Frame + Pac-Lite Barrel + Stock Bolt = Success
MKIII Frame + Stock Barrel + VQ Bolt = Undetermined
MKIV Stock Everything = Success
I have a ton of money in all of this stuff, and you can only imagine the amount of frustration I am contending with. I currently have another call out to Tactical Solutions and am eagerly anticipating their return call to see if I have any options or they have any solutions. If any of you have had any experience with these components, either successful or not, I would love to get your feedback. Taking it to my gunsmith is my last option.
So here I am with 3 Pac-Lite barrels, and only 1 Mark III to put them on. I have had worse problems, but moving along. I also decided to get a Volquartsen bolt to take my pistol to the next level of smooth, jam free, eat anything operation. I could not have went more in the opposite direction, essentially turning my semiautomatic pistol into a bolt action. Every time I pulled the trigger, FTE & FTF. I may get one or two rounds off, but then FTE/FTF again and again. Very frustrated, I contacted Tactical Solutions and inquired about any problems with the combination of the Tac-Sol Barrel and the VQ bolt. He said that he wasn't aware of any issues with the combination that I mentioned, but there was some issues with the MK IV when they were first released.
During all of the frustration, I added just about every VQ part that you can fit in the MK III, essentially turning it into a VQ pistol minus the frame. The trigger is awesome! I decided to take it to the range and try it out again, and I had a round discharge in battery after a few frustrating magazines, at which point I had to call it a day because the casing was still in the chamber. I took it home and removed the casing without much effort. The next night was competition night, and it did it again, except on the first magazine, one of the chambered rounds blew out of the ass end and sent my extractor plunger to the moon. Somehow the spring and the extractor were able to be found. Game over!
I called Volquartsen the next day and I was told that my bolt would not work with the Pac-Lite barrel, but that he would send me a new I found that to be odd, but I read something about Tac-Sol's milling tolerances to be on the low end and VQ's on the high end (or vice-versa), essentially creating a tighter fit to allow for smooth operation. There did not seem to be any problems with the initial fit of the bolt during reassembly.
Moving forward, I decided to try my stock bolt with the Pac-Lite barrel with the same results, minus the battery explosions. It just would not feed or eject. I have now put my stock barrel back on with the VQ bolt, but I have not tried to run that combination just yet. I will try it out tomorrow night before competition, but I will take my MK IV just in case I need a backup. It is all stock and runs like a watch, but damn it is heavy.
Oh! My dad has a MK II and I decided to give him one of the new Pac-Lite 4.5" barrels, and it ran just fine with the stock bolt.
So, to simplify my rather long winded dilemma - Here is my list of combinations and failures -
MKIII Frame + Pac-Lite Barrel + VQ Bolt = Failure + Explosion
MKIII Frame + Pac-Lite Barrel + Stock Bolt = Failure
MKII Frame + Pac-Lite Barrel + Stock Bolt = Success
MKIII Frame + Stock Barrel + VQ Bolt = Undetermined
MKIV Stock Everything = Success
I have a ton of money in all of this stuff, and you can only imagine the amount of frustration I am contending with. I currently have another call out to Tactical Solutions and am eagerly anticipating their return call to see if I have any options or they have any solutions. If any of you have had any experience with these components, either successful or not, I would love to get your feedback. Taking it to my gunsmith is my last option.
