[Spiggy]

M1 carbine refuses to shoot, after taking it to the range I've noticed the firing pin is indeed hitting the cartridge... but it's not going off!

how to I fix this?

[DevLcL]

Well first off, start by taking a class in the proper use of the english language. This will make all the difference in the world when asking for advice. As far as your rifle goes, I have no clue what your problem is. Are you using old ammo? Did it get wet? Is the rifle very well used?

It COULD be that your firing pin is worn down just enough for it strike the primer but not enough to set it off, but I doubt it. It's probably your ammo.

If try other ammo and you have the same results, and its an original USGI issue, I would suggest that you plug that thing up and put it in an enclosure that protects from dust and moisture. Have it mounted?

-Dev

[Dave Markowitz]

Let's troubleshoot it in a logical manner:

1. Is the Carbine cleaned and lubricated properly? If in doubt, get a USGI Carbine manual and follow the maintenance instructions therein.

2. Does the firing pin move freely in the bolt? If it seems sticky and you don't have a M1 Carbine bolt dissassembly tool, hose it down with brake cleaner, then put a couple drops (no more) of gun oil on the firing pin and let it run down inside the bolt.

3. What ammo are you using? If it's old or of unknown origin, get some newly made commercial ammo and try that. Federal, Winchester, Remington, Magtech, and Sellier & Bellot make high quality .30 Carbine ammo.

Let us know how you make out.

[Firehand]

Is the dent in the primers full-depth, or is it very shallow? If full-depth, probably bad primers/ammo. If very light, check firing pin and check hammer spring; if it's weak, may not be striking the pin hard enough.

[Spiggy]

To Dev: I believe my two sentence statement did not require much grammatical fixing, seeing as it is very short and straight to the point. If you feel so inclined, I'll be more than happy to translate the original post.

Translation: "My M1 carbine is not working. The firing pin is hitting the cartridges however there is no live function. Please help me as I have no idea what is wrong."

[/sarcasm]

To everyone else, -Since the original post, I've swapped out the old firing pin and hammer spring with brand new parts from e-gun parts. Also, I tried four brands of ammunition(American Eagle, Federal, Wolf, and Winchester). The primers are definitely being hit, but not to the point where it shoots.

Gun is lubricated properly, extremely well maintained by the original owner and was fully functional last month. -However, I did acquire this gun through a good hand of poker so that may be the reason it's not functioning- she probably doesnt like me.

Here it is:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v383/rashielx/iwnkuf.jpg

I'm good freind's with the original owner, when I'm done being sore about this, I'll probably return it to him :D

[Firehand]

Beats hell out of me. Especially with it working well before.

[DevLcL]

Now, I consider this an evil rifle!:confused:

[Car Knocker]

When replacing the firing pin, did you clean out the FP channel to remove any debris that might prevent the FP from fully extending? Is the extractor undamaged and holding the head of the cartridge against the breechface?

[Spiggy]

no obstructions, everything seems to be in working order

I'm waaay out of ideas- I'm starting to consider throwing holy water at it

[AtomSphere]

hammer spring tension not powerful enough?

[Sistema1927]

If not a strong enough hammer blow (post above), I wonder if it could be a headspace issue and the round is seating too depp to get a good firing pin blow? (But this is just a SWAG.)

[ACP230]

I've had failures to fire with reloads that were resized too much.
Are you using reloads?

[Spiggy]

ah, I'll look into the headspace thing

tension on the spring seems good, it's a brand new part

No, I'm not using reloads, I'm using packaged commercial ammo

[AtomSphere]

as Sistema1927 mentioned, maybe the cartridge is seated too deep. If it is, no matter how good your firing pin and hammer does their job, it will lack the length to blow that primer. Its my last guess on this problem too

[Grump]

check the tail of the firing pin where it is supposed to go through a little channel in the receiver bridge.

IOW, with the receiver out of the rifle and the trigger group OFF, go from underneath and make sure there is no obstruction to the FP tail when it wants to go forward.

If you want lotsa fun, take a primed EMPTY case, put the bolt in a padded vise with the FP exposed and enough room to hook that case under the extractor, hold the case in line and whacK the FP with a light hammer. You should get it to light the primer.

OR, you could just measure FP protrusion. An out-of-spec bolt (too long from front to rear, or just not machined deep enough in the FP channel) can prevent full FP engagement with the cartridge's sparkplug. Look for that if you cannot get the unmounted bolt to fire a primed, otherwise EMPTY, cartridge case.

[Grump]

Did all your different brands of ammo come WITH the carbine?

If so, they may have been stored so badly, they're all bad. A true statistical improbability, IME (there's always ONE round in there that will still go off strikeout that-- FIRE).

Nobody go off on me for not saying "fire", okay?

[Spiggy]

ah! got it working! - seems like some bit of metal that kept the FP from hitting fraction of a mm deeper

Grump: I've been testing my gun with primed brass when I'm not at the range. (when assembled though, not opened)

Thanks for all the input guys

[Car Knocker]

AHHA!!!