Harry Paget Flashman
April 23, 2007, 03:45 PM
I gave my Son-in-Law in Starkville, Mississippi an M1A last month and he experienced some problems at the range on his first outing. It doesn't have more than 100-150 rounds through it yet. He sent me the following email:
"I took the M-14 to the range on Saturday and had a blast . . .at least for a
while. I emptied one clip without a problem (That gun's gotta little thump to
it!) However, when I reloaded the clip and reinserted it the gun would no
longer fire or automatically eject the shell? I loaded the clip and pulled back
the lever to load the first shell and everything worked fine. However, when I
fired nothing happened. You could hear the hammer click, but it didn't fire. I
figured it was a typical mis-fire, so I reloaded and tried again, but the same
thing happened. Several more attempts, and nothing happened. Also, when I
pulled back the lever manually it would try to load the next shell, but it would
not eject the shell in barrel. When I pulled the shell out of the barrel
manually, there was no sign of any strikes by the firing pin.
To summarize:
1. It doesn't appear the firing pin is properly striking the cartridge, and
2. Shells are not being automatically ejected when I manually pull the lever
back.
I really don't think I'm doing anything wrong. The first clip of ammo went
smoothly, and the ammo I'm trying to use now is from the same box.
I think I'll just let the gun sit until the next time you visit. We can take
the gun out together so you can see what I'm talking about.
Tim
PS I just had a last minute thought. I never could find the safety on this
gun. Could there be a safety that allows the hammer to fall, but prevents the
firing pin from striking?"
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I sent him this response:
"See this link for the safety: http://www.surplusrifle.com/m14m1a/pdf/m14m1aoperations.pdf
It is located at the front of the trigger guard. In the forward position it's ready to fire and in the rearward position it is safe. The M1A and M1 Garand are supposed to have identical safeties. I just checked my Garand and when the safety is "on" it will not fire (doesn't let the hammer fall...no "click"....no nothing.) So your symptoms are puzzling, particularly with the ejection problem.
Try a different magazine next time at the range.
Check the ejector mechanism to see if it's broken.
Put a skinny dowel down the barrel with part of it sticking out of the barrel. Hold the rifle upright and fire it (unloaded of course) and see if the dowel moves when struck by the firing pin. I don't know if you'll be able to easily see movement but I am certain you should be able to feel it.
Check again the ammo. Despite no evidence of a strike, is the primer recessed too deep?
I am going to post the text of your email at THR and see if I can get some help. I will send you the link later."
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He was shooting some Argentine surplus I'd given him with the rifle. That ammo had never given me any problems before.
Does anyone have a suggestion?
Thanks.
"I took the M-14 to the range on Saturday and had a blast . . .at least for a
while. I emptied one clip without a problem (That gun's gotta little thump to
it!) However, when I reloaded the clip and reinserted it the gun would no
longer fire or automatically eject the shell? I loaded the clip and pulled back
the lever to load the first shell and everything worked fine. However, when I
fired nothing happened. You could hear the hammer click, but it didn't fire. I
figured it was a typical mis-fire, so I reloaded and tried again, but the same
thing happened. Several more attempts, and nothing happened. Also, when I
pulled back the lever manually it would try to load the next shell, but it would
not eject the shell in barrel. When I pulled the shell out of the barrel
manually, there was no sign of any strikes by the firing pin.
To summarize:
1. It doesn't appear the firing pin is properly striking the cartridge, and
2. Shells are not being automatically ejected when I manually pull the lever
back.
I really don't think I'm doing anything wrong. The first clip of ammo went
smoothly, and the ammo I'm trying to use now is from the same box.
I think I'll just let the gun sit until the next time you visit. We can take
the gun out together so you can see what I'm talking about.
Tim
PS I just had a last minute thought. I never could find the safety on this
gun. Could there be a safety that allows the hammer to fall, but prevents the
firing pin from striking?"
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
I sent him this response:
"See this link for the safety: http://www.surplusrifle.com/m14m1a/pdf/m14m1aoperations.pdf
It is located at the front of the trigger guard. In the forward position it's ready to fire and in the rearward position it is safe. The M1A and M1 Garand are supposed to have identical safeties. I just checked my Garand and when the safety is "on" it will not fire (doesn't let the hammer fall...no "click"....no nothing.) So your symptoms are puzzling, particularly with the ejection problem.
Try a different magazine next time at the range.
Check the ejector mechanism to see if it's broken.
Put a skinny dowel down the barrel with part of it sticking out of the barrel. Hold the rifle upright and fire it (unloaded of course) and see if the dowel moves when struck by the firing pin. I don't know if you'll be able to easily see movement but I am certain you should be able to feel it.
Check again the ammo. Despite no evidence of a strike, is the primer recessed too deep?
I am going to post the text of your email at THR and see if I can get some help. I will send you the link later."
--------------------------------------------------------------------
He was shooting some Argentine surplus I'd given him with the rifle. That ammo had never given me any problems before.
Does anyone have a suggestion?
Thanks.
