M1 Carbine not fully chambering

[chemist308]

I just picked up a really clean National Ordinance M1 carbine. The problem with it is it doesn't fully chamber all the rounds. It'll shove the bolt forward enough to allow you to pull the trigger on many of the rounds, but not close it enough to actually fire--thus also causing repeated misfires. So I assumed it was the recoil spring.

I replaced the recoil spring with one I bought from Fulton armory, but upon pulling the bolt back, it doesn't seem to be any stronger. This has me worried that I didn't fix the problem. How well do Fulton Armory springs work for the M1?

Could I be looking at a different issue here? Might it not be the spring?

 

[Jackal]

Can you feed a round by hand into the chamber? Is there any resistance? Any scratches on the brass? Have you cleaned the chamber? Have you tried a different magazine?

 

[Reloadron]

If the rounds are chambering but not enough to get the rifle to go into full battery (sounds like that is what you are describing) I would be looking real hard into the chamber making sure it is clean. Next stop would be looking at the ammunition making sure the cartridges are uniform and in specification.

Ron

 

[rule303]

Are you using factory ammo? .30 carbine is one of the few straight wall cartridges that stretches when fired- usually a lot, so cases need to be checked and trimmed regularly on reloads. +1 on checking the chamber for built up crud. Not to bash your gun, but just about all M1 carbines other than original GI have issues of one kind or another.

 

[chemist308]

I'll definitely brush out the chamber. How do get the bolt out? If it help's, it's a National Ordinance receiver.

 

[Reloadron]

You may want to read and save M1 Carbine disassemble and assemble instructions. Save the instructions for future reference, They will help with through cleaning also.

Ron

 

[rcmodel]

it's a National Ordinance receiver.

Well there's your problem!

http://www.m1carbinesinc.com/carbine_natord.html

Sell it and buy a real GI M1 Carbine with part of the proceeds.

rc

 

[carbine85]

The barrel might be short chambered. Remove the operating rod, spring and trigger assembly, put the rounds in the bolt under the extractor and see if the bolt goes into battery all the way. If they do see if the bolt and operating rod work smoothly and see if the bolt drops into battery without any force.

 

[kBob]

Since no one else mentioned it, you might als ocheck to be sure that the extractor does not hae crud behind it so as to stop it from easily scaping over the cartridge rim and check to see that the ejector and its spring are not blocked from being pushed in.

And National Ord did not have a great reputation when they were first out and that's why they did not stay in business long.

Some were good guns though as even a blind hog finds and acorn once in a while. Mayhaps yours just needs more TLC to work well.

I have turned down a couple of "deals" on them over the years as they seem to have a worse reputation than the almost a carbine Universal Carbines with the cut away op rods.

-kBob

 

[ball3006]

As posted above, your rifle is an aftermarket rifle. Some of them are not very reliable due to shoddy manufacturing....chris3

 

[mf-dif]

Feed a round by hand and let the charging handle fly. If it closes then you can try a diff mag.

 

[ExAgoradzo]

Had the same prob. Sold it. Drove me nuts. Check that the wood isn't pinching so the bolt won't fully close.
Besides that the ammo was too expensive for what I was shooting.
Bought a Kimber 1911. I don't feel like I lost on that one.
Greg

 

[U.S.SFC_RET]

I think that most posters are inclined to mention if the headspace is correct. Check the extractor for serviceability and manually feed another round. If the round will not chamber and if the bolt will not go into full battery then your headspace isn't right. Check the chamber for debris. Check and see if the barrel is original or a replacement. If it is a replacement then chances are the chamber has not been correctly head-spaced. you will need to send it to a gun smith to set the headspace. This is done with a pull through reamer.
You can also rent one and do the job yourself.

 

[velocette]

Chemist308
Be happy your M1 carbine gave you a misfire when the bolt did not close all the way. If it had fired (and many have) you very well might have had a facefull of bolt. Properly set up M1 carbines cannot fire unless the bolt is fully into battery. If the fire out of full battery, the bolt can an has come back out of the rear of the receiver into the shooters face, along with broken pieces of the rear of the receivers.
You can go here: http://forums.thecmp.org/forumdisplay.php?f=6 to get all the information about your rifle, the good, the bad and the ugly.

Roger