M1 Garand Failure to Eject First Round

[Bedfordtec]

Went to the range with an M1 that had been in my safe for about 20 years and never fired. It was a Military rebuild and looks great. Checked it out and thought that it was greased good. Fired two clips and the first round of both clips failed to extract. The second one led to a double feed. When cleared, the remaining rounds functioned flawlessly and the clip ejected.

My only thought is that when the bolt went home on the first round it did not have enough spring force to fully seat the extractor,

Comment / thoughts are appreciated.

Thanks

Jim

 

[nettlle]

Could be the ammo and not the gun. I use a case gauge to check all my reloads and factory ammo. I have had brand new quality factory ammo fail both the case gauge and the gun.

 

[hps1]

Could be the ammo and not the gun. I use a case gauge to check all my reloads and factory ammo. I have had brand new quality factory ammo fail both the case gauge and the gun.

If the bolt is not in battery, assuming your rifle receiver or firing pin is not badly worn, it will not fire out of battery, so not likely due to the bolt not fully closing. There is a slot in a bridge across receiver just below the bolt for the 90* "tail" on the firing pin to fit into after bolt has rotated fully into battery. Unless that slot, or the front of firing pin is out of spec, the firing pin will not strike primer if bolt slightly open.

Regards,
hps

 

[nettlle]

You would be correct if the gun was firing out of battery.

 

[hps1]

You would be correct if the gun was firing out of battery.

Sorry, did not mean to quote your original post in my first post. I fully agree it is extremely important that Garands be fed ammo that chambers freely or risk slamfires. I guess if his ammo was a bit too tight for his chamber, but not so oversized as to cause a slamfire, it could cause hard extraction, but I would think if that were the case, it would not extract the following rounds, as well.

I understand that OP's rifle is not firing out of battery, but he wondered if bolt was not closing w/sufficient force to snap extractor over rim of cartridge. It is going fully into battery or it would/should not fire if bolt is not fully closed when the trigger is pulled on first round. This would tend to eliminate a weak op-rod spring IMHO.
I would suspect the trouble might be a light extractor spring or a burr on the extractor causing extractor not to fully close and subsequent rounds probably slam bolt a bit harder than the first round loaded manually???? Also, there is a tad bit more friction on the bolt as it closes on each subsequent round that is stripped from the clip.

Regards,
hps

 

[murf]

might want to grease the op rod piston if the gun has been sitting for twenty years.

luck,

murf

 

[DukeConnor]

Buy a set of new springs and grease the hell out of it.

 

[Chief TC]

I think it is hard to diagnose the exact issue since it is just the first round. Slamfire probably has more knowledge on most common causes. However, I agree with others that making sure the extractor is working properly and it might need new springs. Everything has to be operating properly for perfect function. I have one and when I got it passed down from my Dad, it had probably sat for 20+ years. Any time this is the case or you buy a gun from a stranger, I believe in completely breaking it down and cleaning it thoroughly and greasing all the points. Maybe you did this, if not, then that is first thing to do. And i use compressed air to make sure the extractor is clear of any grit and spring responds properly.

 

[Slamfire]

Buy a set of new springs and grease the hell out of it.

This is probably it.

If the round fired, then the extractor will snap over the extractor, either during chambering, but most certainly during combustion. You have about 40 to 50 Kpsia of pressure to force the case head onto the bolt face.

I am a fuss budget about cleaning and I regularly removed the extractor, extractor spring and plunger, firing pin, and ejector spring and plunger and clean them all off. Some of these Garands were dunked in hot grease baths prior to storage so it is very possible to have 70 year old grease in all of spring channels, and in the firing pin channel. It is always worth the time to clean these recesses. And to clean under the extractor hook. If you don't have sufficient extractor tension then ejection will be erratic.

And it is never bad policy to replace 70 year old springs with new ones. Might not be the problem, but might be. You won't know till you replace the old.

Sort of like automotive suspensions. The suspension wears so slowly that you get used to having a half turn of slack on the steering column, and you think the shuddering that occurs with speed is normal. And you don't notice the reduction in ride height due to spring set, nor that the vehicle kamikazes towards the curb when you let go of the steering wheel. But none of these are normal. I was having a discussion with a bud of mine about whether his 1999 Ford's suspension was shot. He has over 200 K on the thing and believes it is not worn, but I am sure, it is, and that, he has gotten used to it. Denial is intrinsic to human nature.

 

[lysanderxiii]

Sorry, did not mean to quote your original post in my first post. I fully agree it is extremely important that Garands be fed ammo that chambers freely or risk slamfires. I guess if his ammo was a bit too tight for his chamber, but not so oversized as to cause a slamfire, it could cause hard extraction, but I would think if that were the case, it would not extract the following rounds, as well.

I understand that OP's rifle is not firing out of battery, but he wondered if bolt was not closing w/sufficient force to snap extractor over rim of cartridge. It is going fully into battery or it would/should not fire if bolt is not fully closed when the trigger is pulled on first round. This would tend to eliminate a weak op-rod spring IMHO.
I would suspect the trouble might be a light extractor spring or a burr on the extractor causing extractor not to fully close and subsequent rounds probably slam bolt a bit harder than the first round loaded manually???? Also, there is a tad bit more friction on the bolt as it closes on each subsequent round that is stripped from the clip.

Regards,
hps

If the extractor did not snap over the rim, the firing pin could not reach the primer.

 

[Charlie98]

Personally, I think the old gal is just mad at you for letting it linger at the back of the safe all these years...

Slam pretty much covered it... give it a good disassembly and cleaning, and treat it to a new set of springs.

 

[Skeptic13]

If it hasn't been cleaned, greased and fired in the last 20 years then I would start with cleaning and regreasing. That is your low hanging fruit. If that doesn't work then look at changing springs and possibly different ammo.