M1 Carbine Problem

[massgun]

At the Mansfield shoot I had 9 light primer strikes out of 30 rounds of the CMP Aguilla ammo in one of my carbines. I recently got to the range with another carbine that fired them off no problem, as well as another 30 rounds of aguilla from the same batch. The light strikes were not consecutive, so I would think that rules out a broken firing pin (but, maybe not?).

What other things should I look for that might have caused this problem, a weak hammer spring maybe? Has anyone else had a problem with the Aguilla carbine ammo, does it have hard primers? I have not taken the bolt apart yet, I'll wait for some opinions on what to look for. Thanks for your replies.

 

[wmccurdy53]

Whenever I have light strikes w/.22 ammo that goes bang the second time around, the problem is almost always a dirty gun. Make sure all the mud is cleaned out of the firing pin channel.

Oops, just realized you're probably talking about .30 carbine ammo. You may disregard the .22 comment. I'll let the dirty gun/mud in the FP channel comments stand.

 

[vellnueve]

It could very well be a broken firing pin.

 

[LoginName]

I'll let the dirty gun/mud in the FP channel comments stand.

This is the first thing I'd check.

Could be grime, fouling, cosmoline, etc.

Wouldn't hurt to strip the bolt and give it good scrubbing.

I've put a few hundred rounds of Aguilla through my CMP M1 and never had a problem.

If a good cleaning doesn't solve the problem, then check for a worn/short firing pin and/or a weak hammer spring. It's one of those things that's a simple process of elimination and if any parts need replacing, it's inexpensive.

 

[45collector]

If/when you decide your bolt needs to be disassembled, The M1 carbine bolt tool makes life so much easier. You can borrow mine. If you're not in the Cape Cod/ Plymouth area I'll ship it to you and you can ship it back when you're done.

 

[massgun]

I haven't gotten around to checking the bolt parts out yet, but I don't think it's crud, because the gun was cleaned before the shoot and has been fine since I got it from the CMP. I guess the likely culprit is a broken firing pin or weak hammer spring. I will hopefully find time to try to get the bolt apart this weekend, I haven't done this before, but from reading the M1 carbine manual, it doesn't seem too bad. Thank you "45collector" for your offer of the use of the bolt tool, I'm not that far from you but not exactly next door either, so shipping it would probably be the way to do it. I'll give it a try without the tool first. If the parts go flyin' on disassembly, or, if I can't do it at all, I'll be contacting you to borrow it.

 

[SKS Ray]

Jamie's site shows how to use the bolt disassembly tool: http://surplusrifle.com/m1carbine/boltdisassembly/index.asp
You may want to use the tool because its easier than ordering parts.

 

[dhuze]

If you can come to RI to the Manville Rod and gun club and you can use my bolt tool. I'll be going there today.

Send an email to : my user name @ cox dot net

 

[massgun]

If you can come to RI to the Manville Rod and gun club and you can use my bolt tool. I'll be going there today.

Send an email to : my user name @ cox dot net

Thanks for the offer, dhuze, but I just got around to checking the bolt out. I chickened out as far as trying to disassemble it without the bolt tool, but it didn't seem to have any problems. I doubt there was any crud in the firing pin channel because it rattled around just fine when shaken. I also doubt it is broken because, when pushed forward, I grabbed the pin end with a tweezer and then pulled it back from the hammer end and I could feel the pin being pulled back. That leaves maybe the hammer spring, as it did feel pretty light to me, but I don't know exactly how you check the hammer spring as to whether it has the proper force to reliably ignite primers.

I need to get a couple parts for the Garand anyway, so I'll probably order a few parts for the carbine as well, and the bolt tool!