Hi all,
Let me start off by mentioning that, other than my 10/22, I am fairly new to rifles, and have only been into shooting for a few years, so I am still pretty wet behind the ears here.
I picked up a new Springfield M1A Scout a bit ago, and took it to the range for about the third time this weekend. I experienced what seemed like an odd issue to me -- after each shot, the spent casing would be ejected just fine, but the bolt would then close without chambering a new round.
After a few rounds, I realized, with embarrassment, that after taking it apart for cleaning last time, I had apparently failed to tighten the gas plug. :emoji_face_palm: It took several turns to get it tight. I reasoned that this was the problem, allowing gas to bleed off the front.
After tightening it down, however, the problem did not go away.
It also seemed like an odd issue. I would expect that if it was properly ejecting rounds, the bolt was traveling enough that it should chamber a new round. Cycling the action by hand chambered the next round out of the magazine without difficulty.
And then, the whole thing jammed... After one shot, the bolt failed to come back, and I couldn't get it open by hand. It would travel perhaps a quarter-inch, but then refused to go further. Even apply a good bit of muscle, it wouldn't budge. Another shooter and his wife at the range helped me take a look, but they were also unable to figure out what was wrong.
When I got it home on the bench, a gentle application of a mallet got everything unwedged. I took everything apart to inspect, clean, and re-grease as needed, but nothing looked obviously wrong to my untrained eye.
The ammo was Winchester 7.62x51 "Service Grade" 147gr, stamped WMA 17. I have no idea if it played any role.
Does anyone have any ideas for what I should look at? Could it be bad ammo, or some sort of residual problem from me initially shooting without the gas plug tightened--or does it sound like a more serious problem?
Let me start off by mentioning that, other than my 10/22, I am fairly new to rifles, and have only been into shooting for a few years, so I am still pretty wet behind the ears here.
I picked up a new Springfield M1A Scout a bit ago, and took it to the range for about the third time this weekend. I experienced what seemed like an odd issue to me -- after each shot, the spent casing would be ejected just fine, but the bolt would then close without chambering a new round.
After a few rounds, I realized, with embarrassment, that after taking it apart for cleaning last time, I had apparently failed to tighten the gas plug. :emoji_face_palm: It took several turns to get it tight. I reasoned that this was the problem, allowing gas to bleed off the front.
After tightening it down, however, the problem did not go away.
It also seemed like an odd issue. I would expect that if it was properly ejecting rounds, the bolt was traveling enough that it should chamber a new round. Cycling the action by hand chambered the next round out of the magazine without difficulty.
And then, the whole thing jammed... After one shot, the bolt failed to come back, and I couldn't get it open by hand. It would travel perhaps a quarter-inch, but then refused to go further. Even apply a good bit of muscle, it wouldn't budge. Another shooter and his wife at the range helped me take a look, but they were also unable to figure out what was wrong.
When I got it home on the bench, a gentle application of a mallet got everything unwedged. I took everything apart to inspect, clean, and re-grease as needed, but nothing looked obviously wrong to my untrained eye.
The ammo was Winchester 7.62x51 "Service Grade" 147gr, stamped WMA 17. I have no idea if it played any role.
Does anyone have any ideas for what I should look at? Could it be bad ammo, or some sort of residual problem from me initially shooting without the gas plug tightened--or does it sound like a more serious problem?
![[laugh]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/012.gif "Laugh [laugh]")
