The rifle arrived this morning and I made a quick trip out to the local pit to at least function test the rifle.
I inspected, degreased and lightly oiled the rifle with CLP, then hand cycled some .22LR dummy rounds. I observed that the extractor was not the most positive while hand cycling, sometimes failing to fully extract, the firing pin does have some drag in the bolt, I may polish this if failure to fire becomes a problem. Otherwise the feed was excellent, but the trigger is rough and breaks at a heavy 8 lb 5oz. Overall for a replica the rifle is nice and does a good job of representing the M1 Carbine, the rifle weighs 4lbs 8 oz without magazine, the wood stock is surprisingly good by modern standards.
Arriving at the pit, the temperature was -25*C so I resolved to not bother with accuracy testing at this time. Before my hands got too cold to load magazines I was able to fire a total of 80 rounds between two magazines, many of them as fast as the rifle would cycle them.
Ammunition used was Federal High Velocity copper plated HP bulk 525 round box, common stuff that runs clean and feeds nearly every .22 I have tried without issue.
I should note the magazines will hold 11 rounds, but will not engage on a closed bolt, with the proper 10 rounds the magazine will seat on a closed bolt no problem
The first 50 worked perfectly, and the sights were on for windage right out of the box.
At round 53 I had my first malfunction, failure to extract, the spent casing was partially extracted.
Round 56 did the same.
Round 64 failed to extract this time the casing was still fully in the chamber.
Round 67 extracted but failed to eject, crushing the case in the action, as did round 69.
The last 10 cycled without issue, all malfunctions were easily cleared without the use of tools by engaging the handy bolt lock, and shaking the casing clear of the action.
Feeding and firing is excellent, the extraction is a point of contention. I will not defend this rifle as an out of the box, shoot it for 1000 rounds without cleaning, like my Kel-Tec SU-22 has been, but I am not giving up on it. I am going to investigate this extractor issue further, it is a very simple piece and I may order a replacement or look at a stiffer spring, or I might just run it and see if this is a "break-in" issue that resolves itself with use.
I have attached a couple of photos of the rifle to add to flair to the post.
More to follow.
---------- Post added at 01:17 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:15 PM ----------
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