1st round does not eject

[TDH]

I have recently had a small problem with my M1A. The 1st round of the mag does not always eject. The rest of the mag works flawlessly. Just with reloads. I'm using 41.5 grains of ImR 4895 pushing a 147-150 grain bullet. Any suggestions. OH yeah I've put almost 3000 rounds through it in just over over a year.

Information

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[goo]

i dunno but if it extracts and doesn't eject, it almost has to be the ejector spring or something bolt related... if you could try it with a different bolt that would be informative.
if not, maybe you could disassemble, clean and reassemble the bolt.
i'm thinking that after 3000 rounds, a bolt inspection and spring replacement might be in order.
also, maybe try a different magazine if you haven't done that.

[roland beaver]

The situation you describe seems to indicate that the bolt is not traveling quite far enough to the rear to pick up the next round. The more rounds in the magazine the more drag the top round puts on the bottom of the bolt, retarding its movement. Loading 20 rounds can create this condition, which was well known back in the day. It was common to load only 18 rounds for more reliable function. I never load 20 rounds in a M14 magazine except as a severe test of function when test firing.

Other issues that can cause sluggish operation leading to short cycle:
fouled chamber, inadequate or improper lubrication; failure to clean gas piston and ream carbon from inside the piston and its stem, and the gas cylinder plug. ; grease on op rod spring and guide.

[JimF in CT]

Along the lines of what Goo suggests . . . .

If you have an ejector spring for a Garand in your bolt, that may be the problem!
M14 springs are longer/stronger to accomodate full-auto fire reliability. --Jim

[TDH]

OK guys thanks I'll try cleaning the bolt out, unfortunatley there isn't another one to try. I'm using a 10 round mag that came with the rifle. It's greased properly but I will clean the piston again and check the plug and clean the chamber real good again.

[TDH]

Well I got to the range today and my rifle preformed flawlessly. I cleaned the gas tube and port. I took the chamber brush to it. I cleaned the bolt out and up and regreased the op rod spring. Now if I could only preform as well as it does

[John Kepler]

You seem to have fied your problem, but to echo Mr. Beaver....a coked-up gas-piston in one of the first places to look when you' start getting "full-mag" short-strokes.

One of the better solutions to that problem is different powder in your loads. Back when I was shooting my 14 XC and was getting "issue" M852 and the IMR 4895 equivalent powder they were running in it...digging crap outta the piston was a constant, time-consuming job. I would have to spend hours mining that hard-cruddy residue out of the piston after every weekend. Worse yet, the performance of the rifle would always degrade as the match weekend progressed and the "return-to-zero" of the rifle deteriorated as the gas system got progressively loaded up with crud. When the DCM quit issuing ammo, I searched around for the lowest residue powders I could find.....Vihtavuori was it, 4895 wasn't! Instead of having the piston full of crud I had to laboriously drill out after a match weekend or face significant consequences, the VV N140 left a very light, soft residue that a few minutes soaking in "Ed's Red" simply washed away....the drill-set hasn't been required since 1994!

BTW....you SURE you've actually got the piston clean...not just "good enough" to no longer malfunction? A piston coked-up bad enough to short-stroke has a LOT of crud in it, particularly in the "small-end", and can take hours of "drilling" to get it all out after a steady diet of 4895! Just like a muzzleloader ram-rod "empty" mark....a paint-mark on your drills, particularly the small one that marks "Bottom", is a good trick to obtaining/maintaining a clean piston.