M1917 Dangerous Safety Catch Fault

[orez]

Well, a few days ago, I finally completed all the necessary paperwork to obtain my first M1917 30-06. I couldn't wait to get it home and start to clean and polish it and in general do all the things that a person likes to do with something almost akin to a new toy; 'toy' being an analogy of course.
At some stage, and making sure there was nothing in the magazine, receiver or breech, I cocked the action and activated the Safety Mechanism. I was testing out the weapon systematically to make sure everything functioned as it should. I squeezed the trigger to check that the safety worked okay. Initially, I thought it was going to work. However, I noticed a slight give on the trigger as I pulled a little harder. A second later, the trigger collapsed all the way to the rear end of the trigger guard and became free in it's fore and aft movement. The Safety Catch was still activated and had prevented the firing pin from striking. The trigger had no tension on it whatsoever and was flopping back and forth inside the trigger guard. So, I finally decided to deactivate the Safety Catch. When I did so, the bolt slammed the firing pin home! Oh My God! I thought, if I had been at the range with a live round chambered and had not discovered that fault, there could have been a very serious accident, even a fatality!
I immediately took the rifle back to the gunsmith to have the fault rectified. I personally believe the problem lies with the trigger being worn inside the sear housing; or, the actual pin holding the trigger has bent, warped or become displaced somehow. I thought about the Safety Catch itself but this would not explain the trigger becoming totally loose in it's movement. Nevertheless, it is a bit of a mystery to me as the rifle functions quite normally when the Safety Catch is deactivated.

Have any other members encountered this problem? Indeed, is it not all that uncommon, or is it rather unheard of? I would love to get any feedback I can on this subject.

I love this rifle. I've studied so much about it and it's history and feel somewhat disappointed that this has occured. I've got my chin up though and hope to get to the range by the weekend.

Information

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[Chuckindenver]

never had a issue with the safety of a 1917, if your trigger pin is bent, then that is likely the issue, bent or worn parts should be replaced before firing..

[Patrick Chadwick]

Orez wrote "
So, I finally decided to deactivate the Safety Catch. When I did so, the bolt slammed the firing pin home! Oh My God! I thought, if I had been at the range with a live round chambered and had not discovered that fault, there could have been a very serious accident, even a fatality! "

Dear Orez,
now you know why (at least over here) it is forbidden to have a loaded rifle anywhere except in your hands, on the firing point, pointing downrange.
Following these rules avoids the possibility of such an accident. Contravention of these rules will get you instantaneously banned.
And you, quite rightly, tried out the safety without a round being chambered. To experiment with a live round would be somewhere on the top end of the scale ranging from foolhardiness to criminal negligence, depending on your local legal environment.

Basically, there is no correct use for a safety in target shooting. But it was quite correct to try it out without a live round being chambered. Both slam-fire and safety-off fire are a "surefire" way of discovering that the trigger/sear/cocking piece arrangement has been bubba-ed.

As to what exactly is at fault in your M1917 - for that, Chuck is the resident expert. However, your rifle obviously needs to be dismantled and minutely examined. Safety catches typically work by lifting the cocking piece off the sear and holding it. As this acts against the striker spring tension, there must be some resistance felt when you set the safety. When the safety is set, the striker spring tension is no longer acting on the sear, so you can expect that the trigger is free, and can be pulled right back against the fairly low resistance of the trigger return spring. The fact that you experienced trigger resistance when the safety was "On" indicates that the safety had, in fact, NOT lifted the cocking piece clear of the sear. The slight "give" that you noticed was the trigger being released and the rifle effectively firing as the cocking piece slipped past the sear. But the cocking piece could only travel a very slight distance until it was held by the safety lug.

This is the essence of the whole dangerous situation - your rifle had "fired", but the striker had only travelled a very short distance. The rest of the firing took place when the safety was released. This is known as "safety-off fire" and is described on P.99 of "The Mauser Bolt Actions" by Jerry Kuhnhausen. I know your rifle is not a Mauser, but the principle is nearly identical and it is worth borrowing that book and reading P. 98 (slamfire) and P.99 to increase your understanding.

Theoretically, this situation could be caused by wear. But I would expect a service rifle to have been "pulled" for overhaul if it ever got like that.
In our world, the 99.9% probable practical explanation is that it has been bubba-ed. Bubba tries to lighten the trigger pull by filing the sear and cocking piece ledge - and that is the result.
Your rifle probably needs a new trigger and cocking piece. If you bought it from a dealer, you may be able to return it on the grounds that he sold you an unsafe rifle.

But all that is, of course, just my opinion from a long way away, AFAICTWAHTOIMH.

Patrick

P.S: Second thoughts. You wrote that "The trigger had no tension on it whatsoever and was flopping back and forth inside the trigger guard." It may be quite simply that the trigger return spring is (also?) broken, and so the sear falls away from the cocking piece ledge when you activate the safety.

[Chuckindenver]

to add ...you may want to down load a detailed parts diagram of the 1917, and make sure your rifle isnt missing a part here and there, surplus rifles are known to have things missing.

[Mk VII]

Yes, I've heard of this condition, in a notebook (now lost) compiled many years ago by a friend from lecture notes.