Catastrophic M1A failure

This is an article on a catastrophic M1A failure. This is being posted with the permission of Dean Speir at thegunzone.com. Read the entire article as it has a complete failure analysis and updates. It is an older article but very good.

http://www.thegunzone.com/m1akb.html

So basically, if I read it right, it was defective barrel steel that caused this? Talk about hitting the wrong lottery. Glad he wasn't seriously injured.

It looks that way. The barrel was stressed beyond it's limit and because it's defects.

That is a very impressive KB .

I also had a failure of my Springfield M1A. The rear of the hammer that catches on the sear broke off. After firing, the next round detonated before entering the chamber. I was hit in the head (not seriously) bu the handguard. Also the trigger assembly was about an inch out of the gun. After installing a new hammer I gave a second close inspection to the gun and found a small crack at the rear of the receiver. I pulled the bolt back a couple of times and the whole rear fell off. Close inspection of the steel reveals inconsistency in the steel. I suspect Japanese steel was used. (yes I worked at steel mills before retiring) I have sent the gun back to Springfield. I haven't heard anything back yet, but will post the outcome.
I would recommend that anyone shooting a recent production Springfield M1A to use light loads and wear safety glasses.
B

I'm no expert, but from the looks of it, that ain't going to buff out.

Scary stuff :

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Buntlineguy

I also had a failure of my Springfield M1A. The rear of the hammer that catches on the sear broke off. After firing, the next round detonated before entering the chamber. I was hit in the head (not seriously) bu the handguard. Also the trigger assembly was about an inch out of the gun. After installing a new hammer I gave a second close inspection to the gun and found a small crack at the rear of the receiver. I pulled the bolt back a couple of times and the whole rear fell off. Close inspection of the steel reveals inconsistency in the steel. I suspect Japanese steel was used. (yes I worked at steel mills before retiring) I have sent the gun back to Springfield. I haven't heard anything back yet, but will post the outcome.
I would recommend that anyone shooting a recent production Springfield M1A to use light loads and wear safety glasses.
B

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I had an early M1A for a number of years and finally sold it. The serial number was somewhere around 001970 or close to that . I do not recall how many zeros the SN included.

ETA :
I wonder if any issues have been reported with the early recievers ?

I think I remember that I read a few years ago about a similar type of barrel failure with some Lee-Enfield No. 4 rifles in the UK that had been used since WWII in military schools. If I remember properly, they were removed from active service in the marksmanship program.