M1 cycle Magazine through Rifle

When testing a Magazine and you cycle it through your Rifle without firing it, will it always jam or do you have to load the Magazine and shoot it to see if it works properly for that particular Mag. And i know cycling the rifle is different from the cycle it does when firing. Just wanting to know the best way to test out a Magazine when you don't have time to get to the Gun Range.I do go to the range and test out mags i aquire BUT sometimes i do get mags and don't have the time to go to the range.I know the Rifle works cause when i do shoot it, it fires all 15 rounds with certain Mags, though. Thanks (this might be dumb question for this site but oh well) I sometimes wonder if any GI's early or late in the war figured out how to Bump fire there semi-auto Carbines ?

I only know of one surefire way to test a magazine. Load it and fire it.

I am sure that any NCO worth his stripes would have put the screws to any bump firing if someone did figure out how to do it. What a waste of ammo.

Al

Never mind the bump firing. I've tested lots of mags by loading drill rounds(that are reliable) and then hand cycling. You don't have to beat your hands up, just pull the actin all the way back and let go. Repeat. Just the same way as putting on a fresh mag. You can use the little hold open but...why? If you've loaded the mag correctly, the drill rounds are OK, and you don't ride the op handle forward, it should work.

I been wanting to get those drill rounds or those they sell for use when working on your rifle, now i will order them. Also if you encountered any problems do you open the mag up and check to see if the spring is in correctly, ive read that the mag will not work properly if the spring is in a different position. Thanks

Yes, it's possible for a carbine spring to be in backwards. Just look through our sticky's at the beginning of the forum for stripping and assembling...easiest description for that. Most guys don't strip their mags much though I think.

Having select fire and firing fully automatic vs bump firing are two totally different things. Trying to concentrate on making the bump fire work and actually aiming is very hard to do.

Al

Even shooting full auto, only the first shot is truly "aimed", the rest of 'em just go in the general direction. The human species just can't react fast enough to aim each shot. That's why they went to burst, to limit the waste while still increasing the hit probability

OP - the most important rounds for "testing" a magazine are the first (heaviest magazine load) and last (lightest magazine load w possibly weak spring). So burning a whole magazine just to test is not wise.

When I was in Basic they talked alot about your rifle.The Logistics were out of control in Vietnam about the increase in ammo from 67 to the end of 68. The increase of "spray and pray" they were spending alot of money on amo and the increase in numbers of failure of these Rifle junking up cause of the nasty powder they were using. The Army talk to Colt to fix this problem about the rifle and the ammo. once they fixed the problem with select fire it fixed both problems. This also on wikipedia. Look it up" Vietnam M16 Select Fire Change"

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Originally Posted by imntxs564

When testing a Magazine and you cycle it through your Rifle without firing it, will it always jam or do you have to load the Magazine and shoot it to see if it works properly for that particular Mag. And i know cycling the rifle is different from the cycle it does when firing. Just wanting to know the best way to test out a Magazine when you don't have time to get to the Gun Range.I do go to the range and test out mags i aquire BUT sometimes i do get mags and don't have the time to go to the range.I know the Rifle works cause when i do shoot it, it fires all 15 rounds with certain Mags, though. Thanks (this might be dumb question for this site but oh well) I sometimes wonder if any GI's early or late in the war figured out how to Bump fire there semi-auto Carbines ?

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I always test mags by hand-cycling, but you have to yank the charging handle all the way back until it bounces and let it go to snap forward in one motion. *****-footing it invites jamming. IOW, you need to simulate the slide action when firing, which is pretty violent. If using live ammo I would do this outdoors with the muzzle pointed down to a safe, soft area. Most likely you will not have a slam-fire. I've never had one with a carbine or anything else in over 20 years of shooting. Of course, I keep my stuff clean and in top shape.

Very good information, Thanks

Frank

Through the years, I have found about 1/4 to 1/3 of the carbine mags I picked up had the spring in backwards! A mag spring looks likes this: /\/\/\/\/\/\/\ the bottom of the previous illustration (long side) should be to the rear of the magazine, unlike some other rifle mags.

I worked part time at a Class III shop 2007-2008. The owner had two registered M2 Carbines. Neither would feed more than a few rounds. I broke down the three 30 rounders he had. Two had the spring in backwards, and one had a 15 round spring stretched out. I corrected the springs in the magazines (including replacing the 15 round spring).

I also broke down the weapons to give them a thorough check. Both M2s had terrible collapsed recoil springs. One was only 9 1/2" long, and the other one only slightly longer. I replaced his recoil springs, lubed them up, and loaded the corrected magazines. Both purred like a pair of kittens....