Pin Falls, Bullet doesn't fly
Just fully disassembled, cleaned and oiled M1. The pin was not broken and I've tried numerous ammo. The pin actually puts a VERY SMALL dent in the primer, but not enough to discharge the powder.
Looking at the manual posted on this site I noted that the one remaining thing Uncle Sam said to check was if it was cleaned/oiled. It is...
Any thoughts???
Could it be the trigger spring isn't strong enough? Can I buy one of those?
Thanks!
3 suspects: hard grease, roll crimp, worn extractor
Quote:
Originally Posted by
CrossedCannons
Carbine headspaces on the case mouth.
- Which is a tricky business. If, for instance, the case has been crimped ever-so-slightly-too-much, then there is no step remaing at the case mouth for it to headspace on! As has been pointed out, in a properly functioning rifle, the extractor (normally) holds the case back (just about enough) so that the primer will (mostly) be detonated. All the modifying remarks in brackets are to emphasize that it is NOT a "sure-fire" thing.
I do not have a 30M1 carbine, but I do have a Luger, which can suffer similar problems for similar reasons.
I suggest you:
1) use a watchmaker's eyeglass to examine the case mouths on unfired examples of the cartridges you have been using.
2) try out the rifle with a couple of cartridges crimped as lightly as possible with a taper crimp (NOT roll-crimp, of course) in single-shot mode.
3) check that the firing pin can protrude enough. Less than about 2mm could mean a worn (or broken off and reshaped) pin.
Of course, the answer (as has also been pointed out) could be that the bolt assembly has hardened grease inside, which acts as a damper to slow down the firing pin AND restrict its forward movement. When I got my Martini-Henry, the pin crept up to the cartridge base, and could not puncture a paper bag. I dismantled the action, scraped out the fossilized "yakolene" (it really was that bad), washed it all out with acetone, dried, regreased and reassembled it - and it worked perfectly. The answer to your problem may be that simple!
:wave: