A case for not riding the bolt

The thread I saw this video on was about the importance of eye protection and the guys were also debating the cause for this Garand explosion. When I watch the young lady shooting I see about six or so normal rounds and then a round that didn't chamber, followed by the young lady pulling back the op rod handle, which does extract the live round, and then she rides the bolt forward to load another. This is what I think caused the major malfunction(if you rule out some type of ammo problem).
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Having yet to purchase a Garand and being unfamiliar with the system other than in a general sence can you describe to me the mechanics of the riding the bolt forward and how this could have caused the catastrophic failure?
Thanks

Seen in many forums,. Consensus I have seen is that the features of Garand receiver (bridge) should have prevented out of battery fire unless rifle was not within specifications or something was broken. She has a failure to feed (not a squib), clears it and the round is in her left hand, then she rides bolt forward on final round that blows. She is / was on You Tube answering questions, but I never followed it long enough to see if they established a true cause. There was some speculation about a squib load blocking the barrel, refuted by her, then an overloaded reload by her brother (next to her), I think that was also refuted by her. But the answers were always a little hazy and the bottom line never reached, probably because of their inexperience with the rifle's characteristics, and it never having been examined by an expert.

I didn't get to hear the interview with the lady in the video so I guess I was short some info. An out of battery firing in a Garand is extemely rare but possible. If the right combination of safety bridge wear or damage and improper headspacing and or incorrectly loaded handloads about anything can happen. Thanks for the extra information about the video.

It would also require the hammer nose or the cam on the back of the bolt to fail in their function and allow the hammer to strike the firing pin before the bolt is reasonably well closed. I still think it was cartridge related.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Gun Surfer

She has a failure to feed (not a squib), clears it and the round is in her left hand, then she rides bolt forward on final round that blows.

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By "riding the bolt forward" do you mean manually pressing the bolt forward rather than retracting the bolt fully rearward and allowing the bolt to spring forward in the conventional manner?

"Riding the bolt" is gently retarding the forward motion so that it doesn't slam. Let 'er slam - that's the way it is designed to work. Tapping the Op Rod forward with the side of the palm if it doesn't go back into battery by itself is also acceptable and common.

Bob

"I am the person this happened to. The 7th round jammed, which is nothing unusual for this gun. It happens all the time. That is why I didn't really hesitate to shoot the final round. We were using newer ammo, so we don't think that's the problem. My brother has been looking at his M1, and we noticed it will still fire with the chamber not fully closed. The chamber can be open up to 1/2" and the weapon will still fire. We think that's what happend."

This is the quote from "arizonagirl24" the unfortunate shooter on You Tube. I think this is what she is referring too - I have pulled the trigger on a Garand with a slightly opened bolt with a primed (BUT NOT LOADED) cartridge case several times. The firing pin drops loudly, and the bolt is noticeably shoved forward, giving the impression it would fire. But the firing pin does not detonate the primer. There is only the very slightest indent on the primer. So the receiver bridge and firing pin / rear bolt design prevent the firing pin from detonating the primer. (Someone more familiar with the design can describe the safety feature better.)

I tried to join You Tube to ask more questions and encourage them to get it checked out by a qualified expert, but Google owns You Tube and wants your birth date in order to register. Sorry but I am unwilling to give that to an internet based company. So to me either the gun was seriously (and rarely) out of specification, or the ammo was bad. Based on her statement and the video I do not believe it was a squib on the 7th round that caused this.

What you generally find is that in a case like this, the answers are not very forth coming and clear. Usually because the shooter or reloader is at fault and knows this in his heart. The way the rifle came apart, it was like a bomb had been chambered. Because of the lack of an expert inspection after the incident, I doubt we can ever know what happened. I only have two M1s but have no fear in using either of them. I'd trust my life to them.