Originally Posted by
skiprat
When the Aussies made their single shot manually operated target L1A1's they positioned the new cocking handle on the back of the carrier (by the rat tail rivet).
The British straight pull use the original cocking handle position, putting pressure on one side at the front of the carrier.
With all the parts been used(and old) is the act of cocking imparting twist to the carrier adding extra friction?
Is the cartridge/chamber preventing easy extraction, or is it the carrier.
If I remember correctly (its been 30+years) the carrier should be free to move rearward for about 3mm before contacting the unlocking cams on the breach block, pulling UP on the breach block , so the rear of the carrier (where the cam surfaces are) is forced down, also as the cocking handle is pushing from the front of the carrier there will be some effort to rotate the carrier in it's rails adding even more friction.
If the cocking handle is at the rear top of the carrier (as the Aussies did) the cocking action would lift the rear of the carrier, reducing any rotation.