Failure to feed in my Husqvarna M38

[Patrick Chadwick]

Of course, if one forces in the wrong cartridges, there will be problems...

However, if the cartridges are correct, then something is wrong with that rifle, and the following may help:

Correct feeding in a Swedish Mauser

This series of photos shows a Norma "Diamond Line" cartridge being fed into my Carl Gustav. There is no functional difference in this action between the m/96 and a m/96-38 or m/38 short rifle.

First of all, let us look at the closed system.
Attachment 23349

Like all of my rifles, this is a real working rifle, not a safe queen. The woodwork is dented and scratched from its service life, but I can assure you that the action is impeccable.

Now take a look at the open breech.

Attachment 23353

Observe the crown-marked follower. The wrong type of follower can affect feeding.
Please also observe the shape of the rim on the action body. Any dents or burrs on this edge will definitely affect feeding, and, judging by the photos of the "high-nose" feeding, damage to this rim is very likely the cause of the trouble. (The dark streak on the right is an oil smear!)

Take a look at the feed ramp. Note that the start of the ramp is BELOW the level of the follower.

Attachment 23346


A cartridge is now inserted. Note how it lies quite flat.

Attachment 23352

Now we start to close the bolt.

As the cartridge is pushed forwards by the bolt face, note that it does NOT rise up.
Attachment 23354

Note that the tip of the bullet is above the start of the feed ramp. If this is NOT the case, then you have discovered at least one cause of trouble.

The next photo is at the point where the bullet tip contacts the feed ramp.
Attachment 23351


Note that the cartridge is still within the magazine. The cartridge now starts to rise, whereby the rim comes up behind the extractor.
Attachment 23350

Note that the cartridge is NOT tilted up. But the nose moves over to the center line as the bullet enters the chamber.
Attachment 23348

Finally, the rim is completely in the bolt head and securely held by the extractor. The cartridge is now free of the magazine.
Attachment 23347
The bolt can now be pushed home and closed.

IMPORTANT OBSERVATION:
At NO stage is the front of the cartridge pushed up as shown in the photos of the problem rifle. If you follow this photo sequence and compare it with the problem rifle, if should be possible to identify the point where the cartridge is not moving correctly.

Patrick

[Patrick Chadwick]

The pics are'nt the best quality but the cartridges look an awful lot like 6.5 Remington Magnum to me.

I don't think so. The 6.5 Remington Magnum is a) a belted cartridge and b) much fatter.

At present, I think the extractor may be burred. Referring to my previous post: in the last photo in the sequence, when the cartridge is free of the magazine - there should be a small but noticeable end play of the rim within the extractor - maybe 10 thou or so. If there is no such play, then either the case rim or the extractor is at fault. Without some play, the rim cannot rise up behind the extractor. Since the cartridges on the left of the magazine are skewed slightly to the right, they slide up behind the extractor easier than the cartridges on the right - which are skewed slightly to the left.

Simply remove the bolt and check that a case rim fits behind the extractor with enough slop to let you wiggle the case left and right a couple of degrees!

Patrick


P.S. The marks on the feed ramp also indicate that the rifle has been mishandled at some time. Look at my photo sequence again - the ramp on my rifle is unmarked. With correct feeding, the bullet tip hardly touches the ramp.

[watermoccasin]

I don't think this guy was quite that dumb, but maybe... in any case, I get the same issue now as in these photos of his, and I'm definitely loading 6.5x55 Swedish, according to ammo box and headstamp.

So at this point, what would you guys recommend I do? Start by buying a replacement mag spring, and then start looking to do some light sanding if that doesn't fix the issue? I think I might be able to source a mag spring or two from a friend who works at a gun shop over on the west coast.

Does anyone else think the cartridges in the pictures look to be something other that 6.5x55? The pics are'nt the best quality but the cartridges look an awful lot like 6.5 Remington Magnum to me. Maybe the wrong cartridges were loaded in the magazine and some damage occured when the previous owner attempted to force the bolt closed? Maybe just my eyes and bad pics playing tricks..

[Patrick Chadwick]

So at this point, what would you guys recommend I do?

Read my last two posts. Follow my photo sequence, and see where your rifle deviates from those pictures! Check that there is a bit of play between the extractor and the case rim.

Patrick

[watermoccasin]

Whoops! I posted without seeing that a second page had already started. Okay, thanks a ton for the photo sequence! Later tonight, I will go through this with my rifle, and let you guys know. I'm already quite certain that my extractor isn't grabbing the rim until the bolt is much further ahead than in your photos, but I will double check.

Read my last two posts. Follow my photo sequence, and see where your rifle deviates from those pictures! Check that there is a bit of play between the extractor and the case rim.

Patrick

[vintage hunter]

Watermoccasin, you said in post #6 that you were'nt told of the proble until AFTER you had bought the rifle so what you should do,IMHO, first is take it back where you got it, get a refund, then go find one that functions properly because the guy you bought it from is dishonest crook for not telling you it had problems from the git-go. Just my 2 cents worth.

[watermoccasin]

Patrick, thanks a lot for your photos. I just ran through them in sequence with the rifle in my hands, first with one round loaded, and then with three. I can see where there may be more than one issue, actually.

Firstly, on the inside wall of the rim on the action body, there is a small burr/scrape in the metal at the point where the rim widens on the right side, towards the front of the receiver.

Secondly, while by no means smooth, with only one or two rounds loaded in the magazine, the extractor will grip both at some point, and the gun will feed (albeit roughly) these rounds into the chamber. However, with three rounds in place, the round on top seems to bind on the underside of the action body rim a bit, and the bolt only succeeds in pushing the round forward – at no point will the rim on this cartridge slide up behind the extractor. When it gets to the point where the action body rim widens (just around the burr/scrape), the round binds against the outside of the chamber, and the side of the action body rim. At some point, it will pick up a pretty nasty gouge or scratch on the brass, probably from the burr on the inside rim of the action body.

There's a lot more slop in the magazine and follower of this rifle than I am used to. It has a lot of forward-and-backward play, and enough lateral play that, if I push the follower down with my thumb on an empty mag, I can make it bind within the magazine as well. I don't know if this is normal to the M38 or not.

There looks to be some roughness to the metal at the bottom corner of the extractor, but not necessarily a burr, per se. I removed the bolt and stuck a cartridge or two in there, and was able to get the up/down play you mentioned, so I don't think it's that the extractor is too tight. I'm thinking also that the roughness I am seeing on the extractor was likely caused by the previous owner and his brother hulking out on the bolt in order to chamber the rounds.

PS I know you guys have already done a lot to help me, but I was wondering if you could take a photo of the inside of the action body rim, as well as a detail shot of the front of your extractor claw, so that I can make a comparison there. I'd be hugely grateful (not that I'm not already)!

vintage hunter: The first thing I thought when I found out about this was to have the guy charged with fraud. I might as well tell the story of how I found out that this was a known issue before the rifle was sold to me...

I bought this rifle back in October, in a private sale through an online forum. The seller mailed the firearm to me, as he lives a few thousand kilometres from where I am. He's not a firearms dealer or anything of that kind – just a private citizen. So, I wasn't shooting the gun, really. I then hit upon this problem, and started Googling. It turns out that this issue is really unique – I couldn't find anyone with the same problem, no matter what combination of terms I used. A few days ago, I must have typed something different, because I hit upon this forum post from almost two years ago:

Failure to feed on my new Swede!!

"Great," I thought to myself, "I've finally found someone with my exact issue! Now I can see what this guy did to fix the rifle."

So I click on the photos. They look... oddly familiar, and so I open the email the seller sent me in October, with the photos he sent of the rifle. Yep: they're the same photos, from the same album. He simply left out any photos that depicted the feed issue, and used the other photos as part of his photo exhibit in the email to me. That's my rifle being discussed in that Gunboards post.

The problem with charging him with fraud, though, is the bit at the bottom: see how he said he was going to the gunsmith? He never made that trip. Why? Well, I found the answer to that in another post by the same guy on yet another forum. He was about to take it to the gunsmith, but he figured he'd talk to his brother first, because his brother, who "knows a lot about guns," convinced this guy that old military bolt actions just need to be cycled super-hard. He greased the feed ramp, rammed the bolt home with great force each time he cycled the action, and found that this worked for him – essentially turning this into a push-feed rifle on rounds 1 and 3, I guess. He told me the same when I contacted him by email, advising me to cycle the action harder. I can't really have him charged for fraud, because he seems to have honestly believed that the rifle didn't need fixing, and that this was just user error on his part causing the issue. Between the email he sent me the other day, and the other forum post from October of 2009, his story checks out. Therefore, he didn't knowingly mislead me in selling the weapon as-is. I doubt I could get him to take a refund on the weapon, either, and it's not likely that he has the money lying around anyway. I got it for a good price, too, so hopefully with repairs I will still be into it for less than some people pay for these rifles.

[Patrick Chadwick]

From what you write, it sounds as if taking action for fraud would only make the lawyers richer. And the cure is probably not even expensive. You will have to dismantle the rifle completely to gain access to the inside edge of the lip. (Sorry, I am not going to dismantle my rifle to take a photo!)

Do not go at it with files, sandpaper etc, as you cannot control the abrasive action accurately enough. The tool to use for this (and other similar problems with burred edges) is a diamond lap. I use one called "EZ-lap", color-coded red.

This cuts so finely that the result almost looks like a polished finish, but requires plenty of time, a drop of oil on the cutting surface, a light touch (it is not a rasp!) and frequent checking. When you wipe the oil off the surface you are working on, the bright line will show you when the burr has been cut down flush with the surface again. Never forget the motto "you can file it off, but you can't file it back on again".

And when you have filed down the burrs, use a rotating action of the hand to barely round off the edge, to avoid any sharp edges that would scratch the cartridge case.

Such a lap is not cheap, but it will last for years of careful use.

Patrick

[watermoccasin]

Hi Patrick,

Thanks for the tip. I noticed that there are a few of these EZE-Lap tools in red. Is the oval one on this page the one you mean? EZE-LAP Fine Oval Shaft, Red Handle - EZE-Fold Folding Handle - Knifecenter.com

Thanks!

From what you write, it sounds as if taking action for fraud would only make the lawyers richer. And the cure is probably not even expensive. You will have to dismantle the rifle completely to gain access to the inside edge of the lip. (Sorry, I am not going to dismantle my rifle to take a photo!)

Do not go at it with files, sandpaper etc, as you cannot control the abrasive action accurately enough. The tool to use for this (and other similar problems with burred edges) is a diamond lap. I use one called "EZ-lap", color-coded red.

This cuts so finely that the result almost looks like a polished finish, but requires plenty of time, a drop of oil on the cutting surface, a light touch (it is not a rasp!) and frequent checking. When you wipe the oil off the surface you are working on, the bright line will show you when the burr has been cut down flush with the surface again. Never forget the motto "you can file it off, but you can't file it back on again".

And when you have filed down the burrs, use a rotating action of the hand to barely round off the edge, to avoid any sharp edges that would scratch the cartridge case.

Such a lap is not cheap, but it will last for years of careful use.

Patrick

[Harlan (Deceased)]

I'm sure you'll get it sorted out one way or another. I can tell you're committed to it and I hope you're almost there.

I think you're just a nice guy and going easy on the jerk who sold the gun. I say he knew there was a problem or he wouldn't have been posting looking for a solution and when he didn't have the aptitude/diligence to fix it he passed the problem on to another person.
Luckily you're a better man than he is and the rifle will be brought back to where it should be. (And you got it for a good price so a little work won't be too bad of a deal)

Think of it like this -
Would you pass it on to another like it is without first saying something about the feed issue? 'NO'
You're two completely different class of people and I only know you from reading a few paragraphs here (JMO)

~ Harlan