Bang bang click,bang bang click.

[fungun1]

a friend after shooting my carbine said he had to have one.called sat. had bought one at a gun show.nice looking saginaw ,we had to shoot it,shot fine about 40 rds then click rifle was in full battery,after waiting a min.open chamber no primer strike.rechamber shot same rd,bang shot about 50 rds then same thing. this is same ammo i been using pmc that has shot great. change to use my bolt tool only for the second time .fireing pin looked fine.so you guys are the pro,s i have no way to check the head space,what gives thanks.

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[imarangemaster]

Possibly headspace issue. If headspace was excessive, it would be more sensitive to a case that was slightly shorter than spec. Ideally, get some go and no go gauges. If you have a caliper, check the length of the fired cases with the one that did not go off. If headspace is excessive, a weak extractor spring can sometimes affect it, too.

[CrossedCannons]

The bolt was designed so that, if contacted by the hammer while out of battery, the impact would rotate it closed and so allow the hammer to reach the firing pin. But after all that, there probably was not enough energy to impartto the pin for the gun to work. When you "checked", the bolt was "in battery" with a light or nonexistent strike to the primer.

Maybe field strip, clean and grease and try again?

[Bruce McAskill]

As Crossed Cannos said, clean and grease it. Also check the recoil spring and be sure it is over 10" long. If less then it may be time to replace it with a new USGI spring. Stay away from the so called hi-speed springs as they are more troublen then they are worth.

[Mizzouboy]

I agree with imarangemaster. Had the same problem on an IBM I had, Head space was lousy, had same symptoms you describe. Unfortunately a new barrel is the only fix. Use a "field" gauge and see if the bolt closes. If it does, you have found the problem.

[jimb16]

I'd check the extractor first, before I did anything else. If the extractor or its spring are crudded up and filthy, you can have that same problem. Clean them thoroughly before you do anything else.

[imarangemaster]

Another problem I just thought of is firing pin. If the inside of the bolt has crud and dried cosmolene in it, it may not allow the firing pin to go all the way forward. That couple with the cruddy extractor not holding the rim securely could do it. You can use brake cleaner to soak it if you don't have a bolt tool.