M1-puzzle. Impossible or not ????

[Patrick Chadwick]

A friend showed me an M1 with the bolt out of the action. Everything else correctly assembled, just the bolt was out. He told me the carbine had been lent to someone who claimed that, while rapid firing, the bolt had suddenly dropped on the floor.

OK, I know it sounds very, very improbable, to put it mildly. I try hard to avoid words like "impossible" or "never". I dismantled the gun, checked it out vs. my own carbine and Kuhnhausen. As far as I can tell, it is perfectly OK. No broken edges, gouges, bent op-rod or excessive wear to indicate that anything untoward had ever happened. I wiggled the bits left, right, up and down, and I cannot get a bolt out of the fully assembled carbine action.

Am I missing something here? Some obscure conjunction of components that could permit a bolt to come out of a carbine while firing?

It would not be the first time that someone has fiddled around with a mechanism, been unable to put it together again, and then handed me the mess with the claim "it got like that all by itself".

But before I tell my friend that he was fed a fairy story, I ask the carbine experts - could it possibly happen?

Information

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[U44]

It is possible to remove a bolt without disassembling the carbine. I've done it several times.
Google "M1 Carbine Bolt Removal Without Disassembling the Rifle"

You should be able to get it back together. Good luck.

Jim

[browningautorifle]

No Patrick, I agree with you. Although a bolt can be removed without stripping as stated, it won't just "Fall out"...I shouldn't think. If it can and has, we'll be told shortly. I once had two guys show up at my door with a '94 Winchester in a fire pail and no two pieces were assembled. They were just going to "Knock it apart" for a quick cleaning...

[Patrick Chadwick]

Many, many thanks! I really learnt a new trick with that video.

BUT - could it happen while firing?
(Please note, the op-rod is NOT bent)

I still think the unknown (to me) shooter - who is surely never going to be lent a gun again - must have been fiddling around - accidentally reproduced the actions in the video - couldn't put it together again - and then, to cover his mistake, claimed it happened "all by itself".


P.S: The carbine is an Austrian "LGK.B." - Landes Gendarmerie Kommando. Burgenland". In excellent (refurbished) condition. Supposedly rather rare, and it makes mine look like an old wreck (but at least mine is a match-winning wreck).