m1 carbine problem

B

bew556

Inactive
I fired my carbine for the first time the other day and had a minor problem. I would like to say first that I am not to familiar with the names of all the gun parts, but will try my best. :) When I fire my gun it is not self loading properly. The operating slide and bolt are not pushing the round all the way in the chamber. I have to give it a nudge for every round except the last 4 or so. I was thinking I may need a new spring because the receiver spring is to weak and isn't pushing the round all the way in the cahmber. Does anyone know if that is what is most likely causing the problem and also what would the exact name of that spring be called so I could order a new one. Thanks for all the help and input ahead of time.
 
Second that

I would agree with the previous post, but we must know-commercial or GI gun? There could be a multitude of odd problems that occur in some of the out of production carbine commercial copies versus a GI gun in which most problems can be troubleshot fairly easily by those who know. And also what kind of ammo? MIght have problems if it is not round nose FMJ GI type ammo too. Give us the specifics!
 
I believe it is a GI gun, is there a way I can find out for sure. I do know it is an Inland Div General Motors carbine. I know it is not all the original parts but most of them are original. And the ammo I used was Remington .30. Let me know if theres anything else I can tell you to help figure out what it might be. I can also take some pics if need be. Thanks again for all the help.

Edit: I think you are right also about the recoil spring after doing some google searching. Is a recoil spring and a operating slide spring the same thing?
 
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Spring likely

The long spring in the receiver that connects to the operating handle unit is the one you want if you have weak return. Otherwise, since it is mixed parts, hopefully all GI parts, there is always the possibility that some odd part is bent, out of tolerance, etc. that could slow things down too. Or crud or dirt for that matter. I got off my lazy butt and found the Kuhnhausen Carbine shop manual. There are several related problems, 1.failure to feed, chamber, or fully chamber, 2.short recoil, 3.bolt does not fully close and lock, and 4.bolt locks but operating slide does not return fully forward. At the top of the list for causes is spring kinked or weak, or the guide rod for the spring bent. If it is short recoil, your gas piston under the barrel might be all gummed up. You need a special spanner wrench to remove that and clean it out. Don't bugger that with pliers-the proper tool is fairly easy to get from suppliers. And there could be other more suble problems. Basically anything that impedes the slide moving forward easily or the extractor latching over the case rim might cause it. Oh, and they mentioned bad magazines as a possible in these cases. Did you try another? But try the spring first.
 
Had the same problem and Tom2 is RIGHT on.

In my case the spring was kinked and also the gas piston was gumed up. Cleaning fixed the problem but I had the spring changed anyway.
I shoot a lot but know that I am no gun smith so I had mine fixed by a good gun smith and the cost was very little at the time, I think about 45$ but that was over 10 years ago.
I still have the gun and its still shots like a dream.
Mine is a paratroopers model
 
Alright I'm just going to order the recoil spring off fulton armory site that molonlabe posted. I have never taken my gun fully apart but plan to as soon as I stop being lazy. I would like to so I can see for sure if its not maybe the spring guide that is bent so I don't order a spring when all i needed was the guide. However its only 5 bucks, no big deal. Thanks again for everyones help.

Edit: Alright I got up off my lazy ass and took my gun apart. Took the spring out and the guide definitely isn't bent so I'm hoping its just a matter of replacing the spring.
 
Gun shows

If you go to any gunshows, and they have those traveling military guns parts hawkers, you should find everything you need. Here in Ohio there are a few guys that show up at the shows with bins full of parts for AR's, Garands, carbines, .45's, etc. Usually they have something like springs, and ought to have the spanner wrench for the gas piston for cheap. I don't know if the wrenches are milsurp or commercial, but there are alot of them around. Also the little tubular tool for trigger spring removal, and the odd little fixture for taking apart the bolt assy. You should lay hands on a book on the carbines. Gunshows book sellers usually have the inexpensive reprint repros of the military manuals, and that will give you 95% of what you need for regular care and service. More advanced books are around, but expensive. Good luck with it. BTW I always test fire with the white box Winchester carbine ammo, finding it reliable and maybe more accurate than some other brands.
 
Yea I would pick one up at a gunshow but I don't want to go with out shooting one for that long. The next gun show here in Richmond isnt until January, Hopefully this spring I ordered off fulton-armory will solve all of my problems though. Also I have a book on carbines already that has been very useful called The Complete Guide to the M1-Garand and the M1-Carbine by Bruce N. Canfield. I also plan on getting at garand one of these days which is why I bought a book on both. Thanks for the input though.
 
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