m1a wont shoot

[georgeduz]

all i hear is click,very little mark on primer,when it did fire i had to eject them by hand,this is a 2004 springfield.if there is anybody that knows these problems please let me know.and yes i did replace the springs and that did fix the extracting problem.

 

[stubbicatt]

broken firing pin?

 

[lipadj46]

I assume this is not reloaded or remanufactured ammo and the primers are not too far forward.

If not is your firing pin still free floating (the inside of the bolt could be gunked up)? Your firing pin could be broken. It is a very simple rifle and should be pretty obvious what the problem is if you pull out your bolt and inspect it. Also look at you trigger and make sure your hammer is still good and the spring is nice and strong.

 

[georgeduz]

bolt and pin are fine,clean.

 

[No4Mk1*]

Is the bolt fully closing? Having an ejection and firing problem sounds interesting. Bolt roller in position in charging handle?

 

[LemmyCaution]

Extremely excessive head space? No bolt lockup? Try slingshotting the first round in to the chamber.

 

[nbkky71]

It sounds like you have two problems: failure to fire and failure to extract/eject.

Failure to Fire
- Bolt is not fully locked
- Firing pin damaged/broken
- Damaged trigger group

Failure to Eject/Extract
- Gas spindle is in the OFF position
- Gas plug is loose
- Damaged/broken ejector
- Damaged/broken extractor

Eliminate as many variables as you can. If using reloaded ammo, try known-good factory ammo. Make sure the rifle is cleaned and lubricated properly, etc. Also, take a look at FM23-8, the field manual for the M14 rifle.

EDIT TO ADD - the dimpled primer is normal since the M14/M1A uses a free-floating firing pin.

 

[georgeduz]

checked all that.it all looks good ,rifle was new in box unfired.but the gas port hole does seem rather large,i did clean with pipe cleaner.dont know if thats normal.it does lock up.i tried some military,federal,and some and reloads....how do you know if the gas piston is ok ? the plug is tight and piston does move freely.i wiped off the excess oil,(there was a bit of oil didnt know about the spindle)the hammer does ingage the firing pin.thanks for your info ill give it another try this weekend.

 

[Slamfire]

I would clean the gas piston and gas cylinder out. Always do that on a new M1a, just in case the system is gunked up.

The failure to fire is puzzling.

If the failure to fire was only with reloads, then I would blame oversizing of the rounds.

If however, you are having the same problem with factory ammo, then we have something out of spec.

One guess is that the receiver bridge is interferring with the firing pin. There is a slot cut in the receiver bridge. The firing pin is supposed to align with this slot when the bolt is in battery. Maybe they are not lining up.

You can check by taking the action out of the stock, letting the bolt go forward, and pushing on the tail of the firing pin. It should go forward freely.

I would hate to think your chamber is cut too deep, that's another idea.

 

[georgeduz]

Damaged/broken ejector, it looks ok but it does not push in.must of put it back the wrong way,glad i found it.

 

[lipadj46]

That would do it though its pretty hard to put in the wrong way the way the extractor and firing pin fits together with it.