Keep the muzzle downrange always!
I just purchased a beater .22 Glenfield/Marlin 75C (which is close to a model 60) from a local Pawn. Got it home and put three rounds in the mag to test. Pulled and released the charging handle, then trigger, "click and nothing"; pulled and released the charging handle, unfired ejects, pulled trigger "click and nothing", pulled charging handle, unfired ejects, release,and BANG! Put in another round, pulled charging handle and, BANG! "Obviously I have a major malfunction."
This is the first time I've ever had a firearm discharge accidentally. I had the muzzle pointed in a safe direction but it scared the heck out of me. On further inspection I found the works was slightly fouled with lead chips and powder residue but no obvious broken parts. Is it possible that one, of the extractors was jammed and acted as a firing pin? PS. I have not put this thing back together after cleaning and inspection.
This is the first time I've ever had a firearm discharge accidentally. I had the muzzle pointed in a safe direction but it scared the heck out of me. On further inspection I found the works was slightly fouled with lead chips and powder residue but no obvious broken parts. Is it possible that one, of the extractors was jammed and acted as a firing pin? PS. I have not put this thing back together after cleaning and inspection.
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Wow! Could have been worse... Thanks for sharing! 0 -
Also possible that a really dirty firing pin is beng held forward by the gunk. From the first two fail-to-fires, either the bolt is not going fully into battery, or something is keeping firing pin impulse from the rim. Either way, would start with a good strip and clean. When test firing, keep rounds in magazine to 3, in case of uncontrolled slamfires. 0 -
When I worked at a gun shop my boss seriously thought about not buying anymore semi auto 22's because we had so many traded in in this kind of condition. People would shoot them until they were so dirty they didn't work right anymore, then trade the gun off.
Congrats to you for practicing safe gun skills.
I'd take that gun to a gunsmith, have it completely cleaned and a safety inspection on the parts, and it'll probably be a very fine rifle for you for years to come.0 -
The details are a little hazy for me. You were putting cartridges in a rifle, chambering them, and then pulling the trigger? Isn't the expected result a BANG?
I hope you were outside and pointing it in a safe direction.0 -
one other thought would be the ammo. i believe the primer in the rim fire is poured in and allowed to dry as a waffer or disc. if the ammo has had a rough life and this disc is fractured it no go boom when compressed 0 -
quote:Originally posted by rsnyder55
The details are a little hazy for me. You were putting cartridges in a rifle, chambering them, and then pulling the trigger? Isn't the expected result a BANG?
I hope you were outside and pointing it in a safe direction.
I believe he said he was (item in blue, above). And thats an excellent safety precaution.
However, my eyebrows went up when I read (paraphrased) 'got it home', 'loaded it, etc', then pulled the trigger!.
I hope I'm misinterpreting the post. Anyways, we all learn from such as this. Best, Joe0 -
quote:Is it possible that one, of the extractors was jammed and acted as a firing pin? PS. I have not put this thing back together after cleaning and inspection.
Pretty unlikely.
The way to check this is to examine the spent shells from the rounds that misfired. You should be able to tell by close inspection whether or not they fired because of a good firing pin hit or because of something else.
If the indentation on the fire case rim is NOT the same shape as the tip of the firing pin, but is instead the shape of the rear of the extractor, then you'll have your answer.
Note that I think its quite possible just for ordinary dirt/fouling to cause the problems you've described.
quote:Originally posted by rsnyder55
The details are a little hazy for me. You were putting cartridges in a rifle, chambering them, and then pulling the trigger? Isn't the expected result a BANG?
I hope you were outside and pointing it in a safe direction.
The original poster can correct this if its wrong, but my understanding is that after two failures to fire, the gun went off just by dropping the charging handle on a loaded chamber (ie WITHOUT pulling the trigger).
In other words, he's describing the classic "slam fire".
I agree with 11b6r that a likely problem here is with the firing pin.
If the firing pin hole or firing pin channel (or both) are clogged with dirt, then the pin can get stuck in the firing pin channel. That can happen at any point along its normal travel route.
If the firing pin gets stuck, then the hammer impulse on the back of it might not transmit enough energy to the the pin to get it to set off a round even if it isn't totally frozen in place.
Alternatively if the pin were to get lodged all the way forward with the firing pin nose protruding through the firing pin hole, then when you drop the charging handle and the bolt moves forward you get a "slam fire" when the protruding pin strikes the primer. Lots of dirt in the firing pin channel can do this, but I've also seen it happen from peening of the BACK of firing pin protrusion hole (something that might not be visible from the breech face!).
Note that in some cases, a stuck pin like this can literally cause a gun to go full auto. VERY uncool.
Lastly, as mentioned dirt anywhere in the chamber can prevent a round from fully chambering and cushioning the firing pin blow, causing misfires. In some cases this can cause the gun not to go completely into battery, again with the same result.
In a "beater" .22, I'd think dirt clogging up the works is probably the culprit.
Fortunately, the solution is pretty simple. Strip down the gun as much as you can, clean it thoroughly, including and especially the chamber, bolt face, and firing pin channel, lubricate it gently, and re-assemble.
When you do this, make sure to inspect the firing pin, firing pin hole, and firing pin channel thoroughly. If any of these are clogged by dirt, corroded, or peened over, you should be able to see that pretty readily.
If diassembly of the gun is hard, one "trick" is just to flush out the gun thoroughly with gun-scrubber (ie brake cleaner).
After re-assembly, I'd try cycling the gun a few times with just SPENT .22 shells in the chamber or better yet, dummy .22s just to make sure its working. After cycling these through the gun you can inspect the rims for primer hits. Note that you shouldn't have any extra ones created by your gun unless you've been pulling the trigger!
Then, try the same thing with pulling the trigger, to ensure that indeed you are getting good primer hits.
Once you're satisfied that these things are OK, then you can try loading first one round at a time, then a few to make sure the gun is working OK.0 -
As you opened with "Keep the muzzle down range always"
I can only respond that regardless of the fault, if you're around firearms long enough,you will witness unexpected discharges.
More often from "unloaded" guns than from mechanical problems.0 -
Thanks too all for your help and understanding. Beanstownshoota, I tore this thing all the way down and here is what I found in the "autopsy". Lead was built up where the rim of the cartridge seats to the point that I didn't even notice that it was just the way the chamber was built as it looked like all metal. After pulling the bolt I found the firing pin absolutely "glued" in the slot. So here is what I think happened: the first two tries resulting in the no-fires was surely due to the bolt not seating completely. The third (and fourth) slam fired because the bolt must have squeezed into the built up lead enough to bring the firing pin into contact. I'm also pretty sure if it had fired on the first try it would have "auto fired" the other two rounds. I'm just glad that I feel like I can trust this rifle and I bought it cheap enough to now feel like I got a good deal (after my heart stopped pumping from the scare!)
I've handled firearms for at least 50 plus years beginning at 10 years old, and including my service in the artillery. I just wanted to express how easy it can be for someone, anyone, to have an accident.0 -
Remember there are no accidental discharges no uncontrolled discharges only negligent discharges 0 -
If the OP had loaded more and he had the slamfire, would the rifle continue to load and fire like a machine gun until empty? 0
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