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M1A fail to fire

eastwood396
Very disappointed that my brand new M1A misfired on the first three rounds and then misfired 10 of the next 20 rounds. I'm completely inexperienced in this rifle and I just dropped it off at the smith's...having surfed the web I see now that it could be numerous things...but a BRAND NEW rifle? Cmon Springfield! Any input is welcome...it was new Hornady 165 grain ammo...small indention in the primer on some, none at all on others...guess I'll be sending it back soon for repair if the smith can't find the problem....so disappointed.
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Comments

12 comments

Date Votes
  • jeffb1911
    First, take the bolt out and make sure that the firing pin is able to move freely in the bolt, and has enough protrusion to fire the round. sounds like there may be some grease or grit in the firing pins pathway.

    EDIT: If this is the first rounds fired, it may just need a little break in. CLEAN, CLEAN, CLEAN, then clean again! Get all the crud out of the action-trigger group, locking lug recesses, firing pin slot, etc. The put in some grease, but not so much that it may cause problems. Then shoot it. I've had enough guns over the years that had problems in the first few hundred rounds, and once the parts started working together properly, all was well. I've always been told that when depending on a gun for your life, shoot it for minimum 250 rounds, preferably 500 rounds, to make sure it will work. Any piece of machinery that is tightly fitted will have problems like this. And do not forget to season the bore as well, especially if it is not a chrome lined bore. Seasoning, in my experience, will greatly assist in the accuracy department! Kind of like lapping a barrel, but you are using a bullet at a time to do it with no grit.
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  • nmyers
    Since you've already taken it to your 'smith, I guess that you will be paying for the repair (unless you bought it from him). SA Inc will repair for free, & I believe they will pay shipping both ways.

    SA Inc rifles are sometimes not 100% from the factory. I recall that when they first came out, the sample that they sent to the American Rifleman was defective.

    My thought is, if not what jeff said, the bolt may not have fully rotated to CLOSE, possibly due to crud in the locking recess. I would have field stripped, cleaned, & oiled, the rifle before attempting to fire it.

    Well, at least your 'smith will do a complete technical inspection, & you will be sure that rifle is good to go when you get it back.

    Neal
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  • eastwood396
    This may be a stupid question, but does the fact that it was brand new and unfired make a difference? I've always heard to clean the gun before firing it even if it's new in the box....but alas I did not do that.
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  • M1A762
    Not trying to insult you, but did you let the bolt slam home, or did you "ride" the op rod? If you don't know, you have to let the bolt go completely after retracting it to chamber a round.
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  • eastwood396
    I never forced the bolt....let it ride each time. I AM still learning though...
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  • tsr1965
    Most guns, when new, need to be stripped and thuroughly, cleaned, and lubed before firing. You would be surprised at the metal chips, that can fall out of them.

    Next, you neel to pull the charging handle all the way to the rear, and let it go, when charging your rifle. However, this shouldn't have happened, after firing a round. It should have cycled itself. That could mean cleaning the gas port, and adjustment knob.

    Hope it is all taken care of when you get it back. If not, you will have a place to start.

    Best
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  • dfletcher
    quote:Originally posted by eastwood396
    Very disappointed that my brand new M1A misfired on the first three rounds and then misfired 10 of the next 20 rounds. I'm completely inexperienced in this rifle and I just dropped it off at the smith's...having surfed the web I see now that it could be numerous things...but a BRAND NEW rifle? Cmon Springfield! Any input is welcome...it was new Hornady 165 grain ammo...small indention in the primer on some, none at all on others...guess I'll be sending it back soon for repair if the smith can't find the problem....so disappointed.


    I've bought about 5 SA products over the years and 4 have been returned for correction. I think they have the ability to make a great product and have always wondered why they didn't move the fellow in charge of Customer Service over to QC. [;)]

    A suggestion - buy a good PB extractor and replace the SA original.
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  • rawhide54
    If your bolt isn't completely into battery it won't fire. Springfield Armory chambers are very tight and some ammo doesn't chamber well unless you have the chamber polished. SA did mine for free. Send the rifle back to SA with a piece of fired brass and don't let your local gunsmith mess with it or you will likely void the warranty.
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  • tsr1965
    quote:Originally posted by rawhide54
    If your bolt isn't completely into battery it won't fire. Springfield Armory chambers are very tight and some ammo doesn't chamber well unless you have the chamber polished. SA did mine for free. Send the rifle back to SA with a piece of fired brass and don't let your local gunsmith mess with it or you will likely void the warranty.


    If the rifle comes from the factory in this form, and it sounds like a commonplace thing, what good is the warranty going to do? Would they not be kind of like the Taurus, of the rifle world? I do believe we buy these to shoot, not to send back to the factory for warranty work.


    Best
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  • Riomouse911
    For 1600 skins on average for an M1A, I'd expect the thing to go bang when I pull the trigger. If I want to spend my time and money shipping guns back to the factory on day one for warranty work I can buy a 299 dollar Rem 770 or other noteworthy POS.

    Hopefully SA has someone watching these sites to see the dissatisfaction people are having with their guns and then step up and solve the issues BEFORE the guns are shipped.
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  • Ambrose
    I worked for several years in quality control and it was a constant battle with machine operators, foremen, production control, etc. to get things made to spec. "If we don't ship, we will lose the customer!", was the story I'd hear. My response; "If we ship him junk, we will not only get the bad stuff back, but everything we sold him and we will lose, as customers, everyone he talks to!" That argument always fell on deaf ears. Of course, when the stuff came back, it was always QC's fault. I was constantly amazed that we never had time to do it right but always had time to fix it!
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  • eastwood396
    I agree 100% with Riomouse....cmon SA, it's a brand new rifle and I did in fact pay 1600 for it...first three rounds, "click". Even if I am to blame for not cleaning it beforehand, at the very least SA could put in their instruction manual to clean the rifle BEFORE firing and your chances of a FTF are reduced, LOL...so goes American quality these days. Thanks to all for chiming in on this topic for me.
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