Is my M1 Carbine a Sticky Lopsided junker?

dubious · March 2, 2011, 12:08 PM

Hi... I'm new to M1 Carbines and I just bought an Iver Johnson (70's or 80's?) and I have a few questions for you m1 carbine pros. I haven't fired or disassmebled opened the gun at all, I'm just inspecting it. I have NO MAGAZINE for it.

1. The bolt is hard to cock it with the slide lever. The first half inch of pulling the lever seems to "lock up" or "catch" on something... unless I pull really fast or really hard (10 or 15lbs). Once it's cocked it's easy to work back and forth. I Pop the trigger and once again the bolt is sticky. I can operate the bolt real hard or fast and it works again.

2. if you look down the sights, the right side of the handguard is a bit higher than the left side. This model has a ventilated metal handguard. It's so high it obscures the sight picture of the some of the right sight hood. I see that the slide rod is under that right side, so maybe its higher on purpose?

3. the gun is just fairly shaky and noisy all around. The whole trigger assembly shake, barrel, and bolt have a little bit of play when pushed. This is not a sneaky gun!

This is a post war commercial manufactured gun and I know these guns have some very loose tolerances. But I'm pretty darn concerned. Any ideas?

RickB · March 2, 2011, 01:14 PM

I'd take it out of the stock (loosen barrel band and pull it clear of the stock, and the barreled action will rotate up an out). The whole mechanism is then exposed for inspection, so you should be able to see if there's something unusual going on inside.

B. Lahey · March 2, 2011, 01:26 PM

Quote:

Once it's cocked it's easy to work back and forth. I Pop the trigger and once again the bolt is sticky.

When you dry-fire it, the hammer ends up in the forward position. The extra effort required to pull the bolt back is because you are returning that hammer to the rear (cocked) position, making it ready to fire, during that first bit of bolt-travel. Nothing to worry about, it's normal.

I don't know about the rest.

dubious · March 2, 2011, 01:32 PM

Quote:

When you dry-fire it, the hammer ends up in the forward position. The extra effort required to pull the bolt back is because you are returning that hammer to the rear (cocked) position, making it ready to fire, during that first bit of bolt-travel. Nothing to worry about, it's normal.

No... this is something funky. I've shot a LOT of rifles and I've never seen anything like this. Maybe it needs some serious lubing or maybe something is worn?

James K · March 2, 2011, 03:00 PM

There could be a lot wrong with that carbine, but you won't know until you at least take off the stock and look at what is inside.

I can't give you the exact pounds needed to cock that hammer, but what you describe sounds normal; some lubrication (a bit of grease in the operating slide grooves and cam, and on the bolt and hammer) won't hurt.

Jim

oneoldsap · March 2, 2011, 03:44 PM

Welcome to TFL Dubious ! Now let me see if I've got this straight . You Know nothing about the M-1 Carbine , but you know enough to know what is not wrong with it . Yet you know enough to disagree with someone who has answered your post and probably can field strip it in the dark outdoors in the rain . Simple rules here , be civil ! Give your next post a little more thought , don't ask for advise that you don't want !

dubious · March 2, 2011, 04:41 PM

Quote:

Simple rules here , be civil ! Give your next post a little more thought , don't ask for advise that you don't want !

I'm sorry if I offended you, that was certainly not my intention. I don't see anything i wrote as "uncivil". I certainly appreciate all you are doing to help me.

I'm just saying that it's easy to dismiss my post as that of a newb (i've got 400 posts on THR)... "ohh there must be something wrong with my gun because i have to work a bit to make this lever to cock the hammer". I've had an overheated mosin with a stuck bolt.... that is almost the level of resistance we are talking about. And it's sporadic... sometimes its pretty easy to work the bolt.

I'm no newb when it comes to operating a rifle. While I haven't shot a lot of m1 carbines, I can't imagine that they were designed to operate the way mine is. It requires either luck or unreasonable strength to open the bolt when the hammer is uncocked. Combat ready, it is not.

hunter52 · March 2, 2011, 05:09 PM

you might have answered your own question,the handguard should not be higher on one side than the other.
As previously stated,take the barrel band off and remove the handguard,try cocking the rifle with the handguard removed ,at least you will be able to see the op rod working to see if it is binding.

March 2, 2011, 12:08 PM	#1
dubious Junior Member Join Date: March 2, 2011 Posts: 8	Is my M1 Carbine a Sticky Lopsided junker? Hi... I'm new to M1 Carbines and I just bought an Iver Johnson (70's or 80's?) and I have a few questions for you m1 carbine pros. I haven't fired or disassmebled opened the gun at all, I'm just inspecting it. I have NO MAGAZINE for it. 1. The bolt is hard to cock it with the slide lever. The first half inch of pulling the lever seems to "lock up" or "catch" on something... unless I pull really fast or really hard (10 or 15lbs). Once it's cocked it's easy to work back and forth. I Pop the trigger and once again the bolt is sticky. I can operate the bolt real hard or fast and it works again. 2. if you look down the sights, the right side of the handguard is a bit higher than the left side. This model has a ventilated metal handguard. It's so high it obscures the sight picture of the some of the right sight hood. I see that the slide rod is under that right side, so maybe its higher on purpose? 3. the gun is just fairly shaky and noisy all around. The whole trigger assembly shake, barrel, and bolt have a little bit of play when pushed. This is not a sneaky gun! This is a post war commercial manufactured gun and I know these guns have some very loose tolerances. But I'm pretty darn concerned. Any ideas?

March 2, 2011, 01:14 PM	#2
RickB Senior Member Join Date: March 1, 2000 Location: Boise, ID Posts: 8,518	I'd take it out of the stock (loosen barrel band and pull it clear of the stock, and the barreled action will rotate up an out). The whole mechanism is then exposed for inspection, so you should be able to see if there's something unusual going on inside.

March 2, 2011, 03:00 PM	#5
James K Member In Memoriam Join Date: March 17, 1999 Posts: 24,383	There could be a lot wrong with that carbine, but you won't know until you at least take off the stock and look at what is inside. I can't give you the exact pounds needed to cock that hammer, but what you describe sounds normal; some lubrication (a bit of grease in the operating slide grooves and cam, and on the bolt and hammer) won't hurt. Jim

March 2, 2011, 03:44 PM	#6
oneoldsap Senior Member Join Date: September 16, 2009 Location: I live in the foot of the Green Mountains of Vermont Posts: 1,602	Welcome to TFL Dubious ! Now let me see if I've got this straight . You Know nothing about the M-1 Carbine , but you know enough to know what is not wrong with it . Yet you know enough to disagree with someone who has answered your post and probably can field strip it in the dark outdoors in the rain . Simple rules here , be civil ! Give your next post a little more thought , don't ask for advise that you don't want !

March 2, 2011, 05:09 PM	#8
hunter52 Senior Member Join Date: January 27, 2011 Location: Colorado Posts: 101	you might have answered your own question,the handguard should not be higher on one side than the other. As previously stated,take the barrel band off and remove the handguard,try cocking the rifle with the handguard removed ,at least you will be able to see the op rod working to see if it is binding.