Standard M1A Problem. Please Help

[riverwalker76]

A friend of mine was telling me about a problem he had with his New Springfield M1A the other day, and asked me to see about any known issues.

He was attempting to fire his M1A and it would not fire. It just 'clicked',so he check the round and it had been struck. Waited a few seconds and reloaded another round and the same thing. Although ... this time the complete bolt assembly fell apart right in front of him. He wasn't sure if he got all of the pieces, but he thinks so.

Is this a known problem with the New Springfield M1As?

[SR420]

Yeah, it happens.

Your friend needs to call Springfield and get himself an RMA #
He needs to return the rifle and have Springer fix it under warranty.
This is an excellent opportunity to have their custom shop make upgrades...

[3StrikesNC]

Not that I know of. I have one and have not had any issues.

Call Springfield, lifetime warranty on M1A.

[nbkky71]

nope...CLICK instead of BANG isn't normal.

Bear in mind that the firing pin on the M1/M1A is free floating. As a round is chambered, it is normal to have a dimple on the primer. It may be possible that's what your buddy is seeing when he extracts the round.

Is your buddy shooting factory ammo, or reloads? Reloaded ammo that is not properly resized can cause the the rifle to go CLICK too.

Bolts can and do disassemble themselves on an M1A (I had it happen once during a rapid fire string at a highpower match once). The extractor is the key piece that holds the bolt internals together. It's possible the extractor is out of spec, or damaged.

As already mentioned: don't be afraid to use that warranty!

[kraigwy]

First, find out if he is using Factory ammo or reloads, this problem is common with reloads as the brass isnt propertly sized. Besides misfiring (going click), it could cause slam fires. I just addressed this same issue regarding an AR. It happens with semis if the brass isnt propertly sized.

Check out this post:

http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=399077

[madcratebuilder]

Although ... this time the complete bolt assembly fell apart right in front of him. He wasn't sure if he got all of the pieces, but he thinks so.

More info. The bolt roller came off, the extractor fell out, ***?

Call SA, get a return authorization number, SA well send you a prepaid box to ship it in. Send it back and it well be repaired free of charge. Good time to get a NM trigger job ($25) and other goodies.

[riverwalker76]

I don't know the specifics. He just said that the entire bolt came apart and started dropping parts on the ground.

Thanks for all of the help everyone. I instructed him to call Springfield on Monday.