Accidental M14 burst fire

2ndShotCanada

2ndShotCanada

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Something happened to a friend of mine a while back that got me curious so here goes...

We're at the range, shotting our Norc M14's and all of a sudden his fires a 2-3round burst. At first we weren't sure so we check his target, fire again and sure enough it fired of another 2 round burst. It was a stock Norinco, no mods, always cleaned and taken care of. How can this be fixed and what is the likely cause?
 
Ummm... I'd definately get it fixed. If it fires out of battery, you'll end up with pieces of steel and other base metals firmly embedded in your various body parts.

Try the m14doctor on this site... he might tell you what to check before your receiver goes nuclear on you.
 
Ignore the above 2 first posters, their advice is poor and in once case ignorant and prejudiced (probably an M1A coolaid drinker).

What is most likely happening is one of two possibilities:

1) The disconnector is not engaging and your buddy's rifle is having hammer follows for as long as the trigger is pulled, or;
2) The firing pin has some debris jammed into it causing the primers to ignite before the bolt is fully into battery.

In both cases, you are generating slamfires. This is not a good thing as it's a ticking timebomb. Eventually one will go off before the case head is fully supported by the chamber and you could get hurt.

Read the stickies and do the function test to eliminate No.1 as a cause and disassemble and clean the bolt to eliminate No.2 - then report back for advice to fix if required.
 
Any chance he was firing off a rest, pulling the butt into his shoulder with his off hand.

If so, he's had a simple bump fire.
 
Solid advice Claven2. I know that immediately following we dissassembled and cleaned the trigger group thinking problem #1. but i havn't been out shooting with him since. I'll try and get him out this weekend and we'll take a look at the bolt/firing pin.

good stuff, Thanks!
 
Claven2 is bang on. I've only seen this happen ONCE, my buddy squeezed very gently on the trigger, first round was right where it should be, second round was about 8 or so inches directly above it. NEVER happened again... I guess it's possible he put just enough pressure to fire the gun & then maintained the pressure & allowed a second shot to be fired in the manner Claven2 described, hammer following the bolt...

Cheers
Jay
 
Claven2 said:
Ignore the above 2 first posters, their advice is poor and in once case ignorant and prejudiced (probably an M1A coolaid drinker).

What is most likely happening is one of two possibilities:

1) The disconnector is not engaging and your buddy's rifle is having hammer follows for as long as the trigger is pulled, or;
2) The firing pin has some debris jammed into it causing the primers to ignite before the bolt is fully into battery.

In both cases, you are generating slamfires. This is not a good thing as it's a ticking timebomb. Eventually one will go off before the case head is fully supported by the chamber and you could get hurt.

Read the stickies and do the function test to eliminate No.1 as a cause and disassemble and clean the bolt to eliminate No.2 - then report back for advice to fix if required.
Click to expand...

Another possibility could be that the firing pin is not being retracted by the safety bridge as it passes through.

Either way, very bad ju ju. Slam fires eventually result in an "out of battery" firing which can catastrophically destroy your gun (and the operator/spectators).

Garand/M14 actions were the subject of much information and investigation on the subject in the American Rifleman during the late 70's thru the early 90's...
 
Another vote on bump fire. A thorough inspection should be done, and a test after assembly for sure, but I had this happen a few times with my M1 and in the end I was quite certain that it was a bump fire. I just ensured that I completed the follow through on the trigger and it never re occurred.
 
change the ammo you use. I bet you used Federal :) it has way too soft primers.
have seen bursts on rifles when owners used Federal factory ammo

also, as mentioned before: clean you rifle (bolt)
 
Step 1: Get EVERY bit of muck out of the firing pin channel. If it's being held forward, you basically have an uncontrollable open-bolt gun until it frees itself.

Step 2: If you're using softer primers like Federal Match, get something harder like CCI 200's or CCI 34's. Keep in mind that the 34's are a magnum primer, but have quite a thick cup and are extremely resistant to slam-fires.

Step 3: If neither of the above solve the problem, get the trigger examined by a competent M14/M1A tuner. I'm betting you won't have to go this far if you follow #1 and #2.

-M
 
I've fed my m14 type chinese rifles federal, winchester, privi, and most of the known surplus varieties without having slam/burst or other firing mishaps..... and in very tight match chambers where slam fires can be of issue.

clean the chamber
disassemble and clean/inspect the bolt internals
clean and inspect receiver safety bridge and firing pin tang
clean and inspect hammer hooks, especially the rear ones.
clean and inspect the stock walls in the trigger group area.
re assemble and check stock fit function tests.

I've seen foreign material in the bolt cause this problem in an otherwise flawlessy functioning rifle, it can happen to any rifle, regardless of cleaning regimen. but as stated by Claven2 and others, not something to be joked about and definately an unsafe situation.
 
i had the same thing with one of my norc14. it only happened one time. mine let off three rounds if i recall right. i took it home, dissamebled and cleaned, and it never happened again. i can remember the look on the kids face beside me at the range though! he asked if he could try!
 
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