First Enfield Rifle

[adamkulrich@hotmail.com]

Hi everyone. I received my first rifle 5-6 years ago from my father-in-law when I first started hunting. It's a 1917 American Enfield (.30-06) that I believe originally came from Eddystone. The rifle was pretty rough when he first gave it to me - it had been sitting in an old grain bin for ??? years. I had the gun reblued and took it shooting. It shoots great. I've taken two deer and numerous coyotes with it, so I can't complain about accuracy.

Last spring, I was doing some target shooting and noticed that after reloading the rifle, the firing pin would strike the primer, but nothing would happen. Even after waiting for a minute, there would be no hang fire. After ejecting the first cartridge, the gun would then shoot the remaining rounds with no problems. I have faithfully cleaned this rifle, but it still misfires on the first bullet. I haven't shot the rifle since. What could be my problem?

 

[teenahlake]

have you disassembled, the bolt?

 

[infideleggwelder]

Do what they did with the colt machinegun first round drop short in WW1.... Take the first round out and throw it away......
Just joking. My dads had that problem, he used to dry fire once before actual shot. Seemed to work for him

 

[RRCo.]

Strip the bolt and lightly grease the firing pin and spring with a graphite grease. Before you do that, examine it carefully to see where it might be rubbing. Do the same with the cocking piece and all other parts of the equation. Best I can suggest without pulling out a bolt to examine. Quite likely you need a new spring; they're readily available. About the best "Mauser" design ever fielded and generally very good quality rifles; Remington sold them as the Model 30 for years; thousands of high quality magnums built on those very same surplus P14/M17 actions. Don't let the gun snobs put you off!

 

[adamkulrich@hotmail.com]

Thanks for the advice guys. I'll give the graphite grease a try.