M14 auto?

af_newbie

af_newbie

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I had a problem (??) with my M14, it fired two rounds in auto mode.

I don't know what happened, I had two rounds in the magazine,
I pulled the trigger, two rounds (0.5" apart on 50 yrd target) came out, puff, puff...

Do you know what could be the reason?

Thanks.
 
From a bench rest? You likely released your trigger finger too soon causing your finger to hit the trigger again under recoil. It happens. Hold the trigger back until the rifle stops recoiling.
You don't have an M14 or FA mode.
 
carbonrod said:
Congrats. Your rifle is not a Liberal.

When is the last time you cleaned it, and how many rounds have you shot out of it with that type of ammo? Also, what kind of ammo were you using.
Click to expand...

I shot about 40 rounds of Winchester X-Super, 150 gr, before this happened.

I unitized the gas assembly yesterday, I cleaned, greased the rifle.
The rifle was spotless as far as it can be.

re: recoil
The rifle almost have no recoil comparing to bolt magnum rifles that
I'm used to. I'm pretty confident that I squeezed once.
It just went off twice in the same moment, in a fraction of a second.
I looked through the scope, two holes.
No work was done on the trigger.

I wonder if anyone experienced it, maybe there is a reason. Too much,
too litle grease in the trigger assembly?
 
Too much, too litle grease in the trigger assembly?
Click to expand...
You are not supposed to grease the trigger assembly... Especially make sure that the trigger sear/hooks are bone dry, no lube there. This could have caused what you observed.
 
I doubt it.

If the disconnector stopped working, assuming, it would not fire in full auto. The bolt needs to be completley in battery before the firing pin is struck, usually its an automatic sear that catches on a different part of the hammer when you have a full auto weapon. It will override the disconnector only to provide itself as a seconday disconnector which will only connect when the bolt is in full battery.
At least this is how full auto works in an AR... The m14 I'm not so sure, I would figure if the hammer slipped because of no disconnector, it would ride the bolt and you'd have a protruding firing pin while you are chambering another round, most likely it will go off before fully chambered and you'd have ruptured brass and a small explosion.
 
M14's have a fully floating firing pin with no spring to slow it down. Thus when the bolt stops suddenly after chambering a round, the firing pin keeps going and hits the primer lightly. As a result M14's are VERY sensitive to soft primers.

From personal experience I'd never use a Federal primer or match primers because they tend to cause doubling.

Switch to an ammo with a harder primer and the issue should go away.
 
Bs Alert

tburdek said:
You are not supposed to grease the trigger assembly... Especially make sure that the trigger sear/hooks are bone dry, no lube there. This could have caused what you observed.
Click to expand...

:bsFlag:

That is false. Where did you ever get that idea?
 
tburdek said:
You are not supposed to grease the trigger assembly... Especially make sure that the trigger sear/hooks are bone dry, no lube there. This could have caused what you observed.
Click to expand...

Have you actually handled an M14/M1A. Have you ever field stripped one. Have you ever read a manual? You haven't read any of the stickys have you? Hmmm..... I thought not.:eek:

The only part of that rifle that should not be lubed in any way is the gas system.
 
Last edited:
i'd second what sunray said- more than likely a "bump" fire - you don't have the dood-dads on the current trigger assy's to obtain f/a fire- they did on the very first norcs, but left off the connector rod, selector, and selector switch- the secondary hammer hooks are there- i'd put it down as an anomoly and carry on- my trw would do that , but there was a little extra lip that was holding the hammer hooks back and that had to be dremelled off
 
bump fire

sunray said:
From a bench rest? You likely released your trigger finger too soon causing your finger to hit the trigger again under recoil. It happens. Hold the trigger back until the rifle stops recoiling.
You don't have an M14 or FA mode.
Click to expand...

sunray is correct - standard on all m-14 style rifles - nothing is wrong - hold the trigger back when it goes boom
 
You should check to see that your disconnector is functionning properly, preventing the hammer from following the bolt.

Check is performed by:

1. Verify that gun is empty (chamber check) and no magazine in the rifle.
2. Cycle action to #### hammer.
3. Pull trigger, allowing hammer to drop.
4. Keep trigger completely depressed while cycling action with other hand.

If your disconnector is working properly, after you cycle the action the hammer should be held back by the disconnector hooks. When you release the trigger you should hear an audible click as the hammer is transfered from the disconnector hooks to the trigger sear engagement.

If your disconnector is not working properly (most likely caused by a stock that has a little too much beef on the bottom, causing the trigger guard to sit slightly low in relation to the receiver/bolt assembly), the hammer will not be held by the disconnector hooks and will fall (follow) as the bolt moves forwards. This is bad and potentially very dangerous. I've seen several Norinco M14s's exhibit this problem right out of the box, and several others when put into USGI stocks. The fix is usually easy, just mill/file out a bit (in .005 inch increments) of meat on the stock where the back end of the trigger guard rests. This will raise the trigger guard in relation to the action and allow the bolt to push the hammer back far enough such that it can catch the disconnector hooks.

Good luck!

Brobee
 
I just swapped in a trw bolt to my rifle and it fails the safety test brobee has described. However , making the adjustments to the trigger guard area brobee describes, fixed the problem by allowing the trigger group to sit higher in relation to the hammer/bolt interface. Passes the safety test every time now..... :D .... I had to close the gap by exactly .0050 by removing that amount from the rear trigger guard mating suface.

So... You may have experienced a bump fire..... but the only way to know for sure if it 'wasn't' a bump fire, is to perform the safety test as above.... a bunch of times.... if it fails once.... adjustments must be made to stock fit.
EVERY TIME i shoot these rifles.... regardless of manufacture, I practice this test 4 or 5 times prior to putting the loaded mag into the gun.
 
Sorry,

I apologize, I should have been more specific as my other reply does not convey accurately what I was trying to say...

I meant that one should not grease the trigger hooks ONLY, the camming surface of the hammer (where the bolt contacts) should be greased. Once again, I apologize.

One should endeavor to not post when one is tired... :)
 
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