My M14 is a bolt action now?

BBq_Woa!

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Rating - 95.3%
61   3   0
Well not entirely..
Recently I did a bit of shooting with my M14 set up. It was very accurate and I was happy about that,
but upon each shot, I was irritated to note that for the most part, the action cycled enough to eject the spent casing, but didn't go far enough to strip a new round.
I had to manually cycle the action in these instances.

It didn't happen EVERY shot, for a couple mags (or at least a few consecutive rounds) the gun performed correctly, because of this, I know the gas valve isn't in the 'grenade launch' position.

The only things I can think of are this:
The gun is greased, and it was quite cold the day I shot (about minus 5)
Could the grease have been a bit tacky?

Also, there's a recoil buffer installed,
I know there is a bit of controversy over whether these are actually beneficial or not.
Could the Recoil buffer have prevented the oprod handle from moving rearward enough?
I assume not because I was able to manually operate the gun, and also since several rounds cycled fine, if it were the buffer, I would expect the problem to be consistent..

Any other thoughts/tips?

it's got me a bit confused :S

thanks!
-Derek
 
The grease could have stiffened up. Depends on the grease, some are cold weather rated. -5 isn't all that cold though. Put a sample of your grease in the freezer, see what happens to it. I think your assessment of the buffer is correct.
 
I've had the same problem myself, action not fully closing. I'm switching to using only the smallest dab of grease on the bolt faces and G96 spray on all else. I also washed the whole system clean with brake cleaner first. I also have a recoil buffer. There's indents in it, so the op rod definately goes that far back. I wonder if the surface condition of the cartridges plays a role. Its a lot harder to strip cartridges from the mag when they are rough on the outside as some surplus ammo is. I also wonder if its related to the mag as that could effect pressure and friction in stripping a cartridge.
 
I've got the can tire wheel bearing grease rated from -40 to 200 degrees. Ive used it in sizeable amounts on both my norcs with no problems in cold weather. I've also got the marstar buffers on both and have had no negative effects from them.

It isnt a loose gas nut is it? That seems to be the one weak point on the rifle is that it will loosen from the vibration of recoil.
 
I had the same problem as yours. After did the following things, this problem was gone:

1. Grease the area should be greased
2. Tight the gas cylinder at 6' o'clock (very very tight)
3. Replace Op rod spring & guide with national match one
 
I've got the can tire wheel bearing grease rated from -40 to 200 degrees. Ive used it in sizeable amounts on both my norcs with no problems in cold weather. I've also got the marstar buffers on both and have had no negative effects from them.

It isnt a loose gas nut is it? That seems to be the one weak point on the rifle is that it will loosen from the vibration of recoil.

Same setup I use. I've had no problems so far.
 
I will check my gas nut (tightness, position etc)
I also think it was probably the grease. to be honest, the grease in it now is "all purpose grease" from my friend's bike store :S
I doubt it's rated very cold.

I'll strip it off and try some of that snowmobile stuff

thanks for the tips everyone!
 
Hungry, have you ever heard of a problem with the bolt stop?
How do you check the timing of the gas piston?

I replaced both my bolt stops with the rooster33 bolt stops. The problem I had is that the bolt stop rotates on the split pin that holds it in.
On one of my norcs when drifting out the pin with a small nail, one end of the pin got slightly flared out. This made it very stiff for the bolt stop to rotate. The remedy for this was to shoot alot of 5rnd mags, and let the constant use of the bolt stop loosen itself.
 
Good evening fellas;
For what its worth, we had a customer return his brand new M-14 which, he claimed, had become a single shot rifle (most of the time), "it simply does not cycle properly" said he....

Well like all firearms received the first thing our gunsmith does is examine the unit for obvious defects, nothing found....

Upong removing the gas nut oil dripped out, there was enough oil in that gas system to lube your car.... Stock off, into the tank, ALL lubricant removed, oil only the areas requiring it (sparingly).

Replace the stock, out to our range, functioned just like it is supposed to....

MORAL, easy on the oil....
John
 
oil only the areas requiring it (sparingly).

Replace the stock, out to our range, functioned just like it is supposed to....

MORAL, easy on the oil....
John

Didn't think anything on the M-14 was an "area requiring oil". There is nothing in the service manual that I know of about oiling anything, just rifle grease.
 
ahhh interesting.
I must admit, when i bought the m14 early on, i did use oil quite liberally.
when i greased the gun i wiped it off with a dry towel first, so there could easy have been a lot of oil that got into the gas system.
ill clean it out
thanks!

Good evening fellas;
For what its worth, we had a customer return his brand new M-14 which, he claimed, had become a single shot rifle (most of the time), "it simply does not cycle properly" said he....

Well like all firearms received the first thing our gunsmith does is examine the unit for obvious defects, nothing found....

Upong removing the gas nut oil dripped out, there was enough oil in that gas system to lube your car.... Stock off, into the tank, ALL lubricant removed, oil only the areas requiring it (sparingly).

Replace the stock, out to our range, functioned just like it is supposed to....

MORAL, easy on the oil....
John
 
Back
Top Bottom