Help! M1 carbine failure to eject

[ccandgc]

The piston will only move a little bit. Even if it seems stuck, it will indeed work correctly. Brake cleaner or gun scrubber into the little hole will take care of it.

[NorcalGSG]

Don't take the piston out just to clean it. It's staked in place and not made to remove just to clean. I agree with above posts start with the bolt. Soak it in penetrating oil, the grease may be hard sludge inside the extractor spring and not sliding easy. With your bolt tool, watch a vid of how to use it, and strip and clean bolt. These are known for sometimes having extractor problems.

[stormvet]

I have had to replace a worn extractor before. They are a week link in the M1 carbine.

[Irish Gunner]

Update, the piston is fine. It moves freely and I was able to spray it good with cleaner and work out some grime by repeatedly moving piston, in, out then wipe and repeat.

I did notice that the extractor was slightly out, it is possible but unlikely that I did that while removing bolt. All evidence is pointing to extractor. Should have parts and tool this week to fix.

[ccandgc]

Be careful, even using the bolt tool, wear eye protection and work in a box or cover with a towel. I've had the spring fly out and disappear in the garage.

[Marcus von W.]

Adding to what CC said, make sure you use the bolt tool the right way - these things break easily and original military ones aren't cheap.

I once had similar problems with an M1 carbine, the cause was a broken extractor spring plunger. Also once had a little flake of brass jam up under the extractor.

The recoil spring rod it the tool you use to compress the hammer spring to get the hammer spring and rod in or out - notice that the rod is the same diameter as the hole in the hammer spring rod, and is used as a t-handle to remove and insert the spring and rod.

[NorcalGSG]

Be careful, even using the bolt tool, wear eye protection and work in a box or cover with a towel. I've had the spring fly out and disappear in the garage.

Good advice learned the hard way!! Also the later extractor plungers have a flat spot that must be properly indexed with the extractor. If its rotated 180 degrees out, it won't lock in place properly. It will make sense when you look at it.

[flak88mm]

It might have something to do w the ammo its probably not creating enough pressure in the barrel to cycle the action fully. I would also check and adjust the gas port in the carbine

[Irish Gunner]

I bought at spring kit online (buymilsurp.com) and I am disappointed. I wanted to replace the extractor spring but it was too long and could not compress it into place with the tool. The hammer spring was 2.89" long vs. spec of 2.5. The recoil spring is the only one that went into my rifle. Now I need to get some ammo to test again.

Hoping that strip and clean of bolt parts, replaced extractor, replaced ejector and spring and new recoil spring will effectively eliminate the problem.