Help with A #5

[DaveP]

I bought a #5 Mk1 carbine marked Fazakerly '45, and some Australian .303 mil surp ammo. The first time I went to the range I had a little trouble closing the bolt on a round, and even more trouble ejecting a fired case. The cases were scratched up to about 3/4" from the case head. Any ideas on what the problem could be?

[John Sukey]

How about a wire brush to give the chamber a good cleaning?

[Parashooter]

And if that doesn't do the trick, try polishing the chamber - starting about 400 grit if it's really bad and finishing with 600 or finer.

[JB White]

Sayyyyy.....maybe it's a...a.....HEADSPACE PROBLEM?

Please, let's not go there. Oh please let's not!!

Like has been suggested, address the clean/polished chamber issue first. 99 out of 100 times that's typically the cause. Either crud, a spot of rust, or a scratch from an improperly removed broken case.

[DaveP]

I don't know. By the looks of the scratch marks on the cases, which are all around the cases, it lookes like the cases might be to wide for the chamber and binding. As I said, upon rotating the bolt handle, it was necessary to use what we used to call in the infantry a "field expedient" of bashing the bolt handle on the edge of the bench to get to bolt to move to the rear. The chamber appears to be clean and bright. Has anyone ever heard about faulty .303 ammo? The mere thought of a head space problem gives me a headache. Try finding a gunsmith at a reasonable (or any) price in NYC. Hah! This is a handy little woods rifle. It's pretty accurate, but it kicks like a mule and bites like a crocodile. Looking at the stats, it'll take down anything I'm likely to encounter. They have some pretty big bears in the Adirondaks, so I'm sticking to my M1until this is sorted out. I once owned a SMLE #1 MkIII* dated 1915 that had an action like butter- and fast reloads too.

[Sunray]

"...maybe it's a...a.....HEADSPACE PROBLEM?..." Not likely for a bolt closing issue. However, changing the ammo would be the first thing to do. Try some commercial ammo after a really good bath. Cases can get scratched for numerous reasons. Not just chamber issues. The scratches lengthwise or on the diameter?
"...ever heard about faulty .303 ammo?..." Not for the issue you're having. Indian and Pakistani ammo is known to have hang fire issues.
What's the OAL of the Aussie ammo? Max OAL is 3.075". Sounds like an ammo issue to me.

[JB White]

"...maybe it's a...a.....HEADSPACE PROBLEM?..." Not likely for a bolt closing issue.

Ummm, I think we all knew that was a tounge-in-cheek remark aimed at....oh...never mind.

[DaveP]

Yes absolutely. Lengthwise scratches all the way around fron 3/4" past the shoulder to 1/2" before the case head. Not knowing a damn thing about these issues, it looks to me like either an undersize chamber or oversized ammo. It's Australian mil. surplus From Sportsmans Guide. I hope its not the ammo. I bought 1200 rds. It's all clean & bright and no misfires/ hangfires. I'll try polishing it out with emery cloth. If that doesn't work I'll probably just sell it and the ammo.

[drweiler]

Hi DaveP, what's the head stamp on your ammo? Do you have a friend with a .303 who could try it for comparison? Cheers, Don