I guess the big thing I want to say is "Pay attention to your weapon for the little things."
I was out at the range today and a perfectly functioning firearm was giving me a few problems.
Failure to feed
Failure of the bolt to engage
Failure to eject
Then, I had a problem firing. I'd pull the trigger and nothing.
Then the bolt would finish engaging and it would fire.
Figured that I'd need to give it a good cleaning.
I thought it was the magazine, even though I'd never had this problem before.
Swapped magazines, pulled the bolt and released.
half a mag fired off before I could drop the mag out.
No, my finger was not on the trigger.
Popped it open and found a 1/2 busted hammer pin was the culprit.
One side was still in place, but the other side was missing.
Fortunately, the firearm was pointed in a safe direction, but it could have been a very bad scene.
So, the moral of my story is when a firearm that has never given you ANY problems in the past starts giving you a problem, it might be a good idea to stop and give it a thorough inspection. Not sure I would have found the broken hammer pin if it hadn't fallen out, but...
Second, always have the muzzle pointed in a safe direction, you NEVER know what is going to go wrong or when.
Dave
I was out at the range today and a perfectly functioning firearm was giving me a few problems.
Failure to feed
Failure of the bolt to engage
Failure to eject
Then, I had a problem firing. I'd pull the trigger and nothing.
Then the bolt would finish engaging and it would fire.
Figured that I'd need to give it a good cleaning.
I thought it was the magazine, even though I'd never had this problem before.
Swapped magazines, pulled the bolt and released.
half a mag fired off before I could drop the mag out.
No, my finger was not on the trigger.
Popped it open and found a 1/2 busted hammer pin was the culprit.
One side was still in place, but the other side was missing.
Fortunately, the firearm was pointed in a safe direction, but it could have been a very bad scene.
So, the moral of my story is when a firearm that has never given you ANY problems in the past starts giving you a problem, it might be a good idea to stop and give it a thorough inspection. Not sure I would have found the broken hammer pin if it hadn't fallen out, but...
Second, always have the muzzle pointed in a safe direction, you NEVER know what is going to go wrong or when.
Dave