m38 still not working right. VERY DEPRESSED. HELP!!!

[alwyswrkng]

And the saga continues.............................

Damn, I feel for ya brother.

[TopperT]

I was just about to post a thread on a VERY similar problem.

My wonderful looking 1938 Tula (this is the rifle that I had the split cartridge in) will NOT chamber a round without a LOT of force.

If forced to chamber a round, immdeiatly after discharge, the round is almost stuck solid.....it takes force, a lot of force, to then remove the bolt and eject the round.

When you finally get the bolt out there are two small marks that look like tiny downward scrapes on the metal just ahead of the cartridge rim.
ONLY TWO. EXACTLY the same EVERY time!

BUT.......then I took the bolt and I used a "FIELD" headspace gage and the rifle passed.

I tried the same bolt in another rifle and it works perfectly so the bolt is NOT the issue. The bolt swapped out to my '42 Izhevsk and I then tested it too for headspace and it too passed.

The Headspace gage fit exactly the same in both rifles. So I "think" headspace is fine.

I think I too have a burr in the chamber........... I'm going to ask for advice but I feel like a bronze brush in an electric drill may be the way to go.
What do you guys think.?

[desdem12]

A thorough search of the chamber and a look at the bolt to make sure that it is put together right and then if you find a burr take care of it. Jaimes was a problem of the gunsmiths being lazy i think more then anything. I hope it gets done finaly Jaime. I can't believe those guys are in business still.

[desdem12]

Yes you can change the bolt heads and keep the numbers. But you have to have the headspace checked with each swap of the heads. I think you are right about those guys I hope you finally get to shoot these trouble free.

[shoto2758]

Jamie,i live in Zephyrhills,about 60 to 90 Min west of you.I have an extra bolt and head space gage if you want to use them..Sorry i just now seen this post..

[z31jaime]

What I don't get is, why the non OEM bolt works but not the orignal. I would assume that the orignal bolt would be the one that had the correct headspace. Oh well I'll switch the head bolts and see how that works.

[timlin33]

I was reading this post and I had the same problem last week - with only a couple of rounds though. I looked at the HD picture (WOW you can really zoom in on that) and it looks like there may be a little bur on my extractor as well. Thanks for the picture. This forum has great info!

[z31jaime]

well I've been gone for a LONG time and I figured I'd post an update on this.


Gunsmith adjusted the headspace on my correct bolt head.

Finally got to shoot the m38 a few months back. (yes I spent almost a year fighting with it).

While all the "assault weapons ban" stuff was going on I also picked up an AR15, what's funny is I was shooting the AR15 first, and thought, Ok this is cute, it shoots nice. Then I broke out the MN, put 5 rounds of Wolf new ammo. Damn it was a nice shooter.... sights were true, and had just the right amount of kick. Then for fun I put in some of my surplus yellow tip stuff 190+ grain... DEAR GOD, WTF, OMG. 5 ft fireball, and that one actually hurt to shoot.


To give some idea... we were at my buddies house. he has a pond which has a Gator living in it. we were shooting over the pond at targets and while I was shooting the AR the Gator comes right up on the bank not 5 ft from me... couldn't care less. That's when I broke out the MN, 1 round and that sumbitch was gone for the rest of the afternoon. (NO I WASN'T SHOOTING AT IT!)

I'd like to thank you guys for all your help on this, I actually got it fixed and love it now.

unfortunately the 91/30 didn't make the cut, gunsmith wanted $200 to fix it, which is more than a new one so I sold it for $80 just to get some of my $ back.

[BuckeyeSgt]

Welcome back Jaime Glad you got one going. If a gator popped out 5ft from me fish and game would be on my butt or I'd still be running.

[Mike]

Glad you got the M38 running!

[Tcmosin]

I'm glad that I haven't had the need to have a Gun smith work on any of my guns. As a mechanic I enjoy looking at the way things work and fixing things, kinda new to the gun collecting thing I'm learning alot about these wonderful rifles. Spending a lot more time near the gun counters in local stores and hearing the stories of the people behind them confirms my thoughts of never letting someone else do anything to my guns that can do myself. I'm no expert but having some machining skills and tools I feel I can fix most anything I have. Learning new stuff is all part of it, and don't trust that guy that seems to be just a little to anxious to get his hands on your gun. Hey that could be a good political joke.

[Junk Yard Dog]

Lucky for us that except in rare cases most milsurps will have been in at least serviceable condition when they left government service. Small parts, and the usual refurb program errors will crop up, but for the most part only the poorest countries will use a rifle until it just falls apart.

[thughes]

unfortunately the 91/30 didn't make the cut, gunsmith wanted $200 to fix it, which is more than a new one so I sold it for $80 just to get some of my $ back.

Classic has 91/30's for $99 right now (you've almost got that covered with the $80 you got for the old one):

http://www.classicfirearms.com/long-gun ... 9130wbayob

---Todd

[z31jaime]

actually I was kinda thinking....

http://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/prod ... /411552896

most people with issues complain about the stock being all torn up... if I happen to get one with a beat up stock....

http://www.archangelmanufacturing.com/n ... ucts-2013/

I know its not keeping it original... but if its already broken I see no harm in it.

BTW thanks to all you guys for your help.

[bunkysdad]

I remember this thread like it was yesterday. Glad to hear you got it fixed, and welcome back. As for the Archangel, I know they are all the rage in the custom world, but I woyld hate to think that any permanent mods had to be done, and in the case of the Archangel, I think it is reversible?

[paul6892]

Hello sorry to hear about your M38 Troubles: did you detail clean the face of the firing chamber and the chamber itself with J-B bore cleaning compound

Sounds like the round casing is not seating all the all in the chamber

Good Luck and keep smiling

[z31jaime]

I remember this thread like it was yesterday. Glad to hear you got it fixed, and welcome back. As for the Archangel, I know they are all the rage in the custom world, but I woyld hate to think that any permanent mods had to be done, and in the case of the Archangel, I think it is reversible?

exactly why I'm thinking type 53. Archangel is 100% reversible, if the type 53 is in good shape I'll leave it alone, but if its all beat to snot, then I can make a nice shooter out of her, and if I decide to sell I still have the original stock to put it back.

[Joeinthehills]

Jamie, sorry for your problems.

And I apologize if this has been posted previously.

It is never a good idea to function rounds through a chamber w/o having previously checked it for protruding firing pin and head space checks in your bedroom.

Always outside and pointed down range on an actual firing range.

A 7.62x54r milsurp round would penetrate your walls in the house or worse go beyond your house and hit somebody outside on the street or in another house.

Joe

[desdem12]

Glad to hear it works ...finaly