Rockola M1 Carbine jamming

[eka]

A buddy of mine just bought a Rockola M1 Carbine in great shape. He called me the other night and said about every third round jams and appears it's trying to enter the chamber crooked. I immediately told him it was a magazine issue, and I still think that's probably what it is. But, he said he thought so too and bought two new mags and the problem is still there. He didn't know who manufactured the new mags, but said they were Korean made, he thought. I thought I'd run this problem by some of you guys that have a lot more trigger time on the Carbine than I, just in case there is something I'm missing here.
Thanks for any help.

Keith

[docone31]

The mags are tipped backwards from the weight of the cartridges.
The best bet is to get GI mags, or push them forward while firing. Mine would not take the larger carbine mags. Every other shot was a jam.

[mto7464]

Yep. I had some 30 round mags that were **** also. I only use GI mags and never had a problem,

[StarMetal]

Am I missing something? Where did the poster say the mags are 30 rounders? I see Korean, which by the way are darn good magazines. What is it with if it's not U.S. made magazines they aren't any good?

For starters I'd oils up the rifle well. M1 carbines don't like to run dry.

Joe

[mto7464]

Am I missing something? Where did the poster say the mags are 30 rounders? I see Korean, which by the way are darn good magazines. What is it with if it's not U.S. made magazines they aren't any good?

For starters I'd oils up the rifle well. M1 carbines don't like to run dry.

Joe

He didn't say they were 30 rounders I said I had some and they were junk, When a weapon has feeding problems it is best to start with the simple fix first and in this case the mags. Maybe the ones you have are good but not the ones I had. So lighten up.

[NickSS]

You do not tell me if the ammo is reloaded or not. I have had problems with jams like you talk about when the bullets were set out too far. Moving them deeper in the case fixed the problem and it did not take much something like .010 inch.

[bruce381]

You may want to take out the bolt and clean the bolt extractor it maybe gunked up also sometime the gas piston needs to be cleaned but a special tool is needed.
also a new recoil spring may help.
bruce

[eka]

Thanks for the info. The mags are not 30 rounders and the cartridges are factory.

Keith

[oldhickory]

My Underwood was the same way when I got it, (rebuilt who knows how many times). I started off with a new spring kit, (about $12.00) and ended up replacing the round Inland bolt with a flat top Underwood to get good reliability. Some of the rebuilds were just thrown together, stored, and not tested very well. It could be a magazine issue, but 99.9% of carbines have been rebuilt more than once and parts mixed.

Since replacing the bolt in mine, it will feed anything I feed it, cast, FMJ, soft points, Speer plinkers. As long as they have a round nose profile, they feed. I tried some flat nose boolits for .32WCF, and they DON'T feed though...Go figure.

SARCO sells a "Super" spring for the guide rod, ( a few lbs heavier than standard) this may help also, I don't know, I haven't tried one yet. Too many people pass the little carbine off as a toy of sorts and don't put the same care into it as a more powerful, or full size rifle. If cleaning, lubracation, and a new guide rod spring don't correct the problem, get a Rock-Ola bolt, I'm betting 10:1 that the bolt that's in it, ain't Rock-Ola. You'll need to I.D. the parts if a simple fix doesn't work and replace them.

A Rock-Ola bolt should be marked, UN-R. Either flat or round type.

I hope the simple fixes work out for you, ( I had a rascal of a time finding an early flat top Underwood bolt!).

[bob208]

to use 30 round mags.. the mag release should have a M stamped on the side of it.

[oldhickory]

to use 30 round mags.. the mag release should have a M stamped on the side of it.

Not entirely bob, there are 6 types of mag releases for carbines. Type 5 and 6 are both marked with an M, only type 6 releases have the little support leg for the 30rd. mags.

[mto7464]

The bolt make doesn't have to be the same as the receiver. Besides changing the bolt means you will need to check the headspace. Most carbines are mixmasters and they work fine. The round bolts are just as good. Stripe and clean it if a GI mag won't solve the problem and maybe try a different brand of ammo.

[beagle]

Since the magazines have been changed, rule that out. If the gas piston works freely, go for a new spring. Seriously, some of these have been in there since WWII. Round bolt/flat bolt...seems to make no difference.

I'd go for the spring./beagle

[45 2.1]

49). The 30 rd don't work. I had about 10 of them, but gave them all away because they jam. Even the US made grey ones that were used in the Korean war jam. The black ones made after Korea are all bad. imho. I tried mags made in Israel, japan, Korea and others. They are all bad. Get only US made GI WWII mags. You can buy them in the original paper wrappings, unused.

Usually true, BUT the ones from Malaysia have run perfectly for me when tried in several other peoples carbines besides mine, for the entire magazine, with my reloads.

[45 2.1]

What year were the made? I think the problem is in the design more than the make. They have that sharp bend. One thing I did find. When I traded the magazine follower (part #6200983) from 15 rd GI mag to the 30 rd GI mags, they worked better, but still jammed. I'll bet if you shoot five 30 rd mags in a row, as fast as you can shoot, they will jam. My 15rd mags don't jam.

Year unknown............ I also don't try to run the carbine to death, they quit with 15 rounders at about 200 shots from being too hot even when lubed properly. Seems to be the norm as its happened with quite a few i've tried. Carbine springs are relatively weak compared to other rifles even when new. Most carbines don't function well from being shot to dry. Picky rifle for a military arm at times.

[StarMetal]

Gosh!...what a bunch of crazy ideas. First off even when the Carbine was new all the parts were not from the same manufacturer. That was one of the ideas of it to be mass produced and fast...all the parts interchangeable. If someone changed the bolt out and it ran better that tells me for one thing that the bolt was bad from the get go.

Whoever made the military magazines aren't the only magazines in the world that are going to run in a Carbine, let alone other firearms. I'm running Meggar mags in my German Luger and they run better then originals. There are good magazines out there. I'm running all aftermarket magazines in my National Postal Meter Carbine, with no problems, with lead reloads.

I still go with the carbine needs thoroughly cleaned and oiled. 45 2.1 hit the nail on the head when he said the Carbine recoil spring isn't that strong to start with. In fact I'm surprised they work at all they seem so weak. I'd replace that too.

Joe

[45 2.1]

Do you have the original wood hand guard? Yes. I use unaltered military and only one has importer stamps, I don't change them out. Straight military configuration. I replaced mine with the metal guard with lots of vent holes. That really helps keep it cooler. If its given a chance to cool.
The reason I tested my carbine hard was not to abuse it, but to see if it would jam if I really needed it to defend myself. To be blunt, if you haven't solved your problem by the time you've shot 150 shots, you're in deep trouble (and probably dead). I relegated the carbine to backup and small person status due to its hot condition reliability. And the 15 rd mags worked so much better, that I decided i didn't want to risk a jam in a fight for my life. It's my home defence rifle. I much prefer something that won't stop till you run out of ammo. Several types of rifles and carbines fill that bill, even if you have to wear nomex gloves to handle them.

[Karen]

imported from where? Are they less valuable if they have import stamps? Are you refering to carbines that were given to foreign Armies after WWII and were bought back?

[45 2.1]

imported from where? Are they less valuable if they have import stamps? Are you refering to carbines that were given to foreign Armies after WWII and were bought back?

After WW2 and Korea, the US left and lent large numbers of rifles with countries that were allied to us. These are the imports. They are stamped on the barrel with the company that imports them back into the US. Price is based on condition, but NO, import marked rifles are generally regarded as less valueble.

[StarMetal]

so McGar makes 30 carbine mags? I didn't know that.

I didn't say that. I knew it would be taken wrong and probably should have edited it. I don't know if they do or not, but I was making a point about an Italian company that makes excellent magazines.

Joe
Edited to say the name of the company is MEC-GAR I spelled it wrong...sorry.

[BarryinIN]

I wouldn't rule the mags out just yet.
When I was buying mags for my Carbine 20 years ago, I'd find they had been assembled with the springs installed every way possible. It didn't matter if they were US surplus, foreign, or brand new.
I found this after about half of them fed the round at the wrong angle.

It's been a long time since I've had one apart, but I think it goes like this: With the spring lying on a table, one side will be longer than the other and I THINK that side goes to the front side of the magazine like in most guns. That's a goofy way of explaining it, but I couldn't think of a better way.
Whichever way was right, every one of my "bad" magazines was the other way and turning the spring around fixed them.

I'd check that just because it's free.

[oldhickory]

The reason cited in "War Baby" for the round bolt replacing the flat top was simply ease of manufacture, it eliminated 1 or more machining steps and could be made quicker. It wasn't a strength issue, very early type I bolts without the web at the lugs were prone to breakage, but typeII bolts with the web are also flat tops and not prone to breakage, round bolts are type III. Type I bolts were only used on Winchesters and Inlands, the other 8 manufacturers never used them.

My Underwood did not like the Inland bolt that was in it when I got it, it jammed constantly. I replaced it with an Underwood and it's been ticking along ever since.