M1 Carbine help

[arclight]

I am having reliability issues with my carbine. It's a DCM rebuild Inland from WWII. The problem is that about 1 in 10 rounds will fail to fire with a "light strike" type problem. This happens with both my handloads and factory ammo.

When I eject the rounds, they usually have a very light primer strike, like the gun wasn't fully in battery and the rotating safety thing was engaging. The bullets often have light scratches, suggesting maybe they weren't chambering all the way.

I've already detail stripped the bolt and cleaned (what a PITA - next tiem I'm getting the tool!) and it's still happening.

Does anyone have a good idea for the next step in troubleshooting this?

Thanks,

Arclight

[Uncle R.]

Are you trying to shoot CMP Aguila ammo?
I had the same problem with my Winchester carbine and quickly realized it was an Aguila ammo issue because I also had a box of Hornady commercial ammo at the range that day and it performed perfectly. Upon checking the ammo at home I found case lengths on loaded Aguila cartridges were all too short - some by as much as .032" - which accounted for the light strikes. If I'd sort the loaded ammo with a caliper and use only the cartridges with the longest cases reliability was near 100% The remaining Hornady ammo all measured within specification - which was why it worked fine.
That Aguila ammo is garbage... Unfortunately I bought a whole ding-blanged case of it from CMP.
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Uncle R.

[scb]

I'd start by replacing both the action spring and the hammer spring. They may both be "tired". If you get new ones, lay the old and new beside each other on a flat surface and compare the lengths.

[Will]

This will happen when your case or bullet is too long by about .001 or 2. The bolt doesn't completely close. If your reloading try seating a little deeper.