Bolt carrier binding when it travels back

[LyingBastard]

I noticed if I pull the charging handle back, the bolt carrier gets stuck before reaching the end of travel. Short of covering with dykem and racking it a few times, what should I be looking for?

[81police]

During rearward movement, the bolt carrier & connecting link are compressing an action spring inside a tube. My suggestion would be to disassemble and inspect those items.

[LyingBastard]

Thanks for the suggestion. I removed the action spring assembly, which was about 14in long unsprung; is that a proper length? There was some rusty dust on my fingers after handling it. The endcap (follower) that presses against the bolt carrier "rat tail" (using FAL terminology) does not look abused.

Remington_Model8_35-sm.jpg (101.96 KiB) Viewed 5780 times

Remington_Model8_36-sm.jpg (90.61 KiB) Viewed 5780 times

After removing the spring assembly I had no issues working the bolt carrier assembly, which makes me agree with your suggestion that something is funky with the spring assembly.

Call me paranoid, but it looks like the spring has seen better days

[chas1949]

It appears from the photo that the bolt has remained lock to the barrel assy. This should not be the case if operating the action by hand. The bolt should have rotated and unlocked from barrel extension when operating handle is pulled back. With the bolt locked into the barrel extension you are also compressing the recoil spring inside the barrel jacket when manually operating the bolt carrier.

[LyingBastard]

If you are talking about the first picture, bolt is unlocked and there is now a gap between bolt and barrel extension. It is not as long as a round, but it is there.

[Phyrbird]

LB,
I think what chas is drawing attention to is that NO M8 -81 will look like that if the action is operated by hand. Manual pull the bolt, the barrel stays forward, does not follow the bolt. Is the barrel in the barrel assembly in your photo? I also note nothing is holding the bolt & barrel back.

[ranman]

I recently had this problem and found the bolt handle was rubbing on the receiver. Remove bolt handle and cycle the action with a screwdriver or dowel ( take care as you don’t want to scratch the receiver). If the bolt moves freely this is likely the cause. My rifle would work when cycled by hand but under recoil it would drag just enough to lock it in the position you pictured.