81 problem. Hep me! Hep me!

[jim81]

I picked up a new (to me) 81 last week and finally got a chance to shoot it the other day.
It won't eject. It does, on occasion, stovepipe an empty, but so far has malfunctioned
on every shot. It is a .300 Sav.
I have 2 others, a .30 Rem. and another .300 that have never given a bit of problems but to be honest, I don't know a lot about the internal workings.
I'm wondering if maybe it could be a spring problem ............ because..... with the bolt locked back, and with thumb pressure only, it's pretty easy to move the barrel in and out or the barrel shroud. It takes about 2/3rds (or a little less) of the effort of my other .300 to move the barrel. The . 30 takes at least twice as much effort to move. In fact, I have to use the heel of my hand to push the .30 springs instead of just my thumb. Should there be that much difference in spring pressure among the three guns?
I thought I might take the barrel apart to investigate the springs, but I'm not sure I would know exactly what to look for anyway. I have the Henwood book so maybe I could figure it out.
If anyone has any ideas, or a direction for me to start I'd appreciate any advice. Is there a good 81 gunsmith out there anywhere?

Thanks.
jim

[81police]

[2verpsters]

Take a look at what 81Police posted for you. It's either the extractor or the ejector, or a combo of both. Go easy on both pieces, in other words, don't bend the extractor alot at 1st and don't file much off the ejector. A little fiddling with either or both should fix you up.

[jim81]

Thanks for the tips guys.
Let me see if I can shed a little more light on it.

The extractor is firmly planted over the rim. It takes a hard jerk on the bolt handle to effect the extraction/ejection, but it does work just fine manually. I thought it might be a sticky/rusty/ nasty chamber, but that doesn't seem to be the case. I had a friend of mine watch the action as I fired, and he thinks the bolt is not going far enough back, ------- it's not opening the action all the way. That's why I was asking about spring-pressure in my first post.

[2verpsters]

Does it pick up the next shell out of the magazine everytime or is it just jamming up on the empty shell from the chamber while leaving the nexxt loaded shell in the mag? Or does it do both on occasion?

It is conceivable that you have the spring set in the barrel from a 25/30/32 instead of the set for the 35/300. Someone could have swapped barrels due to the scarcity of 30Rem ammo but never changed the springs. Someone unfamiliar with the rifle wouldn't know. There is a noticeable difference in the guage of wire the springs are made out of, but you would need to take both your 30 and your 300 barrel assy's apart to check them.

[jim81]

Does it pick up the next shell out of the magazine everytime or is it just jamming up on the empty shell from the chamber while leaving the nexxt loaded shell in the mag? Or does it do both on occasion?

*......When operated manually, it will pick up the next round from the magazine. ( This is a removable mag btw.) I don't know if it will pick up the next round during regular auto operation, because other than a couple of stovepipes, no empty has successfully escaped the chamber when fired. ***jim



It is conceivable that you have the spring set in the barrel from a 25/30/32 instead of the set for the 35/300. Someone could have swapped barrels due to the scarcity of 30Rem ammo but never changed the springs. Someone unfamiliar with the rifle wouldn't know. There is a noticeable difference in the guage of wire the springs are made out of, but you would need to take both your 30 and your 300 barrel assy's apart to check them.

I've sent you a pm