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I have an Springfield M1A that has started having problems fully stripping and seating the round into the chamber. It probably has between 800 - 1000 rounds through it and I bought it new. Is it likely the recoil spring is already worn? I was shooting some German DAG surplus when the problem started brought the rifle home gave it a good clean and lube. I took it back out this weekend with 6 mags and the German DAG and some South African surplus that has always ran perfect through the rifle and had the same issue.

Sometimes the round will chamber and I can pull the trigger but I get no strike on the primer. Other times it only gets about halfway through stripping the round and the cartridge just starting to go into the chamber. Once I clear and rack it by hand it always fires and it does this at least 3 times a 20 round mag.

I have a new Wolff spring on the way just hoping I am on the right track.

Thanks

Have you tried high quality ammo?

See if your gas cut-off knob has somehow been turned slightly. This could reduce the amount of gas being allowed to cycle the action. Related to that,...it is possible you used some corrosive surplus ammo in the recent past and this may have begun acting on the same area. If corroded badly enough, it could be producing enough restriction to cause the same.

To see if it is merely the rifle or the ammo, try a box of Winchester Q3130 ammo. (Cabela's usually has it in stock.) If it doesn't work with that ammo, then take it to Ron Smith at Smith Enterprises in Tempe.

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Have had this happen from time to time and simply needed to tighten bolt at end of piston assembly. If you shoot corrosive surplus, be sure to clean the piston assembly thoroughly to avoid future problems.

Thanks for the help, I'll tear it down and check the piston assembly out. I have only run what I believed to be non corrosive ammo down it Hornady, Winchester, SA surplus, and DAG surplus. I googled the surplus after the corrosive ammo was brought up and it appears some think that the SA ammo is corrosive so hopefully I haven't hurt the piston assembly the barrel shows no signs of pitting at least.

Once it's cleaned up I'll pick up some Winchester and see how it runs.

Thanks.

Some people think that anything with a berdan primer is corrosive. They are incorrect.

Does it fail to strip rounds with all of the mags or just some? What brand of mags are you using? I found that when I had a similar problem, the mags made by Checkmate Industries worked best. Getting rid of the other mags fixed the problem

I have 6 mags that I bought from Springfield Armory when I bought the gun, they aren't marked that I can see. They were advertised as USGI and I had heard from some other owners that they had no problems with them. I had the problem happen on all 6 and they have all functioned well in the past. I usually only use the same 2 mags when I shoot so I don't think the other 4 could be worn out.