Three time in the last 20 years I have been standing next to a reenactor firing blanks when the rear of the receiver is knocked off. In two of the cases the previous blank round caused the trigger housing to come off. They reassembled the gun and fired again, even though this last time I told them not to do so! I am concerned about the quality of the blank ammunition available to the re-enactment community. I believe these were Atlantic Wall blanks being used. Two of the guns were Springfield manufactured this most recent one was a new made copy. This is an obvious over pressure situation. The very first time this happened the bolt lug that the operation rod engages sheered off and the whole bolt came out the back. The next two only the rear of the receiver is knocked off.
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What condition were the main and hammer springs in? If there were fresh I would say that there was a pressure issue, if they were old or had a unknown round count that's a operator/maintenance issue.-
On this rifle the springs were good, A weak main spring on the second rifle with a knock out receiver is a possibility, However like I said on the shot prior the Trigger housing was blown out of the rifle. This is a over pressure issue, additionally unless the blank round clogged the blank adapter there was no other way for this rifle to get a clog in the blank adapter.
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I would guess either The bfa is plugged and needs cleaned or you were using grenade launcher cartridges instead of blanksComment
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No one I know in the last 25 years has ever used grenade launching cartridges during a re-enactment. I have seen plenty of GI blanks and blanks made by individuals and companies like Swanson and Atlantic Wall. I have however seen dozen of times a M-1 knocked apart with the trigger housing being blown out while firing blanks, due to overpressure.
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OK.......... Standing by my plugged BFA then. That in combination that the rifles probably havent beed properly maintained and the op rod spring was old/weakComment
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Unless the blank itself is causing the BFA to become clogged, than I know of know other way for the weapons I saw come apart when a round is fired. I know that they were not carelessly put into the dirt! Also on the M1 my son used that came apart when firing a blank round I know that it was not a weak main spring of worn or defective part, sine we completely have our rifles refurbished and check by a competent gun smith. We live fire our M1-s and never had a problem like this with live ammunition..
The only other time I saw a weapon blow apart was when a individual was live fire rapid shooting his M1-A, while the bolt did not go through the receiver the wood around the receiver was blown apart, the bottom of the magazine was imbedded in the table and rounds and power were everywhere. I believe he was using reloads.
My concern is this, are blank rounds being improperly made, too much powder or to quick of a burning power, of other factor. I have see this too often and will no longer use my M1's in a re-enactment.
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That's crazy...I've never seen it before.
m14brianComment
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The very first one I experience was at Ft Indiantown Gap during the "Battle of the Bulge" in January back in the late 90's. The M1 first blew apart, whit the trigger housing coming off. The individual put the weapon back together and fired the next round, Not only did the bolt knock out the rear of the receiver but flew completely through the hole. The lug that the operating rod engages was completely sheered off. Fortunately the individual was not hurt. The re-enactor on this most recent incident got 7 stitches on his upper lip where the rear of the receiver cut it!
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