Beretta 1301 Bolt Hangup during slug-changeover

[TheGrandBaboon]

Hi, friends. 

I've got a new Beretta 1301. It has a little over 200 rounds through it. 

 

This last weekend at a comp I was performing a slug changeover and unknowingly induced a malfunction. 

During the changeover, I must've ridden the bolt carrier group forward and gotten it stuck, because when I pulled the trigger, all I got was a "clunk." I thought it was a bad primer, only to find that the primer was never struck at all. 

Essentially, the BCG gets stuck just before the bolt itself rotates into battery. It actually takes a pretty decent "tap" on the charging handle to get the BCG to overcome the "hump" it gets stuck up on. Once I get it past this hangup point, the bolt rotates and the BCG moves forward into battery. 

 

I've been able to reproduce this at home with and without dummy rounds (pics attached). 

I should note that during normal firing from the magazine this isn't an issue. If the BCG has enough inertia, it blows right past the hangup point. 

I'm wondering if it has to do something with the cam pin getting stuck in the cam raceway. I dunno.

Out of Battery (sticking point) 

 

In Battery (after a good tap on the charging handle)

 

Edited July 28, 2023 by TheGrandBaboon
Updated image order and added titles.

[Nolan]

What does your cam pin look like?  They are notorious for losing the plating.  Mine lasted quite awhile, I replaced it and it did the same thing, so I stripped off the rest of the plating and have been running it sans plating for a couple of years.

 

Nolan

 

 

https://www.practical-shotgun.com/beretta-blink-action-quality-control-warning

[TheGrandBaboon]

You know, I haven't gotten far enough to fully disassemble the BCG yet. I'll give that a look tonight. 

Edited July 29, 2023 by TheGrandBaboon

[TheGrandBaboon]

I fully disassembled my BCG tonight. 

My cam pin looks great. I can certainly see where it's been riding the cam path in the bolt, but there's no chipping or flaking. 

I did a little bit of testing afterwards and potentially have found the culprit. 

 

I reassembled the bolt and BCG placed it in a detached barrel. It appears that the hangup occurs when the spring-loaded extractor cams over a portion of the barrel. I can see where the threads of the barrel have been ground down to make a (relatively) smooth surface for the extractor to rotate over as the bolt fully goes into battery. 

Do you guys think that's the issue? The resistance begins the very minute the extractor depresses slightly as it engages the barrel. There's also noticeably less resistance when a shell is being gripped by the extractor, which would make sense as the extractor is being pushed out further away from any interference with the barrel, but it doesn't seem to fully eliminate it.