Plainfield 30 cal carbine

tedbylar1

I just got a Plainfield 30 cal carbine. Problem- it fires the first round from the mag, cycles the second round into the chamber, but does not cock the trigger. A little experimenting and I found that it will not cock if the trigger is being held down while it cycles, but I can't release the trigger as fast as the gun cycles! Every other semi I have will cock with the trigger held back and the trigger will move forward to get ready for the next trigger pull when finger pressure is released. Is this a defect, broken part or will a new trigger spring help?

I'm new here, so any help will be appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Terry

rufe-snow

Since Plainfield carbines haven't been made for many years, yours has a unknown round count. The first thing I would do would be to completely disassemble it and give all the parts a through cleaning. Reassemble it to see if the problem has been fixed.

Some folks just spray all the moving parts, internally and externally with WD 40 and hope for the best. It has a tendency to congeal and foul internal parts over time, that causes problems similar to yours.

mark christian

Based on what I am reading it sounds like the trigger is not resetting itself and this is typically a problem with the sear. You'll have to disassemble the rifle, remove the trigger group, remove the hammer and then go into the back of the housing and pull back on the trigger spring until it stops in the hole. Once you've done that you can drive out the pin that retains the trigger and sear. In between the trigger and the sear is a small spring, not unlike the type used in a ball point pen. Chances are that little spring is kinked or simply broken and this is preventing the trigger from resetting.

I am going to add a disclaimer that I am not a gun smith. We have gun smiths on our boards so maybe they will pop in with their own ideas.

tedbylar1

Thanks for the info- I was also thinking of the sear. I did a fairly good cleaning, I don't use WD40 on my guns, but it appeared to be clean.

There is a small spring at the back of the bolt that appears to have something to do with the trigger, but I'm not sure if that is the same spring you are referring to. This one looks to be coiled in the wrong configuration, horizontal instead of directly pushing in the trigger. I am also not a gunsmith, but I'm pretty good at taking apart (and re-asembling) my SKS & AK, so maybe I can figure it out. I have the "manual" for the Plainfield, such as it is, so maybe I can figure it out from the exploded view.

Thanks again for your help.

Terry

tedbylar1

By the way, the trigger does return, but maybe without enough force. Sear sounds plausible. If so, I may be screwed trying to find a new one. I hope whatever I'm shooting at can wait until I manually cycle the bolt, pick up the cartridge, and shoot again...either that or be sure to hit it on the first shot! LOL

Terry

Bill DeShivs

Any G.I. parts fit the Plainfield carbines.
Edit:
Plainfield made their own receivers, but most parts on the guns were GI surplus.

dcs shooters

Here's the best trigger disassembly instrutctions I've found.
www.alpharubicon.com/leo/carbinetriggergroup.htm

tedbylar1

Thanks, Dick. Extremely helpful since I only had the original manual.

Also like your sig! Me, too!

dfletcher

quote:Originally posted by tedbylar1
I just got a Plainfield 30 cal carbine. Problem- it fires the first round from the mag, cycles the second round into the chamber, but does not cock the trigger. A little experimenting and I found that it will not cock if the trigger is being held down while it cycles, but I can't release the trigger as fast as the gun cycles! Every other semi I have will cock with the trigger held back and the trigger will move forward to get ready for the next trigger pull when finger pressure is released. Is this a defect, broken part or will a new trigger spring help?

I'm new here, so any help will be appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Terry


If you've done a function check it seems to me the problem is the disconnector or hammer and/or the sear. You can fairly easily check this even with the trigger unit removed from the barreled action, just keep some control over the hammer - don't let it fly forward.

After you remove the trigger unit from the receiver group, press the hammer fully rearward - the diconnector should engage - press the trigger to release the hammer (keep control) and the hammer should be caught by the sear. If it misses one or all three should be replaced. You should look for wear, maybe evidence of stoning or filing too.

I don't know how closely the Plainfield matches the GI version or parts interchangability between the two.

Edit: See above info that parts do interchange with GI.

tedbylar1

Thanks for all of the help, folks. I removed the trigger group and found that the sear was somehow dropping down enough to not allow the trigger to "reset" to firing position. If I pulled back on the hammer just a little, it would release. It is at a gunsmith now. I showed him what it was doing. As he is an "expert" on 30 cal carbines, I hope he can figure out how to fix w/o having to replace the trigger group.

Best to all, and stay safe. By the way, my gunsmith agrees that Obama is the best thing that has happened to increase his gun sales.

mark christian

Glad it all worked out. When in doubt it is never a bad move to consult a pro.