Jamming a semiautomatic rifle Galatz (early 1980s)

They'll noticed when they pull the trigger and it doesn't go "BANG." Not sure what else you might mean by "not noticing."

What kind of 7.62 gun? Rifle or belt-fed machinegun? Much easier to jam an MG, basically by letting the linked ammo get twisted. Can be a pain to clear.

On an M-14, you could have a case expand too much (due to substandard ammo), and fail to extract, requiring a cleaning rod to clear it.

Broken extractor on any gun would also shut it down. Rare on a new gun, but more likely on older stuff, especially poorly maintained.

Weak magazine spring would cause a failure to feed, but any competent shooter would first try swapping a magazine.

ETA: did a Google search and figured out what you were talking about. I've never heard of the Galatz, although I've heard of the Galil.

I'd say substandard ammo, as I mentioned, or broken parts. That'd be the easiest thing. You're not going to get a broken extractor fixed quickly, especially in the field.

josephperin said:

I had thought of having the ejection port cover broken. Would that do?

Click to expand...

Nope. It has nothing to do with the function, it's just there to keep dirt and debris out.

Broken part or bad ammo is the solution. How detailed do you need to be?

Broken or bent extractor will jam/fail after the first round is fired. It's not needed to load the first round in the chamber, just to get the spent casing out so the next round can get in. It is not normally fixable in the field, and especially not under fire. With the information you give, that seems to be the best option to start with.

The cause could be that the gun was disassembled and cleaned and the extractor was bent or broken during reassembly. Not easy to do, but possible and plausible. A magazine is inserted and then the bolt will close, loading the first round into the chamber. When that one fires, the bolt will open and the spent cartridge case will remain in the chamber while the next in the magazine is fed against it, jamming the gun. You can extract the spent case in the field with a cleaning rod from the muzzle or possibly a pocket knife tip prying from the rear, but even if you clear it, get another round loaded and fire again, it will jam on that round as well. Try it while people are shooting at you and you'll abandon the gun before going much further.

Since the Galatz is a sniper rifle version of a Galil series, I assume your goal is to fire a round that misses the target, then jam the gun so a follow up round can't be shot. If the sniper needs to evade capture, he won't have time to diagnose and clear the chamber, then load a follow up round. Even if he did, as long as his target knew they were targeted, they would easily make it to cover or continue/complete their mission before the sniper gets a second shot.

Hope it all helps,

Jeff

If something in the ejector mechanism were broken, that would cause a jam after firing a single shot. Most jams are pretty noticeable immediately, especially if you've used the weapon before, much like you notice when your car is misfiring on one cylinder.

However, I've fired thousands of rounds from military assault rifles and machine guns and the only time I ever had jams was when I was given a mismatched bolt, AND firing blanks, AND when I noticed the stiff travel and asked my officer if we had time for a quick lube my request was denied (no jokes about my sexual prowess on the lube or firing blanks, please) for an exercise. I suspect the bolt would have caused failures even with real ammunition, because it was the spring failing to force the bolt fully forward, not a problem with the bolt drawing back fully. Even so, the problems ceased once I had a spare moment to shoot some oil into the mechanism and work it a few dozen times during a break.

The point is, unless he's been sabotaged by an expert, the likelihood of a jam is extremely low. It's not an entirely unbelievable circumstance, but you'd have to set it up in some way so we readers with some knowledge don't scoff at how contrived the timing of the jam is.

Do you need a mechanical malfunction or does someone sabotage the rifle?

What exactly do you need to happen in the story, specifically?