Burial detail Jam

[sncup]

I was part of the rifle squad for a funeral yesterday and had my first rifle Jam. We fire a volley of 3 shots with the commands Load, Aim, Fire.

On the 3rd round the cartridge in my rifle (Springfield 03) went into the chamber, but the bolt only went half way down and stopped. I put some muscle into trying to force it, but had to carry on and pretend to Aim, then Fire.

After we were dismissed it took a couple of whacks to get the round back out of the chamber. Another member picked it up so I did not see what it looked like. I loaded the rifle so I know it was a 30-06 blank and did not notice anything when loading the magazine with 4 rounds.

I’ve never had a jam before and its embarrassing when it happens in front of a live audience of mourners.

I want to give a BIG thumbs UP to the National Guard members who are now assigned to assist burial Honors. At the last 2 funerals they were standing at Attention in dress uniform for 30 – 45 minutes while waiting for Ministers, family members, etc. to finish up. This is outside in approx. 90 deg heat. First funeral was in shade Air Force folks were lucky about that, 2nd funeral, the Army guys had a shorter detail but full sun.
These guys and a gal were first rate!!

 

[contender]

Ouch!
But,, stuff happens.
Still,, maybe prior to any future funerals,, you can avoid this by a few simple steps.
Make sure the firearm is clean.
In a safe place, PRIOR to any service, pre-load & chamber each round to assure it will chamber properly.

Just a thought.

 

[Mobuck]

I've handled and cleaned many "drill/honor guard" rifles (mostly Springfield 03 and Enfield P-17). They all were terribly grubby and corroded in and around the chamber. Many of the bolts were rusted so badly, they would barely function. Numerous broken extractors as a result of trying to pull stuck cases from the chamber. I was "officially" a member of the headquarters S-4 unit and was in charge of maintaining the 03 drill rifles. It's tough to clean a bore that has a pin welded through the chamber. The local AL units would bring their parade/salute rifles in for cleaning, maintenance, repair and it often took me an entire day to disassemble, clean, and re-assemble a 1/2 dozen 03's.
When my unit fired salutes, we were required to clean our M-14's immediately plus at least 3 of the next 5 days with the armory Sgt checking names off the list.

 

[pete44ru]

I’ve never had a jam before and its embarrassing when it happens in front of a live audience of mourners.

Look at it this way - Better a jam at a funeral than during a firefight...…….. :shock:


.

 

[OVERLOADDED]

Happens, our experienced guys, are dying off
So the younger guys don't know how yo clean the bolt rifles.

 

[Mobuck]

For years, we held our family re-union at an American Legion Post of which an older family member was Commander. Knowing I had experience with older military weapons, this man asked me to check out their salute rifles as they were having problems getting them to function.
What I found was dismal. Nice looking P-17's with pinned barrels clogged with so much corrosion from ancient blanks. Extractors broken from a combination of ramming the bolt home on partially chambered rounds and trying yank stuck rounds from the corroded chambers. Bolt faces rusted to the point that the FP couldn't begin to ignite a round.
While the rest of the family was enjoying the day, I was in the Commander's office with rags & screwdriver, WD40, a wire brush I had in my pickup toolbox cleaning the rifles that I thought might be recoverable. IIRC, 5 were returned to firing(ish), 2 or 3 more would allow working the bolt to simulate firing, and the rest were a loss. This gave the Post a set of rifles that at least gave the appearance of firing the "21 gun report".

 

[Jeepnik]

I’ve never had a jam before and its embarrassing when it happens in front of a live audience of mourners.

Look at it this way - Better a jam at a funeral than during a firefight...…….. :shock:


.

I pray you have no idea just how right you are.

 

[Busterswoodshop]

I have participated in a few military funerals and have seen more than one jam or malfunction during the 21 gun salute.
Most of the time the only people that notice it are the ones participating. You just carry on as though nothing happened and most people have no idea.

 

[Rook]

My sister plays bagpipes at a lot of military funerals. The Scottish cloths she wears get terribly hot in the summer. She has some summer stuff they wear but it's still a lot hotter than regular cloths.

 

[eveled]

Pretty sure that’s why there is more than 1 rifleman at a funeral.

 

[blackhawknj]

That's what happens when :
1. You use a firearm that is not your own.
2. The Old Sarge-or the armorer-doesn't make you clean it before you turn it in.

 

[mohavesam]

That's what happens when :
1. You use a firearm that is not your own.
2. The Old Sarge-or the armorer-doesn't make you clean it before you turn it in.

Agree completely.

Our American Legion turned dozens of Springfeilds and other historical rifles into boat anchors by the same method - simple shameful neglect.