I take too long to write.

[drine]

I've tried twice to get this all in. I'll cut to the chase and explain as we go. Can a CETME fire if the bolt head doesn't seat? I WAS binding on the carrier after rebarrel and had some fail to OPEN. Yes the bolt never opened after firing. If the bolt head didn't seat and I squeezed the trigger and then it seated would this fire the rifle and possibly disrupt timing and leave the bolt closed. Any other reasons?

[drine]

Some may remember I put a Korean G-3 barrel on. Flutes were questionable by some but no recent issues were found on any boards. Mostly a few years old. If the flute held the casing after firing, could it keep the bolt closed or just rip the case apart?
I know through drying firing I had a bind on the receiver and the cocking tube both of which I fixed but havent had the time to fire again. Any safety issues or other input? I can't recall reading a scenario like this before. Thanks as always for the input. DR

[hunter_la5]

before I finished breaking in/ fine tuning my rifle, the bolt used to stop short of fully closing quite frequently; about once per magazine. when I pulled the trigger, the hammer would close the bolt the rest of the way, but the round would not fire. It would just leave a small dent in the primer

IIRC, the firing pin is only long enough to protrude through the bolt head and strike the primer if the bolt is closed, which keeps the gun from firing out of battery. if the gun is fired from slightly open and the hammer pushes it closed, in my experience, it no longer has enough force to ignite the primer because it has been slowed down too much by the heavy bolt carrier

YRMV, this is just my experience

I think the culprit is probably the barrel. if the flutes are improperly dug, there may not be enough force from the blowback gasses on the cartridge to operate the bolt mechanism. however, I am no expert, so take that FWIW. hopefully someone who knows more than me will step in and correct me

[rustypirate]

the orentation of the bolt carrier to the hammer will not let the hammer strike the firing pin until the bolt carrier is fully forward.

If the hammer provides the force to push the bolt carrier forward, then it does not have sufficient force to ignite the primer.

IIRC some aftermarket G3 barrels did not have either the correct number of flutes, 12 instead of 16, or they were not cut to spec.

[drine]

It just happened a few times and that was before I found the other issues. I'm trying to cover all the bases. This is the one reason I haven't soldered the triple frame yet. Using the set screw Big Steve suggested. DEAD NUTS ON. Boy, I hope it's not the barrel. It is soooo accurate. But if it is, it will be a snap to fix this time, just the cost of a barrel. I still haven't honed the flutes with scotch bright like you said (I think RustyP). I will try for more range time and see how my fixes go. It would single shoot all day. One round at a time so I still hold hope the bind was the issue. DR