Obviously you will need someone kool to hang off the tripod while you shoot.
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Is the phone ringing or is it ringing in my ears?
The MG34 Repair and Troubleshooting Thread
- Thread starter DILLIGAF
- Start date
Is the phone ringing or is it ringing in my ears?
FirearmsEnthusiast
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Kingston, ON
Well this is good news
Almost have a complete 2nd BCG now
I just replaced my firing pin spring with one of the ones I bought from BRP. I used a vice to gently relieve the crazy firing pin spring pressure. New spring reduces initial bolt retraction force when pulling back the charging handle where some of this force is used to recock the bolt. Much smoother. Slightly less pronounced click sound on dry firing, but I’m not concerned about igniting the CCI LR primers I handload with. I’m on my 3rd firing with my 8mm brass and all good so far.
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So happy today, Received 8 sets of roller clips, firing pin springs, 2 set of rollers, booster cone, 3 German starter tabs and my Brass catcher. Still waiting on 2 more sets of rollers to get here.
will drill the new booster cone to .450 diameter like the Portuguese MG34 setup.
MG34 is now fixed and ready for another range trip...lol... and now I have enough spare parts to last a while I hope
will drill the new booster cone to .450 diameter like the Portuguese MG34 setup.
MG34 is now fixed and ready for another range trip...lol... and now I have enough spare parts to last a while I hope
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FirearmsEnthusiast
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Kingston, ON
You may not be so happy when you try to install those bolt rollers. Remember that the beveled edge on the inner roller faces in toward the bolt body. Position the clip in the groove first and try to pinch it shut first with needlenose pliers - if it's too long in circumference and the clip ends overlap when closed, trim the clip first as it will never go on otherwise. When this test fit is complete, position the clip in the groove, pinch shut with needlenose pliers or as close to shut as you can, then push the outer roller (inside groove facing out) onto the clip as far away from the ends as possible, then with some gentle pressure applied to keep the clip in place, use a small screwdriver to work the loose ends of the clip into the grove.
Most times, the clip slips out of the groove and ends up pushed against the inner roller. Swear gently then try again. Got one in 3 tries, the other took over 20!
Most times, the clip slips out of the groove and ends up pushed against the inner roller. Swear gently then try again. Got one in 3 tries, the other took over 20!
Glad to see you got it fixed back up. It looks like your new booster cone has the larger opening in it already, shouldn't need to drill it bigger
I found with my mg34 the brass catcher caused more stoppages, hopefully you have better luck with yours
I found with my mg34 the brass catcher caused more stoppages, hopefully you have better luck with yours
fingers284
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Alberta Cowboy Ranges
Please sir, for the uneducated like me that has never been close to a mg34, what is the significance of the trigger apparatus shown. It appears to have a toggle sort of affair inside a main trigger with a two finger grip with an E & a D label, what do these letters signify. A first glance for me I thought it was a sort of "safety" toggle on the trigger but there appears to be a small lever above the trigger guard with an F beside it that I am assuming is the "fire" position for the safety.
FirearmsEnthusiast
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Kingston, ON
The MG34 has a distinctive "double trigger". In the original full-auto-capable MG34, pulling the top of the trigger only fired a single shot ("Einzelfeuer" in German), while pressing the lower part of the trigger with its inner tab enabled the gun to fire full auto ("Dauerfeuer") for as long as the trigger was pressed and ammunition was present.
In the semi-auto MG34, either trigger fires semi-auto, but given the heavy trigger pull of the modified MG34 due to the stiff firing pin spring and rollers used to trip the sear on the bolt body, pulling with both fingers in the notches is a handy feature.
The safety is a separate round switch on the left-hand side of the receiver, just above the trigger, and is handy for locking the bolt partially back for loading the semi-auto version of the MG34.
In the original full auto 34 the small lever on the bottom part of the trigger once pulled allows the whole trigger assembly to move back a touch more then when you pull on the top section on the trigger
That little bit of extra trigger throw allows the gun to fire in full auto
It's quite a clever system the Germans came up with back then
That little bit of extra trigger throw allows the gun to fire in full auto
It's quite a clever system the Germans came up with back then
FirearmsEnthusiast
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Kingston, ON
I heard that one tactic used by the Germans was to set up the MG34, fire a shot or two semi-auto as if the soldier was using a K98k bolt-action rifle, then if the adversary tried to move in - to open up in full auto.
The trigger design is quite neat and is a distinctive feature of the MG34 - in a sense, it made it a "selective fire" weapon with the operator's trigger finger being an integral part of the selector "mechanism"!
fingers284
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Alberta Cowboy Ranges
Thanks fellows, very well explained.
FirearmsEnthusiast
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Kingston, ON
Owners of German machine guns are a friendly bunch - not to mention having to become experts in both maintenance of these guns and experts in legalities of importing parts, belt capacity limits, etc.
Yes we are, Getting mad everytime the MG34 breaks would make me go crazy. I rather laugh and figure out what broke and fix it.
I think keeping the MG34 running is more fun than shooting it. Just like some guys like reloading more than shooting.. lol... Belt capacity whats that ? LMFAO ... hehehehehhe
So far my MG34 cost me 800$ in parts so I think I only shot 500 rounds at 1$ a round. So every shot fired cost 2.50 hahahhaahha
But to be fair everything that failed was due to piss poor parts from TNW :-(
FirearmsEnthusiast
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Kingston, ON
I agree - keeping an 80-year-old, complex yet beautifully machined firearm going is lots of fun. Well, except the bolt roller replacement - it's just plain misery! Next up for me is replacing the feed pawl that comes with the BRP .308 conversion kit.
Good to see them still working, last time I remember seeing the Mg34 working was off the side of a period bike at Langemark range. Then down the same road......night shoot with the Mg42. Was the last "outing" for this gun. Loaded link all day for the shoot. Orange trace. Made for a nice shoot. And these two guns worked as they should. One pull of the trigger.......many rnds. down range. So keep up the good work, and post the pics.
FirearmsEnthusiast
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Kingston, ON
I’ll post a review when I have it up and running. Rangeview Sports has a video on YouTube that shows the MG34 running the conversion kit and it looks like it ran flawlessly on surplus .308. Google it and check it out unless YouTube made this video go away recently! Ian’s MG34 review on Forgotten Weapons and Machine Gun Mike’s videos are great on the MG34!
