Famae SG-542 not cycling

captainamazing

captainamazing

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Hi everyone

I recently purchased a new Famae SG-542 from dealer on this site. The rifle looks great and feels amazing.
I was told by a pretty well known gun dealer on CGN that I can use Hirtenberger (mid 70's) Austrian Surplus in the rifle and get great results.
Bought 750 rounds of it and I can't get the 542 to cycle it. Tried both gas settings, will not cycle. The chamber is clean the brass is not laqured everything seems fine with the bullets.

I then tried Federal XM-80 (military issue) 7.62x51 and surprise...DOES NOT CYCLE. Stripped the gun, oiled everything. Checked gas system, feels good.

Back to the range and used:
1. AE 308
2. Norinco 308 surplus
3. Hirtenberger
4. Federal XM80 7.62
5. Lapua 308 match.

Nothing will work on either gas setting. SO before I send it away for warranty work for god knows how long dopes anyone have any idea whats the hell is wrong with my brand new $2600 rifle.
 
Is the piston installed? Does it move freely?
Can you confirm that the gas block/regulator flows air through it.

 
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Innercity said:
Is the piston installed? Does it move freely?
Can you confirm that the gas block/regulator flows air through it.
Click to expand...

Yup the piston is present and moves freely. Well oiled. and the air does move thought the block but its very hard to gauge how much air should flow. *sigh* guess I pack it up and send it away. Just hope it gets a proper job done on it and not someone firing 1 round and going "yup it works!"

The bolt moves back and sometimes ejects a round but 75% of the time its a FTE or FTF.
 
Shooting Centre said:
FWIW we only do warranty work on the ERE guns purchased through us. I am not sure who you spoke to here and if this was mentioned.
Click to expand...

Really??! That was not mentioned both times I called. It is an ERE rifle but I was told that CSC was the only warranty center in Canada for Famae. So where does this put me for my new Famae rifle that doesnt work??
 
captainamazing said:
Really??! That was not mentioned both times I called. It is an ERE rifle but I was told that CSC was the only warranty center in Canada for Famae. So where does this put me for my new Famae rifle that doesnt work??
Click to expand...

We can fix your gun for you, but if it was not one of the guns we imported it will not be covered by our warranty. We are the only dealer in Canada that purchased parts to support the platform however we were not the only importers of guns. I agree that you should not be on the hook for what appears to be a factory problem but your dealer and importer are the people to discuss this with.
 
Can you clarify the problem a little bit? I get that it's not working.

But what actually happens when you pull the trigger?

What I'm hearing is:

Mag in.
Charge the gun manually.
First click = bang
But then, fails to eject? Or is at least unsuccessful in getting the gun back to firing position? Can you see if the extractor is gripping the brass?
​

Have you tried one round on an empty mag? If the last round bolt hold open fails to engage that's a pretty clear sign that you're under-gassed.

If you're able to manually cycle the gun successfully with the gas system off, that would be a good sign that your feed-ramps and such are happy and good.
 
Shooting Centre said:
We can fix your gun for you, but if it was not one of the guns we imported it will not be covered by our warranty. We are the only dealer in Canada that purchased parts to support the platform however we were not the only importers of guns. I agree that you should not be on the hook for what appears to be a factory problem but your dealer and importer are the people to discuss this with.
Click to expand...

Update:

Took my rifle to CSC and although there were conflicts between what a certain Famae dealer told me and what CSC maintains as their policy regarding warranties they did agree to take my rifle in for repairs without charge and to figure out the details later. A big thanks to Devon and the people at CSC.

CSC were able to run ammo through it without issue. Although they did apply a good dousing of oil. More than I would normally use. But Famae does state that there is a 200 round break in period.
So for future Famae buyers: Run the gun wet for a while to break it in.

Again thanks CSC for taking responsibility even though you may have not needed to.
 
TV-PressPass said:
Can you clarify the problem a little bit? I get that it's not working.

But what actually happens when you pull the trigger?

What I'm hearing is:

Mag in.
Charge the gun manually.
First click = bang
But then, fails to eject? Or is at least unsuccessful in getting the gun back to firing position? Can you see if the extractor is gripping the brass?
​

Have you tried one round on an empty mag? If the last round bolt hold open fails to engage that's a pretty clear sign that you're under-gassed.

If you're able to manually cycle the gun successfully with the gas system off, that would be a good sign that your feed-ramps and such are happy and good.
Click to expand...


Under gassing was the issue. Sometimes Fail to eject, sometimes fail to feed due to the bolt not going back enough to strip another round off the mag. The Hirtenberger surplus was giving me problems on either gas setting but it seems it needs a ton of oil during the break in period. I was advised against Norc 308 as it has wild variances in the power of each cartridge.

I think the issue was figured out by Devon. More oil, use ammo that has a higher velocity. The mystery of why the Federal XM80 would cycle still bothers me but maybe it can be chalked up to the break in period+more oil fix.

Tomorrow I'm hitting the range with more Hirtenberger, PMC 308 and some Lapua match. I'll post again tomorrow.
Thanks for everyone's 2 cents
 
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