Sorry for the wall of text.
TL;DR gun went from 40-60% failure rate to approx 1-2% FTF, should I keep tinkering or call it a win?
Long story:
I got a GSG-15 and I've put a lot of rounds through it. Probably somewhere between 5-10k. It's been a bit finicky with ammo since I got it, which was expected as per the many reviews. Even with good CCI or federal I was getting FTF. At first it was only every now and then. But it became a regular occurrence to the point where you really didn't know what the gun was going to do when you pulled the trigger.
The gun had only ever been cleaned as per the manufacturer instructions, which basically just involves separating the upper from the lower and getting at everything best you can from there. Well after thousands of rounds I figured there must be so much gunk in the firing pin channel that it wasn't moving as freely as it should. Using the university of YouTube I found a video detailing the disassembly of the bolt and upper. Its not a quick and easy job but it does come apart. My suspicions where confirmed in that it was really gross in there but unfortunately the good cleaning didn't do much to improve the FTF issues liked I hoped.
The guy who does the YouTube video for the disassembly was having the exact same problem with his ISSC MK2: FTF due to light strikes. Following his advice I ripped the bolt carrier out and took it all apart again. I'm actually getting pretty good at this. There is a firing pin return spring and I'm pretty sure it's heavier than the recoil spring in my glock. I ended up cutting 4 coils off of it (it's a tough spring steel so use a dremel) and put the whole gun back together. Took it to the range and shot mag after mag through it. The intent on spent casings was way more consistent. I still got 2 FTF in about 250 rounds of federal bulk box. The failures didn't seem to be struck less hard than the successfully spent rounds however don't seem to be hit as hard as the casings out of a 10/22.
I'm wondering if I should just call this a win and write the 1% FTF off as ammo issues, or I could lighten that firing pin return spring even further on my next disassembly by cutting off another coil or too. It is still quite stiff even with its 4 coils removed.
Alternatively I could remove the trigger mechanism and extend the spring for the control arm to the hammer giving the hammer more force to hit the firing pin. I would accomplish this by either stretching the spring or adding a small washer, or both. This will clean up a little play in the hammer at its fullest extention and allow it to make harder contact with the firing pin. Down side to this approach is the trigger assembly is a huge PITA to take out put back together. What would you do?
Hopefully this might give some other people with this rifle some ideas about making it more reliable and get it shooting better.
Not sure if I'm allowed to post the links to the YouTube videos here but there are some great videos there to help with all of these processes. Pm me if you'd like links.
TL;DR gun went from 40-60% failure rate to approx 1-2% FTF, should I keep tinkering or call it a win?
Long story:
I got a GSG-15 and I've put a lot of rounds through it. Probably somewhere between 5-10k. It's been a bit finicky with ammo since I got it, which was expected as per the many reviews. Even with good CCI or federal I was getting FTF. At first it was only every now and then. But it became a regular occurrence to the point where you really didn't know what the gun was going to do when you pulled the trigger.
The gun had only ever been cleaned as per the manufacturer instructions, which basically just involves separating the upper from the lower and getting at everything best you can from there. Well after thousands of rounds I figured there must be so much gunk in the firing pin channel that it wasn't moving as freely as it should. Using the university of YouTube I found a video detailing the disassembly of the bolt and upper. Its not a quick and easy job but it does come apart. My suspicions where confirmed in that it was really gross in there but unfortunately the good cleaning didn't do much to improve the FTF issues liked I hoped.
The guy who does the YouTube video for the disassembly was having the exact same problem with his ISSC MK2: FTF due to light strikes. Following his advice I ripped the bolt carrier out and took it all apart again. I'm actually getting pretty good at this. There is a firing pin return spring and I'm pretty sure it's heavier than the recoil spring in my glock. I ended up cutting 4 coils off of it (it's a tough spring steel so use a dremel) and put the whole gun back together. Took it to the range and shot mag after mag through it. The intent on spent casings was way more consistent. I still got 2 FTF in about 250 rounds of federal bulk box. The failures didn't seem to be struck less hard than the successfully spent rounds however don't seem to be hit as hard as the casings out of a 10/22.
I'm wondering if I should just call this a win and write the 1% FTF off as ammo issues, or I could lighten that firing pin return spring even further on my next disassembly by cutting off another coil or too. It is still quite stiff even with its 4 coils removed.
Alternatively I could remove the trigger mechanism and extend the spring for the control arm to the hammer giving the hammer more force to hit the firing pin. I would accomplish this by either stretching the spring or adding a small washer, or both. This will clean up a little play in the hammer at its fullest extention and allow it to make harder contact with the firing pin. Down side to this approach is the trigger assembly is a huge PITA to take out put back together. What would you do?
Hopefully this might give some other people with this rifle some ideas about making it more reliable and get it shooting better.
Not sure if I'm allowed to post the links to the YouTube videos here but there are some great videos there to help with all of these processes. Pm me if you'd like links.
