The MG34 Repair and Troubleshooting Thread

Make sure you get rid of the heavy duty tnw firing pin spring and put an original spring in there, especially if your firing ppu or any commercial ammo
Did you check to see if you had any pierced primers? I've had a chunk of primer get stuck in the firing pin channel and give me issues when I first got the mg and before I changed out the spring
The 34 I converted to 308 runs good but it does shoot the odd double now and then, will keep using it until it decides to empty out the belt on its own. It's probably the sear engagement causing it like was stated above as my other one doesn't do it
One thing you can do if your gun gets away on you is to twist the belt and it will stop it, it's much more fun to just hold on and let it rip though :)
 
Firing pin springs ordered from BRP - nice people and supportive of Canada and it's MG34 owners. :)

Yugo belt loader from Warsaw arrived today. Need to strip off the cosmo and start loading belts for the return to the range.

Fun.
 
Manners said:
Firing pin springs ordered from BRP - nice people and supportive of Canada and it's MG34 owners. :)

Yugo belt loader from Warsaw arrived today. Need to strip off the cosmo and start loading belts for the return to the range.

Fun.
Click to expand...

Depending on the belt, I can’t close and latch the spring-loaded gate on my Yugo belt loader without it jamming on a belt - so I hold it down just short of latching and it works well...have fun wth yours - neat mechanical gadget. Adjust the one top screw until it runs smoothly, but back the screw out too much and it pops out under spring pressure...
 
So mine is the same as yours FE - I can't close and latch the gate as it won't let the belt through. I just held the gate down as you said.
I was wondering if they send me the wrong one....

Kinda lame but still beats loading belts one round at a time by hand.
 
can14 said:
anyone who owns a 8mm Vickers gun can reverse the mg34 42 belts and shoot it
Click to expand...

Thats what the Germans did with their left over MG08s and 08/15s towards the final days in WW2 when they needed every MG they could get. IIRC, one needed to pull the belt through at the same time as the gun is firing?
 
Manners said:
So mine is the same as yours FE - I can't close and latch the gate as it won't let the belt through. I just held the gate down as you said.
I was wondering if they send me the wrong one....

Kinda lame but still beats loading belts one round at a time by hand.
Click to expand...

I haven’t spent much time diagnosing the problem, but I suspect that the gate needs to be “adjusted" with a little bending in the right spot to increase the clearance for the belt...

On my list for a weekend problem solving session at some point...
 
I had the same rapid fire issues at the range this week.

In the picture the sear ring #1 is loose and moves back and forth. Should it be tight to the spring clip?

And the end of the sear? #2 doesn't make contact with the sear ring when the bolt rotates so it won't ####. So the gun just repeatedly slam fires.
If I take the bolt out and over rotate it then the sear drops, makes contact with the sear ring, and cocks the firing pin.

Do you think I could just put the sear face on the belt sander and take off a half millimeter? Is there an issue with that gap not being super tight tolerances? Right now it won't #### so anything is better. And if I remove some of the sear face then the sear will drop when the bolt rotates - which it isn't doing right now.
Do I run the risk of accelerated wear as the sear ring moves into the sear?

I'm not sure what to do here.
1slt89E.jpg
 
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I don’t see your photo in your post...pls try re-posting so we can diagnose.

If it’s a problem with the sear arm and/or the sear ring, it may be worth ordering both from Wolverine. Their parts list is available from their website - search for the MG34 listing and click on it. Personally I wouldn’t mess around with sears due to risk of slam fires or unintentional discharges.

Others with more direct experience with sear problems on the semi-auto modified bolts will likely also chime in.
 
Manners said:
I had the same rapid fire issues at the range this week.

In the picture the ring #1 is loose and moves back and forth. Should it be tight to the spring clip?

And the end of the sear? #2 doesn't make contact with the sear ring when the bolt rotates so it won't ####. So the gun just repeatedly slam fires.
If I take the bolt out and over rotate it then the sear drops, makes contact with the sear ring, and cocks the firing pin.

Do you think I could just put the sear face on the belt sander and take off a half millimeter? Is there an issue with that gap not being super tight tolerances? Right now it won't #### so anything is better.
Do I run the risk of accelerated wear as the sear ring moves into the sear?

I'm not sure what to do here.
1slt89E.jpg
Click to expand...

Can you take the bolt out of the gun, rotate it to its “in battery’ position to ensure it’s cocked, then straighten it again, then rotate back to “in battery’ position - the bolt should now be cocked. Press on the long side of the sear lever - straight in toward the bolt - it should trip and release the firing pin.

Repeats a few times to see how reliable this is. If the bolt does not stay cocked consistently, then let us know. If it does, maybe turn your attention to the trigger group - maybe something caught in trigger bar or roller(s) that engage the sear when the trigger is pulled?

P.s. your photo appeared when I replied with quote and moved
 
Manners said:
I had the same rapid fire issues at the range this week.

In the picture the sear ring #1 is loose and moves back and forth. Should it be tight to the spring clip?

And the end of the sear? #2 doesn't make contact with the sear ring when the bolt rotates so it won't ####. So the gun just repeatedly slam fires.
If I take the bolt out and over rotate it then the sear drops, makes contact with the sear ring, and cocks the firing pin.

Do you think I could just put the sear face on the belt sander and take off a half millimeter? Is there an issue with that gap not being super tight tolerances? Right now it won't #### so anything is better. And if I remove some of the sear face then the sear will drop when the bolt rotates - which it isn't doing right now.
Do I run the risk of accelerated wear as the sear ring moves into the sear?

I'm not sure what to do here.
1slt89E.jpg
Click to expand...

when you have the bolt wheels in the position to put the bolt into the receiver, there should be a small gap between the sear and the sear ring. that is when the sear resets.
 
My 34 has really started to run on the last time I went to the range with it. It is getting worse the more I use it. It was shooting doubles at first and now it's doing triples and quads.
I'm going to try and rotate the sear ring 180 so the sear has a fresh edge to grip onto and see if that works. If the sear itself has a roundish edge on it it might be fixable by filing a new edge on it
Worse case is have to replace the sear plus the sear ring with new parts
 
Deathrawt said:
My 34 has really started to run on the last time I went to the range with it. It is getting worse the more I use it. It was shooting doubles at first and now it's doing triples and quads.
I'm going to try and rotate the sear ring 180 so the sear has a fresh edge to grip onto and see if that works. If the sear itself has a roundish edge on it it might be fixable by filing a new edge on it
Worse case is have to replace the sear plus the sear ring with new parts
Click to expand...

Its definitely a very finicky area to deal with. Too bad TNW chose to make it the way they did.
The first batch of MG34's didnt even have a special designed sear ring. The sear ring was just a flat washer and was prone to slipping while the bolt rotated. hard to believe they could get any less reliable, but they can. lol.
 
Thanks.
I can take the bolt out and rotate it to #### it. But I have to "over rotate" it to get it to #### - move the rollers past being level with the bolt flanges - to get the sear lever to click down and lock the bolt.

The bolt can't over rotate in the gun when it's riding in the channels so it never cocks (rarely cocks) and just repeat slam fires.

I think if I trim the sear lever back the gun will #### correctly.
 
Yes that should make it ####
It sounds like the sear or the ring may be out of spec somehow not allowing it to #### properly when the bolt is rotated
 
Deathrawt said:
Yes that should make it ####
It sounds like the sear or the ring may be out of spec somehow not allowing it to #### properly when the bolt is rotated
Click to expand...

Maybe something to do with the sear ring not engaging tightly with the C clip as reported by the OP?

I would opt for a new Sear Ring at least, and maybe the whole sear lever assembly as well...in the interests of safety and also to get the gun up and running...
 
FirearmsEnthusiast said:
Maybe something to do with the sear ring not engaging tightly with the C clip as reported by the OP?

I would opt for a new Sear Ring at least, and maybe the whole sear lever assembly as well...in the interests of safety and also to get the gun up and running...
Click to expand...

Ya it could be the part that TNW modified with the groove that holds the c ring that's whacky. Maybe be a good idea to get a spare of that part too
 
Deathrawt said:
Ya it could be the part that TNW modified with the groove that holds the c ring that's whacky. Maybe be a good idea to get a spare of that part too
Click to expand...

That would be the firing pin sleeve. Yes, a wise precaution to replace that too, or maybe it isn’t seated on the firing pin properly.

Check dimensions here
h ttp://www.projectguns.com/mg343.html
 
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