Hey everyone, I am buying a TNW Mg-34 and I heard some mixed reviews. I will not have it until a few months time and I want to be ready for any problems it may have. I hear people have done different things to them to make them run better, like changing bolts and things like that. I have also been reading up on converting it to .308 because it is cheaper and easier to find and I have not started to reload yet. For the conversion all I see that is needed is a smaller diameter booster cone, .308 barrel (Ex-Norwegian military one?) and a smaller feed tray. Has anyone tried this conversion before? Also, is there any way to bring the trigger pull down?
TNW Mg-34
- Thread starter JasonGTA
- Start date
I bought one last summer - it really has been nothing but problems since I got it. It is currently back in Oregon for a warranty claim.
It only liked factory FMJ ammo - no surplus 8mm, and even then it was picky. Also the belts you use must be loose - ie I had to use pliers to make sure that the round slides out very very easily. I spoke numerous times with their technicians down in Oregon and tried several things. One thing that is a MUST is to get some high quality machine gun grease - they recommend a brand which I ordered and it made things much better. I forget the name of the grease I got and am not at home to check, but you most definitely will need some of it. Basically mine still had some issues feeding/extracting and I bit the bullet and got it back to the supplier inside my one year warranty window. I did improve the performance quite a bit with my tinkering, but it still wasn't where I wanted it to be. My brother was a machine gunner in the US Army for 5 years in Iraq - so it wasn't for a lack of experience around machine gun tinkering / headspace etc. That being said, the few times when it was running well, it was the most non-restricted fun you can have in Canada. Frankly - even if I don't get it working consistently, having it in my collection is still worth it, its such a beautiful gun and piece of history. I think that once I get it back I should be able to get it to a spot where it is working reliably (i hope!) - there are quite a few forums about it on the net if you search, people have been having issues with them for years. My trigger group never gave me any issues. One thing to note - which I found out from the TNW guys, is that they ship the guns to Canada without a barrel - and the importer puts a different barrel inside the gun in Canada. You have to make sure that the barrel is placed inside the gun correctly - or else it has feeding issues.
Feel free to PM me if you want to know more details - Ive been through the gauntlet in tinkering with it!
It only liked factory FMJ ammo - no surplus 8mm, and even then it was picky. Also the belts you use must be loose - ie I had to use pliers to make sure that the round slides out very very easily. I spoke numerous times with their technicians down in Oregon and tried several things. One thing that is a MUST is to get some high quality machine gun grease - they recommend a brand which I ordered and it made things much better. I forget the name of the grease I got and am not at home to check, but you most definitely will need some of it. Basically mine still had some issues feeding/extracting and I bit the bullet and got it back to the supplier inside my one year warranty window. I did improve the performance quite a bit with my tinkering, but it still wasn't where I wanted it to be. My brother was a machine gunner in the US Army for 5 years in Iraq - so it wasn't for a lack of experience around machine gun tinkering / headspace etc. That being said, the few times when it was running well, it was the most non-restricted fun you can have in Canada. Frankly - even if I don't get it working consistently, having it in my collection is still worth it, its such a beautiful gun and piece of history. I think that once I get it back I should be able to get it to a spot where it is working reliably (i hope!) - there are quite a few forums about it on the net if you search, people have been having issues with them for years. My trigger group never gave me any issues. One thing to note - which I found out from the TNW guys, is that they ship the guns to Canada without a barrel - and the importer puts a different barrel inside the gun in Canada. You have to make sure that the barrel is placed inside the gun correctly - or else it has feeding issues.
Feel free to PM me if you want to know more details - Ive been through the gauntlet in tinkering with it!
Great info! How do I know if the barrel is in the right way? And I have some yugo surplus belts and they are pretty tight, when I finally get my MG I will try and see if they need loosening, did you try replacing the extractor before you sent it to them? I think that is what one of the forum members did and it seemed to work well, one of the guys that owns a bunch of matching original k98s 
. Did you try using the yugo surplus 8mm? I read that they like hot loads.
. Did you try using the yugo surplus 8mm? I read that they like hot loads.I think the stampings on the chamber have to face up - that seems to work for me. It does go in both ways. I have the Yugo surplus belts as well, they are wayyy to tight - what I did is just slid a round into each link, and then tried to push it out myself, some of the links are loose enough, but some are definitely too tight. I didn't try replacing the extractor although I did tweak with it a bunch -
I did try the Yugo surplus from Lever arms - it really didnt run well, but I even get some hangfires or FTF with the Yugo in my K98 and my 1916 Mauser - the best I've found was S&B FMJ as well at Privi FMJ - don't even try soft points - they jam up right away
I did try the Yugo surplus from Lever arms - it really didnt run well, but I even get some hangfires or FTF with the Yugo in my K98 and my 1916 Mauser - the best I've found was S&B FMJ as well at Privi FMJ - don't even try soft points - they jam up right away
Yes it is called TW25B grease - I got it from Bass Pro Shops online
I bought my 8mm mauser ammo from various sources locally in the Vancouver Area; Reliable and Wanstalls. I also ordered a bunch online from P&S Militaria - they don't offer free shipping so the shipping bill was a bit of a #####, but now I have over 2000 rounds of brass I can reload!
I bought my 8mm mauser ammo from various sources locally in the Vancouver Area; Reliable and Wanstalls. I also ordered a bunch online from P&S Militaria - they don't offer free shipping so the shipping bill was a bit of a #####, but now I have over 2000 rounds of brass I can reload!
5point9straight6
Regular
- Location
- Deep River
I bought a lot of old surplus belts for mine from Marstar. Out of 10 belts I had six that had faint German markings, they also differed by the thickness of the coil wire holding the links together, compared with unmarked/Yugoslavia surplus belts. In a nutshell, the German belts accept and release ammunition much more easily and consistently than the other ones. Apart from less firm grip from the belt links on the cartridges, there is also less forward play between the feeding link, relative to the links next to it. It helps the gun feed a million times better, I find.
I would like to get into reloading some time soon, what do you use and have you found a good a powder that works well with it? I have a few boxes of 8mm mauser brass around that I shot through my K98 I could use to start. Just need a press and dies I think.
Did you buy just yugo ones and you got yugo surplus ex-german WW2 belts? Or did you specifically order german ww2 belts? I have seen some for sale online and they are not that badly priced. Maybe the German ones have been worked in more?
5point9straight6
Regular
- Location
- Deep River
I did not order German belts specifically. I think I just got lucky to have a number of ex-German belts in amongst the Yugo copies.
Nice! Wow you guys are getting me so damn excited for my mg34, I have been researching reloading and looking into different bullet/powder combos. The hotter the better right? What Reloading presses do you guys use? There are a few instock Lee Precision 50th Anniversary Reloading Kits at the gunshop that I go through, are these any good?
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I bought one last summer. One round then a horrific jam.
I tinkered with it. Now it runs non stop even with a belt of mixed surplus. Has eaten any ammo I've put in it. Not had a single issue since not caused by the operator. Just takes some time and money.
Yoy really just need to gain an in depth understanding of how the gun works, then make sure every operation happens at the right time in the right way. Then It's got no choice.
I tinkered with it. Now it runs non stop even with a belt of mixed surplus. Has eaten any ammo I've put in it. Not had a single issue since not caused by the operator. Just takes some time and money.
Yoy really just need to gain an in depth understanding of how the gun works, then make sure every operation happens at the right time in the right way. Then It's got no choice.
if anyone has belt fed questions im your man, id be happy to assist ive owned several including the mg34's in which the mg34 is my specialty (i get them running flawless)
had created improved reliability and smoother lighter trigger pull also I repair firearms for a living pms only please
(i get them running flawless)had created improved reliability and smoother lighter trigger pull also I repair firearms for a living pms only please
if anyone has belt fed questions im your man, id be happy to assist ive owned several including the mg34's in which the mg34 is my specialty
had created improved reliability and smoother lighter trigger pull also I repair firearms for a living pms only please
I've seen Airborneboi69 at the range with an mg34 and yup, all i can say is that he knows his way around them!
if anyone has belt fed questions im your man, id be happy to assist ive owned several including the mg34's in which the mg34 is my specialty
had created improved reliability and smoother lighter trigger pull also I repair firearms for a living pms only please
You're back!!! Great to hear.
in terms of the mg34
the biggest issues most complain of are:
gun jamming
heavy trigger pull.
in terms of jamming we're talking largely about failure to eject.
the mg34 utilizes an ejection system known as an ejector stud that is free floating inside the bolt. As the bolt travels rearward the stud contacts the ejector plate causing the stud to protrude from the face of the bolt and contact the edge of the cartridge thus ejecting it. often times in rush the company fails to fit these to parts to one another correctly. either the plate has not enough wear(stud jams) or too much wear stud fails to protrude at correct ejector timing.
i had developed specific methods to solve the issues and as a result i created a very reliable system for the mg34
one part in which is pending an intellectual property patent, the other is a system I developed to encounter various kinds of ammunition (surplus hard primers, or commercial soft primers)
im a weapons technician with 10 years experience in the canadian armed forces also as a combat armed soldier with deployments to Germany and a combat mission in southern Afghanistan
and i'm a private hobbyist gunsmith with plenty of experience in the milsurp/ foreign weapon/ belt fed (belt fed is my specialty)world working towards my dream of a full time business someday if anyone has questions or is feeling bummed about their guns not operating optimumly I can gladly direct you via PM and Phone calls for now
thanks
arte et marte
the biggest issues most complain of are:
gun jamming
heavy trigger pull.
in terms of jamming we're talking largely about failure to eject.
the mg34 utilizes an ejection system known as an ejector stud that is free floating inside the bolt. As the bolt travels rearward the stud contacts the ejector plate causing the stud to protrude from the face of the bolt and contact the edge of the cartridge thus ejecting it. often times in rush the company fails to fit these to parts to one another correctly. either the plate has not enough wear(stud jams) or too much wear stud fails to protrude at correct ejector timing.
i had developed specific methods to solve the issues and as a result i created a very reliable system for the mg34
one part in which is pending an intellectual property patent, the other is a system I developed to encounter various kinds of ammunition (surplus hard primers, or commercial soft primers)
im a weapons technician with 10 years experience in the canadian armed forces also as a combat armed soldier with deployments to Germany and a combat mission in southern Afghanistan
and i'm a private hobbyist gunsmith with plenty of experience in the milsurp/ foreign weapon/ belt fed (belt fed is my specialty)world working towards my dream of a full time business someday if anyone has questions or is feeling bummed about their guns not operating optimumly I can gladly direct you via PM and Phone calls for now
thanks
arte et marte
