Top Cover Problems - Belt pull issues

TonyRumore · Post by **TonyRumore** » Sun Dec 11, 2005 7:03 pm

I ran the 42 again today, and it ran decent, but the belt had to be hand fed into the gun. It could not pull the belt even a few inches straight up without it backing up and failing to advance the belt. The M53 top cover is new with no wear on anything. After I got back to the shop, I played with the top cover and noticed that the springs on the feed pawls seemed very weak compared to my other belt guns. On the two independent outboard pawls, one spring was a bit weak, but the rearward one was completely soft, like a ball point pen spring.

I don't know anything about the 42, but with my history of working with other belt fed MG's that just doesn't seem right to me. I timed the gun and it was running at 900rpm.

Any thoughts here, before I replace all the springs in there with some heavier units?

Tony Rumore
Tromix Corp
http://www.tromix.com

Post by **JBaum** » Sun Dec 11, 2005 7:25 pm

Sounds to me like you've diagnosed the problem. I use a light grease on my feed lever, and have the pawls well oiled, but the MG42 is known for its ability to pick up the belt, so about all that leaves is the pawls.. The pawl springs need to be stiff, and they're cheap to replace, so go wth that first.

Post by **TOM R** » Sun Dec 11, 2005 7:34 pm

jbaum sells manuals for the mg42 and the tripods

this is something else to take note of, you need to oil the belts when ammo is loaded into them

Post by **88comm** » Sun Dec 11, 2005 10:40 pm

Tom - How about a sticky with a list of "I must remember this before shooting" stuff? That one you just mentioned I would have completely missed if I hadn't been reading this post. It sounds important. Do we also lube the piston in the muzzle assembly? Generally lube everything? light oil?

Post by **TOM R** » Mon Dec 12, 2005 10:35 am

yup oil all of it, i never thought to lube belts before so i am gonna start to lube links for the 1919 also

Post by **gunslingerdoc** » Mon Dec 12, 2005 12:34 pm

Tony,

Remember that 'new' with these kits can be a very relative thing. Also if youre shooting 308 it gets really bad since lots of kits have a mix of 308 and 8mm parts. I think your on the right track with the springs I's also check for wear in the feed mech in general.

Eventhough your using a yugo kit its not uncommon to find german parts. If you can find a NOS top cover (brpguns.com) or if using 308 get a new MG1 top cover from RobertRTG.com.

Post by **JBaum** » Mon Dec 12, 2005 10:51 pm

It says in the manuals to lightly oil the insides of the belt pockets. I've seen guys spray the loaded belts down with WD 40, but I can't reommend that. I've never needed to do it. The Germans even recommended dipping the belts in paraffin for lubrication. Also, shooting .308 in tight 8mm belts may be too stiff for there to be adequate energy left over for belt feeding.

Since this is likely a mix and match for parts, checking the booster nozzle size would be a good idea too. If it's for 8mm instead of .308, the recoil will be reduced, and may drain enough power away from the recoil that it doesn't have enough ass left over to pull up the belt. Check the overall length of the recoil spring to make sure it's long enough. A weak spring will cause problems too.

Thanks for the plug for the manuals Tom. Sounds like a few manuals will answer a lot of these types of questions. The information in hte manuals is almost like free when compared to the cost of the guns. I'd suggest HDV 216/6 and HDV 241. Since the gun is already together PDV 918 wouldn't be the best choice.

Post by **TOM R** » Mon Dec 12, 2005 10:57 pm

NO PROBLEMO BAUM, I need to get around to gettin a ww2 lafeyette 42 manual off you for the new pod

Post by **JBaum** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 11:26 pm

I'd love to find an MG42 Lafette manual... the only thing I've found is for the MG34, although the only difference is the gun mount itself. The mount for the MG34 is much more complicated, but everything else is the same, so the manual easily works for the MG42 mount.

If anyone out there knows of an MG42 Lafette manual, please contact me.