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I have completed assembling Pirate's FAL FCG design and find that the unmodified hammer is too high when cocked. The bolt hook on the charging handle won't clear the hammer and the bolt binds on the hammer. It appears that so much will have to be ground off the face of the hammer that there won't be much left. Has anyone else who is using this design had a problem with this?

you have to cut the charging handle. you must have placed the hammer too far up in the gripstick

I will look at cutting the charging handle - I don't think that would eliminate the problem with the bolt but would certainly mitigate it. A little grinding after that might allow the bolt to clear.

The spur on the top of the hammer needs to be ground off.

Guys:

Sorry, but I have been busy. removing the spur and shaping the hammer was just the key. I also had to narrow the hammer a little to get the charging handle to clear after I cut it down - this board is great!!! Now, off to the range!

im having a similar problem. Pirate proided me the entire assembled gripstick. Ive modified the charging handle. I polished the bottom of the bolt smooth. I polished and shaped the hammer It looks exactly like what pirate shows to do.
It wont always strip the round when I let the charging handle fly forward. The bolt seems to be getting hung up on the hammer, and in fact must be hit with a mallet when i need to remove it
I dont see how much more I can take off the hammer to make it work though
??????

Is the new cocking stud piece of metal that was welded onto the bolt carrier for charging hitting the FCG? Check and see if it is hitting the hammer or even the grip housing.

haseo8up wrote:Is the new cocking stud piece of metal that was welded onto the bolt carrier for charging hitting the FCG? Check and see if it is hitting the hammer or even the grip housing.

check and see it is not too long and rubbing on the bottom of the receiver.

RE checking bottom tab: I did... no problem there,
It just wont cycle with a belt in, but cocks and releases smoothly when the belt is not there. It just sits there halfway home with the round halfway out of the belt
Also, when cycling the bolt by hand, besides not stripping the round, half the time, it wont eject it although it will extract it
...return spring?

Is this during test fire or with dummy rounds? Trying to figure it out so you can get this resolved and enjoying the build.

will the bolt slide freely without the grip stick installed?

Re: testfiring, or dummy rounds, with either, it will not srip the first round from the belt. Once firing, the problem seem to be ejecting the spent cartridge (even when I slam the bolt back manually into the buffer). I cleaned and replace the ejector, but to no avail.

Re: movement of bolt without gripstick: bolt moves beautifully without gripstick.

Thanks guys, ask all the questions you want Im greatful for the help!
thanks
John

what ejector actuator (spoon) are you using?

did you remember to drill a hole in the end of the buffer bolt to clear the FP?

I think your recoil spring is still to long and has a lot of strong pressure. Reason I say is, if it is still long, and you may already know this, it is not hitting the buffer correctly to eject. Even once it is fired, it still retains a lot of strength compressed causeing a short cycle where the bolt is not going completely back, thus not stripping the round from the belt. Your bolt may be going back just far enough to pick up the new round, but still does not have the momentum to complete the cycle.

That is of course, if everything in the reciever is not binding at all. (bolt against the FCG)

I had that similar problem, I cut a spring to the same coil number I had working in another semi. After using the fresh cut one, I had those problems. Come to find out, one spring had a thinner gage wire and the other was thicker gage wire in the spring. Major difference in compression. I swapped the spring that worked in and it cycled great with no problems. Each spring is different in these guns and should be trimmed to the spring itself.

Just double check that the bolt is not hitting the FCG, and the feedtray. If you get a chance at the range, try loading one single round in the chamber and fire it to see if it completely cycles then with no belt in for function. If it does, great, if not, the spring is still to long and needs more trimming.

let us know of the results.

before I go to the range,:
is cycling the action by hand a fair estimate?
can a spring thats too long prevent the feed pawls from grabbing a new round?
has anyone tried opening their belts a little to accomodate the reduced spring pressure?
also, has anyone tried extending the buffer?

ADDENDUM:
guys im getting a bit nervous...im down to 15 coils and still have to really slam the bolt into the buffer for positive ejection (I think i pulled my shoulder )

tomcatshaas wrote:what ejector actuator (spoon) are you using?

did you remember to drill a hole in the end of the buffer bolt to clear the FP?

can you answer these questions...I know they might be simple or redundant...but we need a starting point.

Lets work on one problem at a time.

Pic's would be nice of your bolt and buffer out of the weapon.

See the end of this post for a guide.

http://www.panzer46.net/mg42board/viewt ... 6&start=30

This is not easy trying to troubleshoot something like this over the net.

here is the link to the pics of the parts alone, ill have to wait till this afternoon to get pics of the pieces laying together
NOTE: the spring is shown BEFORE I cut some more links out last night

Im using the OLD STYLE SPOON.

The buffer has a hollow center so the FP is clearing it

Is it possible to extend the legnth of the buffer by turning the lbig black screw in the middle, I think that the bolt extension may be bottoming out before the ejector is engaged



http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welc ... wA&notag=1

...waiting on the camera ownwer to come home for more pics
tried the gun again...boy that spring is WEAK!... I think i may have taken too much off
also, it seems that a good part of my problem is that the ejector spoon is 1-1.5mm too short to fully engage the ejector
Any opinions on putting a dab of weld on the (large) end of the ejector pin to lengthen it ?

would this extension tube solve my problems...anyone else try the "full length spring conversion?"

http://panzer46.net/mg42board/viewtopic ... c&start=15


John