Yesterday, I took the FG42 out to the range again. My plan was to shoot 100 rounds. Prior to heading out, I did the following:
1. Set the gas regulator to the low gas setting.
2. Greased the locking lugs with Swiss Automatenfett.
3. Greased the cam slot on the bolt with same.
4. Packed the two magazines numbered to the rifle.
5. Packed 40 rounds of Romanian surplus dated 1973 and 60 rounds of Portuguese surplus (10rds. 1959, 30rds. 1961 and 20rds. 1973).
I am pleased to report that the rifle itself functioned flawlessly. I wasn't pounding the rounds through it but I was shooting fast enough that I had a decent mirage going on when looking through the scope. I took the muzzle brake off for about ten rounds and there is quite a noticeable difference in recoil with it off. I still can't report on accuracy because I was getting different POI because of the various ammunition I took along. I can tell you that accuracy so far is on par with a good SKS. A better trigger would help but familiarity with the rifle should improve the groups too. Charging effort was the same whether the rifle was cold or hot and whether there was a round in the chamber or not. I think we're making progress. Another 500-600 rounds like this and I'll call it good.
Now for the bad. At round 90, a part fell off on the table. It turned out to be the band screw from the front mount. I checked the rear one and its screw was ready to fall out. 8mm recoil really puts things to the test. The scope seems to still be tight in the bands but that's probably because the locking levers are holding everything tight. If I were to loosen them, I believe that I'd have a mess. So, I discontinued shooting the FG for the day and headed home. Now I need to contact Mr. Adams and ask for advice about how to proceed; I'm thinking locktite......
Here is a random sampling of casings with three steel ones on the right and three brass ones on the left:
Not nearly as beat up as before.
And the necks on those same casings:
Prior to cleaning, I took a few pictures to show the surprisingly low funk level at 90 rounds. Here we have the:
Gas plug:
Gas block and front of the hand guard:
Muzzle brake:
and gas piston:
Next are a couple pictures of the greased areas prior to cleaning.
One of the locking lugs:
The cam slot and other locking lug:
Cleaning this rifle is pretty easy because residue seems to stay confined to a few small areas. I had taken an HK along with me too (I pretty much ALWAYS take an HK too!) and I'm used to the mess they make so this thing is positively tidy compared to them. With nothing more than on old toothbrush and a little Hoppes #9, everything was done in no time.
Here's the gas plug post cleaning:
And the piston:
Everything else (other than the barrel of course and the trunnion) needed nothing more than a wipe with a rag and a little solvent. Getting into the trunnion area is a bit of a chore since it's so deep in there and protected by knife sharp edges if you try to go in through the ejection port and, to a lesser extent, through the magazine well. It quickly teaches you to use a toothbrush or get nasty cuts on your fingers!
While wiping down the trigger group, a part fell off. It turned out to be the knob from the safety which had unthreaded itself from the detent! What the hell?? Well, since it was already partially apart, I figured I'd take the safety out of the trigger housing and get a picture of what the safety looks like disassembled:
As I said earlier, the 8mm round really puts components to the test. Things WILL disassemble themselves if they aren't properly fastened together. So I put the safety back together.
Here's the knob screwed back in place on the detent:
And here's what it looks like after I staked it in place:
Note to SMG......you might want to consider doing that or at least locktite it.
Okiedokie. While it's all clean and dry, let's take a look at some wear marks with approximately 210 rounds through the rifle. I'm posting these so that you know what to expect as you shoot the rifle and it starts to wear in. I assume they are normal even though I personally am not normal.....
Lets start with the tip of the firing pin:
It kind of looks like a Polaris missile doesn't it?
The rest of the firing pin showing marks from interaction with the yoke and the inside of the bolt:
The firing spring guide:
The right rear of the yoke:
Yep, that's a divot wearing in there. SMG says it's normal so don't wig out when this happens.
The front left of the yoke:
That's NOT a crack. It's just scratches in the bluing.
Bolt lugs:
These next two are interesting. They show wear marks behind the lugs on the body of the bolt. I believe this to be from minimal clearance between the bolt and the trunnion and it helps explain (in my mind anyways) why these rifles are prone to locking up if they are run dry:
That's not a complaint, just an observation. I've been contacted by several owners now and they have experienced the "FG42 lockup" as well so this isn't just my rifle. SMG says in their instructional video that these rifles seem to run better and better the more you shoot them and I have no reason to doubt their claim. The wear marks shown above seem to be proof of that. So my advice is.....slap some grease on there and run the hell out of it!!
Speaking of that, based on accumulated data so far, here's my recommendation so far for lubrication after cleaning:
1. A drop of good oil (I use Break Free) on the rear of the extractor.
2. A very little bit of grease on the firing pin where it contacts the inside of the bolt and where it contacts the yoke.
3. A very little bit of grease on the firing spring guide where it contacts the inside of the bolt.
4. A little more grease on the yoke where it contacts the cam slot in the bolt.
5. A little more grease in the rear of the bolt cam slot after the entire bolt group is assembled just before putting everything into the receiver.
6. A little more grease on the locking lugs paying attention to NOT smear it on their fronts (enough will work its way there in use) or on the bolt face.
As an example, let me show you what my lugs look like greased just before it all goes into the receiver:
SMG should give you some idea about proper lubrication procedures in their manual but they don't so learn form my problems, stupidity and experimentation. Admittedly, most of my problems come from my stupidity but not all of them. HAHA!! As for what grease to use, I'm using Swiss Automatenfett but any quality high temperature grease should work just fine I would think.
Okiedokie.....that's it for now. Eventually, I'll get this whole scope thing worked out and get some decent accuracy tests going on.