Tips for the new 1919 owner.

[BigMac]

First thing to know is more oil is better. I use 30wt. No kidding 30wt.
I recomend running it wet untill the internals polish themselves in.

If your new 1919 isn't feeding and you have a trunion protector on, take it off. Break in the gun for a while before you add stuff to make feeding harder.

You links have a smooth side and a rough side. If your gun does not like to feed with two loops in first, try running the belt backwards.

Go over to 1919a4.com and read how to headspace your gun. After you have read it, read it again. You do not need a heaspace guage to headspace a 1919. I ran mine as tight as I could backing it out one click at a time past full lockup till the gun ran smooth.

The little spring that holds the notch in your barrel can be rounded off to make headspacing your gun ALOT easier. Search for .30-06 headspace spring.You can find a pic of the difference over on the headspace directions as well.



Make sure your belts are feeding freely.
Does the belt feed in strait?
Your 1919 has two feed pawls. They are the little spring loaded belt grabbers with the serrated ends. These need to be able to hold the belt but MUST allow the belt to freely pass through it. Allied has a history of this being on the tight side.
If your feed pawls are finemake sure there are no signs of brass rubbing in the feedway.


Last and most important... go to 1919a4.com and spend an eavning reading about your gun. If you do not make sure your gun is setup properly you may have to have brass chunks removed from your ***.
I am not kidding! Not setting up your 1919 properly is dangerouse.

Have Fun!

[m24armorer]

One small point.

If your sear or disconnector is having problems........

NEVER and I mean NEVER! remove the backplate and look inside the receiver unless the drive spring and rod are removed. Sometimes they have a mind of their own and will back out because of spring tension.

The autos are timed by bending the trigger, I learned the hard way. My surgeon was a full bird and he made me a deal. If my temp did not go over 100 he would not cut a quarter size hole in the side of my head.

You would really be suprised how the rod can go thru a pair of safety glasses.


Thats why my friends call me Cyclops.

[bohoki]

One small point.

If your sear or disconnector is having problems........


Thats why my friends call me Cyclops.

hmm i never was brave enough to ask "one eyed jack" how it happened

[m24armorer]

He is a good friend and I won't tell you either.

But my god, his prices....

[gunsnrovers]

I check head space outside the gun, so I kept the Israeli spring. I think it retains the barrel better.

On the 1919a4.com tutorials, I couldn't get them to open properly in Firefox, but they work fine in IE and Safari.

[1919_4_ME]

Also another avenue is.

*Izzy Spring Fix Mod
*1919 Headspacing 101

http://www.beltfedshooters.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=21

Lots of pics.

[saki302]

I thought the autos were timed by adjusting the philips screw (set by a nut) which adjusts how far the trigger goes up, not by bending it (my uncle had a Class 3 full auto 1919 (DLO?) which he sold last year after deciding to keep his M60).

I am not a believer in the wet-with-lube theory.
If the Israelis ran their 1919s wet with lube, you'd have a small sandcastle instead of a functional gun. I am a big fan of grease, applied where it counts.

I've helped a few guys set headspace using cartridges, and never had a problem with this method. I have seen ruptured cases from setting it with the tool, so I never trusted the tools ever since.

-Dave

[BigMac]

I agree about the headspace tool.

Have you seen the lub can issued for 1919? They were not fielding grease, although it will work.

I like high speed whell bearing grease on the bearings. It makes LOTS of smoke

[gunsnrovers]

I believe the shroud is soldered as well.

[knucklehead 61]

i used a hand impact wrench (the type you hold & hit with a BFH) and the screw came right out of my izzy parts kit shroud.

[NRAhighpowershooter]

My only problem is a feeding problem.. I have tried it without the trunion protector as well as with it and the same problem( I have also tried cloth and metal links with same results).. I can fire one or two or even three rounds then 'click' The gun ejects the empties but fails to advance the belt. It does recock the firing pin though, so I know that the bolt is retracting enough. I DO notice that the uppper feed pawl doesn't extend out as far when it doen't feed.. I'm thinking that it might be my ammo.....Im using my handloads that are a tad slower than average.. My loads are running about 2580fps average. I'm going to try some good GI M80 I have sitting around on Friday and see if it might be my ammo. It functions perfectly in al my M1A's, which is what I had originally had loaded the ammo for... I hope it's not the ammo as I have over 10K loaded up.

[1919A4]

Ya, Bigmac knows his 1919. He taught me on the headspacing. As for links. All I ever had was 30-06 links. Was able to run 308 and 8mm without any issues ever. Smooth side down.
ALSO, dont ever shoot romanian 8mm in the rain unless you clean it on the spot. By the time I got home 3 hours later my I had corrosion/rust everywhere on the shroud and barrel. It actually pitted the outside of the barrel bearing.

[NRAhighpowershooter]

Ok.. tried to run GI M80 Ball through my AA 1919A4... same as my handloads... 1,2,or 3 shots then 'click' firing pin drops on empty chamber....The upper pawl does come out to grab the belt.. but it doesn't advance.. so... could this mean a weak spring on the upper pawl or weak springs on the lower pawl.. or could both pawls have weak springs?

[NRAhighpowershooter]

OK.. NOW I'm guilty of necro posting my 1919 is fixed.. my feeding problem was the extractor!! is was worn and not pulling the rounds out of the links or belt consistantly... I installed a new extractor from Ohio Ordnance and that did the trick!!! I is a happy camper now!!!! in the last 2 weeks I have burned through 800rnds of my 308 loads

[gunsnrovers]

Great news.