FG42 First Range Trip

After several years of sitting on the fence, I recently picked up an FG42 made by Smith Manufacturing Group out of Decatur, Texas.



I had been following the development of these rifles since the beginning and had also been carefully scrutinizing owner feedback. Unfortunately, most guys seem to post very little information other than pictures. In fact I suspect that, given the FG42's price tag, very few of these see any range time at all. However, judging by SMG's reputation and their exhaustive testing of the rifle, I think that these are good to go. Hell, they spent more time testing and refining this reproduction than the Germans spent on the original. If anything, I figure that the SMG product is better than an original. If they are not, my typical "testing" procedures will tell the tale in time. So, I finally bit the bullet and bought one when the proper opportunity presented itself. After getting it home and reading through the manual as well as watching the included instructional video, it was time for a range trip. Before each rifle leaves the shop, it is mated to two magazines that function correctly with it and they are numbered to the rifle. This is important because the magazines that fit this rifle are generally 70+ years old and could potentially not work properly. When the magazines were made pre WWII, mating them to their rifle was standard practice. Anywho, I have 6 additional magazines and I took three of them along with the two numbered ones to the range. The rifle was already sighted in by SMG, so I fired five shots at 100 yards using one of the numbered mags, was satisfied with the results and then proceeded to fire the other 15. Cocking the rifle is an absolute bear. I assume that it will loosen up over time but it is always going to be something of a chore. That is simply an artifact of the design. Function was flawless Using Portugese FNM non corrosive manufactured in 1961. Here are the results:



Four of the first five rounds are circled in the white and the fifth is in the black directly below the empty casing. I was aiming at the 6 0'clock position. The remaining 15 rounds were aimed at the center of the target/ The rear sight is an aperture and the front is a hooded post. Their size and the resulting sight picture makes them excellent for precise aiming. So why is the group so bad? Part of it is the fact that it is my first time out with this rifle. Part of it is the fact that I'm a terrible shot. Part of it is the trigger mechanism. It doesn't exactly allow for a precise pull. Unfortunately, that is an artifact of the design but not a concern as I knew what to expect going in. To quote the SMG website:

"The trigger pull issue HAS been improved with the newly modified sear – that will come in all new FG42 rifles. It reduces the overall length of pull about 30% and smooths it up a LOT! Instead of the loong rough pull there is now a shorter smooth pull to a crisp let off. No, it is not AR15 quality – and never will be – it is a huge improvement. So much so that it is considered a no cost upgrade on all the rifles already sold – whether it is still in warranty or not!"

I believe that mine has the modified sear and I will adapt to it in time.

The FG42 is known for mangling empty cases and mine is no exception. Notice that two dents is common:



The necks can get pretty bent up too as evidenced the two on the right:



I took 100 rounds with me with the goal of sighting in the rifle and checking reliable function for 5 of my 8 magazines. I also wanted to sight in the Meopta ZF4 scope that came with it. So, after the first magazine, I moved down to the 25 yard line to get the scope on paper using numbered magazine two. Easy peezy. After a few rounds it was time to move back to 100 yards for final adjustments. That's when things started to go awry. I'm not going to bother posting the targets obtained with the scope because I had a wandering zero problem. I believe that the problem is with the mounts but I can't say for sure yet. I have plenty of experience with these scopes so I believe that it is good to go. The problem seems to be that the rings cannot be tightened down enough to grasp the scope firmly enough. So, it moved under fire. Too bad too because early results were promising. I need to mess with it some more and I'm thinking about contacting Estes Adams about a better mount design. At least I could continue to test magazines. Second numbered mag....flawless. First unnumbered mag....flawless. Second unnumbered mag....follower was sticking and will need some fitting. Third unnumbered mag did not lock in properly and would work its way loose under recoil after two rounds. In fact, it caused a jam. I couldn't pull the cocking handle back. Rick at SMG recommends that you use inertia by banging the stock on the wood bench but I didn't want to do that and needlessly dent up the wood ribs on the butt stock. So I remove the stock and bang down on the buffer. Too springy so I take off the buffer, remove the recoil spring and bang down on the rear of the receiver. The bolt starts to open but stops. Bang some more....bad idea. You see, the recoil spring is held in by the buffer and the cocking handle is held in by a plunger that is pushed on by the recoil spring. So, the cocking handle had started to fall out and promptly began to dig its way into the forearm. Once I pushed the cocking handle back forward and removed it, the bolt opened easily with minimal banging. Here is the result:





Pretty isn't it? Stupid is expensive. Anyway, the jam cleared. The forearm cannot be replaced without removing the muzzle brake adapter, front sight, gas block retainer nut and gas block. In other words, it's staying as is. I just rubbed some dirty cleaning solvent into the area and darkened up the gouges nicely. It's going to get marked up anyways so why not start immediately right?

So, that's the first of many range trips with the FG42. I have a few more magazines to test and some dirt/water/rotting leaves/other assorted funk tests to perform so I expect to get some more "beauty" marks but that will only contribute to a nice patina....I'm not big on shiny and perfect looking firearms anyways. My overall first impression of the rifle is very positive. The build quality is on par with my SIG 510 and it seems to function just fine with properly fitting and function magazines. I believe that SMG has done as well as can be done given the original design of the mechanism. Any faults with the trigger, hard initial pull when cocking or difficulty in clearing jams is inherent to the original design and not to anything done or not done by SMG.
Eventually, I'm going to do an in depth essay on this rifle simply because so few are out there and there is so little detailed information available online. But for now, I'm just going to enjoy learning it and roughing it up a little bit.

Thanks for that report Wil, Estes mounts can be a PITA to fit but once mounted correctly they are GTG.

Good luck with your new FG.

HDH.

I really want one of these too, your report is excellent. I know you will put it through the paces harder than most.

Like you I'm not all about having minty condition repro rifles. My PTR44 looks the part of a battle worn 45 dated original.

Good man Farb!

HDH, I'm in the process of contacting Mr. Adams about a modified one piece mount. I have just got to have a mount that goes on and off easily and retains zero. Just looking good is nowhere near good enough. It has to function as well as the mount on an HK or my SIG or it goes in the garbage. Do your rings slide on and off your receiver rail easily and hold zero perfectly after repeated removal and reinstallation? Maybe I'm missing something.....I am pretty dim you know.

fg42 at the range

My new FG42 arrived lastr Monday, I had it on the range Thursday. It appears to have the new trigger/sear on board as it clicks when pulled not cocked. My earlier serialed rifle would not do that. Any way I sighted in my original ZF4 ddx scope with an estes mount and it zeroed after some rounds and is hitting the black at 100 yards. I still have to work on the iron sights as I moved them after shooting at 50 yards. My bad , as the sights need to be readjusted for 100 yards all over again. Windage is dead on and groups at fifty were great. I tried Yugo, e. german, and Canadian military. All shot the same. The commercial ammo 8mm that I have has round noses and would hang up in the action because of the soft lead tips. This ammo was good for cleaning all the crud built up with the military ammo used prior. Everything cleaned up beautifully. My worst experience with the rifle was when a one inch by 1/2 inch piece of the numbered magazines follower broke off and then tipped the follower into the action locking it up with a spent round lodged half way out of the ejection port.The neck of the spent round was split down the middle by the front part of the ejection port. No damage to rifle but I had a time getting everything out of the rifle action. The follower is destroyed for usage but no other damage was done to the magazine.All in all a great bit of fun and looking forward to playing with it again real soon.OH yeah the cocking handle is a bear to play with especially after about three hundred rounds through the rifle.

Looks like a really cool rifle. What do they cost?

$4995 and you have to be put on a waiting list. I've heard the wait is anywhere from 9 months to a year plus. SMG puts them on Gunbroker every once in awhile. If you search completed auctions, you'll see one sold north of $6k.

Thanks for the great write up. I was actually lurking their site the other day and was trying to figure out a way to get the $$$$ together for one. I also noticed they had an update for the type 1 that they will eventually be making....!

Wilhelm said:

Good man Farb!

HDH, I'm in the process of contacting Mr. Adams about a modified one piece mount. I have just got to have a mount that goes on and off easily and retains zero. Just looking good is nowhere near good enough. It has to function as well as the mount on an HK or my SIG or it goes in the garbage. Do your rings slide on and off your receiver rail easily and hold zero perfectly after repeated removal and reinstallation? Maybe I'm missing something.....I am pretty dim you know.

Click to expand...

That mount was a PITA to mount, I just leave it on and use the scope for all my shooting. I had it off once to send the Rifle back to Rick for some mod's. it went back on never to come off again. lol (as long as I own it)

I know your Guns are all shooters, I divide my stuff up into to different groups, shooters and collectibles. The collectibles get very little range time. (if at all)
The PTR44/ FG42 (Smith Group) fall somewhere in between. No way would I beat up a 5K rifle like that but different strokes for different folks.

Anyway it will be good to see you put it through to ringer as I won't lol

HDH.

I won't be throwing it like javelin style, or throwing it off two story houses like I do my VZ58 and AK's but it will be well tested, I assure you.

As for the mount, I just finished corresponding with Mr. Adams. His customer service is beyond compare. Unfortunately, he no longer makes the swallowtail mounts but he is going to hand fit my scope to my rings. He even offered to refund the cost of the rings even though I didn't buy them directly from him but, of course, I would never take him up on that offer. He is a true gentleman I tell you. So, I should soon be able to post some scoped results too. As an example of how good his products are, here's an addendum I wrote to one of my online essays about his SIG mount:







Time to update to this post. Mr. Adams was kind enough to make a scope mount for me a couple of months ago. He only produces these in small batches so there was some wait time but the end result was well worth the wait. The box was well packed with bubble wrap and the mount was inside a small box with the tools and scope mounting screws in a bag taped to the lid:



Opening the box revealed the anodized aluminum mount. I opted for the one set up for a stanag mount but regular rings could be attached if desired:



Here's the mount unboxed:



While the main body is aluminum, pretty much everything attached to it is made of steel to ensure maximum durability. On the right are the screws used to attach the scope. The rod in the center of the picture is inserted through the holes seen in the locking bar coming out the back of the mount and used to adjust the fit to your rifle. The hex wrench is an off the shelf tool the Mr. Adams has modified so that you can get in between the hex screws and the mount base to tighten your scope down. The finish looks spotty in the picture but that is just oil. The finish is excellent and even throughout.

Here's a top view of the mount:


The three punch marks seen on each scope mount point are put there in order to keep track of which parts go to which base. Every part is hand fitted to each base to ensure maximum Quality.

Here is the rear of the mount showing the locking bar that fits into the hole at the front of the rear sight on the rifle:


The lever on the left side of the mount moves an internal cam which pushes the locking bar out of the base and into the mounting hole on the rear sight on the rifle. The adjustment holes can clearly be seen. The internally threaded locking bar is adjusted in or out until the lever locks the mount on the rifle snugly. The idea is to have it adjusted so that enough pressure is required on the cam lever to keep the mount from working itself free under recoil. However, you do not want it adjusted so that undue force is required to lock the lever in place because this will quickly destroy the locking mechanism.

Here is the front of the mount:



Front right side of mount:


The rectangle seen at the lower front is made of steel and is the front attachment point. I'll explain that as we look at the bottom of the mount which is seen here:



Front is to the left. Here we see three allen screws which hold the steel front attachment to the base. The tab on the attachment point slides under the tab welded to the receiver on the rifle. This attachment also straddles the tab on the receiver and keeps the mount from moving from side to side on the receiver. It is a VERY precise fit and is required to ensure zero is retained regardless of how many times the mount is removed or reinstalled on the rifle. In the middle, we can see the cam mechanism. The steel block itself does not move, only the cam rotates within it. Sticking out the back of the block is the front of the locking bar. It has flat sides so that it can move back and forth in the slot cut into the block but it cannot rotate. The rear portion of the locking bar threads over the front portion. The spring is captured between the mount base and the rear portion of the locking bar. This is constantly trying to push the locking bar out the back of the base. Notice that almost every part has the three identifying punch marks discussed earlier. That pretty much covers the basics I think.

To install mount on rifle:

1. Ensure that the cam lever is resting on front stop pin and mount assembly is parallel with top of rifle receiver.

2. Tilt rear of mount down, insert locking bar into hole on rear sight of rifle and push to the rear.

3. Lower front of mount down over tab on receiver and release mount. The internal spring will force the mount forward and hold it in place.

4. Rotate cam lever clockwise until it contacts rear stop pin.

To remove:

1. Rotate cam lever counterclockwise until it contacts front stop pin.

2. Pull mount to rear thus disengaging front mounting tab and lift front of mount.

3. Pull mount forward and away from rear sight.

If cam lever is loose when mount is installed on rifle, insert adjustment rod into a hole in locking bar and turn counterclockwise until desired tension on cam lever is achieved.

If cam lever will not fully rotate to engage rear stop pin or undue force is required to do so when mount is installed on rifle, insert adjustment rod into hole in locking bar and turn clockwise until desired tension on cam lever is achieved.


That pretty much covers it. I cannot say enough good things about this product. It is equal in Quality to the rifle it is intended for and Mr. Adams was very responsive to any questions I had during the ordering process as well as those about the product itself. The only complaint I have is that the irons cannot be used with the mount in place. Similar to an HK, here are holes in the mount to accommodate the use of the rifle sights but the allen screws used hold the scope to the mount hang down and partially block the line of sight. Screws with shorter heads would solve this problem but I don't know if that would affect how well they would hold up while torqueing them down. I'm no machinist so I can't say. The price is right too. While an original Swiss made mount can easily cost you several thousand dollars, Mr. Adams can be had for under $400. If I remember correctly, the total bill for the mount, a front sight adjustment tool and a min/max bolt gap feeler gauge set was right around $370 shipped. I would have paid a lot more and been happy to do it. Thank you Mr. Adams!

Now for a couple of shots with a Zeiss ZF51 NV scope attached. It wasn't really made for this rifle and the eye relief is a bit awkward but it would work in a pinch.









If you care to read the whole essay, here's a link:

http://www.falfiles.com/forums/showthread.php?t=367119

Great write up and pics, thanks!

You probably already know this, but there's a ridge on the Zf-4 mount that mates up to a groove on the scope. If these are aligned the scope should not move under recoil. At least, mine have not.

Keep us posted!

I saw this intial write up over at ak forums and drooled like may here, thanks for posting it here

You are welcome. I'm currently working on one of my "in detail" write-ups about this rifle.