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Bcd G43 feeding issues

Hey guys, I'm having some feeding issues with my bcd. It's an old (1980s) .308w conversion that has recently been re barreled (.308 Walther L barrel), It also has a repro stock of which i don't know the brand, but it's Polish and quite a know brand here. It also has a shooters kit, using the smallest orifice. And a new extractor, trigger and all new wolf springs. The last owner told me the mag is original, but seeing that it shoots 308 now i'm not sure if that's still even relevant?

The receiver, bolt/housing and flaps are all matching.

I just use whatever ammo the range has to offer, could be PRIV could be S&B... But always premium ammo and never old/surplus. She can finish entire mags one time and choke on each round the next... But the main issue seems to be rounds either nosediving in the mag itself, OR slamming into the feed ramp. Also, sometimes the rounds nosedive all together when i refill the magazine? Like at one point they click into the mag nice and easy, but the other time they are all pointing slightly downwards and it's very hard to fix without simply emptying the mag by hand and trying again.

I'm HOPING it's something that can be fixed and not related to the gun simply not working well with the shorter .308 rounds.

Bad magazine/spring/follower?
The new stock needing some fine tuning?
Too small gas orifice for a .308?

It came with a broken Czech ZF4 which i managed to fix myself and i'm surprised at how accurate this rifle is! I really love shooting it and i hope this won't be a nightmarish fix. The last owner told me that he didn't have any issues with the old stock, but that one got severely damaged during a proofing mishap so even tho i still have that one, it's quite useless now.

Cheers
 
Hey guys, I'm having some feeding issues with my bcd. It's an old (1980s) .308w conversion that has recently been re barreled (.308 Walther L barrel), It also has a repro stock of which i don't know the brand, but it's Polish and quite a know brand here. It also has a shooters kit, using the smallest orifice. And a new extractor, trigger and all new wolf springs. The last owner told me the mag is original, but seeing that it shoots 308 now i'm not sure if that's still even relevant?

The receiver, bolt/housing and flaps are all matching.

I just use whatever ammo the range has to offer, could be PRIV could be S&B... But always premium ammo and never old/surplus. She can finish entire mags one time and choke on each round the next... But the main issue seems to be rounds either nosediving in the mag itself, OR slamming into the feed ramp. Also, sometimes the rounds nosedive all together when i refill the magazine? Like at one point they click into the mag nice and easy, but the other time they are all pointing slightly downwards and it's very hard to fix without simply emptying the mag by hand and trying again.

I'm HOPING it's something that can be fixed and not related to the gun simply not working well with the shorter .308 rounds.

Bad magazine/spring/follower?
The new stock needing some fine tuning?
Too small gas orifice for a .308?

It came with a broken Czech ZF4 which i managed to fix myself and i'm surprised at how accurate this rifle is! I really love shooting it and i hope this won't be a nightmarish fix. The last owner told me that he didn't have any issues with the old stock, but that one got severely damaged during a proofing mishap so even tho i still have that one, it's quite useless now.

Cheers

After you fill up the mag, tap it on a piece of wood (table etc.) with its back end where the guide rib for the follower is. That should align and settle your rounds inside the mag.

 
Well that would be a very simple fix... Next time on the range i'll try to do that every time between reloads, thanks!

On a side note tho, The last owner said it might be the new stock, but doesn't the magazine lock in to the receiver directly?
 
On a side note tho, The last owner said it might be the new stock, but doesn't the magazine lock in to the receiver directly?

Yes, the mag locks into the receiver but the cutout in the stock may be misaligned, pushing the magazine sideways.
 
Ok so i FINALLY got to shoot her again after a very busy period. I tried tapping the magazine and making sure all the rounds are aligned, but to no avail... It was actually pretty bad this time, almost every round misfed. It seems as if the nose of the round doesn't make it into the chamber and instead just slams into the side of the barrel causing the bullet to recede into the casing, but not so bad that the round becomes unsafe to shoot.

Usually i can just push the jammed round down with my index finger until the nose pops into the chamber, then the bolt moves forward about an inch and i just have to tap the charging handle slightly to fully chamber the round.
 
Ok so i FINALLY got to shoot her again after a very busy period. I tried tapping the magazine and making sure all the rounds are aligned, but to no avail... It was actually pretty bad this time, almost every round misfed. It seems as if the nose of the round doesn't make it into the chamber and instead just slams into the side of the barrel causing the bullet to recede into the casing, but not so bad that the round becomes unsafe to shoot.

Usually i can just push the jammed round down with my index finger until the nose pops into the chamber, then the bolt moves forward about an inch and i just have to tap the charging handle slightly to fully chamber the round.

I tried to replicate the problem you have with my AC 1944,which still has its original 8mm barrel.
It will feed the 308 no problem,won't chamber them of course,but they all line up with the feed ramps OK.
No tendency to "nosedive".
The spring in my magazine is quite strong,maybe yours has weakened over the years.
If the spring is OK I would try bending the front of the mag feed lips a little bit up so the bullets will line
up with the feed ramps better.
Let us know how it works,good luck.
Herman
 
I guess its the magazine baseplate tilting forward.
Had it too once. Disassembled, cleaned and problem was gone.
Stronger spring may be the solution. Do not stretch the old one.
 
Thanks guys, how would one know if the magazine spring is still OK? And if not, who makes a good replacement? I would also like to add that the bolt does not lock after the last round, don't know if this is common or might be related to the problem? It does lock back when i manually pull the bolt back on an empty magazine. But when removing said magazine the bolt also shoots forward again. I tried finding videos on youtube of people shooting and reloading the G43, but they all seem to use stripper clips since they only seem to own 1 magazine.

@Hellraiser: The magazine is still very clean inside, i have taken good care of her after each shooting session ;) But i will try to place a piece of wood under the spring and go shoot again today and see how that goes.

I remember seeing G43 mags for sale at conventions as a kid for around 100€, now i see them on ebay for over 300$... So i'll try the spring route before i start messing with the feed lips, i had an SMLE mag once that fed badly and messed with the lips to make it better but messed it up even more and just had to buy a new one.
 
I would also like to add that the bolt does not lock after the last round, don't know if this is common or might be related to the problem? It does lock back when i manually pull the bolt back on an empty magazine. But when removing said magazine the bolt also shoots forward again.

The rear end of the magazine follower pushes the bolt stop up after the last round. No mag = no bolt stop.
The bolt stop does not have a very strong spring. Sometimes the bolt stop rubs against the rear rib of the magazine and prevents it from functioning properly. I know your rifle has a new aftermarket stock. You should inspect the stock and make sure it is not interfering with the magazine. The only guide needed for the magazine is the cutout in the receiver and the cutout in the trigger guard. If it touches anything else: no good.
 
Ok i just got back from the range, shot 25 rounds with the piece of wood under the spring and i was actually able to empty a magazine or two (we can only put 5 rounds in our magazines according to the law) without a hickup. I'd say it failed to feed 3 or 4 times out of 25, so it's a lot better then yesterday. But yesterday was also one of the worst days i ever had with this rifle. I had days at the range without the piece of wood where she also didn't jam as much, so i'm still not too satisfied with the results. But at least it didn't feel like i was shooting a single shot rifle instead of a semi auto one!

The rear end of the magazine follower pushes the bolt stop up after the last round. No mag = no bolt stop.
The bolt stop does not have a very strong spring. Sometimes the bolt stop rubs against the rear rib of the magazine and prevents it from functioning properly. I know your rifle has a new aftermarket stock. You should inspect the stock and make sure it is not interfering with the magazine. The only guide needed for the magazine is the cutout in the receiver and the cutout in the trigger guard. If it touches anything else: no good.

I will take a look at this when i clean the rifle later tonight. Is there any way to make the bolt stop work again? It's not a big deal to me if it doesn't work, but this gun has had so much work done to it and parts replaced that the collectors value isn't too high anymore. So another new part or spring won't hurt that much anymore anyway.
 
Guess
A) Stock is too thick causing the magazine baseplate not fully actuating the bolt stop
B) Bolt carrier bent causing the bolt riding too high also not enabling the bolt stop fully actuating.
C) Bolt stop worn

My experience in feeding and reloading issues are mostly caused by the magazine.

Someone nearby has 2 G43's, will ask if he wants to get in touch and maybe you can exchange mags with him to try ;)
 
Guess
A) Stock is too thick causing the magazine baseplate not fully actuating the bolt stop
B) Bolt carrier bent causing the bolt riding too high also not enabling the bolt stop fully actuating.
C) Bolt stop worn

My experience in feeding and reloading issues are mostly caused by the magazine.

Someone nearby has 2 G43's, will ask if he wants to get in touch and maybe you can exchange mags with him to try ;)
A: I assume this would be the easiest fix. But how do i know if the stock is too thick? I have looked at the gap between the trigger guard and the receiver, but there is almost no gap, either it's a very small one or they are touching each other. I can provide pictures if needed.
B: I certainly hope not, Sounds like an expensive fix. I could do some measurements tho.
C: It looks okay to me, i can manually push it up with my finger and when i do that it can actually hold to bolt open without a magazine inserted. Yet i don't know what an unused one looks like, so it might look fine to me but it could indeed be worn?

If that person is willing to lend some mags that would be great as it would directly tell me if it's the magazines or not. Let me know what he says! That's some great after-sale support there ;)

For now, i put in a thicker piece of wood, with the previous piece i could put in 7 rounds, our limit is 5 so i'm going to increase the thickness till i can only put 5 in and shoot it again today. If it works much better today then at least we can be pretty sure it's the magazine spring. I did find an online retailer selling repro mag springs for 20$, so that's not too bad actually. I did notice that after putting in the thicker piece of wood the bolt catch seems to work a bit better when manually pulling the bolt back. It probably wont lock back when actually shooting the gun, but it's perhaps another indicator that the spring has gone bad?
 
To fix the bolt stop issue (assuming the bolt stop is not completely worn), first remove the magazine, then remove the entire bolt assembly, turn the rifle on its back and flush all dirt out of the bolt stop with WD-40 or Caramba lubrication spray. Make sure the bolt stop moves freely without binding, then add a couple drops of motor oil.

Next, insert the empty magazine and watch the bolt stop. The bolt stop should rise. Now, with the magazine still inserted, press down on the follower. The bolt stop should retract and you're good to go. If not, see next step.

If pressing down on the follower does not cause the bolt stop to retract, remove the magazine and hold it such that you look at the back side with the raised rib. You will notice that the rib is cut out on top by about 6mm and allows you to see the rear protrusion of the magazine follower. The rear protrusion is the part that actuates the bolt stop and the cutout in the rib is where the bolt stop and rear protrusion engage.

Now, take a look at the right side of the ridge. Run your finger over the right side edge of the cutout, do you feel a burr or a curve around the edge? Is the paint rubbed off or scratched around the edge? If this is the case, the ridge is slightly flared on top and the bolt stop is rubbing against the ridge which causes it to work erratically. Using channel lock pliers or a vise, carefully squeeze left and right side of the top of the ridge together. Make sure the follower still moves freely after squeezing.
 

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