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Smoking deal on breda 37 kits at bowman

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#41 ·
toolmanm203 said:
Does anyone know of any sources for a Breda 37 Bolt and piston? I have been looking around and see no spare parts out there for these.
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Yes, we just need a week or 3 to sort the pallet of BREDA M37 parts that we have.
I already have a category prepared (currently off) for the BREDA M37 and MG-13.
We are expecting 2 or 3 deliveries next week which will slow down the sorting of the last delivery, which includes the pallet box of mixed parts.
I REALLY appreciate Dennis taking the time to post the differences between the parts.
That will help my people do the sort.
I expect most of what APEX has to be the Portuguese contract parts.
On that note, does anyone have a reference showing what all the parts are called?

Richard
 
#43 ·
Colt44mag21 said:
Hey Richard any Breda tripods?
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No tripods or loaders, I think there are a couple of the A/A adapter pieces.
And by NO, I mean NOT YET.
Lots of irons in the fire...

Richard
 
#44 ·
Well, I will wait patiently in hopes of you turning up the parts and a loader Richard. In the meantime I will see if I can find any pictures showing the differences between the Italian and Portuguese guns./ Keep up the good work and thanks for keeping us updated as always.
 
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Discussion starter · #45 ·
The Port receivers have the 2 raised nubs in the locking area on the outside of the receiver. Other than the barrel, bolt with internals, and extractor the parts are the same. If you mess up the head space and make it too tight, there is a hardened locking shoulder held in place by 2 slotted Allen keys. Once removed it can be machined down in the appropriate areas to match it up. The shoulder is kinda horseshoe in shape, runs the full width of the receiver and slips in place tightly. Be sure to tap it out only on the part near the top of the receiver so you don't warp it.

Richard, if you need any help identifying individual parts shoot me a pic and I can tell you what they are.
 
#50 ·
Quote: "Yes they are simple and nothing really ever breaks on them. Only wear issue I've seen on guns I've gotten in is the gas system. The piston to gas tube clearance can be too great and the gun won't function. Piston tip dia. should be in the range of .855 when new and a tight fit to the tube."

I measured my piston tip today. The outer ring diameter is 0.8400, mid is 0.8425, and the inner is 0.8432" on average. The tip has corrosion spots and it clearly looked well used, bummer. The barrel that came with the kit is a train wreck. The bored is heavily rusted and the rifling is mostly gone. Good thing I ordered an IMA barrel too. It was a bear to clean off the cosmoline, but the bore looks excellent. The three ammo boxes and trays I ordered were a mixed bag. All the boxes were cracked and missing half the screws; however that was an easy fix. I ordered one with the German swastika, but the IMA boobs put the stencil on backwards, thanks! Only one box of the three had nice usable trays. The others were either were rusty or bent and dented. No big surprise for mil surplus like this and the price was right.

There is little build information online. I'm going to start a thread over at Weaponsguild.com, in which I'll begin speculating on the semi mods and so on. I'll post a link when I get that going. Cheers! M89
 
#51 ·
I have my kit all cleaned up and de-slagged. My impression is my weapon saw a lot of service. As mention above, the bore is completely corroded, likely from corrosive ammo and poor maintenance and storage. I spent a week or so learning how this beast operates, since this was the first time I have seen one of these up close. The design and operation is logical and obviously takes cues from the Czech Zbrojovka Brno ZB-series MGs. Cartridge stripping and re-insertion from/to the cartridge tray is very clever. I'm thinking a striker semi conversion is feasible; However, there is little room behind the bolt carrier for a striker assembly. I have worked out some semi design ideas that I will elaborate on over at WG. But first, I do have one question: See the attached picture of the recoil spring assembly. When the bolt carrier moves to the rear of the receiver (after the round is discharged), does the two rings on the assembly meet each other such that the spring is completely compressed? With this I can determine the space I have to work with for the striker. thx M89

107120

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"There is little build information online. I'm going to start a thread over at Weaponsguild.com, in which I'll begin speculating on the semi mods and so on. I'll post a link when I get that going. Cheers! M89"
 
#56 ·
A question for MidWestMetal: Do you know the in spec and out of spec range for the inside diameter of the gas cylinder tube? Asking because you provided the correct piston diameter. I measured the two barrels I have and found the kit barrel's gas tube ID is 0.8660 to 0.8665" (worn out barrel) and the IMA barrel (like new barrel) is 0.8670 to 0.8675". Measurement made (inside) about 0.5" from the front the receiver end of the tube.

Quote:"Piston tip dia. should be in the range of .855 when new and a tight fit to the tube. Gas cylinders can wear out as well so the barrel you get can have a worn one. When you remove the cylinder, there should be a set of serial numbers starting with a letter on the underside, it should match the numbers stamped on the side or underside of the barrel near the breech. It won't be the same as the guns original number stamped on the top of the gas block. If not, its been replaced at some point."
 
#58 · (Edited)
SOLD...Anyone interested in a case of Breda 8x59 ammo for those original barrels? Don’t remember how but I ended up with a wooden crate of it and have no use for it. It has been years since I’ve looked at it but as I recall it had a little tarnish here and there but otherwise looked good. Think it was somewhere around 800-1000rd case. If anyone is interested I’ll dig it out and get some pics and exact quantity. It will probably have to be split up into two packages for shipping because of the weight. Let’s say $300 plus shipping? If that’s too much feel free to throw me an offer. Located in central IL. Trent 309-2four2-45zero1 SOLD.
 
#60 ·
Well it is 5 days shy of one year since my last post on this M37 thread. My M37 build was sidelined by other priorities, but recently I had time to pick up where I left off. Yesterday I successfully test fired the semi build. My first trigger pull resulted in a round down the barrel! That was a big surprise and relief, but more importantly the successful test firing(s) demonstrated the efficacy of my semi fire control group and striker design. I still need to rebuild the op rod piston, because the OD wear amounts to a gas leak that spoils the action cycling. I have some PH 17-4 alloy arriving Monday for fabricating a new piston.

The real reason for resurrecting this thread is that I came across an interesting mystery while finishing up the dovetail and tee slot milling on the outside of the receiver. These were the areas damaged by the torch cuts and subsequent re-welding. The slot feature at the left rear of the receiver is for attaching the anti aircraft shoulder brace. After I ground one of my tee slot cutters to the required size, I was able to finish the slot milling. I was fortunate enough to acquire an entire AA accessory kit for this M37 (APEX never called so I picked one up from a dealer in the UK ;)) and was eager to see how it all goes together. I went to test fit the AA brace but that did not go so well. The mounting feature on the brace is an oversized dovetail, totally unlike the narrow tee slot structure on the receiver, as shown in the pict below. I checked the AA front and rear sight and they fit perfectly onto their respective places on the receiver and barrel. This is puzzling. Perhaps the brace is for an early receiver design that used a dovetail slot? Or maybe it is for a contract build for one of BREDA's foreign customers? If anyone can clear up this mystery, I would love to hear about it. Meanwhile, I suppose I will modify the brace so that is fits the tee slot mount....

Peace and Kindness M89


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