[papple]

Hey Guys
Ive been shooting my 1919a4 now for about 3 yrs. Never ever had a problem until tuesday the 4th. Probaly shot 10000 rd thru it with no problems. Well anyway about 200 rds thru a 250 belt and the shroud just shot off the end of the gun. Landed about 30 ft down range. The set screws were in place and tight. Pulled the holes out. Looks like I can fix it but I was just wondering why it done what it done. Has anybody else ever had this problem?? Not a lot of carbon in the booster. I clean it every outing. I have never had the shroud off and always check before shooting.
papple

 

[30calmachinegunner]

Set Screws??????????

 

[ontos106]

holly belt fed batman
it's not suppost to do that ever

 

[papple]

Well I call them set screws. There are 2 screws that go thru the shroud into the trunion to keep the shroud from unscrewing. The screws were still tight but I DONT KNOW----------- The trunion end of the thing looks a bit swelled so I may need a new one.

 

[Dave B - Great Lakes Arms]

Something very wrong happened. The shroud is most assuredly not supposed to pull off over the trunnion threads and certainly not if you have TWO locking screws.

Either your trunnion threads are FUBAR or your shroud threads are wasted...hope for the shroud to be trashed because those are chesp and easy to replace. That being said, someting pretty serious happened I think.

Really interested in this one...first I have heard of this.

 

[ohioblacksheep]

Make sure you check the threads on the trunion...Lou

 

[widowmaker]

booster threads

What do the threads on the booster end look like? Sounds like the booster came loose and tilted on the end and the bullet struck it hard enough to pull the shroud off.
Just a guess.....

 

[Dave B - Great Lakes Arms]

That booster would really have to be canted to get a bullet to hit it. The hole in the end is quite large.

Are you 100% sure the booster is clean? Carbon build up can do some really funky things to the gun. If you have bad build up, the barrel will act like a slide hammer on the booster and want to push it off as it cycles back and fourth. It will get so bad that the gun won't function after a while...I know my buddy did this. Maintenance was not his strong point.
I suspose that if the threads were funked up a bit already and the carbon built up, the hammering of the barrel could work the whole booster/shroud right off. Speculation really.

 

[gearlogo]

I've seen m60e3 FH go down range before.

 

[loboslanding]

There's a reason the Izzy's soldered most of their barrel shouds on...I guess now we know why.

 

[brassmagnet]

Is it possible that when the trunnion gets real hot it stretches the sroud skin to a point that it can't recover completely? I'm no metalurgist (?) so I'm just kinda brainstorming here I have had one shoot off too, but I blamed it on a crooked weld on a shorty shroud. I have seen some awful thin threaded ends on shrouds though - like they were sanded thin or just plain disintegrated little by little.

 

[Armorer]

Have you tried screwing the shroud back on? My guess is the threads are fubar. That may have been why there were two shroud screws instead of one. If the threads were stripped the shroud may have been forced on and the second screw added to help hold it. Normally a GI gun only has one shroud screw.

 

[ohioblacksheep]

Hmmm, just wondering.

Who built the gun and why did it have 2 shroud screws? One of the things I've been finding out is that the threads on the trunions vary a bit. I've seen one out of a kit of mine that was small enough I don't know if it would have held the shroud on..Those 2 screws may have been all that was holding it together....Lou

 

[papple]

Thanks guys for the input. I built the gun but I have never had the shroud off. As far as I was concerened it didnt need to come off. The booster was untouched by anything on the inside. The threads on the trunion look ok but the shroud threads are not real good. I can screw it back on but I dont think its a real good fit. Anybody gota new shroud they want to get rid of???
Thanks again
Papple

 

[ohioblacksheep]

Papple,

Try Dan at Angola Armory...Lou

 

[TARGSHOOT]

papple next time you come to dallas i can fix it for you,have shrouds and stuff at the shop email me, im ready for another shoot at the river how about it.........

 

[Lucky#13]

My impression about the double screws was that a shroud might be fitted to a second gun at some point and, if the hole did not line up, then a second was drilled and the extra hole remained as a mark of character!