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November 6th, 2010, 05:00 PM
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#1 | | Snappin In
Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: bowie tx
Posts: 34
| 1919a4 headspace
I have a DLO 1919a4 FA and I have been reading everything on this forum and 1919a4 forum that I can find about how to properly headspace the weapon. I read a post on 1919a4 forum that said the headspace gauge is ok if you are using only U S military ammo, anything else you should tear down gun and headspace using a round of whatever lot of ammo you are going to shoot. I am well aware of how critical headspace is,not trying to cut corners. Any info would be much appreciated.
Thanks
jd4230ps
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November 7th, 2010, 06:47 PM
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#2 | | Snappin In
Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: VA
Posts: 28
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I will try to answer this but advise you to get a few G.I. Manuals. I have seen several ways to do it, some with the bolt and barrel out of the gun. This is what works for me. With the gun assembled, hold or lock the bolt back. Turn the barrel in to the receiver until the bolt will not go forward into battery. You can check this by releasing the bolt after turning the barrel in a few notches. You can turn the barrel from the rear with a screwdriver in the barrel notches. Once you get the barrel far enough in that the bolt will not go forward into battery, turn it out one notch at a time until the bolt will go forward into battery. Then turn it out one more notch and you are done. At this point you need to take the gun to the range and shoot it. If it seems sluggish, turn the barrel out another notch and try again. A lot depends on the ammo. I have found that different ammo may need one or two notches more or less then worked with the last ammo. If the gun is running faster then it did with the last kind of ammo you used, or you start getting case head separations, you may want to tighten the barrel a notch or two. You should definitely buy some books on the Browning MGs. Dolf Goldsmith has written the definitive series on the BMG. Long Mountain sells a book that has reprints of a bunch of BMG shop manuals. They are all worth getting. The 1919a4 web site is also very informative.
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November 11th, 2010, 05:22 PM
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#3 | | Snappin In
Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: bowie tx
Posts: 34
| Thanks
Thanks for the help WW9853. Iwill get the manuals and I have read all I can find on 1919a4 forum.
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November 19th, 2010, 07:11 PM
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#4 | | Squad Leader
Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: West coast
Posts: 261
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If your running FA you may need to go two clicks past closing as it heats up it may need more room.. there are also HS gauges you can use but only if your shooting Military Ball factory ammo.. you must figure out the timing as well.. if it's not a izzy gun and is 30-06 US the trigger will need to be bent.. the izzy has a adjustment screw and lock nit that can be adjusted for the timing .. B2B
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March 17th, 2011, 08:28 PM
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#5 | | Rifleman
Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Northern Virginia, USA
Posts: 45
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Bolt2bounce  If your running FA you may need to go two clicks past closing as it heats up it may need more room.. there are also HS gauges you can use but only if your shooting Military Ball factory ammo.. you must figure out the timing as well.. if it's not a izzy gun and is 30-06 US the trigger will need to be bent.. the izzy has a adjustment screw and lock nit that can be adjusted for the timing .. B2B | This is good advice. I shot out a barrel at a mg shoot; it was worth it. We caught a car on fire and everyone on the line had the same idea I did  I put ammo can after ammo can into that car and when I stopped it was slowing down.
The 1919 is one tough gun. I keep a spare barrel I've already headspaced with the lock frame attached in my case. It's not a guarantee if you have to swap them, but in my experience so far I've been able to swap them out and make no adjustments if nothing else has changed (ammo type, same bolt etc.)
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March 18th, 2011, 05:48 AM
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#6 | | Platoon Sergeant | Quote:
Originally Posted by Smurfslayer This is good advice. I shot out a barrel at a mg shoot; it was worth it. We caught a car on fire and everyone on the line had the same idea I did I put ammo can after ammo can into that car and when I stopped it was slowing down. | That sounds like a damn fun but brutally expensive way to burn down a car... If it were me I'd have gotten a few bags of ammonium nitrate, some sodium chlorate & sugar, a fuze, and would have then gotten the hell out of there, saving two or three cans of 30/06 for use in the BAR or Garand 
I've a friend here in the DC area who's father has both an M1918 with the original wooden firing cart, and an M1919. He says that while they're more fun than a man should be allowed to have, they're also bankrupting him. As a result he says he sticking more to firing his French 75mm and Civil War mortars... says it's cheaper 
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March 20th, 2011, 10:01 PM
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#7 | | Master Gunner
Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Texas
Posts: 925
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The 1919 is typically Browning, near perfect, in every way.
They even work well with 308 or 8mm Mauser "kits".
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March 21st, 2011, 07:49 AM
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#8 | | Platoon Commander
Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 549
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Proof Positive: This is my S/A Shorty 8MM 1919A4. Head Space it every time I clean it and re-assemble the "guts". Runs great on belts or links! 
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March 24th, 2011, 11:14 PM
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#9 | | Master Gunner
Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Texas
Posts: 925
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I much prefer the cloth belts.
My buddy had a belt filling machine.
With 2 people on the gun, and 2 people on the belt filling machine, the "belt fillers" could nearly keep up with the "gunners". 
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March 25th, 2011, 07:02 AM
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#10 | | Platoon Commander
Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 549
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I have a BFM, but the needles never work right. I've adjusted and adjusted, but different manufacturer belts cause problems, and new stiff ones do too. I need a shuttle conversion really bad.....
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August 7th, 2011, 06:32 PM
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#11 | | Rifleman
Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Ohio
Posts: 65
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When I had a 1919 I headspaced off the ammo I was shooting. .308 in an Izzy barrel I chambered a rounds and screwed the barrel in until it stopped on the chambered round then backed off 3 clicks.
My 8mm barrel liked 2 clicks backed off.
YMMV
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August 7th, 2011, 10:22 PM
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#12 | | Squad Leader
Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: West coast
Posts: 261
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I used a gauge one time and it was set too loose.. I had case separations and blew a top cover..My 8mm likes the headspace tight,, but it is a semi.. so all that happens is, it starts having a few stoppages when it gets dirty...being too tight..that is a semi's version of sluggish.. I usually just spray it down..with oil and it runs good again.. but tight is better than loose, for me... because blowing a top cover and case separations are a bummer... I agree that a FA gun would start to eat your paychecks PDQ with today's ammo prices.. but they'd be fun spending that money... B2B
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