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medea m3a1 showed up today


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from contacting Medea i found out this was to be his personal gun, but 2-3 years ago he decided to sell it and let someone make it into a gun. finish is near flawless...i oiled the heck out of it, so its blotchy, but its all oil...every part i saw was marked GL. Every part appears to be NOS. Id say the gun had 100-200 rounds on it. shot straight, a few inches high. ran very well, but had a run away problem. The trigger feels spongy and is very light (1-1.5 lbs). At first it did 2 round run aways, but after 150 rounds it was doing 8 round run aways. Im assuming since the issue is getting worse it may be spring related, Ill take it apart in 9 months when its mine. Ran flawless otherwise.

 

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Wow that looks great! On the run away problem I assume you know all the likely culprits but thinking it is not the main bolt springs as the bolt would travel back further (weak springs) and would not be an issue except for slamming the back of your receiver unless someone used non GI springs that are just a bit stiff. Could be a weak trigger spring since you even mentioned the trigger is a bit spongy. That would be an easy fix and a trigger spring is cheap! On the Medea M3A1 I previously owned, shot Winchester white box .45 and never had issues with run away regarding cheaper factory ammo use.

 

Do you think you put to much oil on the bolt and got down to the sear catch area? However the more I think about it, the more it sounds like the trigger spring.

 

Like you said, when you get it transferred in, you can take it apart and use the KISS approach and isolate the problem. I will warn you, reinstalling the trigger assembly is a Bi**h and will require a bit of practice and patience.

 

Again congrats on the Grease Gun.

Edited by NFA amnesty
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always positive johnson41!!! :)

 

im told by a smith the geometry could be off on the trigger/sear. that would explain the light trigger pull too

 

ill take it apart, replace the spring and maybe the sear (ill look at it)...i can swap out bolts too...i know the spring looks very stretched out..

 

i bought the gun knowning there might be an issue....i got enough off for some smithing in the price...so ill putz a bit...there isnt too many options on what it could be.

 

i might go tuesday to spend some time taking it apart further....and yes i did oil the F out of that bolt...used the typical stuff i use on FA bolts and maybe should not have...extra slippery stuff

 

even that could explain ''part'' of the issue...as the gun heated up that oil woul get more and more slippery...might be a few things stacked to cause it

 

i think the clue is in the fact that it got worse the more i shot it....if it was built wrong why would it get worse with use? wouldnt it be consistent?

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tjH-iaPwp4&feature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vb7VX9cQsoA&feature=youtu.be

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"i think the clue is in the fact that it got worse the more i shot it....if it was built wrong why would it get worse with use? wouldnt it be consistent?"

 

 

Most likely a combination of trigger spring and too much oil. I don't think it is a receiver issue since it is not consistent as you indicated. You will get it running like a champ.

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i wish i had taken a pic of the spring...it looked very loose...the trigger cant be 1lb...for a battle gun that trigger should be 8lbs

 

youd fall and tap the trigger on a stick and shoot yourself with 1lb

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Low-powered ammo? Remington target ammo is notorious for being a very light load. If the ammo is underloaded, the bolt won't go back far enough to catch a sear. I've seen it with the Remington ammo and also with reloads.

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thought of that first...using S&B and i did a video with the gun sideways so i could stop frame it and see if the bolt was short cycling....nope, the bolt disappears and does a full recoil....wish the issue were that simple as too strong of springs.

 

a friend is taking his trigger group apart for me today...sending me a pic...then i can compare that with mine to see if the spring is stretched out

 

any way to swap just the spring without taking the sear pin out?

 

hook it with a screw driver or needle nose pliers without taking more than the bottom cover plate off?

Edited by huggytree
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No tools are required to work on the sear, sear pin, trigger, and trigger bar. Recoil springs should be checked as weak springs can be a contributing factor. Ive run mine to the point they were 5/16 shorter than new ones....yes they will compress that much.

 

Ive had 2 guns (mine and a friends) both run away due to a worn out sear. The area where the bolt locks onto said sear will round off and not have a positive locking surface. Non heat treated bolts with hard sears will chew up the bolt/sear locking area. Hard bolts and soft sears will do the opposite. Id have to look in my gun as to which sear Im using with my hard bolt.

 

Truth be told I replace the sear and bolt driving springs every spring. Typically every 2-3 years the extractor will need replaced along with the U shaped pin. But then again my 1944 GL sees 7,500-10,000 rds a year between competion, fun shoots, and the local Women On Target shooting clinic.

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My bolt has an H stamped on it

 

So maybe an unhardened sear

 

Is the bolt going back too far a possible issue ?

 

Gun was a bit jumpier than Expected. Maybe slamming too hard back on the sear ?

 

Thanks for all advice. Ive got lots of spares to try

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I fired at least a few thousand rounds out of my medea and never had 1 malfunction!!! I really think it depends on the gunsmith that put the halves together. The only issue I had on mine was the mag weld was too tight and some mags would not fit into the weld.

 

Hopefully my new guide lamp with the rear repair job will run like a champ.

Edited by NFA amnesty
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Doom and Gloom Johnson 41!!!....glad you were incorrect

 

it was the trigger spring and possibly the sear

 

the spring is F'd up...the sear shows wear. Also compared to the new one it has a bit of an extra angle to it...just 1-2 degrees...

 

I was unable to remove the main drive springs as the front end of the drive rods have been mushroomed...remove the little wire clip and the front retaining part wont come off...ill have to grind it a bit to be able to remove the bolt.

 

gun shoots great. Shoots much smoother. Ive got 300 rounds through it w/o a FTE or FTF...it runs like a top.

 

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see the little angle at shelf ?

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ALL Fixed!- new sear/spring

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Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bBKnj4-h2A&feature=youtu.be

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Doom and Gloom Johnson 41!!!....glad you were incorrect

 

it was the trigger spring and possibly the sear

 

the spring is F'd up...the sear shows wear. Also compared to the new one it has a bit of an extra angle to it...just 1-2 degrees...

 

I was unable to remove the main drive springs as the front end of the drive rods have been mushroomed...remove the little wire clip and the front retaining part wont come off...ill have to grind it a bit to be able to remove the bolt.

 

gun shoots great. Shoots much smoother. Ive got 300 rounds through it w/o a FTE or FTF...it runs like a top.

 

E04LLkY.jpg

BoO3Qnx.jpg

BdIJl1e.jpg

 

see the little angle at shelf ?

vyJTzeh.jpg

YIfh566.jpg

 

 

ALL Fixed!- new sear/spring

L88qQYi.jpg

SxlIbWe.jpg

 

Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bBKnj4-h2A&feature=youtu.be

Awesome my friend.

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