BillinBama Posted May 8, 2023 Report Share Posted May 8, 2023 I'm beginning to think I have dementia, so please help me out. I owned an MP40 for years up until 2020, when I sold mine in a moment of lunacy. I let everything go that I had, the FBP recoil assembly/bolt, extra mags, mag loader, pouches, etc. Stupid is what I was, even though I made good money based on my original purchase price. Anyway, I bought another from Ohio Ordnance and it seems I've bought a second one from Morphy's as I was high bidder, so I'm flush with MP40's now. I started looking for FBP kits and parts, boy have things gone up! I bought a recoil assembly, but it didn't come with a firing pin or bolt, but when I did my due diligence and researched it I now remember the FBP didn't have a firing pin on the end of the recoil tube but rather a fixed pin in the bolt. So... I don't have a FBP bolt, and my question is, can I somehow put an MP40 firing pin on the recoil tube of the FBP? I'm guessing no and I have to find a bolt, but before I do that I wanted to ask all the RKI's on this forum. Thanks for enlightening me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Hammer Posted May 8, 2023 Report Share Posted May 8, 2023 (edited) Why didn't you just buy a complete assembly from Indianapolis Ordnance. https://indianapolisordnance.com/MP-40-Parts?product_id=192 Edited May 8, 2023 by Mike Hammer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillinBama Posted May 8, 2023 Author Report Share Posted May 8, 2023 Guess I missed that. I was just going by what I remembered from years ago about the FBP parts. I'll look into it, thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillinBama Posted May 8, 2023 Author Report Share Posted May 8, 2023 Out of stock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillinBama Posted May 9, 2023 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2023 An FBP parts kit (two actually) just showed up on GB under "FBP" for under $800, barely. Worth it? I had one years ago and recall selling it (less the bolt/recoil assembly) for less than $200. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hawksnest Posted May 9, 2023 Report Share Posted May 9, 2023 PM sent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rekraps Posted May 9, 2023 Report Share Posted May 9, 2023 43 minutes ago, hawksnest said: PM sent. Do you have two? I might be interested in one also as my "replacement" MP40 bolt is problematic and I don't want to ruin the matching one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DARIVS Posted May 9, 2023 Report Share Posted May 9, 2023 Thinking to save wear on my MP-40 parts, I bought an FBP bolt and telescoping spring assembly and tried it out in my MP-40. It didn't work. For some reason, it would not reliably fire the cartridge and the gun was unreliable. So I put the FBP parts in the parts bin and that's where they still are. Perhaps the tolerances were too extreme, or the firing pin protrusion was not deep enough into the primer, or perhaps the recoils spring was weaker that the German one, but it just didn't for my gun. Others have had success with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rekraps Posted May 9, 2023 Report Share Posted May 9, 2023 36 minutes ago, DARIVS said: Thinking to save wear on my MP-40 parts, I bought an FBP bolt and telescoping spring assembly and tried it out in my MP-40. It didn't work. For some reason, it would not reliably fire the cartridge and the gun was unreliable. So I put the FBP parts in the parts bin and that's where they still are. Perhaps the tolerances were too extreme, or the firing pin protrusion was not deep enough into the primer, or perhaps the recoils spring was weaker that the German one, but it just didn't for my gun. Others have had success with it. Great point. I have an extra real German MP40 bolt and it will not run well in my MP40. I can't figure out why.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Hammer Posted May 9, 2023 Report Share Posted May 9, 2023 Knowing many people have had trouble using the FBP parts in their MP 38/40’s, (do a search on previous threads on this), I sold my parts years ago after deciding that is wasn’t worth the trouble. I think it highly unlikely with the limited amount that I shoot my MP38 that these parts are going to fail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillinBama Posted May 9, 2023 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2023 FWIW, with my previous MP40, I used the FBP bolt/recoil assembly from the parts kit I had purchased. It functioned flawlessly. My gun was a tube gun by Wilson if I remember correctly. I also agree the original German parts will likely function just fine, but these are 80 year old guns. YMMV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TSMGguy Posted May 9, 2023 Report Share Posted May 9, 2023 I understand the logic behind wanting to "save" the original MP40 parts. The one component that can't be replaced is the receiver. For that reason I shoot my all matching MP40 very little. I have a Group Uzi for my full auto "fix". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillinBama Posted May 10, 2023 Author Report Share Posted May 10, 2023 Realistically I shoot my MP40 little as well, but because when I take my full auto guns out for exercise I generally take them all, and in the 3-4 hours I usually shoot there's not enough time to fire more than 4-5 mags in any one. My list includes my MP40, MP5, Uzi, Swedish K, Grease gun, AK-47, M-16, and M1A1 Thompson. They all get exercised but none get over-used. I always take a few semi-auto and suppressed weapons as well, so it's jam packed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rekraps Posted May 10, 2023 Report Share Posted May 10, 2023 11 hours ago, TSMGguy said: I understand the logic behind wanting to "save" the original MP40 parts. The one component that can't be replaced is the receiver. For that reason I shoot my all matching MP40 very little. I have a Group Uzi for my full auto "fix". I'm also careful of the matching SN firing pin retaining nut..... That for sure can't be replaced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rekraps Posted May 10, 2023 Report Share Posted May 10, 2023 10 hours ago, BillinBama said: Realistically I shoot my MP40 little as well, but because when I take my full auto guns out for exercise I generally take them all, and in the 3-4 hours I usually shoot there's not enough time to fire more than 4-5 mags in any one. My list includes my MP40, MP5, Uzi, Swedish K, Grease gun, AK-47, M-16, and M1A1 Thompson. They all get exercised but none get over-used. I always take a few semi-auto and suppressed weapons as well, so it's jam packed. Your list sounds almost exactly like mine, without the MP5. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillinBama Posted May 10, 2023 Author Report Share Posted May 10, 2023 Looking back, I didn't intend my previous post to sound like bragging about how many sub guns I have, in fact I doubt my collection can hold a candle to many on this list, but I just wanted to show that unless I restrict the number of guns I take out shooting there isn't a lot of time for any one individual weapon to get much use. I'm fortunate to have amassed this many guns, and I try to buy what I enjoy and makes me happy, but always with the thinking that in the future I can sell for at least enough to keep up with inflation. That is a big advantage of collecting guns in general and full auto in particular, the historic increase in value makes it somewhat comfortable to own, and as I used to tell potential buyers, don't buy with investment in mind, get what you want to shoot, but that compared to buying stocks, you can at least take them out of the safe and play with them, and doing that with stock certificates(this was a while ago), isn't nearly as much fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TSMGguy Posted May 10, 2023 Report Share Posted May 10, 2023 4 hours ago, Rekraps said: I'm also careful of the matching SN firing pin retaining nut..... That for sure can't be replaced. Truly. A common failure on the MP40 is for the tip of the firing pin to be damaged or broken off when the telescoping spring housing is accidentally dropped. I saw a really righteous repair where that tip had broken off and was replaced with a short length of piano wire of the same diameter. The pin had been neatly trimmed and expertly drilled to accept it. The repair was completely invisible. You know that piano wire has to be much tougher than the original firing pin design. I have a photo of that repair somewhere and I'll post it when I find it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rekraps Posted May 10, 2023 Report Share Posted May 10, 2023 5 hours ago, TSMGguy said: Truly. A common failure on the MP40 is for the tip of the firing pin to be damaged or broken off when the telescoping spring housing is accidentally dropped. I saw a really righteous repair where that tip had broken off and was replaced with a short length of piano wire of the same diameter. The pin had been neatly trimmed and expertly drilled to accept it. The repair was completely invisible. You know that piano wire has to be much tougher than the original firing pin design. I have a photo of that repair somewhere and I'll post it when I find it. Nice. My nightmare is dropping the recoil assembly during cleaning! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DARIVS Posted May 10, 2023 Report Share Posted May 10, 2023 23 hours ago, TSMGguy said: I understand the logic behind wanting to "save" the original MP40 parts. The one component that can't be replaced is the receiver. For that reason I shoot my all matching MP40 very little. I have a Group Uzi for my full auto "fix". The receiver does not see a lot of stress, and an oiled bolt won't wear out the inner diameter. Aside from wear and tear of the bluing on the external surface from handling, it should be okay. The parts that are most likely to fail are the tip of the firing pin and extractor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DARIVS Posted May 10, 2023 Report Share Posted May 10, 2023 (edited) 39 minutes ago, Rekraps said: Nice. My nightmare is dropping the recoil assembly during cleaning! That type of repair is truly ingenious. It's much better than throwing an original firing pin away after the tip breaks off. Soldering the piano wire piece into the hole would make it even stronger. Edited May 10, 2023 by DARIVS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillinBama Posted May 15, 2023 Author Report Share Posted May 15, 2023 Well, I thought I was purchasing a bolt/recoil assembly but the seller was hacked and I sent my money to a thief. I should have called and verified but I got lazy. Buyer beware! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rekraps Posted May 17, 2023 Report Share Posted May 17, 2023 On 5/10/2023 at 10:35 AM, BillinBama said: Looking back, I didn't intend my previous post to sound like bragging about how many sub guns I have, in fact I doubt my collection can hold a candle to many on this list, but I just wanted to show that unless I restrict the number of guns I take out shooting there isn't a lot of time for any one individual weapon to get much use. I'm fortunate to have amassed this many guns, and I try to buy what I enjoy and makes me happy, but always with the thinking that in the future I can sell for at least enough to keep up with inflation. That is a big advantage of collecting guns in general and full auto in particular, the historic increase in value makes it somewhat comfortable to own, and as I used to tell potential buyers, don't buy with investment in mind, get what you want to shoot, but that compared to buying stocks, you can at least take them out of the safe and play with them, and doing that with stock certificates(this was a while ago), isn't nearly as much fun. I just reread your post and it is quite excellent. I don't think anyone thought you were bragging at all, the more the merrier. I love hearing of others who have great collections... makes me wish I had started earlier. To your point of value, I too stick to C&R stuff as much as possible and indeed, do shoot all of my guns. Like you, I wake up and decide to go shoot, then can't decide which gun I want to take! What a great county. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grasshopper Posted May 23, 2023 Report Share Posted May 23, 2023 Hi All, I purchased a few FBP kits 20+ years back for the "save the MP-40 parts" cause. As delivered the recoil assembly didn't work very well for me. I tried the careful disassembly and cleaning with no luck. I then started cutting coils from the main recoil spring. That did the trick. Success on 2 out of 2. Fast forward. The dreaded dropped MP-40 recoil assembly happened. Yep. Sometime over the last 20 years while resting in a tube sock on the shelf of the safe. Dented in the rear-most section. I carefully worked the dent back out. More than about .008" out of round and it would bind. It took awhile but if you are patient you can straighten them back out and make them look nice. Yes, the price of parts kits has gone from expensive to stupid. No more source for these I suspect. Best of luck to the OP. The MP-40 is a very pleasant shooting subgun. Enjoy, Grasshopper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillinBama Posted May 23, 2023 Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2023 Well, so far I'm two for two, scammers that is. First one took my $500 and second one tried very hard but I finally got smart(er) and resisted. I've considered a parts kit that is priced fairly reasonably, at least the sum of the parts is more than the asking price for the kit, just haven't worked up the courage to have a go at it yet. Yes, parts prices have gotten stupid. I just looked at an S&H Arms built MP5 listed for $53K. I sold my S&H MP5 several years ago at a good profit but now...Sheesh! Is anybody really paying these prices? I have to believe not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Machinist Posted May 31, 2023 Report Share Posted May 31, 2023 (edited) On 5/9/2023 at 3:36 PM, DARIVS said: Thinking to save wear on my MP-40 parts, I bought an FBP bolt and telescoping spring assembly and tried it out in my MP-40. It didn't work. For some reason, it would not reliably fire the cartridge and the gun was unreliable. So I put the FBP parts in the parts bin and that's where they still are. Perhaps the tolerances were too extreme, or the firing pin protrusion was not deep enough into the primer, or perhaps the recoils spring was weaker that the German one, but it just didn't for my gun. Others have had success with it. I'd be interested in the FBP bolt and buffer if you are interested in parting with them. OP.....it is possible to make a new nose cap to put an MP40 pin on an FBP buffer..... https://www.frontline-militaria.com/mp40-telescope-set.html but these guys have them instock and they work well, I have purchased several along with firing pins from them, take a few weeks to get here.....but they are a solid reliable parts source. Buy with confidence. Edited May 31, 2023 by Mad Machinist Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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