Gary's Bunker Fixed my Steyr Solothurn MP34

[StrangeRanger]

It had some issues:

The top-cover mounted safety was damaged the first and only time I took it to the range.  The safety was in the off position but somehow it caught the safety notch in the bolt and got pretty thoroughly bent and blocked any movement of the bolt.  The trigger pull was atrociously heavy. The spare bolt has a 9mm Steyr bolt face and wouldn't accept a 9 Para/7.62 Tok sized rim and the firing pin protruded too far.  The extractor in the spare bolt was bent.

The most critical problem was obviously the safety which kept it from running.  I took it to Gary Szechy (Gary's Bunker.)  He said the safety could not have bent like it did if it had been heat treated; turns out it was dead soft.  He straightened it and heat treated it and it now it is strong enough that it cannot possibly be moved accidentally.  He brought the spare bolt into spec and repaired its extractor.  He disassembled and polished the Firing Control Group and brought the trigger pull down to a very smooth and light but safe level.  The gun now runs 100% with either bolt in both semi and full auto.

Gary's turnaround time was unbelievably quick and the cost was surprisingly low. He's got a waiting list but his work is worth the wait.

[Rekraps]

And so.... PIC's?

[StrangeRanger]

Here's the damaged safety from above:

and below:

Here's the bolt face and firing pin guaranteed to pierce primers:

and the extractor that didn't

The safety and the extractor are both springs and I learned the hard way not to cold bend springs.  Gary cleaned the mess up quickly

[StrangeRanger]

Here's the gun:

 

and the Luftwaffe Waffenamt

[DARIVS]

Very nice SMG!

[xsrso2]

Beautiful piece!

Is the top cover marked 1939 660 as are most of the Luftwaffe Mp34s?  Does it still have the original 9mm mauser barrel?

[StrangeRanger]

Yes it's marked 1939 and 660

I have 3 barrels: 9x25 matching S/N, 9x19 aftermarket and 7.62x25 aftermarket

I usually shoot ComBloc surplus in the 7.62 Tokarev barrel but I have a "light" bolt so I can shoot 7.63 Mauser as well or switch barrels and shoot 9x19.  Given the unavailability of ammo, the 9x25 barrel is for display only

[68coupe]

I had never heard of that cartridge, until today. My limited research has turned up that it was developed for the C96. Only around 150 were ever made for that cartridge, but it went on to be a moderately popular cartridge for SMGs.

You learn something new every day. I wonder if casings could be made from something else and reloaded to specs, and how hard it would be to do.

Just my random thoughts, Karl

[StrangeRanger]

IMNSHO the 9 Mauser would probably have been the ideal subgun/carbine cartridge.  it added 150-200 FPS to the 9 Para with the accompanying increases in range and stopping power.  Most subguns prior to the MP38 were stupid heavy anyway so they had more than enough mass to resist the increased recoil

9mm Winchester Magnum cases could be cut to trimmed to .974/.984" OAL but that would be a lot of hassle in the quantities requires to feed an SMG, especially when I have a Tokarev chambered barrel and a huge stash of ComBloc surplus or I can swap barrel and bolt to run 9 Para.

[APEXgunparts]

On 11/28/2024 at 10:19 AM, StrangeRanger said:

Here's the damaged safety from above:

and below:

Here's the bolt face and firing pin guaranteed to pierce primers:

and the extractor that didn't

The safety and the extractor are both springs and I learned the hard way not to cold bend springs.  Gary cleaned the mess up quickly

 

Looking at that bolt it would appear it was a restored dewat.
I have seen an MP28 with the bolt face ground off, firing pin opening welded over, firing pin tip cut off and the barrel chamber welded closed.
Back in the day an importer sold a 3 pack of dewats, all prewar classic SMG's, MP28, MP34and I forget the 3rd.
This may have been one of those dewats.

Richard
 

[StrangeRanger]

It was a dewat and not a very well done one.  The bolt face matched 9mm Bergmann/Longo not 9 Para/.30 Tok and the ID cavity was too deep allowing the FP to protrude too far.  Rather than modifying the FP which was in spec, Gary made up a spacer that fit over the shoulder and corrected the protrusion. The extractor was bent outwards at the base and was a bit soft.  He straightened and heat treated it.