Help With Italian Firearms Terms?

[Gwhite]

I've spent much of the pandemic debugging a couple new MatchGun MG2's. I have learned quite a bit, and the pistols now work nearly flawlessly. I would like to provide some feedback to the factory, but the one employee who is fluent in English is a manager, and not an engineer or gunsmith. To ensure it gets read by the people actually building the pistols, I would like to send them my notes in Italian. I can use Microsoft Word's translation feature to get the bulk of it done, and my wife grew up in an Italian speaking household, so she can proof read the result.

The catch is that there are firearms specific terms that my wife (and Microsoft) aren't familiar with. I've gone through the manual and used the multilingual parts lists to come up with a dictionary of a lot of useful terms. That still leaves some gaps. As an example, the manual doesn't mention "firing out of battery", which my pistol has done several times. If I run Google translate on that, the result is "fuoco dalla batteria" which translated back to English is "fire from the battery", which i suspect isn't quite right... (I suppose its better than "conflagration outside a Duracell"...).

If someone fluent in Italian firearms terminology would be willing to assist me, please send me a PM. In return, you will get a "pre-release" look at some (hopefully) interesting firearms debugging & test results.

Thanks!

[spektr]

They may not understand the translation of out of battery, but they may understand

discharging before the bolt is closed and locked

maybe we simplify the english first then translate

[Rover]

Andare per questo il mio amico.

Arnie Vitarbo might be able to give you a hand.

[Gwhite]

They may not understand the translation of out of battery, but they may understand

discharging before the bolt is closed and locked

maybe we simplify the english first then translate

That will be the approach I take if I can't get some assistance. It's going to be an interesting process. Right now, I'm working on Italian versions of all my drawings...

[william]

And remember to introduce your description of the problem with "Porca miseria!"

[Gwhite]

My wife has a collection of colorful threats & imprecations learned from her grandmother that I could throw in, but I'm trying to be nice...

[gimgim]

Feel free to send me anything. I am Italian.

[Gwhite]

Thanks! PM sent.

[Ricardo]

From what I hear they are well aware of the issue with firing out of battery and all you need to know is that it happens, so watch out in order to prevent a bulged barrel. Also, it appears that the manager you mention is the one person who actually cares, so he might be your best bet anyway. As an aside, words like "battery" with multiple meanings are dangerous to translate directly. A recent bus ad campaign against mosquitoes in Dallas translated the slogan "Fight the bite" in a way that meant "Contest the bribe" in Spanish.

[Gwhite]

The firing out of battery problem is a combination of ejection issues and the way many European target pistols implement their "disconnectors". Pardinis & Hammerlis can fire out of battery as well, but if the pistols eject reliably, you don't get trapped brass to hold the slide open a dangerous amount. Early Benellis were also able to do it, but they changed the disconnector design to fix that.

[Ricardo]

I just got an MG2E but haven't taken it apart. I've tried to figure out how the disconnector works by watching the Overview video on YouTube, but no dice. Are you referring to clearing a stuck cartridge and the hammer coming down before the slide closes fully? Is it too late at this point to switch the safety before clearing?

[Gwhite]

The problem occurs when a case doesn't eject properly, and jams sideways between the face of the slide and the back of the barrel. Depending on where it's located, the next round can load, and the slide will close all but the last ~ 5mm, held open by the jammed case. That is far enough forward for the hammer to hit the firing pin, and fire the round, with the back 1/3rd of the case unsupported. That will blow the case apart, and leave a bullet lodged in the barrel.

The disconnector in the MG2 only prevents the hammer from falling when the slide is most of the way to the rear. As soon as the slide has come forward a centimeter or two, the trigger re-engages, and the the hammer can be released. The hammer won't actually hit the firing pin until the slide has closed a good bit further.

On some pistols (like the newer Benellis, High Standards & others), the disconnector is active over pretty much the entire travel of the slide, and only disengages when the side is open about a millimeter or less. That makes them considerably safer. There is no way for a jammed case to cause firing out of battery (FOOB). The latest Benellis are particularly clever, because the hammer will fall when the slide is held open by a dry fire plug, but not if it's held open by a jammed case. The slide is held far enough back by the dry fire plug that the hammer can't fire a round if it jams open in that position.

That said, I've seen a FOOB in a Pardini SP, one in an older Benelli and had three or four with my MG2. None of them have injured the shooter, or damaged pistol extensively. In the Pardini, it mashed the extractor spring. In the Benelli, it blew out the extractor.

[Ricardo]

Thanks! Now I understand why MGs are 'unique' in being highly prone to FOOB; the others have fixed the problem! I don't suppose there might be a way to design an affordable aftermarket disconnector with altered dimensions. CNC, and all that...
I'll add that I consider myself lucky in that you're a great resource for Bennelis, which I used to own, and now you seem to be into fiddling with MG2!

[Gwhite]

The college team I help coach has over 20 Benellis, and I've got two personally. Some of the team pistols are getting a bit old, and parts are very hard to come by. Over time, I've seen all sorts of issues, and have managed to keep them all running smoothly. It's only going to get harder unless Benelli gets a new US importer and really supports their pistols better.

The MG2 is a brilliant design, and amazing to shoot, but I was warned that they had "issues". My wife shoots as well, and if I buy a new pistol, I have to get two... The plan was to get to know them, and evaluate them for possible use by the team. Hers has been nearly flawless, and mine was a train wreck. COVID came along, and to keep my sanity intact, I made a project out of learning everything I could about fixing them. Having a good one to swap parts with was a great help.

I've got over 2500 rounds though my MG2 since the last time I had an ejection failure. The issue I've fighting with now is feeding different length ammo. The spec on .22 Long Rifle is 25.4 mm - 1.27 mm, which is a huge range. CCI tends to run longer than most (around 25.15 mm), and I had serious problems with the last round jamming until I got a new ejector. Then it wouldn't feed the first round of Aguila, which runs almost a half mm shorter (around 24.7 mm). I fixed that, and then stumbled across 2 1/2 cases of Wolf, which is even shorter still (down to 24.5 mm). I'm back to having occasional first round jams, and I'm slowly modifying the cartridge lifter to fix that.

It's been quite a journey, but I love shooting the MG2. I always thought the Benellis were very "forgiving" pistols (much more so than Pardinis), but the MG2 is in a class by itself.

[Ricardo]

Modifying the "elevator?" My hat's off to you, man! I hope you're trading insights with Jon E.

[Gwhite]

I've been in pretty constant communication with Kang & Jon throughout this adventure. The support I've received has been exceptional.