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 MGC .44 Automag

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Cerwyn
Cerwyn (Site Admin)
Cerwyn (Site Admin)
Cerwyn


Number of posts : 11090
Age : 65
Location / Country : North Wales
Registration date : 2008-07-20

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PostSubject: MGC .44 Automag   MGC .44 Automag Icon_minitimeSun Aug 10, 2008 11:51 am

Post by Claymore

MGC AUTOMAG
This was my first automag and my third modelgun. The MGC is no longer made and it took a few months of waiting from putting one on order to it arriving. The one that turned up was a 4th generation model which is the HW version and has a silver body and black bolt.

MGC .44 Automag MgcautomagLside

MGC .44 Automag Mgcautomagrside

OUT OF THE BOX
I really had been anticipating the arrival of this model as the automag is one of my all time favourite guns and taking it out of the box was not disappointing.
This obviously a brand new gun and had never been fired, being HW ABS meant the weight was not bad obviously far lighter than a real automag but heavy enough to feel sturdy in the hand. The MGC is not accurate in its size the dimensions have been shrunk slightly but it still semms a large gun despite this, also it sits in the hand far better and feels more comfortable than the marushin automag, now wether that is due to the slight reduction in size or the weight of the gun i dont know but it definitely feels better to hold than the marushin.
The finish is good but the silver plating on the grip does get scrubbed off the front and back of the grip leaving the black ABS showing. This does not however detract from the loks of the model.

LOADING AND FIRING
The rounds are of the cp type and are loaded in the normal way for this type of round. The automag takes 7 .44 cal rounds 6 in the mag and 1 in the breach, i only ever load 6 in the mag though, (doubt i will have to deal with life threating situations with the automag somehow, especially in my spare room).
The trigger pull on this model is very heavy, too heavy in fact and you really have to squeeze the trigger hard to release the hammer and unfortunately there does not seem to be any way to adjust the trigger pressure.
The gun fires well and as with all these modelguns each one has a distinctive sound and the automag is no exception. not loud but it has a good crack to it. The bolt-extractor is blown back with force and the rounds are ejected well (considering their size and weight) and can get thrown a good 6ft.
Being ABS of course means it has an open barrel (an advantage over the marushin) and you get a good amount of smoke coming out of it.
The gun is fun to shoot (once you get over the heavy trigger) and you find that you want to put a lot of rounds through it.

PROBLEMS
OK, now after saying it was fun to fire and wanting to put several mags through it here is the problem.
First, the gun can go full auto which is great fun but not good for the gun, it does not happen all the time but when it does it fires usually a 3 round burst. This could be down to the length of cartridge and that as the round feeds onto the barrel pin enough force is generated due to the extra length the piston travels to set the cap off, or maybe the barrel pin is not located properly but then i would expect constant problems. Suprisingly i have had this problem with my metal marushins, now being metal it is not such a problem and as i said full auto automag is fun, but?

MGC .44 Automag Bolt

The first time my automag went full auto is the first ime i encountered what would become a familiar problem. The ABS around the pin that holds the extractor claw in was blown off, you can see from the above picture the area i mean. Now the ABS around the pin is very thin and looks weak whislt all other parts look strong enough for the job, of course once this is broke that's it you cannot really fire the gun anymore. I did try and after 2 mags the front of the bolt disintefrated. So that was that i needed another bolt, fortunately my supplier was able to source one for me.

FITTING THE NEW BOLT
This is another area that lets down the MGC. The marushin is very simple to break down for cleaning and maintenance the MGC however is a nightmare. The barrel pin is OK and easily talken out for general cleaning but after that there are 2 pins in the rear sight that need to be removed, then a long screw bolt that goes through the bolt and into the front of the chamber needs to be screwed out, the bolt can then be removed. Then the grips have to be taken off, the slide lock pin needs to be removed and also the safety catch then the barrel and main body can be removed from the frame. The trigger assembly is connected to the barrel and main body and of course assembly is in reverse, as i said a nightmare and a pain.

OVERALL
Well i really want to say that this is a superb model because in many ways it is but the fact that the bolt is so weak and breaks so easily stops me from saying so.
I am now on my 4th bolt so far, all of hte others have broke in the same way and the gun has not gone full auto on every occasion when the bolt has broke, neither have many rounds been fired when the problem has occurred.
I am now to worried to fire it anymore as i have no doubts that the bolt will break again. I cannot believe that i am the only MGC automag owner with this problem (not after 4 bolts).
I am hoping that our Japanes experts may be able to help on this one they must of come across this problem at some time, so probelx if you can suggest anything that stops this problem or there is a better bolt i can get i would appreciate any advice.
It does seem strange to me that MGC would get through 4 generations of this model if the problem was so bad.

FINAL THOUGHTS
I really want to get this model sorted as it is excellnt in very other way and i really really like it. A metal bolt would be the ideal solution but i think the marushin bolt would be too big and having one made would i think be difficult.
The MGC mages a good display piece but i have 25 rounds for this gun just sitting there so not firing it is difficult and to tempting, but until i can find a way around the breakage problem then a display model it will stay and after all i do have my metal marushins.
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Cerwyn
Cerwyn (Site Admin)
Cerwyn (Site Admin)
Cerwyn


Number of posts : 11090
Age : 65
Location / Country : North Wales
Registration date : 2008-07-20

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PostSubject: Re: MGC .44 Automag   MGC .44 Automag Icon_minitimeSun Aug 10, 2008 11:52 am

Post by Mark

Very nice review claymore!!

Very concisely written and a great subject too!

That is too bad that the bolt is so weak and the fact that the disconector or ? malfunctions and permits full auto firing I think that there might be a problem with the combination of the heavy rounds and the heavy bolt assembly and perhaps the detonator as well.

The fact the automag has two recoil springs has to share some of the blame as it must have been difficult for the MGC designers to come up with the right spring tension combination to run the somewhat heavy HW bolt assembly and force the heavy .44 auto mag cartridge into the chamber.

The bolt and the cartridge must weigh fairly heavy and this, combined with the recoil spring energy causes this mass to accelerate forwards at a high rate of speed, I think that perhaps the cartridge might not "snap" over the cartridge rim when the cartridge is forced forwards by the bolt and if that occurred the cap might be crushed causing un-controlled firing(I.E. full auto) as the stand off clearance is eliminated.

The "stand off" clearance is the distance that the cartridge (piston to cap clearance) must maintain so it doesn't accidentally explode when the cartridge is chambered.

This only applies to a semi-auto closed bolt design(M16,M1911 etc.) as the open bolt design(MP40,Uzi etc.) doesn't require the standoff distance as the cap is supposed to fire when the bolt closes.

The closed bolt design, needs this distance to allow the cartridge to chamber safely and to allow the hammer to force the firing pin (or plate) into the primer (or cartridge rim) otherwise, the cap would fire as the bolt closed.

Now, if your cartridge "climbs" your extractor when chambering, it might take up this standoff distance and cause the full auto effect...

The detonator might be out of position but that would be very rare if not impossible and if it was, you would never (unless you gently and carefully hand chambered the round) get it to fire semi-auto.

Now, there might be some other problem involved but at this moment, I have no clue what it might be...

And yes, I don't think that you are the only person that has had such bad luck with the automag breakage problems such as your bolt assembly as the bolt looks very weak in the extractor pin area..

My older version of the automag has a terrible trigger pull and the hammer seems to catch on the sear when it falls, if the trigger isn't pulled completely to the rear when firing it so, it is current completely in pieces as I was trying to adjust it and make some other changes to it.

The earlier MGC automags featured a zinc and steel re-enforced bolt assembly That would be a great fix if it was modified to fit in the heavy weight Automags.

Yes, it is absolutely a pain to dis-assemble and assemble the MGC automag as it is one of the most complicated modelguns out there...
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Cerwyn
Cerwyn (Site Admin)
Cerwyn (Site Admin)
Cerwyn


Number of posts : 11090
Age : 65
Location / Country : North Wales
Registration date : 2008-07-20

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PostSubject: Re: MGC .44 Automag   MGC .44 Automag Icon_minitimeSun Aug 10, 2008 11:53 am

Post by Claymore

cheers for the complements mark, yeah all the reasons you state are vaild and a probable if not absolute cause of the problem, but you would of thought that MGC would of redesigned the bolt or made the plastic around the pin sturdier.

A zinc and steel bolt, i want one, why the hell did they not stick with that design i wonder.

With all the releases of older guns i have my fingers crossed that the automag my turn up again
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PostSubject: Re: MGC .44 Automag   MGC .44 Automag Icon_minitime

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