Serbu Firearms, Inc., Tampa, Florida

[KK]

Mark, I had a little problem with my serbu today, shooting fine with hunting shack ammo and the barrett ammo, but when I tried some of the Igman from Wideners that I have a lot of and I got two no-fires. Waited the minute or two then recocked and tried again still no bang. I tried some other ammo and it shot fine again , so I tried the two miss fires in my AR50 and they went bang okay, both of them, looked at the primers and the AR is definately hitting the primmers harder, I am about to start working up loads for the Serbu and am worried I might have the same no fire problem with my reloads , is there a way to adjust the firing pin for a harder strike or deeper? Thanks, Keith

[Hawaii five-0]

If the bolt isn't closed completly the gun wont fire.It will give light strikes visable on the primer but not enough to fire.It's real easy to do this without noticing because the back of your hand is so close to bumping the bolt when you are in the firing position.
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Club Serbu member#1201

[mrkubota]

Military ammo does have harder primer cups as they were intended for the M2HB machinegun.
I've shot the IK '88 ammo without any problems in my own BFG, but have had some light strikes on some WWII era ammo in the past.
If the case shoulder is set back a bit too far that can result in the same problem as well.

I've never had any issues with handloaded ammo using any of the popular primers on the market.
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Early BFG-50 in .50DTC
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14RUn8AnQxY

[KK]

Hawaii- you mean maybe my hand moved the bolt up just a little prior to squeezing off a round? I'm not sure, there were 2 light firing pin marks in the primer, it looked as though it should have fired, but the indentations were definately less than the AR50's marks.

Ben- I wasn't aware the Igmans was military ammo, I just read it was Bosnian I thought, looks good for military, packaged different too. I just looked at all the ammo again, the hunting shack has domed primers, the barrett not quite as domed almost flat, but the Igmans is flat on the face, really flat, and the primer indentations are defianetly lighter from the Serbu, just a little off center, not out of normal. The AR50 indentations are twice the size and depth and dead center.

Not sure what to do right now, if you have any more recommendions I appreciate it, maybe Mark will come in, I will make up some reloads with CCI 35's and try them but its gonna be a couple to few weeks before I can get out to shoot, Work you know. Thanks you guys for the reply I really appreciate it. Keith Orange Park Fl

[danoburbs]

I have had the same problem KK. My Serbu takes several hits on some ammo and I can put anything thru my AR-50.
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He who is silent is understood to consent.

United we bargain.
Divided we beg.

[50 Shooter]

My experience was just the opposite, had ammo that would get light primer strikes in my AR-50 and wouldn't touch off at all. Gave them to MrKubota and they fired fine in his BFG.

I guess some ammo is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get. The only way to be sure is to roll your own ammo.

[danoburbs]

Hey, did you notice a chamber difference between your AR and Serbu. I've had to trim my brass down to 3.90 on the nuts for my AR-50.
_________________
He who is silent is understood to consent.

United we bargain.
Divided we beg.

[Shorty]

KK- I'm curious if the firing pin dented the primers any deeper on the rounds that fired ok.
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There are three kinds of people, those who can count and those who can't.

[50 Shooter]

As far as the chamber length goes for the brass, as long as it's my rifle they can be a bit longer then 3.90". When it comes to swapping brass it needs to be full length resized or it wont go into the AR-50. This is true for most all rifles and should always be done.

I have had other brass from AR-50's fit into mine w/o any trouble after being shot but it always gets FL resized before used in mine to be sure. If it's been shot out of a semi I would definately FL resize and trim to 3.90" along with all the other checks to be sure the brass is good to use.

[KK]

Danoburbs- Yes I did have a chamber diferance, the Ar bolt closed harder, the Serbu easy. But all this ammo was new production, none was reloaded yet. I dont really remember if the Igmans was the only one to close easy with the Serbu or not.

Shorty- yes the primer indents were definately deeper on the AR, all the different manufacturers ammo was dented deeped on the AR.

50 Shooter- Havent shot any reloads yet in either, still working up the brass.

Appreciate all your ideas, you have given me a couple ideas and I need to get out to the range and help deduce this down some more. maybe I can post a picture if I can figure that out.

Keith

[Shorty]

[KK]

Shorty- No all the primers fired from the Serbu showed the same smaller indentation made, no matter the ammo, Just the Igmans wouldnt go bang, the Barrett and The Hunting Shack ammo fired okay and made the same indentation. The only reason I made the differentation was to say the Igmans did fire but not from the Serbu, and the only differance was the AR had twice the size indentation in the primer. I can't post pictures on this forum to show the differance. Still I look at the differance and seems to be the firing pin is not striking with enough force. Thanks for the help Keith

[markserbu]

The IK ammo is known to have about the hardest primers out there, but BFGs, in general, don't have problems touching them off. If you're skilled enough with dial calipers (and have some) or have a depth gauge, check the firing pin protrusion. At full extension, it should be between .076" and .081" from the tip to the bolt face. If it's out of spec, or you're just pissed off with this performance in general, feel free to ship us the gun and we'll fix it. There's a chance that someone put the hammer spring in backwards, though that's unlikely.

[KK]

Mark no way could be pissed off, the performance of the rifle was exceptional, almost perfect I'd say, just that little problem with the Igman ammo, i'll mic the firing pin and let you know what I come up with, appreciate the help.
Keith

[Eldon-1076]