MG2 Impressions

[R.M.]

Well, it's been a week since I picked up my new MG2. You know, it's taken me a year to get one here in the States, but the wait has been worth it. So far, I couldn't be happier. I've shot a couple of PB's, and it just feels good.
I've put about 650/700 rounds of various makes of ammo, and it'll eat'm all. Yes it does have the bulge in the MT case. So what. As long as they don't rupture who cares. I did have a couple of ruptures, just from one make of ammo, the new Aguila. The old stuff was fine.
The mag does take some getting used to. I can see myself getting into trouble with one minute to load and me spraying ammo all over the bench. Happened tonight.
I haven't cleaned it yet. I'm kind of waiting until I hit the 1K mark.
Overall, I'm as happy as I expected to be.
I also shoot a SAM M10, designed by the same man, Cesare Morini. Another great gun. You either love his works or hate them. I'm a lover.

R.M.

[deleted1]

Congratulations you are one of the lucky ones.

[Mike Taylor]

Congratulations on acquiring your MG2, Robert. Good to learn you, too, are happy with it. Welcome, though, to the "brass rainbow"! Now, when charging the magazine, I point it into my gun box. At least then I do not have to go hunting downrange for the escaped cartridges :-)
May I offer a word of warning based upon my experience? In another thread, as Mark Briggs noted, I explained my take on the cause of the troubles with the (infamous) Bullet Insert Lever. Because of the nature of the operation of the BIL, if a cartridge does become jammed between the slide and the barrel, there is a very high likelyhood (certainty?) that serious damage will be done to the BIL if an attempt is made to clear the jam by pulling back on the slide. With any other pistol, this would be the obvious step, but do not do this with the MG2! Instead, remove the slide cover. I know, that is four screws to undo, but to save damaging (or breaking) the BIL, it is well worth the extra effort.
The manual even refers to this, but really doesn't emphasize how critical it is.
The design for feeding cartridges from the magazine to the chamber is quite ingenious, an engineering marvel - if all goes well. However, the design has a weakness: if a cartridge, for whatever reason, becomes jammed, the "obvious" solution to clear it (pulling back the slide) is the wrong solution.
Regards,
Mike T.

[R.M.]

Thanks for the heads up Mike.
C Ya at Nationals?????

R.M.

[Mark Briggs]

Hey - good news, Bob! Glad to hear you're positive in your thinking about your new pistol. Looks like there may be a few on the line at Nats this year..

BTW, my new one came with a Rink grip, but I decided to stick with the Matchguns factory grip as I would have had to go to a LARGE Rink to get it to fit me. And I don't have a big hand! If any ladies are looking to shoot the MG-2 my bet is they'll find the Rink grip a better fit if they have small hands.

[MG2-owner]

Good news, R.M.
I suppose your MG2 is the new version with rubber buffer incorporated, and serial number in the 1600 range?

I would be of some interest to get informed about the behavior and proceeding of your MG2 specimen. May I ask you to keep us posted about any irregularities, and the total number of rounds consumed by the pistol when (if) this happens?

According to a post in this coloumn, the rupturing of cases, caused by the very deep extracotr groove, has been corrected by the factory now. Your experience indicates differently.

BTW, I have always been, and will ever stay, utterly convinced, that in a sound pistol design, rupturing of non-faulty cases should not occur.

[R.M.]

Is it my imagination, or is the windage adjustment marked backwards?
Either way, I got her close. Beat my STD PB by close to 20 points the other night. Now for those that know me, know that I hate STD. And because I don't like it, I don't put much effort into it. If this keeps up, I might have to shoot it a little more seriously. This piece just suits me.

R.M.

[R.M.]

Figures. I was just talking with Neal Stepp, and he has the MG2 Rapid-fire model in stock now. If I'd just waited for a couple of weeks. He says that he has an electronic trigger model on order, but has no idea when it'll show up.
They say patience is a virtue. I wouldn't know.

R.M.

[F. Paul in Denver]

Last time I checked, Colorado law does not prohibit owning two MG's

F. Paul in Denver

[R.M.]

Glad to hear that Paul. I ran that by M. and she might disagree with you though.
I wouldn't be surprised to see that electronic triggered MG2 in my safe soon.

R.M.

[Mike T.]

Robert,
No, the adjustment is not backward, it's just that the markings on the sight are confusing until you get used to them.
Looking down on top of rear sight assembly (with barrel pointed away from you):
On the left hand side of the top, there are four separate symbols.
-Furthest from you is an arrow pointing into a symbol for the rear sight notch.
-Next towards you is a counter clockwise arrow. This arrow indicates the direction to turn the tiny hex socket screw that increases the depth of the notch. That tiny screw is on the left hand sight of the sight, right next to (at the 10 o'clock position) the big, knurled and slotted screw head that adjusts the windage.
-Next in line, the third symbol, is something that looks like the letter Y. This symbol works in conjunction with the fourth symbol, an arrow pointing to the right. Note that the tail of this arrow is curved, like the letter J, and the end is in line with the stem of the Y symbol. Consider the V portion of the top of the Y symbol as an arrow. Turning the windage knob in the direction of the V (clockwise) causes the rear sight to move in the direction of that arrow with the J stem, that is, to the right.
Clear as mud, eh?
Just remember, the counterclockwise arrow (symbol number two) applies to the rear sight notch depth-adjustment, not to the windage adjustment.
I got caught on that too :-)
Hope this helps.
Mike T.
And yes, I will see you at the Nats.

[Mark Briggs]

Bob - if M. insists on you getting the electronic trigger then I might be able to take that old clunker of a mechanical trigger off your hands (for the right price, of course!). LoL

[R.M.]

SWMBO (she who must be obeyed) has informed me that the electronic will be coming in with a small grip, which will then be transfered to the "old clunker"

What can I say?
R.M.

[Mark Briggs]

Geeezzzz... Will you stop grinnin' like the cat that ate the canary?!?!?!?!

I will be very interested to hear your experiences with the electronic trigger. I've just had a very scary incident with my Pardini SP1 electronic. I hope the implementation in the Matchguns more closely resembles the Morini design than the Pardini design.

[David Levene]

I've just had a very scary incident with my Pardini SP1 electronic.

You can't leave it like that Mark.

[Mark Briggs]

OK, David. It's nice to see that your curiosity bump is at least as big as mine! ;-)

Was going to shoot an RF match last Saturday, so on Friday I took my pistols out of the box for my usual pre-match inspection. The MG-2 got it's usual 'little dab 'll do ya" of oil on the moving parts, and was summarily stuck back in the box.

With the Pardini I had been doing a fair amount of dry-fire and live-fire training, so out of habit I checked to ensure the chamber was empty, turned the electronics on, and started to dry-fire. "Started" would be a gross over-statement because I managed to get exactly one click from the trigger, followed by stunning silence.

The source of the stoppage appears to have been relative movement between the electronics assembly and the pistol's frame. I believe this to be the achilles heel of this particular gun. On the "Morini-style" trigger, the trigger switch is packaged with all the mechanical trigger components in one removable assembly, while the electronics are in another assembly joined to it by wires and connectors. It is impossible to change the relationship between the mechanical portions of the trigger and the trigger microswitch.

With the Pardini design the trigger switch is part of the electronics assembly. The principal disadvantage with this design is that the trigger mechanical parts are effectively in one part of the gun, and the microswitch in another. The microswitch is very small and of limited travel. The net result in the Pardini design is that any mis-alignment or change in alignment between the mechanical trigger pieces and the electronics will result in astounding silence, rather than the expected "bang" when one pulls the trigger.

I hope this explanation will help cure your curiosity, David! *grin*

[David Levene]

Thanks for the explanation Mark.

Is there a screw (or similar) that came loose to cause the movement or is the electronics unit just held in place by being clamped between other items.

This used to be a problem on the FAS 601/2/3 where the hammer box was held in place by one screw. If that screw came loose then it was possible for the hammer box to twist slightly and take it away from contact with the transfer bar. It became part of the regular routine to check that the fixing screw was tight.

[Mark Briggs]

David - you've raised a fine point, as usual. The electronics in the Pardini are held in place with two countersunk screws. And they both vibrate loose. Not good... But a little service-removeable loc-tite should fix them, I hope!

[R.M.]

This thing just never ceases to amaze me. I'm close to 1500 rounds without a hiccup, and does this gun shoot. I've mentioned before how Std. wasn't my forte'. Last Std match at league, I beat my PB by 20 points, well this week, I added another 8. If this keeps up, I might just get to like Std. pistol.
I'm pumped. I might just have to enter a score in Patrick's postal. With Nationals just around the corner, things just couldn't be better.

R.M.

[Mark Briggs]

Bob - welcome to the fold. Glad to hear your MG-2 is working as expected. I've gone through that same euphoric feeling when I got my MG-2 - standard and sport scores jumping by 40 or 50 points. It's just a very shootable pistol.

How's it working for you on the RF front?


Mark.

PS: Still haven't got my 2nd MG-2 up and running. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'll have it to take to the Nationals. If this is the case the Pardini will stay at home!