Matchgun MG2E Electrical Problem

[conradin]

Apparently to my disgust yesterday I brought my MG2E RF to the range to let a friend of mine shoot it. No matter what I did it will not fire. No jams, no stove pipes, no nothing. The electronic green light is on, and the dry fire click also sounded.

As it turned out the battery has running out of juice. As soon as I put in a new battery, everything is activated and everything works.

While the MG2E RF (or MG2 in general) is like a skeleton pistol, which you can actually see the internal parts, it does not give you a reason why the pistol fail to fire. When it works, you literally can see the part moves internally.

Other manufacturers designed their electronic trigger usually have a low power warning, such as a different blinking rate, or lack of the mechanical click sound. In this case, the MG2E has a much louder click sound when the battery has enough juice in it. But that is the only way to figure it out it was the battery. If you have never shoot one, or never did pay attention the minute difference of the click sound, then you can never figure it out.

I'm not saying you should sell your M(number)E from Matchgun right away, in fact the MG2E RF is my favorite pistol, but keep in mind that as far as firearm concern, you need to be much more aware of the battery. Supposedly 4000 clicks per new battery, and if you dry fire a lot, indeed you will run it out within 4 months or so. So checking the battery is the first thing you need to do if the pistol does *nothing*, and you know you are already over 3000 trigger pulls...

PS. Always carry the battery cover Allen wrench and an extra battery with you, whether you are training or in a match.
PPS. I am not sure if running out of battery can be counted as an allowable malfunction which you can correct and shoot the alibi? David? Anyone else?

[rmca]

PPS. I am not sure if running out of battery can be counted as an allowable malfunction which you can correct and shoot the alibi? David? Anyone else?

Yes it can an allowable malfunction 8.9.4.1 b). However... 8.9.4.2 h) may also apply. If in doubt just replace the battery before the match. Get a small battery tester so you can see how much juice is left.

8.9.4.1 ALLOWABLE MALFUNCTIONS (AM) are:
a) A bullet is lodged in the barrel;
b) The trigger mechanism has failed to operate;
c) There is an undischarged cartridge in the chamber and the
trigger mechanism has been released and operated;
d) The cartridge case has not been extracted or ejected; this
applies even if a case catcher is used;
e) The cartridge, magazine, cylinder, or other part of the pistol
has jammed;
f) The firing pin has broken, or any other part of the pistol is
damaged sufficiently to prevent the pistol from functioning;
g) The pistol fires automatically without the trigger being
released. The athlete must stop firing immediately and must
not continue to use such a pistol without the permission of a
Range Officer or a Jury Member. When using electronic
scoring targets, the first shot will be scored by the system
and this will be credited to the athlete. When using paper
targets, should the automatically fired shot(s) hit the target,
the hit(s) found highest up on the target must be disregarded
before the repeat series. After any repeat series, all the
shot(s), except those that were disregarded on the one (1)
target concerned, must be included to establish the score; or
h) The slide jams or the empty case is not ejected, this applies
even if a case catcher is used.

8.9.4.2 NON-ALLOWABLE MALFUNCTIONS (NAM) are:
a) The athlete has touched the breech, mechanism or safety
catch or the pistol has been touched by another person
before being inspected by the Range Officer;
b) The safety catch has not been released;
c) The athlete did not load his pistol;
d) The athlete loaded fewer cartridges than prescribed;
e) The athlete did not allow the trigger to return far enough after
the previous shot;
f) The pistol was loaded with the wrong ammunition;
g) The magazine was not inserted correctly, or had fallen out
during shooting unless this is due to damage to the
mechanism; or
h) The malfunction is due to any cause that could reasonably
have been corrected by the athlete.

Hope this helps

[conradin]

Yes it can an allowable malfunction 8.9.4.1 b). However... 8.9. .2 h) may also apply. If in doubt just replace the battery before the match. Get a small battery tester so you can see how much juice is left.

8.9.4.1 ALLOWABLE MALFUNCTIONS (AM) are:
b) The trigger mechanism has failed to operate;
8.9.4.2 NON-ALLOWABLE MALFUNCTIONS (NAM) are:
h) The malfunction is due to any cause that could reasonably
have been corrected by the athlete.

8.9.4.2.h is too vague for defining "reasonably" have been corrected by the athlete. You can argue that most mechanical failures can be "reasonably" corrected by cleaning and checking the pistol before the competition, and also including using new batteries. I guess it is up to the judges.

The Morini 84E battery light has a warning set up, but the Match Gun MG2E does not, and has no warning whatsoever, including when you test the battery how much minimum juice it needs to complete the match. The MG2E continues to click and has the green battery light on as if everything is ok, even though there is no more juices to activate the solenoid contacts.

On the other hand, during a match one probably shoots no more than 120 rounds (including dry fire, sighting, and finals if there is one). It is highly unlikely that during the competition, for example in the MG2E case of 4000 clicks battery life, that the battery runs out of juice exactly during the middle of the match.

[David Levene]

Apparently to my disgust yesterday I brought my MG2E RF to the range to let a friend of mine shoot it. No matter what I did it will not fire. No jams, no stove pipes, no nothing. The electronic green light is on, and the dry fire click also sounded.

As it turned out the battery has running out of juice. As soon as I put in a new battery, everything is activated and everything works.

Provided that it doesn't go bang when I pull the trigger then, as it is obviously turned on, I would allow it.

One problem that I have come across in the past with a Pardini electronic was that, when the battery was getting low, it didn't have enough oomph (technical term) to charge the circuit between shots in the 4 second series. By the time I came to test it for the malfunction claim it had charged the circuit and it fired. Result, non-allowable.

[kalz]

Unfortunately we couldn't put any device to check the battery charge because our battery is small, light, cheap and easy to find but we couldn't use extra energy for the check circuit.
It is a good habit to change the battery when it goes under 10 v.

[therider]

you don't need a Allen wrench.
The battery cover is magnetic. So you just lift it with your finger tip and substitute the battery.

I have my MGH1 since june and 3 days ago i have installed my third battery. So, about 1 battery every 3 month, and 120 shots/day (including the dry one).

I don't see any problem. I have always a replacement battery with my MGH1, as I did with my old LP10E.

You immediately get used to a low battery, as Conradin says, the 'click' becomes distinctively week.

I had more problems with LP10E to detect when the battery was low. The manual says something about the led blinking differently when you switch the pistol on. However i never managed to detect any difference.
Also with my old austrian girlfriend LP10E, after switching on the electronics, the led goes off. So it is very easy to forget the electronics on and close the pistol back in the case!

I personally find the electronics of MG, much better than the other available: much smaller, much lighter, much smaller battery, led always on to remind you.

I understand that it could be made even much smaller, but costs would increase....personally I would be ready to pay an extra 50Euros to get an even smaller electronics!

[ghostrip]

i don't have the mg2e but since i was tinkering with my mg1e one thing you need to check is that the etrigger
housing has to be rigidly screwed to the frame. in mg1e case it is part of the trigger circuit.
i have to thank kalz for replying to my email about this.
now my 3d printed plastic housing works ok (with a small aluminum strip to connect everything).
pity my hand shakes so much nowadays.

[conradin]

I wish there is a way to figure out what is the "minimum juice" the pistol needs. As in a motorcycle it is well known that a 12V battery must be able to have enough juice which makes it 14V to start. If you actually have it as 12V, you actually cannot start activate the solenoid contact. This is why a lot of people kept charging their motorcycle battery, reaching 12.5V, but unable to start the motorcycle and thought that something else is wrong.
Perhaps the manufacturer can tell us how much V is the minimum. That certainly will help the old Pardini SP Electronic.

[conradin]

you don't need a Allen wrench.
The battery cover is magnetic. So you just lift it with your finger tip and substitute the battery.

Mine needs the wrench to open the cover. Once the cover is off you can pull the battery out.

Now I have 4 batteries in my case just in case.

[kqrxbn]

Great info! Ran into this today and was a bit worried. First hit on Google brought me here and a low battery indeed seems to have been the problem. Fortunately I have a spare one in the bag, but it is good to understand the quirks ahead of time. Will make a note to replace the battery with a fresh one before any important competition.