Another possibility is blocked fluid return ports within the master cylinder itself - I would not suggest fiddling with pushrod adjustments to set the free play on the master cylinder as a first step, those are not likely to be incorrectly set - that is - unless someone else has been at them before.
As a crude test - try spacing the master cylinder away from the firewall with a couple of washers - if that doesn't change anything - lack of free play is a symptom and not the cause.