What kind of home smithing do you do?

[O.S.O.K.]

I tend to do easy to "moderate" type gunsmithing jobs myself.

Things like drilling and tapping for a scope mount our sight, cutting a 45 degree chamfer on rifle crowns - to clean-up the terminus of the rifling and improve accuracy, rechambering to an AI cartridge, simple bedding type jobs, replacing furniture, changing out sight blades - that kind of thing.

About the most complex project that I've done is work on an already-sporterized (half assed) m94 swede mauser - installed a Beuhler safety, reshapped the stock to allow the base plate to fit properly on the receiver botton (and allow proper feeding), re-drilled the scope mounts (to repair the stripped ones), cut and ground/polished and blued a steel buttplate to fit the stock, installed sling swivels and ... did a full-length glass bed.

The other harder work that I've done would best be posted in the AK build forums...

So, how about you guys? What kind of home-smithing do you undertake?

[hawk1911]

So far I have reprofiled 1911 GI frames to fit beaver tails and some trigger polishing. Assembled a few AK parts kits into rifles. Reprofiled and polished AK hammers and trigger groups. Made two AK pistols including the barrel slim down and redoing the gas port my self. Making the FS/GB combos and cutting and welding the rear trunions and everything. I guess on the lighter side, I have refinished all of mine and various others in bake on paints. Assembled a few ARs, including light trigger work to smooth some out a bit. I recently aquired an SKS and I did a mild trigger job to take some of the 2tons of pull out!

[abpt1]

Not much but Deth and Moe are learning me somthin.





For my pistols



I have the best smith in the state no bullshit this guy is good and the best part is he is fair with his prices .

[Krupski]

I tend to do easy to "moderate" type gunsmithing jobs myself.

So, how about you guys? What kind of home-smithing do you undertake?

I do all my own gun work. Either at home or at the machine shop at the university. Only thing I can't take in there is a complete firearm. I have taken barrels in to cut or crown or whatever they needed.

The only time I used a real gunsmith was when Wolf 45 ammo almost destroyed my old 1920 M1911 and the smith had to repair the battered breechface. He had the special cutter to do it right (apparently the 1911 breechface is not perfectly perpendicular to the slide... it's angled slightly to allow the round to slide up and under the extractor). He had the right tools to clean up the breechface, and do it at the correct angle.

Anything else... I do myself.

[deth502]

you name it, i do it, except bluing and parking. ill dig up some pics after work......

[O.S.O.K.]

Thanks guys - we have a lot of experience here - looking forward to seeing projects, etc. - post em up! I'll try and put some of mine up too - at least the "after" pics...

[arcangel]

I mostly do easy tasks, changed the trigger on my G19. On my AR's changing furniture and scopes/mounts, I just figured out how to change a barrel on AR's so I have much to learn.

Both my AR's did some furniture changing on the S&W M&P15T, and did all the work on the DPMS LR308 AP4, G19 and USP 45 Tac also in the pic.

The Remington 700 sps tac in 308 I had a friend do the glass and rings, and I did the base.

Need some pics guys lol.

[deth502]

better late than never.

heres one of the last builds, off of a badly butchered mauser action.

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb31/deth502/mauser/Jul04_0004.jpg
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb31/deth502/mauser/100_4993.jpg
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb31/deth502/mauser/100_5004.jpg

lots of work went into that one, including making my own brake, and a MASSIVE rework of a stamped trigger guard.


one of my last scratch builds.
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb31/deth502/sgn-10/100_4258.jpg
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb31/deth502/sgn-10/100_4259.jpg
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb31/deth502/sgn-10/100_4262.jpg

suomi bolt (heavily modified), ar fcg, ar fsb, ar pic mount a2 type rear site, cheap pos red dot, yhm risers for said red dot, bored out ar fh, ar pg, pachymar recoil pad, a few screws and springs from the hardware store, and a shit load of raw steel and aluminum and machining time

[Helen Keller]

I do everything except Parking and barrel threading.

[O.S.O.K.]

Wow - very nice Deth. That second one is quite the creation!

I've never gotten into welding and real milling - which has held me back in my projects...

I might have to do something about that...

[AK-Karl]

My last build was this Romy PSL it was my first on a 100% recevier that I got from TG International.
With the big scope I have no problem ringing the gongs at 300yds.
http://i28.tinypic.com/2nq9nrm.jpg
Here is what I started with.
http://i34.tinypic.com/lw0va.jpg
The cold blue turned out great.
http://i45.tinypic.com/30shgci.jpg

[deth502]

thanks osok. it really dosent take that much of an investment, depending on your pov. my mig was a littel over $500 with the tank, and the mill was around $1200. of course, tooling costs a bit more, but if you look at it compared to how much this hobby costs, its not alot. ie, 2-3 good range trips can easily deplete a 1k rnd case of x39 or 223, thats 1/5 of the mill. a new ar from a kit will cost you about $600, thats 1/2 the mill.

and once theyre there, you end up using them for a lot more than you origionally thought you would.





karl,

i prefer the look of the traditional military scope on the psl's, but that long scope on that long rifle actually look very nice together :thumbsup:

[Moebrown20]

I've done a little work.
I need a bit more room so I could get a mill.

[cantstop]

built all my own ak's including bending the flats and riveting it all together. will have to dig some pic's up.

had some issues on a bulgy plum 74 that i am still working out ,the trigger doesnt go back after shooting it so i have to move it back manually (it hangs up)

[Moebrown20]

built all my own ak's including bending the flats and riveting it all together. will have to dig some pic's up.

had some issues on a bulgy plum 74 that i am still working out ,the trigger doesnt go back after shooting it so i have to move it back manually (it hangs up)

Does the casing extract?

[slamfire51]

I've built 35-40 AK pistols from rifle kits.
Built several AK rifles.
Built 5 AR's from scratch. 308 now has my AK tools and jigs. (or did have)
Somewhat modified a Mosin into my camoed hunting rifle. Shortened and crowned the barrel, and set back all the metal hardware on the stock to mimic a short barrel Mosin.
And other stuff I can't recall at the moment.

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c80/Canis-latrans/completecamo.jpg
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c80/Canis-latrans/quadtruplets017.jpg
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c80/Canis-latrans/2aks4-18-06003-1.jpg
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c80/Canis-latrans/mosincamo001.jpg

[slamfire51]

I'm waiting for azhonkey to chime in with his projects.

[L1A1Rocker]

Wow. There is some great work in this thread!!! I've done quite a bit on my own but have my limitations. I do not do any welding - I really should work on that, or blueing but I do parkerizeing.

My latest project is posted here in the gunsmithing forum as a 5 part series.

[cantstop]

yes the casing does extract , i am thinking i may have built this one on a ak 47 flat i dont seem to remember if it made a difference as the 74 was my first build and the only 74 i made.

[O.S.O.K.]

Hmm I built a Bulgy 74 on an Armory USA 1.5mm receiver and had no problems. That was some time ago - was my first AK build in fact. I used a G-2 fcg. But that's different that bending your own flat and getting the holes to all line-up, etc.

I put 13 together all told - but they were all on Armory USA receivers.

Every one functioned perfecty.

I'd suspect something in the dimensions of your receiver might be causing that?

[deth502]

afaik, the only real differances are with the magwells. i dont think there are any other changes in the 47 and 74 flats.

[Cobra 76 Two]

I do some good bolt and trigger work on AKs and Saigas....plus some barrel cutting, crowning, & threading...etc. I've been doing PG conversions on sporter AKs and Saigas since the AWB expired. My real passion is the S-12. I've done just about everything that can be done to them. Been concentrating on reliability mods to them and the other Saiga shotguns for the past few years...mainly reworking the gas ports, gas blocks, bolt & bolt carriers, FCGs, re-profiling and polishing all the contact surfaces and eliminating high friction areas. The S-12 and S-20 both are finicky as hell with light loads, especially right out of the box. Used to be, they could be loosened up enough to run by just shooting a few boxes of magnum loads. Lately though, since they retooled at the Izhmash factory, and changed the way they do a lot of things, the quality control has gone downhill bigtime, and guns are getting built with everything wrong from not enough, or undersized gas ports...to obstructed ports and canted gas blocks....etc. The re-profiling and polishing I do on the bolt and carrier, as well as the hammer face, and all the polishing of the areas causing the most drag on the action, vastly improve performance. As finicky as they can be with some ammo, you can't afford to have any drag on the moving parts. The bolt work also makes insertion of full mags much easier on a closed bolt.
Got some before / after pics on a website I'm still working on building up...

I have a couple of working prototypes I built for an automatic last round bolt hold open. Been fighting one setback after another for the last few years, while trying to bring them into production and put on the market. I have them installed in these two S-12s I built...
This one was the very first S-12 in the US to be built with real AK wood furniture, back in '05 before there were kits available to do it with. Got Ted Nugent to sign the stock which was fun. :cool: I made up my mind I was going to have the first one that actually looked and felt like a real AK, so I did it. Still my favorite gun.
http://www.saigafiles.com/gallery/d/110-2/AKS-12_001.JPG

This one I went the other direction with...
http://www.saigafiles.com/gallery/d/143-3/P3260120.JPG

Here's one of the first Bullpup S-12s to be built. Did this last year...
http://www.saigafiles.com/gallery/d/170-1/PA230003-1.JPG

Saiga .308 that I did a bunch of work on to get what I wanted. Still need to move the FSB back and thread it for a brake or hider. Thinking about putting either a Tabuk brake or a customized L1A1 FH on it.
http://www.saigafiles.com/gallery/d/424-1/Saiga+_308+Vepr+clone+a.JPG

Then my other S-.308 that went back to basics on. This one also took a fair amount of custom work to get it right. It started out as a 22" bbl sporter.
http://www.saigafiles.com/gallery/d/432-1/AK-_308+Unfolded.JPG

[slamfire51]

Great looking rifles and shottie!!

Are the round AK HGs available anywhere? I'd like one for a AK pistol.

[Blacksmith]

Can’t speak for the flats. But on the NDS receivers the magwell is tighter. The ejector is longer and the dimples are deeper. Harlan has posted that they will not work with 47 builds because the dimples are to deep. I did do several 47 builds on Armory USA 74 receivers. The dimples where not an issue.

As for what I do? It's easier to say what I don’t. I don’t send anything out. If I can’t do it myself, I either learn how to do it or it does not get done. The only exception is wood carving. My uncle is an expert and gets all the families carving projects. :)

[Cobra 76 Two]

Great looking rifles and shottie!!

Are the round AK HGs available anywhere? I'd like one for a AK pistol.

Yes I got them from a couple of friends who make them. Which ones are you most interested in?

[L1A1Rocker]

Yesterday I rechambered my 300 whisper to 300 AAC Blackout.

[FunkyPertwee]

I used my new Dremel tool to shorten the mag catch on one of my AKs a little so all my mags fit. Going to cut the muzzle nut off soon and put on a flash hider.

I've put in trigger groups in a few AKs, and have fixed up a bunch of rusty PSL mags to working condition. Also I used the Dremel to hand fit the mags to my PSL.

[slamfire51]

Yes I got them from a couple of friends who make them. Which ones are you most interested in?

The SAIGA in front of the safe.
I would like a HG like it, but for a Romy 47.
But only 6-8" long.

ETA:
Don't need any rails or sights, just a plain Jane tube with the ability for it to fit a receiver.

[FunkyPertwee]

Ok. I just cut the muzzle nut off my Draco, cleaned up the threads, and installed my Tapco slotted muzzle brake/ flash hider.

[robert]

I do everything myself I have built several make that alot of ak projects.

[Robert Type 07]

Hello everyone. Being new to the site I figured this would be a great place to post first. I'm a (hoefully soon to be retired) gunsmith for the DoD. I've been smithing for about 26 years. I have a small shop in Kentucky that I like to tinker in and make odd ball scratch builds, parts kit builds or what ever strikes me as interesting. Any gun work I do outside of the DoD is by appointment only and has to be something that's interesting. Looking forward to chatting with ya'll.

[O.S.O.K.]

:welcome: to the board Robert. Do limit your offers for services to the classifieds please. You can discuss your projects here though!

[Silicon Wolverine]

ive done lots of small stuff. teh biggest projects to date were complete rebuilds of a couple winchester 1911 12 ga autos. New stocks (mill blanks) from Macon that had to be fitted and finished, new internal parts on both, new buffers and springs. i debated sending them off to be hot blued but the $$ werent there after dropped 300$+ into new stocks. i do better work on older guns vs newer ones it seems. when it comes to smithing i get along better with old wood and blued steel for some reason.

http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k365/SiliconWolverine/001.jpg

http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k365/SiliconWolverine/002-1.jpg

http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k365/SiliconWolverine/003-1.jpg

SW

[O.S.O.K.]

Nice job! Love to see the project pics guys -thanks!

[Doug76]

I tend to do easy to "moderate" type gunsmithing jobs myself.

Things like drilling and tapping for a scope mount our sight, cutting a 45 degree chamfer on rifle crowns - to clean-up the terminus of the rifling and improve accuracy, simple bedding type jobs, replacing furniture, changing out sight blades - that kind of thing.

That about covers what I do, at least so far. Ain't dead yet, so I figure I'll get around to learning and doing more. God help us all! LOL

[O.S.O.K.]

Well, a moderately well equiped shop can allow you to do a lot of stuff. I've done rechamber, rebarrel, AK and AR assemblages and other limited smithing jobs - all in a shop sans mill, lathe or welder.

I'd like to get a good lathe and I now have a buzz box (Arc welder) that I've got learn how to use.

I enjoy the shop time a lot - wish I had more time to do it...