The unofficial GUN talk thread
- Thread starter -=Lobstah=-
- Start date
inski
New member
I'll help you, or Nate. Its easy, you'll see. My 20 year old son has already build 2 lowers, that's the 'hard' part. And just go slow acquiring parts like I am. I started rifle no.1 last Christmas. Found a deal on another lower receiver and no.2 is now in the works. No.1 is 75% done.
Nate
Founding Father
Building them is easier then it seems, but it does take a few specialty tools to do it correctly. For most folks investing in some tooling would totally negate the cost savings in putting together your own rifle. There are plenty of very well put together rifles, at good pricing. Only bad thing is you have to chew off an $850-$1000 purchase at once.
I have more then that into my builds. But having the ability to control the parts you put into your rifle, and making it the setup YOU want is what makes building them great. I own 3 very different rifles. Set up how I want them. I could never find one off a shelf like I made them.
I have more then that into my builds. But having the ability to control the parts you put into your rifle, and making it the setup YOU want is what makes building them great. I own 3 very different rifles. Set up how I want them. I could never find one off a shelf like I made them.
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smelt240
Active member
Just picked up a Mosin. I think Im going to do up an Archangel stocked sniper rifle looking thing. Theres a few on Gunbroker all done, they look nasty. Looks like the only thing I cant (shouldnt) do is the work on the bolt. Im thinking for the Duracoat, maybe a stainless finish on most of the metal, with a winter camo in silver and white. I still have some interesting rounds left from my SVD and PSLs... It seems like most of this build is just labor, smoothing out the lines and removing sights, and other foolish things that it will no longer need. Something to pick away at when Im bored i guess...
smelt240
Active member
So I had my uncle get me the Mosin, planning on doing the bent bolt conversion, and drilling and tapping for a scope. Turns out what he got was in his words "the best Mosin I have ever seen condition wise" It came with a bent bolt, scope, and a few other other modifications, plus the best wood he has ever seen. I will pick it up within a day or 2. Then the fun starts. Woohoo!
smelt240
Active member
We should have a "Mosin Meet"! My reloading buddy has 7 or 8 of them, all different, plus a few other guys around here have them. i might go get mine tonight, but its kind of wet and miserable out. There must be a few others on here that have a stash of these things, it would be cool if we got a crowd of them, maybe a "Scary Wood-Stocked Assault Weapon Shoot" That way I could bring some AKs and SKS rifles too.. Either way, i think that we should do a MS gun meet when the weather is better, it sounds like it would be like a gun show, only with shooting and food. As Ive said before, we have a huge field out back, with a little over 300 yards with a nice backstop, with 450+ yards if you're a really good shot!
smelt240
Active member
Love it!!! You will have some fun for sure! I dont shoot mine a whole lot, but just got a set of dies, so it might come out to play more often now.I couldn't resist
Onto the Mosin. I got it home, it was beautiful, all refinished, just a very clean looking surplus rifle. So, I proceeded to disassemble it, remove everything I could, took the rear sights off, found out they are soldered on a dovetail made into the barrel. Damn the solder, I broke it free with my trusty gunsmithing Estwing. Yes, it weighs 20 ounces. A very good "convincer". Anyway, after the solder was cracked,and the rear sight base destroyed, I knocked it off the dovetail. UGLY! What have I done? Soooo... I got out my trusty NAPA file set, picked out a nice big serious looking one, and started massaging the steel. An hour went by..... Some 220 grit, followed by 400, then some 1000. Now were getting somewhere. Another hour of filing, and things were looking good. Nice and round, no trace of the sight base, other than the 2 holes that held the locating pins. Im deciding if I want to fill those or not. Might just do a drop of JB weld in each, or touch them with the MIG. Anyway, it is looking good, the barrel is right now polished to a 1200 finish, pretty much a mirror. Ill blast it to the proper finish for coating later, I wanted to be sure there were no waves in it. Im going to order some Duracoat as soon as I decide on Olive Drab, or a winter camo finish... Im going to do the youtube trigger job, with a spring to take up the slop. Might do that later today. Archangel chassis ordered, Ill find a swivel Harris bipod sometime this week, plus cut the bolt knob off, and turn one on the lathe that looks a bit more modern. Then drill and tap the handle, and install away. Last trick is a Barret style brake, which I will be "hand milling" Hacksaws, files, drill press, and a chunk of 6061 that I have laying around. If only I could use the machine shop at work.... but I use the techniques that Ive learned there to make handwork much easier. Im on my xbox now, but will upload some photos in progress in an hour or so.
smelt240
Active member
OK,here we go. This is kind of in order with the previous post. Im happy with how it came out, 2 small waves, that were in the area of the rear sight base, they are low spots, Im not going to mill the barrel down to remove them. Im going with a flat finish, so it should not show at all, in the mirror polish, they barely show up, but Im picky sometimes. The rifle was pretty nice when I started, so Im looking forward to seeing the end result. Im leaning heavily toward a winter camo scheme, mostly so I can test my old airbrushing skills....
Now for some fun ones. I destroyed it:
Now for some fun ones. I destroyed it:
smelt240
Active member
Its really hard to get pics of polished stuff close up. But trust me, its a mirror. Im going to size up the trigger and sear now, get them lined up 90 degrees, then a polish job on them and the bolt . I should be looking at roughly a 2.5lb trigger pull, with a nice clean break. I will pick up a couple screws tomorrow, then I can put a stop in to limit the slop and overtravel in the trigger. I might do a spring in the future to simulate a 2 stage trigger, but don't know if I really need it. I have a feeling this is going to be fairly accurate, esp when compared to a stocker. Im hoping for a 2 inch group at 200 yards. I have things that will do better, but they were not built in 1941.... I need to find an 11 degree crown reamer now.
Not much better than the other pic I guess.... Ill try some different lighting before I go any farther on the barrel. It doesn't look very good in the final two, but it is. Now Ill need to play some COD online so I can do some shooting...
Not much better than the other pic I guess.... Ill try some different lighting before I go any farther on the barrel. It doesn't look very good in the final two, but it is. Now Ill need to play some COD online so I can do some shooting...
smelt240
Active member
No new pics, but i finished up the reciever end of the barrel. Now waiting for my 11 degree crowning tool to come in. As soon as that's here, Ill cut the barrel down to 26", true it up, and put the new crown on. I have an old beater Enfield, i may do someting similar to this on that one too...hmmm theres a ton of billet aluminum laying around my shop... maybe an aluminum sniper chassis with an Enfield action/ barrel?? that's later though, the Mosin is first. ArchAngel is on its way, should be coming together in the next week, maybe I can try it out soon.