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View Full Version : AR-15 project: Phase 2



Sanis Prent
Jan 8th, 2006, 11:00:07 PM
When I last left you, I was here:

http://panicked.org/sa/kw15a.jpg
http://panicked.org/sa/kw15b.jpg

About $200 and a handful of parts later, I'm here:

http://panicked.org/sa/kw15c.jpg
http://panicked.org/sa/kw15d.jpg

I installed a four position telescoping carbine stock onto the rifle's subassembly. I cannot stress to you how complicated adding this stock turned out to be. Two sets of springs and pins, two washers, and a lot of tension adjustment and thread aligning (the threads on the stock shaft are exceptionally thin and narrow-spaced.

Of course, further problems when the stock housing was put on. The tube the stock goes into is supposed to house a recoil spring and a buffer, which the bolt carrier group and firing pin housing press against after ejecting a fired shell. Normally, the spring and buffer go into the stock and the recoil buffer retaining pin is depressed against a spring below it, which allows the buffer to click all the way back into the stock.

The problem? The pin didn't depress enough, and I couldn't lock the buffer into the stock. So I bought a few other retention pin & spring kits and decided to meddle with it. The lower subassembly might not have a deep enough retention pin hole milled into the steel, or it might be because I had an abnormally long retention pin. Either way, the option for me was to grind the metal down on the buffer pin using a dremel. The pin itself is shaped like a wine flute situated upside down and without the base. It has a "cup" and it has a "stem" on top of that. The cup should rest against the base of the hole, and the spring goes up inside that. The stem is what is exposed out of the subassembly, and is what the buffer actually rests against.

I could grind either one, but I to grind the cup I'd have to completely break down and remove the stock, so I decided to grind the stem instead. So I took about half a millimeter off the metal and CLICK, the buffer went in flawlessly, and came to rest against the pin just as designed.

So now, it looks like phase 2 is a wrap on my rifle. I'm awaiting the complete upper subassembly to ship from Rock River Arms, and there should be a few minor tweaks to it before I install.

Hopefully, the bare-bones rifle will be ready for bench testing by Groundhog Day :D

Khendon Sevon
Jan 9th, 2006, 12:45:18 AM
It was so much simpler installing a three position telescoping stock onto my paintball gun ;) With flatline barrel it looks like an HK5... an HK5 with a huge bore that fires balls the size of revolutionary war ammo... yup.

The rifle looks great, can't wait to see it with the upper sub. Make sure you take some video footage of it in action!

Loklorien s'Ilancy
Jan 9th, 2006, 07:25:09 AM
Better yet, why don't you get your Greek booty down here for the maiden shooting :p

Morgan Evanar
Jan 9th, 2006, 08:28:52 AM
Originally posted by Khendon Sevon
It was so much simpler installing a three position telescoping stock onto my paintball gun ;) With flatline barrel it looks like an HK5... an HK5 with a huge bore that fires balls the size of revolutionary war ammo... yup.You mean an MP5, made by HK. :p I fully intend to shoot that thing by year's end.

Khendon Sevon
Jan 9th, 2006, 11:28:34 AM
Oh, darn. There's a video game that calls it an HK5, so I always thought MP5 and HK5 are synonymous. :) And I know it's the company name, Heckler and Koch.

Jaime Tomahawk
Jan 9th, 2006, 11:43:15 AM
Originally posted by Loklorien s'Ilancy
Better yet, why don't you get your Greek booty down here for the maiden shooting :p

So we moved on from Elmo to maidens?

Draken Chakara
Jan 9th, 2006, 04:13:44 PM
Yuppers. They juke and jump better.

Sanis Prent
Jan 10th, 2006, 07:11:57 PM
Something came in the mail today!

http://panicked.org/sa/kw15e.jpg

YAY ITS COMPLETED (the basic rifle at least)

http://panicked.org/sa/usavsussr.jpg

Here's Vera, posing alongside her communist counterpart :cool

http://panicked.org/sa/fps.jpg

First Person Shooter Vision.

Charley
Jan 10th, 2006, 10:58:39 PM
Post analysis:

The RRA Eotech Dominator rear iron sight is amazingly nice, considering this entire rig is a backup system to an Eotech holographic targeting system. It has short and long range iron ring sights, and click knobs for both elevation and windage. I wouldn't mind taking this to the range without the holographic setup, at least for now ;)

The threaded barrel allows for easy change-up between flash hider and muzzle brake. I put my muzzle brake on without a sweat.

I have no idea how to put the bayonet on here, and this bayonet may in fact be incompatible :(

The firing pin housing / bolt carrier assembly / charging handle are made of science and I do not understand them. Took me 20 minutes to figure out how to re-assemble these back into the upper after it took five seconds to take them out.

My black polymer pro mags are apparently not too good. They won't allow the bolt to lock back on an empty magazine. Unless they can be modified in a certain way, I'd say they aren't going to work for me. Oh well. The USGI mag I got seems to work just fine.

Dust covers are awesome and yet superfluous.

I hate how unnatural pulling the charging handle feels but I guess its okay.

Who actually uses a forward assist anyway? Yeah I know its for soldiers in the field who don't have the luxury to diagnose a bolt issue but this seems a little nutty to me.

Adding my picatinny railing and foregrip is probably going to be a pain in the butt, if my schematics have anything to say.

Anbira Hicchoru
Jan 13th, 2006, 12:07:22 AM
Okay, I relented and bought the Eotech module. For those not in the know, Eotech is a holographic sighting system. If you've ever seen The Last Starfighter, its similar to the system used in the heads up display.

You have a specific field of view in which to look into, about a 1 inch by 1 inch square. Within that viewport somewhere, is a laser-projected target, hovering in space. You move your head, the target moves. Assuming your windage and elevation settings are correct, wherever the target is illuminated, no matter where you position your head, this is where the gun will fire.

Here's the full rifle, with more mags and the included Eotech device:
http://panicked.org/sa/eotech1.jpg

Here is a really crappy shot of what it looks like inside (mind you, this was hard to get a picture of.
http://panicked.org/sa/eotech2.jpg

Arya Ravenwing
Jan 13th, 2006, 12:08:03 AM
Sweet!

Khendon Sevon
Jan 13th, 2006, 12:21:43 AM
Now that is an anti-zombie weapon!

Mu Satach
Jan 14th, 2006, 08:47:55 PM
I absolutely love the dino bed sheets. It makes an already interesting picture all the more enlightening. :D

Charley
Jan 14th, 2006, 09:19:08 PM
Hahaha yeah. Everybody comments on the dino sheets before even thinking about the AR. Thats why I love them :)

At long last, I finally get to try her out :D

Didn't do much work, just a brief 1 hour stint on Akrabbim's land. This is the first firearm of any sort that is almost "point and click" for me. With the eotech mounted onto it, its almost infallible if you don't have to factor elevation and windage. Since the ranges we were shooting were 100 meters and less, this was the case for me. Follow-up shots were completely natural and very fast, and we were shooting at aluminum storage cans which were tossed all over the place.

The Bushmaster mags I bought had to be modified with needle-nose pliars to bend the upper side of the mag retention hole outward slightly. They worked like a charm. Only issue with them is that the bolt didn't stay open on an empty mag all the time. The Colt mag I have worked perfectly though.

BTW muzzle brakes are loud loud loud. Tried it once without earmuffs to get a feel for it and that was enough for me!

I bought a 3 position tactical sling for the carbine and its one of the nicest additions to the gun that I could hope for. Its infintely more comfortable and versatile than any other sling I've ever used.

Selector switch was stiff, but really it wasn't bad enough for me to cotemplate messing around with the tension spring. I like it.

All in all, after the grief my GSR has given me, I am so happy to have a gun that is completely versatile and enjoyable again. And with .223 being hot enough to detonate Tannerite, it increases my enjoyment a thousand fold.

Now, to figure out exactly how to clean this beautiful black nightmare >_<

Mu Satach
Jan 15th, 2006, 05:09:42 PM
Ahhhh... I miss the smell of gun oil and cleaners. It's been ages since I was out home and around my uncles and their guns. *sigh*

Have fun!

Zem Vymes
Jan 16th, 2006, 12:26:28 AM
Good thing I put the dust cover on, because somebody likes to shed

http://panicked.org/sa/goodbadandugly.jpg