A bit of home "gunsmithing"

[Indy]

Been wanting to add a bipod to my AR15 for quite some time now. A Harris bipod runs around $200, and I'm reluctant to spend that much money on something that 1) isn't made out of pure gold and 2) is something that's just going to get tossed in the dirt/mud/whatever. So I got a $20 chinese one. Started out as a clamp-on unit, with a simple pressed sheetmetal top flange that went over the top of the barrel with 4 screws protruding down into the bottom rail that the bipod slid onto. So today I milled off the protruding ears that the screws went into from the bottom rail so I could drill/C-bore some screws up through the rail and into my handguard. I then fabbed a little aluminum block which I tapped to add as backup behind the guard. The results:









I think it turned out okay. Need to enlarge the holes in the guard a little bit and straighten it out.

[The Dark Side of Will]

Last I saw of your other thread, you just had the lower receiver... where'd the rest of the weapon come from?

[Blue Shift]

Come on man, with your machining capabilities, you should knock out one of those 80% receivers, or maybe just mill one out from solid billet

[TheFieroBoy]

Nice rifle. But I'm a little confused about something: you said the bipod was designed to clamp onto the barrel, but you're using a picatinny rail. Did you attach a picatinny adapter to the bipod?

The cheapie bipod that I bought for my AR15 has a picatinny rail attachment. But the bolt that attaches the picatinny adapter to the rest of the bipod keeps loosening up. I got fed up with it and got a sand-bag.

Hey, it works.

[Indy]

The bipod included a cheapy Pic rail which was supposed to be clamped to the barrel. I milled the parts off that the clamp screws went into. Tried it out the other day, works great! Was grouping 4-5" at ~300 yards with wind and Wolf ammo from standing, supported on bipod.

As far as the rest of the weapon magically appearing, this is my old AR with a sling that I made. New one still looks like it did before - not done. Been paying off the new garage

Next up is a media blast on the barrel for a more subdued look without all the stainless bling factor.

[The Dark Side of Will]

AR's are not cheap weapons. How many do you need?

Amusing that the Chinese make aftermarket parts for an American weapon and the American gun enthusiast... but they do the same thing for cars, so it shouldn't be surprising.

Chambered for .223?

[TheFieroBoy]

Next up is a media blast on the barrel for a more subdued look without all the stainless bling factor.

I would suggest going light on the media blasting (and use a fine-grain medium). A rough texture will hold dirt, oil, etc and will be difficult to clean. Although, if you're into the nitty-gritty look, that would be the way to go.

BTW, is that a 24" barrel?

[Indy]

AR's are not cheap weapons. How many do you need?

Amusing that the Chinese make aftermarket parts for an American weapon and the American gun enthusiast... but they do the same thing for cars, so it shouldn't be surprising.

Chambered for .223?

Only need two. This one gets the optics and the long barrel, the other one gets irons/Eotech and a 10" barrel. Kind of a SHTF package. This one's chambered in .223, while the next one will have a proper 5.56 chamber to handle mil- ammo. I suppose I could also save cash and swap uppers on the same lower but that gets complicated if you have an NFA registered shorty.

AR's also aren't really that expensive in the grand scheme of things. You can almost build a quality AR for the same money as a new AK, if you go milspec. Compared to traditional American semi-auto hunting rifles (and most bolt actions now) it's pocket change.

Next up is a media blast on the barrel for a more subdued look without all the stainless bling factor.

I would suggest going light on the media blasting (and use a fine-grain medium). A rough texture will hold dirt, oil, etc and will be difficult to clean. Although, if you're into the nitty-gritty look, that would be the way to go.

BTW, is that a 24" barrel?

Yep, 24". I don't mind the nitty-gritty look. I was shooting the other day around dusk and the barrel was putting off some hella glare, which was pretty distracting as I generally shoot with both eyes open.

Sooo I started removing the barrel. Got the handguard off and couldn't find my barrel nut wrench, which really made sense when I remembered that I never bought one. Too busy to mess with making one at work. So the wrench is ordered and should be here in a couple days.

[Indy]

Once I finally got the barrel nut wrench, I realized I had nothing to hold the rest of the gun. So I made a tool to hold the barrel. When I got home from work with the tool, I realized the bore was small by a couple thou, so I had to do some persuading with a drill to allow the clamp to open far enough.



On the barrel:



Nut's off!

The end of the barrel where the bolt rotates and locks into:

[Indy]

[Indy]

Obviously I took a trip to Harbor Frieght and got all the stuff to blast my barrel, IE a $20 blasting gun with a gravity feed hopper and $10 worth of 220 grit Aluminum Oxide media. Masked off the barrel extension (ie the locking lug portion) and the gas block boss with ductape, and my wife donated an adhesive backed rhindstone from her scrapbooking hobby to protect the crown at the muzzle.

15 minutes later there's what I had! I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out, it darkened up very nicely when I got it cleaned off and oiled up.

[TheFieroBoy]

Looks good!

[Indy]

Perhaps my very most favorite addition to the rifle today:





Flip-open scope lids so the lenses don't get all nasty!

Also pictured on the table is my urban-kitchen Strinne Green camo, and of course my tactical carbohydrate/saturated fat replinisher.

[Indy]

Finished AR#3 that I did for my dad (AR#2 is still incomplete). Weighed in at 6lbs 12oz. Don't have any pictures of the process, pretty much all the same that you've already seen.

[TheFieroBoy]

I like it, simple and straightforward.

Mind if I post a couple photos?

[Indy]

Have at it!

[TheFieroBoy]

Cool.

I did a little bit of "gunsmithing" on my AR-15, as well. I made some fiberglass handguards, with an "old school" look. See photos below.





I like them better than the stock "corn cob" handguards.

[Indy]

Those are pretty sweet guards! Remind me of the Magpul MOE, I like the look of yours better though. It's blended with a little bit of original A1 style guards.

Have any pictures of the process?

[TheFieroBoy]

I have a build thread on AR15.com ( LINK )

I wish Magpul made MOE handguards in the mid-length size. That would've saved me a lot of work. Oh well...

[Series8217]

Finished AR#3 that I did for my dad (AR#2 is still incomplete). Weighed in at 6lbs 12oz. Don't have any pictures of the process, pretty much all the same that you've already seen.

Nice KISS build. I dig the A2 stock on a midlength.