the setting.
caption: it's cozy, and i sort of like the fine grit of saw dust underfoot when i get up in the middle of the night and get a drink of water at the kitchen sink. no, i am no longer married. that's why i can do stuff like this in my kitchen. and, doing stuff like this in the kitchen, is why i am no longer married. i am not exactly certain if that is a tautology or not, but, it is at least circular. and, true enough.
rex, you are just gonna have to forgive me if i am a bit smug this evening, for despite my malapropisms, lack of spelling skills, odd notions of syntax and lackadaisical proof reading, sometimes things do go right around the old homestead.
i guess you can put it up to the theory that even a blind pig finds an occasional acorn, ... , but, i take the view that luck is the residue of design.
in previous installments i have described laying out the basic format of getting an ar-15 size platform to accept an ar-10 sized magazine, which will allow me to utilize a version of my "jj's brit" cartridge with the bullets seated to an overall cartridge length of 2.500" or so, throat and leade allowing me to do so.
well, this day i borrowed a mortising machine, a drill press which fits a mortising bit and sheathing chisel so as to allow a person to "drill" square holes, and large mortises. in the last 5 hours or so, i have drilled the mortise in the lower receiver plug, and done the basic fitting of the magpul magazine in the resultant magazine well.
the mortising was easy, if a bit tedious. the following up fitting by file and sandpaper has just been along the line of work. but, i've got the magazine to go in, without an undue amount of force, and it is a snug friction fit, from the top and bottom of the magazine well. i did not mortise or fit the little step in front of the locking cut in the magazine, but will wait until i have epoxied the stainless steel cladding to the reciver first, ... , no point in risking breaking a thin magazine well wall at this juncture.
a closer view of the mortising machine, a quite handy device, and the plywood plug w/ dimensions laid out and locations of holes to be drilled marked at precisely as i have been able to do, with the help of friends.
caption: work proceeds on the kitchen table, as it is just to cold to work in the unheated basement. this is my friends mortising machine, which is pretty much a specialized drill press.
it is a pretty simple affair, with no moving table, so each cut is made by drilling, and moving the subject piece, clamping & drilling again. the wooden lower receiver, shown with the layout dimension, is held against an iron with "c" clamps.
the mortising bit is the goofy looking gizmo.
making sawdust, wood chips and holes.
caption: the mortising bit is basically a hollowed four sided chisel that functions as a sheath for a special bit, that goes into the cut just before the chisel. the drill makes a hole, and lots of saw dust and chips, and the chisel cuts and dresses a square hole.
cool.
if you look closely, you can see the pointy bits on the corners, and the scallop relief cut that gives a good slanting cutting edge.
the cutting edges making a very smooth cut, in short, they work swell.
caption: the rough cut magazine well. you can see that the cut needs some work. the next tools used are more basic, and basically include a couple of old files given to me years ago, and some 50 grit sandpaper.
caption: after about 3.5 hours of sanding and cussing, this shows the magazine beginning to travel into the well, and the fitting is going along nicely at this point. the fit is close enough that "scuff" marks show the high places in the well that need to be sanded down.
again, keep in mind, that the dimensions of the lower plywood receiver are those of an ar-15 lower receiver, while the magazine being fitted is an ar-10 sized magazine. keep in mind, that the magazine well is bigger than on an ar-15, but the dimensions for overall length, pin holes, and trigger well are those of the ar-15.
the following picture portends "success," in that it indicates/suggests/promises to me that i will have sufficient length in the receiver to include the larger magazine well/magazine in an ar-15 length receiver, and still be able to fit the trigger group and all the other controls in their proper location to function w/ an ar-15 upper, and especially to function correctly without having to alter the location and dimension of the bolt carrier group, and firing pin.
in other words, i am gonna be able to, i think/i am convinced/i am pretty sure, locate the trigger and hammer pins in their proper location, and to therefore located the trigger group and hammer right where they are supposed to be in an ar-15 rifle.
caption: now, remember, the receiver "plug" has got the location of the various pins involved in the ar-15 receiver located and marked.
suffice it to say, the most critical dimension of all involves the location of the hammer pin. it goes in the right place and functions correctly, it hit the firing pin when and where it supposed to, and it is controlled by the trigger correctly, and the bolt group re-cocks it during the firing cycle of the rifle.
looking closely at the picture above.
the hammer pin layout hole is just behind the magazine well, and is marked/highlighted in pink. it is marked by a line on the side of the receiver plug, which is in line with a line across the top of the receiver, just next to the rear most portion of the magazine well mortise: the little cut for the ridge of the magazine.
now, if the ridge on the magazine went all the way back to the line on top of the receiver, that would mean that the trigger pin would contact it, and the hammer would as well, and that just couldn't be, as two objects cannot occupy the same space. but, it doesn't. the mortise is a bit large, (my fault, my bad), but the magazine will not intrude into that space, because the magazine is held in place ahead of it, by the rear shoulders of the magazine well.
the good lord willing, and the creeks don't rise, i should have just enough space to get everything to go into the trigger well, without interference from the rear of the magazine. we'll see, but, i think i can wiggle everything in there, and make it operate as it should.
finally, a picture of the magazine up into the magazine well, all the way up to the magazine latch catch. (hey, "catchy," laughing.)
i've been thinking about it, and although i don't have enough room for the standard magazine latch, a substitute can be very easily fabricated. no problem on that front, a very simple gizmo on a piece of spring tacked to the receiver should work just fine, ... , the standard latch is way to complicated, as far as i am concerned.
i'll leave you with a picture of the magazine sticking up into the magazine well, basically fitted. it fits down from the top to the same depth, actually even better, and the combined "depths" are greater than the depth of the well. in other words, it will fit full length, and probably even without minor tweaking, though it never quite works out that way.
eh, rex.
caption: there's the magazine. i am not gonna have a whole lot of "excess" room in the trigger well in front of the trigger, but that is no big deal. i don't have big hands, nor big fingers. if i do need a little room, i'll just heat the trigger and change its profile, bending it back a bit. if i need more room at the rear of the trigger well to do this, no big deal, ... , i'll just get a rasp and rat tail file out, and make the room.
john jay @ 12.02.2013
p.s. assuming i get the trigger & hammer groups in properly, only one little problem remains.
and, that is directly related to the fact that the magazine, being of ar-10 persuasion (made for the 7.62x51mm nato) is longer and wider than an ar-15 magazine. so, i am gonna have to make an upper receiver that fits the ar-15 lower receiver that will accept the new magazine, or i am gonna have to alter an existing ar-15 receiver to take the new sized mag.
no problemo, no hill for a climber, because in essence, an ar-15 upper receiver is little more than a tube with a threaded end. there is not a machinist in this country couldn't make one in an afternoon, had he any incentive for doing so.
i could come pretty close myself, and may just do it, for shits and giggles. just to show it can be done.
whatya think, rex?
rex:
please proof read if you will, but, skip the snotty remarks.
john jay
Posted by: john jay | January 03, 2014 at 12:38 AM
It is a sublime undertaking Mr. Jay.
Aside from giving those who wish to rule over us the bird.
Me like defiance and resistance to tyranny in the form of the craft of creating ones arms.
It's proper duty.
Everything to be said for it.
Posted by: Mt Top Patriot | January 03, 2014 at 08:29 AM
mt. top patriot:
thank you for the very kind words, and thank you for the read & comment.
it's nice to know someone is out there, and likes my stuff.
and, as far as defiance and resistance to tyranny, i think you spot on, and the only thing i can think to say is, "me, too."
john jay
p.s. buy guns, buy ammo, and become proficient in your own defense. maintain a surly and prickly attitude about your rights.
and, now i can add, make your own guns. it's not that hard.
Posted by: john jay | January 03, 2014 at 08:58 AM
aw no need for thanks as it is thanks in abundance you do a bang up job of poking your finger in the eyes of the treasonous.
But your welcome:-)
What you said, make your own guns, reminds of this:
"Tyranny is the grindstone which sharpens the blade of resistance."
-Samuel Culper III
In your case the wood chisel of defiance. Woo Hoo!
Or like this fellow put it:
“If all people were self-reliant — a nation of artisans, craftsmen, hunters, trappers, farmers, ranchers — the rich would have no means to dominate us. Their wealth would be useless.” Edward Abbey, Confessions of a Barbarian, “November 27, 1982
Speaking Barbarians, did you get a gander at this timely essay:
http://westernrifleshooters.wordpress.com/2014/01/02/becoming-the-new-barbarians/
Posted by: Mt Top Patriot | January 03, 2014 at 02:02 PM
I dont know much about guns. Will it explode when you shoot it?
Posted by: bgarrett | January 03, 2014 at 05:15 PM
mt. top:
i share mr. culper's sentiments.
and, i will read the essay at western rifle shooters before i sleep.
john jay
Posted by: john jay | January 03, 2014 at 09:32 PM
bgarret:
nope. (well, i sincerely hope not. laughing.)
i am building the lower receiver of an ar-15, using laminated wood and a steel cladding.
the stresses of firing are borne by the upper receiver, where the bolt locks into an extension of the barrel. that bit of structure absorbs the great pressures of firing.
the lower receiver in an ar-15 does not absorb any of that, just a bit of recoil (and no more than the firer, and wood is tougher than you & i, by far.)
if this works, my next project will be to build a lower from resin soaked cardboard. it should work, as well.
i have finished the "wood work," having mortised the various "wells" for the magazine, the trigger assembly, and the like.
the steel cladding is next, and then the whole thing gets a trigger and hammer, and we'll see if it stuffs into the crowded space.
john jay
p.s. right now i have fitted an upper, e.g., lugs into mortises for the hinge pins and such.
next, i will figure out how to get the nut for the receiver extension mounted ... there "should be a way."
i would like to omit this entirely, and another future project will just have an upper mounted to a lower by the lugs, and the receiver extension will be part of the upper.
i have never understood the need for the buffer tube/extension to be a separate part of an ar-15.
makes no sense to me.
Posted by: john jay | January 03, 2014 at 09:40 PM
mountain top patriot:
i read the essay at westernrifleshooters.
it is very good.
i am in agreement w/ it.
i think our resistance needs to go operational. a political arm, to talk to the assholes.
a provo arm to do what is necessary.
john jay
Posted by: john jay | January 04, 2014 at 12:43 AM
Indeed. A certain critical mass has to be attained for effective operational state that will effect destiny in a positive manner.
I believe a caveat is in order here:
That when the ground swell, a plurality, comprehends it is first a plurality and second there is no voting our way out of this(TINVOWOOT), effective operations will coalesce from it's nebulous birth.
I take it as a good indication as is it safe to say we wouldn't be discussing this if it wasn't beginning?
Posted by: Mt Top Patriot | January 05, 2014 at 08:37 AM
mountain top:
agreed. put simply.
people will act in a certain manner when they have no other choice, and no other alternative.
but, we will act. and, decisively. and, we know against whom our actions will be taken.
"there's a man going round, taking names, ... ." and, we do not forget the wrongs against us, and who has committed them.
john jay
Posted by: john jay | January 05, 2014 at 09:53 AM