well, the little dear is all put together, the dummy rounds have been run through it to test functioning, .... , and, i've no place to go shoot it. and, no "cameraman" available.
here is what she looks like attached to a proper upper. (when i've got an upper fitted, it will be held on w/ cap screws through tensioning pins, but, for right now, hardened steel pins w/ a friction fit will have to do.)
caption: no safety in place, just yet, i haven't figured out how to make one that will operate quickly. for right now, a 3/8" cap screw inserted through the action will have to do. it makes a pretty good safety .... i don't think the tail of the trigger assembly is going to budge it very much. for the safety to allow the trigger assembly to move, the through bolt requires a substantial relief cut: it can function by being rotated, or by "push pull" like the remington shotgun safeties. we'll see.
and, since this is "show & tell," i'll give you the other side of the lower receiver and the upper put together. if you want to look to see the "gaps" in the fit, just put the cursor on the picture and click, and you can get a larger view.
caption: i will finish the "finish" by coating the pvs w/ some blue pipe dope, "gluing" the "t" to the pvc pipe, and then painting it w/ my trusty krylon. the stuff has proved quite a bit tougher than i thought, suffering repeated "taps" from a hammer, and other indignities. i figure i will just stick with the basic green treatment its received thus far ... it matches the magpul furniture pretty well.
well, that's it.
to the range, and shoot the danged thing a little bit, and see how it works. i am pretty sure that it will be an entirely "non-event" event, as the upper and lowers fit very well together, and the dummy rounds go in and out of the thing as expected. and, an empty case w/ a primer indicates that the hammer and the firing pin are in a proper relation, and the bolt carrier group goes into battery as designed.
it's all really pretty straight forward, and i don't see where much can go wrong. i will let you know. just be patient. you have, after all, waited this long.
john jay @ 08.18.2015
p.s. the next project? well, i want to build an upper receiver from seamless tubing. it should prove a piece of cake.
i'll be out to the range in a couple days, and get some shots of the rifle being fired. do not worry, it will be a total "non-event." as i have said repeatedly, wood is stronger than steel by weight, and a heck of a lot more forgiving of boo boo's in fabrication.
well, the last installment, you saw the "plug" being fitted to the back of the receiver to hold the buffer tube. the buffer tube arrived, and it was fitted to the plug.
caption: the trigger well is covered by shipping tape so no epoxy will get in the wrong place, and the buffer tube is secured to its inletting in the plug by surgical tubing. pretty good stuff, that surgical tubing. i've got a recently completed 80% receiver in the foreground, and it came out real well ... the hogging out of the trigger well is harder than it looks upon first blush.
the next step in doing the buffer tube installation.
caption: the buffer and the buffer spring line up just swell in the buffer tube. things are pretty straight, even if not quite in focus. hey, this isn't a blog on photography.
a bit of handling convinced me that shooting an ar-15 pistol as opposed to an ar-15 rifle is just a pain in the butt, and would be an exercise in futility trying to get the damned thing to shoot "straight," well, where intended.
so, i completed the installation with a stock. all along, this has been an exercise in making an ar-15 out of available materials, and not being beholden to "store bought" items, and especially not being beholden to the damned government telling us when and where we can buy firearms or the parts for the same.
see if you recognize the material from which the butt stock is fabricated. i will tell you, that it is a lot more comfortable than any of the after market stuff for ar's, and comes up quickly and points very well. i may shorten the length of pull about 1/2" to 3/4", but, that is not crucial in any respect.
caption: yep, it is 1 1/4" schedule 40 pvc, epoxied to the buffer tube. what else? it is there to stay, and since it has some gaps accessible from the rear of the tube, i'll add a little more just to make it very very strongly affixed, just in case. the rear of the pipe is topped off w/ a junction, and i've got some doctor scholls fuzzy stuff on it right now, and i'll probably upgrade to some 1/4" neoprene, just for long wear.
it looks pretty silly, well in keeping with the general theme of things, but i cannot stress too much how well it points, and how handy it is. plus, it doesn't pull beard hairs out like my magpul stocks do.
did i happen to mention that it is very cheap?
all along i've kind of intended to make another laminated receiver, but, this one, even with all the mistakes and missteps along the way, has turned out well enough that i will just soldier on with it. the most egregious mistake was in drilling the holes with the cladding already glued on: because of that, when the drill got to the inside of the offside stainless steel clad (if that makes any sense), the drill bit simply wondered, just like a righty's slider to a right handed hitter. a little judicious work with a small rat tail file, and a whole lot of cussing, and i've made it fit most uppers.
it works well enough, and fits well enough w/ the uppers i've had to work with, that i am not going to worry about it. is it perfect? well, no, but it works, and if i have to repair any of it, i'll report on that as well. after all, the whole deal has been so that you can build one, or several, or any many as need be, if the commercial market for lowers dries up, or if the government gets so oppressive that we have to do something about it.
john jay @ 08.15.2015
p.s. as promised, in a few days, some photo's of the lower being fired w/ my 16" upper in 6.8mm remington spc. btw, i don't know if many have noticed that i also fashioned a magazine release to the left side of the receiver, activated from the right side, just like in a "real" ar-15. it's a bit slow, because it is not yet spring activated (i need a longer 3/16" through bolt to the right side), but, that will be coming shortly.
update, small snag. 08.18.2015. the local shooting range has been closed, due to "fire danger." the range had a small fire, involving a bunch of old hay bales uses as buffers between shooting bays. so, the board of the range decided to shut 'er down for a bit. who the hell knows how long? it's n.e. oregon. it gets hot and dry here, every summer. i don't know what is different about this year. the range is about as safe as anywhere to shoot, so i will be having to look for another place to shoot, that is not also a "fire danger." sheesh. double sheesh. end update.
and, i've finally learned how to do the "movie" thing w/ my cheapie nikon snap shooter. i'll put a couple mags through it, just for the naysayers. no biggie, it will work. just fine. and, it is not going to go up like a chinese chemical dock.
p.s.s. look below to the link about an ikea customer stabbing two of his fellows to death. too bad. but, i keep reminding readers that murders happened a long time before firearms. i represented a client who killed a man with a 40 ounce bottle of mickies stout, and a friend lost a sister to a river rock.
never forget the lefties do not want gun control, nor do they have anything against guns, as their minions are armed to the teeth with them. they see nothing morally wrong w/ the minions killing people, justified or not. no, what they fear, is you having guns to use against them in rebellion. plain and simple.