Test Report..."It's Alive!" (or now I went and done it; cont'd.)

[Deltaten]

Well, those of you that expressed and interest in the continuing saga of the "shorty" R-1, stand by.....

Firing report:
All rounds loaded and ejected. Mucho blast, but not much more than any other "nekkid" bbl!dialed to 3.5 for first rds, then went to 5.5...still worked. Didn't want to press my luck, as the air in the basement was getting too dusty to see!

I didn't even hafta enlarge the port. Now at .09235". As a matter of fact, I didn't even close off the old port, just "let it bleed".
I did remove the third "knob"/spring stop to allow more piston travel, but that was it! Never got around to brazing the front end of the gas block, only about .005 gap around bbl, and NO gas bleed marks, so I guess it's sealed.

Now to finish it; grind off old gas area. Mebbe I'll just "ring" the flats to make it look like the bipod and sling swivel rings. The "ribbed" look! Wowsers!

Now the big Questions.... Will Parkerizing solution "eat" either brazing or silver solder?? AND.. Should I harden the piston rod where I cut it off, or is the entire piston rod hardened? It didn't seem to be too hard to cut!

Pics as soon as I can find a digi-cam!
Thank you for your indulgance.
Paul

[stimpsonjcat]

Park won't damage or take on silver solder or braze.

All the pistons I ever ground on seemed hardened...except the century (go figure).

You moved your gas block? ummm...wow...

[Incognito]

Impressive. I would love to see a picture of this. I was contemplating this very thing, but after posting some questions on this board a while back chickened out. How far back did you move the gas block? And what are you using for handguards?

[Deltaten]

Stimpy:

Yes! MMMMMM...good, MMMMM...good! Thanks for the info on braze/solder and parking.

Incognito:
I moved it back about 4". Not so hard to move, just removing the old "flat" was a pain in the ..., besides the bipod and sling "rings". Lotsa file work. Just couldn't get rid of the GB pin and HG bolt "notches" all the way.

This all started as a project to see if I could cut a set of HG down to DSA's "shorty" length, just to beat the $60 price tag. Mine are actually shorter by about an inch+!

I started working on the "para" bolt carrier and the mod'd lower today.

The next one will have shorty guards, but a long gas system, ala' AK !!

Pics asap( gotta buy a camera!)

Regards,
Paul

[W.E.G.]

I just wanna see the pix of you firing the shorty FAL in your basement.

Mount a 35mm camera on a tripod. Turn off all the lights. Lock the shutter open, and commence to blastin'.

I wanna see the firing pix with the handguard off.

Your photo shop can put the pix on disk.

[Deltaten]

gary.
Why would you want to see the photos of firing w/the HG off? I know!, just so you can see if I'm wearing Nomex gloves! :D. It just might be spittin' more flames outta the tube and/or the reciever. In that case, I'd hafta remove the TC and spring for ultra high-speed camera to catch the action operating ;)
Besides, I don't think even a Hasselblad would take the abuse of the blast! A trip to the moon's nuttin' compared to the shock wave produced by a short bbl in a very small room.

I do think I'm gonna go the 35mm route. I've priced the digi-cams I'd like to have vs. 35mm flexibility and the price of 1 hr. prints AND disk format. The 35mm wins, hands down. I should be able to pick a good Minolta XG series up used for less than a mid range digital. Since the digi I want runs about $500 wholesale, I'm waaaay ahead on processing fees, and I can still "massage" the stuff from disk on photo shop.

Best,
Paul

[58772239]

Well did it work, got pics yet? :confused:

[Deltaten]

Tim:

Oh, Yeah! It works :D

We are prolly goin out Sat to do some shooting. I'll Hafta buy a K-Mart box camera and get some pics. Takes about a week to process onto disc, so be patient. ;)

Best,\
Paul

[58772239]

i cannot wait to see some pictures of this thing, i have a lathe, and mill, i think mine is next

[Deltaten]

Wow! With a lathe and mill, I'd be considered "dangerous" :D I could turn a kit into a pile of shavings pretty quick!

Should be a piece of cake w/the right tools. Turning/grinding down the factory GB was the worst part. Second was filing the bbl profile/taper to something approaching something "normal".

Weather's supposed to cooperate this w/e. Guess I'll try to find all the chopped bits to put in the pic with the truncated ones.

Regards,
Paul

[58772239]

the barrel where the gas block goes has a taper?, sounds fun, i have ordered one of the issued barrels and a new gas block from the people at tapco, just could not resist the chance to hack, i was wondering if i should spring for some of the dsa short handguards, or shorten a set of the metal ones, that would be really cool looking, wondering if i should try to silver solder them, or weld/grind method after chopping saw operation, oh, cool, what about a shortened bipod to match, wheels are turning again.... :D

[58772239]

i got my barrel/gasblock today, time to hack, anyone got a set of the steel handguards suitable for chopping?

[Deltaten]

Tim:
Caught in the act over on the "weld-a-bbl" thread. SO, how'd the hack-job go?

Wasn't it you I was chatting with about the HG nut coming apart, in "handguards" thread? I thought it was. If so, why not just use those for cutting, since they'll need to be welded/soldered anyway? If not you; find the thread and swap your's for his.
I like the way the fiberglass R-1s "weld" w/J-B weld, not as rapid, but a cut household appliance cord don't cut it as a welder! :D

AS far as the GB flat goes; I'd go w/the sleeve job. Nothing more exotic than a piece of pipe of the right size. Chrome/Moly would be great, but as needs must.....
Just set it all up, jig to align, and solder away. Bore gas bleed hole, and you're off.

Regards,
Paul

ps: took pics last w/e, still havn't got 'em "disc'd" yet (I don't wanna waste half a roll of film :) ) Hope they come out. Took two sets, one outdoor and one indoors. Lotsa work setting all those pieces up; they kept rolling off the table!

[58772239]

how big did you bore the gas hole?, mine turned out good, i just turned down the barrel to the right size for a good press fit, and pressed it on, i did notice that the barrel was pretty warped when i chucked it up in the lathe, a lot of runout, 1/4 inch, so i cut it off ata a point before it was bent, 13 inches or so, i spun up a muzzle thingy, pressed it on, and did the pin/weld job on it, overall length is 16.25 inches, the gas block is about four inches to the rear, cannot buy the dsa handguards, have to find another set, i am not the one with the damaged threads that you talked to, i do want a set of steel handguards for it, and i am also going to cut down a bipod just for kicks and giggles, i tried to post a pic or two, but it did not work, how should i fit the gas piston?, eyeball and chop? :D