Nailbomb 10,221 Posted January 13, 2010 Report Share Posted January 13, 2010 (edited) So one of my friends came back from afganistan this weekend! Got to see him and he expressed interest in getting a gun... I had my eyes at the time on a 16" saiga with scope for $450 - he snatched it up. Well while he is up in Ft. Drum he asked me to hold onto it for him... So being the guy I am I'm going to rip it apart and bring it back to the way god intended it to be... Parts are already on order... Heres a pic of the happy new owner... Edited January 13, 2010 by Nailbomb 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
volkov 318 Posted January 13, 2010 Report Share Posted January 13, 2010 he's gonna be real happy when he gets it back.. good idea and mad props Quote Link to post Share on other sites
longhorn 81 Posted January 13, 2010 Report Share Posted January 13, 2010 +1 Bro, you are a true friend to your buddy coming back from the STAN. My friend gets back in April and I am planning a welcome home project too and a lot of Guiness because he is McIrish. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
hlb3 2 Posted January 13, 2010 Report Share Posted January 13, 2010 That's awesome, you are very good friend! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Paulyski 2,227 Posted January 13, 2010 Report Share Posted January 13, 2010 Does he know you're gonna convert it, or you gonna surprise him? That would be a cool surprise. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Nailbomb 10,221 Posted January 13, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2010 Does he know you're gonna convert it, or you gonna surprise him? That would be a cool surprise. nah, He knows... theres only so many libreties one should take with another mans property. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Klassy Kalashnikov 1,393 Posted January 13, 2010 Report Share Posted January 13, 2010 (edited) Do you know what division he is in? And of course I'm sure you know what brach. Maybe as a cool welcome home present you could have company's logo or even just the branch logo etched or carved or painted (depending if you go wood or plastic) into the stock. I think on a plastic stock you could simply paint the logo on there with stencils and some good spraypaint, and then hit it with a clear coat to protect. Just an idea as part of your gift to him. I.e. if he's a marine put an Eagle Globe and Anchor on the stock. Edited January 13, 2010 by Klassy Kalashnikov Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Nailbomb 10,221 Posted January 13, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2010 (edited) Do you know what division he is in? And of course I'm sure you know what brach. Maybe as a cool welcome home present you could have company's logo or even just the branch logo etched or carved or painted (depending if you go wood or plastic) into the stock. I think on a plastic stock you could simply paint the logo on there with stencils and some good spraypaint, and then hit it with a clear coat to protect. Just an idea as part of your gift to him. I.e. if he's a marine put an Eagle Globe and Anchor on the stock. He's 10th mountain... I have a patch from him already, it wouldn't be hard to add that to the gun somewhere... Edited January 13, 2010 by Nailbomb Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tawm 0 Posted January 13, 2010 Report Share Posted January 13, 2010 I.e. if he's a marine put an Eagle Globe and Anchor on the stock. lol. No. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Klassy Kalashnikov 1,393 Posted January 13, 2010 Report Share Posted January 13, 2010 (edited) Mountain logo looks pretty cool. I'm sure you can whip up a stencil set and paint it on a plastic stock. Hell you could just get the patch itself on the stock. Edited January 13, 2010 by Klassy Kalashnikov Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Nailbomb 10,221 Posted January 13, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2010 Mountain logo looks pretty cool. I'm sure you can whip up a stencil set and paint it on a plastic stock. Hell you could just get the patch itself on the stock. If he wants to put velcro on his gun I'll let him do that... I'll just work on getting the pieces where they belong... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Nailbomb 10,221 Posted January 16, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2010 As always Greg from CSS has amazingly fast shipping. I'm stuck waiting on one last package... Your ideas for including the division symbol in the gun have been well noted and ideas are being tossed around. Honestly Everyone I've brought the idea up with agrees its a great idea! We'll keep it a suprise till we go to give the gun back... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Nailbomb 10,221 Posted January 18, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2010 And the last piece just came in... Conversion is underway... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Nailbomb 10,221 Posted January 19, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 19, 2010 And so it begins... Here we have One last pic of the gun as it will never be again, and the immidiate dissasembly. First the dust cover comes off with the bolt and bolt carrier, The 3 crews holding the buttstock in place get removed and a rubber mallet smacks it out in short order. A pick set helps remove the stock FCG retaining pin, and we have the start of a pretty well stripped down gun. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Nailbomb 10,221 Posted January 19, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 19, 2010 First the rear most rivet is ground down with the dremil, and a punch finishes the job. The Standard buttstock tab had to go on this one, so i chopped it with the dremil, and sat down for some slow work with a bastard file to get close as possible without digging into the back of the reciever. with that done, my attention went to the other rivet holding the trigger guard in place and the 2 spot welds, dremil, punch and cold chisel did the work. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Nailbomb 10,221 Posted January 19, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 19, 2010 Cleaned up what remained of the spot welds with the dremil, and then got a craxy idea to use the rear hole from the first rivet i removed. mocked up the buttstock and marked the adapter with a center punch. Drilled and tapped, and will use a button headed bolt with red locktight to make it that much more secure. I'm using a Virgin triggerguard for this as i feel it gives more profesional results. so I took care of the 4 rivets holding the mag catch in place out. By this time AKAstormi was over and lended a hand removing the internals to the mag catch, and transfering measurements over to the new trigger guard. With that done, drilling the corresponding hole in the triggerguard was easy. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Nailbomb 10,221 Posted January 19, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 19, 2010 Its a bit of a trick getting the internals from the mag catch back together, It was made easier by having two sets of hands, and thats why I have no pics of it. Patience is a virtue for this step, and some needle nose vice grips on the spring will be your friend. Joeys S-12 will be more tacticool with a SGM handguard. I clearanced a little where it was hitting on the barrel and it poped tightly into place. This is a hand me down from my x39 that i'm planning on putting wood on this year. We compared the lower recievers on my X39 to get the measurements forthe PG hole, and stormi did the work of cutting it out. I MIGd one of the holes from the old TG, and filled in what we didn't need of the old trigger slot. Brass backing makes this work hard to fuck up. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Nailbomb 10,221 Posted January 19, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 19, 2010 A quick pic of my cleaned up welds, and us checking the fit of the mag catch... It'll be nice and tight. Thats it for tonight, I might have some more updates tommarow night. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GeorgiaPD 408 Posted January 19, 2010 Report Share Posted January 19, 2010 Nailbomb, You are one heck of a guy to do something like this for a friend. Huge props for you Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Nailbomb 10,221 Posted January 19, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 19, 2010 Okay the trigger guard has been riveted on using pats home made die, and the later pictures show what material needed to be removed to allow for use of a FCG retaining plate. We did a quick mock up, function check, and dissasembled again. Reciever, selector, dust cover, and SGM tri rail are at a friends to be blasted with aluminum oxide. It'll be ready for paint by the end of the day! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Nailbomb 10,221 Posted January 19, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 19, 2010 Stormi brought his "parts bin" over cuz i lost my PG nut... He had a few laying around... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mav 459 Posted January 19, 2010 Report Share Posted January 19, 2010 Hey man, when I get my 5.45, can I leave it with you for a few days? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
David Mark 2,452 Posted January 19, 2010 Report Share Posted January 19, 2010 Damn nice gesture Nailbomb! Better be careful or you may wind up doing this for a living. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Nailbomb 10,221 Posted January 20, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2010 (edited) Damn nice gesture Nailbomb! Better be careful or you may wind up doing this for a living. As stated in another buildup thread, theres no way i want to clutter up a hobby i deeply enjoy with customers expecting there moneys worth out of me and trying to live up to deadlines. I have a day job. This is what i do to relax from it. Its one thing to be doing this for a friend I have had from my freshmen year of HS that just got back from Afganistan, and already has a tour of iraq under his belt. I don't know what afganistan is like, but I've plaid the game in iraq, and nothing but respect to the man who is taking over my watch. If he enjoys his time home that much more with a converted .308 I couldn't be happier! I'll bend over backward to give it to him. He won't be charged a cent for the labor i put into this, he won't pay full price on a single part i order, and the paint to have it refinished is on the house. If someone wants to be a loyal friend to me in good times and bad for a dozen years or so and then go through 1/2 the shit he has in the service for a gun you can expect the same treatment. Personaly I think you might be better off saving your pennies and talking to some of our buisness members. Edit to add: A huge thanks to stormi for the time and effort he is dedicating toward this as well, He isn't getting anything out of this, and hasn't known the guy for nearly as long as I have. Edited January 20, 2010 by Nailbomb Give Credit Quote Link to post Share on other sites
thehopping1 105 Posted January 20, 2010 Report Share Posted January 20, 2010 Your a hell of a friend Nailbomb. And I couldn't think of a better way for you to show your appreciation for your friends service to our country. I'm sure he will appreciate it. Same for you Stormi. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
akastormi 617 Posted February 12, 2010 Report Share Posted February 12, 2010 OK, this tread has been dead long enough. UPDATES; Everything has been blasted and cleaned up. I shot the main colors, HK Dark Green and Matte Black. I painted the barreled receiver, top cover, selector lever and scope mount HK Green. I repainted Nailbomb's Handguard, bolt and charging handle knob Matte Black. I didn't see a reason to paint the stock, bipod, mags, PG or scope. They'll all match pretty good. I did wrap the stock in Para Cord over a piece of foam rubber for a cheek rest. I worked the cord through the stock to work as a sling loop on the left side. I swapped the feet on the bipod so it will work folded back instead of forward. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
akastormi 617 Posted February 12, 2010 Report Share Posted February 12, 2010 Now for the fun and cool part. Adding the personal touch to Joey's rifle. Gastube; I still have some stickys on it I gotta get rid of, but that will happen after it sets up a bit. I painted Matte Black first, then removed and replaced the stencils and shot Matte Tan. I like the way it looks with the Black shadow. Damn camera picks up every piece of dust. LOL 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
akastormi 617 Posted February 12, 2010 Report Share Posted February 12, 2010 Now the Unit Patch on the receiver. Note- Happy to do this for a fellow 10th Mountain Man. I was in the 10th and still PROUD of it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RobRez 1,895 Posted February 12, 2010 Report Share Posted February 12, 2010 Outstanding! Great to know folks like you still exist in this world! Just make sure you have a mop bucket handy when you give it to him 'cause he's gonna shit!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
akastormi 617 Posted February 12, 2010 Report Share Posted February 12, 2010 LOL Thank You Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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