Nailbomb 10,221 Posted February 3, 2012 Report Share Posted February 3, 2012 (edited) Okay guys its in after 14 months of waiting. First impression: Oh shit look at all the small parts! Fuck there goes a bearing... why the fuck is there a ball bearing? For this build we'll be using a very good condition Yugo 59/66 imported by C.A.I. Rifling is bright and it is mechanically sound. Part of me feels bad about butchering it, But I've heard it said "Anyone can restore a classic, It takes a real man to chop one up". In order to meet 922R compliance we'll be removing the weapons identity, LOL. Sad, but true. Stock is a Shernic Gun Works Bullpup kit. Upgrades are a small tri rail for the front(rails themselves backordered STILL and will ship seperate), and Extended mag release Cobray Mags(Non-Duckbill) Promag BUIS Vortex Strikefire with 2x magnifyer, and killflash Tapco gas tube and gas piston Basicly the only thing we're keeping about the original gun is the action. Barrel will be cut back, threaded, crowned, and a break of some sort will be affixed. Updates as they progress Edited February 3, 2012 by Nailbomb Spelling Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Nailbomb 10,221 Posted February 3, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2012 The donor Quote Link to post Share on other sites
David Mark 2,452 Posted February 3, 2012 Report Share Posted February 3, 2012 Looks like an interesting project Nailbomb. Looking forward to see the updates as you progress. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
akastormi 617 Posted February 3, 2012 Report Share Posted February 3, 2012 LOL This is gonna be fun. Been looking forward to this project for a long time. We gotta shave the bolt so mag insertion can be done on a closed bolt. I don't even remember what we talked about for DuraCoat on that. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Nailbomb 10,221 Posted February 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2012 First things first, the kitchen table became a mess befor we moved the whole operation to the garage where it belonged. next we found out our current bolt face to end of muzzle length(or effective barrel length) by using cleaning rods. Make sure you put them together tight, otherwise that can throw off measurements. Now take the length you want and subtract it from what you have and you know what to take off. marked here with a china marker. Now using the "measure twice cut once" method we wind up with what you see here. A barrel that measures 16.5" to the inside of the crown. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
vulcan16 971 Posted February 4, 2012 Report Share Posted February 4, 2012 Put Bobadebt on speed dial. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Nailbomb 10,221 Posted February 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2012 As stated before we are using a tapco gas tube and piston to get our 922R count where we need it to be. But the hand guard isn't needed and was ditched in favor of keeping insulating plastic off areas we want to vent heat from. As a bonus it looks really good, and is pretty beefy comparatively to the stock one. The stock comes with a few shims located in various areas. In order to fit this one had to be changed out. Tiny little allen bolts. furthermore there was more going on to change this out that I originally anticipated. The fire control wire(I would love a better term for this?) is going through it and the allens on the sides that go to the metal reinforcements were also in the way. Slow tedious work, but not hard. Ironicly when I reached for the camera I had the shim reversed. It goes the other way around and the wire passes through the notch you clearly see here. The rest of the time was spent on brainstorming and a mock up. Here is a quick preview of what we were running our brains over. Its 26 3/8" OAL with a 16.5" barrel. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
armory 142 Posted February 4, 2012 Report Share Posted February 4, 2012 Nice!!! Best thread all week!! 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Scott Kenny 144 Posted February 4, 2012 Report Share Posted February 4, 2012 Very cool! Shame about the donor, but ya gotta start with a good barrel... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Nailbomb 10,221 Posted February 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2012 Very cool! Shame about the donor, but ya gotta start with a good barrel... Honestly, we made attempts to trade for something that would be more suitable for a hack job like this, but no one was willing in the area. In the end it was only worth so much effort on my part, and the choice was made to just hack what I had. I might restore my 65 norinco to make up for it with karma... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
akastormi 617 Posted February 4, 2012 Report Share Posted February 4, 2012 I was thinking about the colors and paint this morning. I came up with an idea, Mike can have color choice, but the personal touch might be mine. Gonna keep it quiet, to myself, for now. As for the doner SKS...... that was a very clean Yugo. It was a shame to cut it up, but like Jake said, We tried to trade down. Woulda loved to, but no one had a clean beater in stock. the money wasn't the issue as much as that feeling of "IT's to nice to hack up". This is gonna be a fun one. Gonna require test firing along the build, work the bugs out as it progresses. the gas system might have to be carefully opened up as things roll along. What might work, might not when the break gets installed. I have a feeling there's gonna be little things that bite our ass in this one. Nothing that cant be overcome. Hell in the end it's only metal, cut, weld, and grind. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mav 459 Posted February 5, 2012 Report Share Posted February 5, 2012 Dunno about the gun color, but you definitely need a white Storm Trooper suit complete with helmet. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Red Jacket 329 Posted February 5, 2012 Report Share Posted February 5, 2012 Dude , that's cool , I don't even like bullpup's , but thats cool 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
magsite20 1,664 Posted February 6, 2012 Report Share Posted February 6, 2012 So that’s what it looks like when a plan comes together up to and including a co-witness sight. Super cool build. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Nailbomb 10,221 Posted February 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2012 Dude , that's cool , I don't even like bullpup's , but thats cool Thank you. I'm not huge on them, but I believe they have their place, and I'm just trying to put my own spin on what I think it should be. So that’s what it looks like when a plan comes together up to and including a co-witness sight. Super cool build. Been gathering parts for this for about 2 years now. Thats a long time to think about something without having something in front of you. I'm just glad its beyond that and I have something proper in front of me to see what some of those ideas will look like. Still got some work to go, its not done yet. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Nailbomb 10,221 Posted February 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2012 Okay! small update. I washed the parts for the gas block in Marine clean and dish detergent to degrease them. I'm short welders at home after the move, so I had to take the rifle elsewhere for this little job. I removed the detent from the gas block and held the port open and in proper alignment with a allen wrench... Tig welded the gas block up... and cleaned it up using a simple bastard file. Obviously its still rough, and I plan on cleaning it up further. The current idea being kicked around is that the J-tac muzzle break looks like it will seem a bit out of place on the end with the current barrel profile. We're thinking a piece of pipe around the barrel will give it better lines. So I might be welding some pipe to the end of the break, threading it on, and welding the pipe to the gas block. Give it a heavy barrel look... waiting on a new die and thread alignment tool from Dinzag before we will know anything for certain. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Nailbomb 10,221 Posted February 10, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2012 Got my order in from Dinzag! Nice new thread alignment tool and die(along with some stuff for other guns). Okay, so I'm trying to keep this moving, but I don't want to rush. Despite having been gathering parts for the better part of 2 years, I only had a basic Idea of what I wanted. I frequently will assemble and disassemble a build as I go to get a better idea of what I should do, and it often pays off. As I stated before the rails for this kit are still on back order, and thank god they didn't hold onto the whole thing until they had them. I had a Tapco VFG I wanted to run on this(freebie from a gun I bought, that was immediately taken off), But I've seen other builds with this stock and hated how the VFG extended lower than the pistol grip. I figured I would shorten it, and run it as a stubby. Looking at the mount for the rails theres already a gap that is pushing the grip further in a direction I didn't want needing more length chopped. Looking at the Tapco VFG however and with no rails on hand, why not forget the rails altogether and remove the rail mount from the grip and solid mount it to the bracket? Had to be done. Out comes the hacksaw to remove the rail mount on the VFG. Then getting a idea what kind of length I want... We reduce the overall length of the VFG. Clean everything up with some sandpaper and files, and modify the plug to sit back in it for a finished look. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Nailbomb 10,221 Posted February 10, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2012 Using my nice new thread alignment tool and new sharp die, I began threading the barrel(sorry no pics of this). I stopped periodically to find out where I was in relation to the muzzle break. I wanted to keep overall length down, and the only way to do this was to put a mile of thread on so that the break sat deep on the barrel. GO SLOW and use plenty of oil. I broke my last die getting greedy. Look at all those threads! LOL. And heres the current mock up. I'm starting to mess with more of the internals and seeing how things work. I definitely like the mag release, But the Non-duck bill Cobray mags are going to need the stock clearanced to be able to work. It is just sitting locked into the bolt in this pic. The bolt needs to be modified so that I can load mags on a closed bolt, and I've already messed with the trigger a bit. It needs adjusting to start, and if what I'm feeling is any indication, I might be looking to make some improvements. Its very spongy right now. The VFG is just sitting next to the mount right now, I will have to finish fitting it to the mount later. I definitely want to get some pipe for a heavy barrel look, and once I have that I need to weld the break and the pipe onto the gun. Taking measurements of the mock up OAL should be right about 27 3/8", only added a inch! I'm not sure I'll be keeping the stock charging handle on it. Still havn't made up my mind yet. Still a lot to do. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Shandlanos 1,470 Posted February 10, 2012 Report Share Posted February 10, 2012 Wow! Lots of work has already gone into this. Who makes the stock? I have an extra Chinese SKS laying around I might be tempted to do something similar with... 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gunfun 3,931 Posted February 10, 2012 Report Share Posted February 10, 2012 That's the first SKS I have wanted. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Nailbomb 10,221 Posted February 21, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2012 Okay guys, I forgot to take pics of some of this but heres where we're at. had stormi over a few days ago and everything was going wrong for us. The silver solder didn't want to bond to the conduit to save my life and stormi broke a tap off in the bottom of the SKS while trying to install the mag adapter. We would up stopping work on it in defeat that night. Step back and regroup. I'm glad to say today was going MUCH better for me. The Conduit was a hell of a tight fit and was basicly pressed in. I took a tiger paw, or sanding disk to the back of the break to index it, and then tig welded it the break and the conduit together, the conduit to the gas block, blind welded the pin on the gas block, and filled the hole from the previous attempt at tapping it. I used 3/32 tungston, a #4 cup, and the welder was set at about 60 with 20% arc controll. In order to try to keep the heat and weld down I used some mild steel filler wire from a MIG welder. Once I got it home I set to it with the files heres a 50% progress shot with the gas block side done. Gotta love that you can still see the proof stamps in the gas block! I gotta say doing this with a few basic files is a labor of love. Took a while to get these results but incredibly happy with them. Heres the break all cleaned up. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
akastormi 617 Posted February 22, 2012 Report Share Posted February 22, 2012 sure no pics of sparky, modding the bolt for mags. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Nailbomb 10,221 Posted February 22, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2012 Oh I got those on the phone! gimmie a sec! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Nailbomb 10,221 Posted February 22, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2012 Okay Stormi had a handy piece of paper from one of his other SKSs he modded out showing what needed to be removed from the bolt in order to be able to load on a closed bolt. It was made in reference to using AK mags, but still applied to the Cobray mags we will be using for this build. Basicly what it consists of is removing the bottom ribs where it would lock into a standard SKS mag. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Scott Kenny 144 Posted February 22, 2012 Report Share Posted February 22, 2012 Stormi ground that flat with a freaking *angle-grinder*?!? Stormi, my man, if you aren't a machinist, maybe you should be! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Nailbomb 10,221 Posted March 1, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2012 Okay, that weld I put on the bottom of the receiver just chewed up $20+ worth of drill bits on me. I go in search of titanium bits tomorrow. They say a good weld is stronger than the base material, and I fucked myself, LOL In any event, I did make the new linkage. I would say doing it like this the trigger pull is honestly comparable to a un-converted saiga 12, only lighter. I know that dosn't sound like much, but its a vast improvement over what it was. I used a piece of 3/32" 308 stainless TIG wire Obviously much thicker and more rigid than the piano wire like stock linkage. The trigger and adjusting end had to be drilled out to accept this wire obviously. These areas were all filed to give the linkage the straightest pull possible without rubbing and causing friction. This opening was also opened up slightly to keep the linkage from rubbing. With everything as simple as possible some teflon super lube was added to the linkage to reduce friction further, and white lithium grease was added to the cross bar that actuates the trigger. Its all going to get blasted off and painted, but here is the front end with some cold blue added to give a idea of how clean it came out. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
akastormi 617 Posted March 1, 2012 Report Share Posted March 1, 2012 I fucked myself, LOL Priceless Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Nailbomb 10,221 Posted March 1, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2012 Screw it. I assembled it tonight using one of those wonderful post-ban 30s. You know the ones that aren't removable without removing the FCG? Its US made and meets my 922r requirements, and eliminates that pesky detachable mag problem in NY. I still fully plan on drilling the receiver, But I might throw a few rounds through it first to see if I need to open up the gas system. It'll be good to shoot it Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Nailbomb 10,221 Posted March 1, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2012 Just as a benchmark I fired 5 rounds of wolf black box HPs through it to see if I needed to open up the gas system, and I'm quite pleased to say it was cycling fine and ejecting 6-8 feet away. I don't feel any need to change this at all. Didn't play with it much just yet but so far my expirience is that recoil is light. really light. My x39 saiga has worse kick than this with a slant break. now back to trying to drill my weld. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Scott Kenny 144 Posted March 3, 2012 Report Share Posted March 3, 2012 Glad to hear the 'baby' is working well! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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