A few observations from a NOOB's conversion project

[CRDad 5]

I will start by saying that I am probably the most mechanically DISinclined person you may ever meet; however, armed with the information I got from this forum and from youtube, I was recently able to complete the conversion of my weapon - with the assistance of my wife's tools, that is. In hopes that someone out on the interweb may one day benefit, I post a few observations.

 

1. After reading at length over the gas port issues some people have had, I was worried that I might suffer a similar fate. As soon as I rec'd my weapon, I immediately opened the gas plug to inspect the situation. I had 4 holes that bore no observable defect. I headed down to wallyworld and bought a box of Federal birdshot and a box of Suprema buckshot. The birdshot cycled perfectly on the "2" gas setting, and the buckshot cycled perfectly on the "1" gas setting. I have no idea what projectile velocity the Suprema shells are, because the company doesn't bother to list it on the box, which seems kind of shady. I have subsequently emailed the american distribution company to get the fps, but I have rec'd no response thus far. After running 50 shells through the gun, I was satisfied that QC had done their job in the factory . . . and my shoulder was killing me after having not fired long guns for about 20 years.

 

2. The little bullet-shaped tube that the gun tools come in . . .you cannot just twist it off . . . nor can you just pull it off . . . you have to twist and THEN pull up to get the lid off. Only with the technical expertise of the wife was I was able to get this open. Don't say that I didn't warn you about my mechanical skill level at the beginning.

 

3. The hardest part of the pistol grip conversion was BY FAR removing the screws that held the factory stock in. If I ever cross the ruskie who impact-drivered those screws in, I will kick him in his lady bits. I would recommend not even thinking about starting the conversion until you have, at a minimum, a ratchet with a flat-head screwdriver bit. I stripped all of the screws to some extent. The third screw was so stripped that I had to literally hammer the ratchet bit into the screw with a hammer before finally being able to get enough grip to remove the thing. If you can get those screws out, then the battle is half over IMO.

 

4. Another thing that I think is essential is a COBALT drill bit. Sure, most videos mention this issue in passing, but I believe that it deserves noting once more for those who are less observant of nuance. I believe it impossible to drill the rivets with anything less . . . I tried . . . I failed . . . I went to home depot and bought the proper drill bit. But I did not break multiple drill bits in the process like one video I saw, so at least I have that going for me.

 

5. My drilling of the rivets was not perfect. I ovaled one or 2 of the holes a little. This did not have any ultimate impact on the final results. Try to drill the rivets straight, but don't get too upset if the job is not absolutely perfect.

 

6. If you have a dremel tool, get it charged. If you don't have a dremel, borrow one from someone . . . and get it charged. The dremel with a grinding stone (the kind that looks like a rocket cone . . . of any size, I think) was helpful in getting through the rivet that you have to drill through the trunion (?) hole. Moreover, you don't need to spend $15 for a modified BHO, as you can grind out the notch on your own  - with ease.

 

7. Painter's tape proved unnecessary. After free-handing the spray painting of the bald patch left from removing the old trigger guard, I decided that I like the very-matte finish of the high temp spray paint even better than the factory paint, and I decided to free-hand the entire receiver. Before any painting, I doused the entire receiver in degreaser several times, allowed to dry, and air-blasted (office-style air in a can for those like I who don't own an air compressor) away the bits of crud left before painting to make sure the paint would actually stick.

 

8. You might need an extra set of hands to get the holes lined up to attach the new trigger guard. I had to get my wife to screw in the front screw while I pulled the front section of the CSS trigger guard forward enough to line up the front hole (the center screw was inserted first). This was the only part of the conversion where I felt an extra set of hand was necessary. I think a vice could probably fill that void, but I don't have one. Install the trigger guard BEFORE you start installing the new trigger, hammer, etc. Otherwise, you will get to pull it all out and start over again.

 

9. The dental floss "trick" was amazingly helpful in getting the trigger pin retention spring in. I don't think I would have been able to get it in and installed without the dental floss. To spare you from having to look up the process: (1) get about 12" of dental floss (2) tie the 2 ends together so that you have a loop, (3) run one end fo the loop through the trigger pin retention spring to about the halfway point and pull both ends together (4) run both dangling ends of loop down through BHO slot, (5) insert BHO, insert spring, and align end of spring over BHO, (6) pull down on floss until you can catch it with the trigger pin and shove the pin through, (7) remove floss by pulling on one end. If I ever face this situation again, I think I will insert a pencil or something through both ends of the loop to get a better grip.

 

10. The scorpion pistol grip does not have storage in the handle, although the handle is, in fact, completely empty. I have never used a grip to store anything, so I guess it doesn't matter. I just found the fact a little unusual, given the trend for manufacturers to make storage available.

 

11. Inserting the scorpion pistol grip bolt was also tough. I think the bolt head is actually a little bigger than 3/16". I think a 5mm hex bit would have fit better, as the bold stripped some, and the bit was half stuck in the head of the bolt from having rotated into an improperly aligned position (alas, I didn't have any metric hex bits).

 

12. Installing the screws into the tapco stock was also harder than expected, as I had not expected to need to drill the screw holes bigger than the drill bit that the manufacturer provided . . . but I did eventually drill the holes a little bigger than the bit, and in the end I got it done well enough. Again, a ratchet with screwdriver bit saved the day.

 

13. The Tapco collapsable stock does not have a QD button socket. I emailed Tapco, and they stated that they don't make anything to attach to the stock to make it QD-button compatible, and they didn't know what other manufacturer's products would mount to their stock to accomplish the goal (suprise). If you use your dremel to open up the space where the sling mount hole closest to the receiver is (for the sling mount that comes unattached), you can attach a QD-button socket there. Magpul sells just the socket with nut/bolt (http://store.magpul.com/product/MAG333/shotgun ). Several generic ones also appear on ebay for cheaper.

 

14. If you takes several days to complete the conversion, as a result of being repeatedly interrupted by kids and spouse . . . and/or because you had to repeat several steps as a result of not doing things perfectly the first time, you may need to pull up a youtube video to remind you how to reinstall the bolt, carrier, etc. Do not fear . . . that video is out there too.

 

Like I said, I had little to no idea what I was doing when I started, so take my observations for what you think they are worth . . . caveat emptor!

 

 

 

[forsaken352 235]

Congratulations on completing your new build! A couple of things for future reference:

 

1) Mine will run Federal 7 1/2 (bulk pack) all day long on setting 2 as well as any high brass on setting 1. However, the Winchester #7 1/2 (bulk pack) will not run without an aftermarket adjustable gas plug. I chose the Autoplug, personally. Basically, if you ever choose to buy a box of Winchester, be prepared to have possible malfunctions and just know that you may need to do some tweaking, but nothing major.

 

2) Most firearms will use screws requiring a "hollow ground screwdriver". It's possible this was your issue;

 

 

Other than that, let's see some pictures!

Edited September 19, 2014 by forsaken352

[CRDad 5]

That is really good info on the hollow ground screwdriver. I wish that I had known about that at the time. Thanks!

 

Here is a pic of my weapon, as converted:

 

 

I'm planning on painting the iron sights for better target acquisition at some point in the near future . . . after deciding upon a color.

 

This is a close-up of adding the magpul QD socket to the Tapco collapsible stock:

 

[IndyArms 10,186]

Instead of cobalt bits in a drill... I always opted for CARBIDE cutting bits in the dremel, and GROUND away the rivets...  Once flush, they knock out, into the receiver with a small punch.

 

Other than that... great job! Its nice to feel the satisfaction of a job well done BY YOURSELF, isnt it???

[read_the_wall 614]

great post

 

looks good

 

Have you shot it yet now that it is as it should be ?

[CRDad 5]

So I took my weapon out to the range with the wife the other day, and, on gas setting "1, " it had significant trouble ejecting the Suprema 00, which it previously ate all day long without issue.

 

I field stripped the weapon and cleaned and lubed it really well in hopes of resolving the newly developed FTE problem.

 

The gas piston had significant resistance in movement . . . how much/little play should that part have in the gas tube?

 

Any helpful ideas that don't require the removal of the fire control group?

 

 

 

[Wagnikov 186]

The grooves in the piston will get pack full and start to drag, at the same time improving the seal. So it's really nothing to worry about. You probally need to do work to your fcg! Lol sorry

[CRDad 5]

So I bought my son an air gun cleaning kit that had a set of socketed screwdriver heads, and those work infinitely better at gripping the screws over the household screwdriver I had used initially. I had no idea there was such a big difference between screwdrivers.

 

I finally got around to pulling the FCG and worked the awful hump out of the Tapco hammer (and polished things up as best as I was able) in hopes that this will clear up the FTE issue that I experienced only after my conversion.

 

Now to try to find some time to sneak off to the range.

[1911sig 3]

I also have a factory 4 port s12 and the best/only real mod it needed after conversion was contour and polish on the hammer it is crazy how much drag that it was causing

 

Congrats on your conversion

[CRDad 5]

So I took it out to the range, and it's worse than before, I think. FTE all over the place.

 

After deciding that I wasn't comfortable removing more metal from it, I replaced the Tapco hammer with the original and will give it a whirl with this configuration in hopes of resolving  the problem.

 

Man, getting the springs back in that thing is a pain!!!

[forsaken352 235]

Hmmm... No way it should be getting "worse" if you polished it. Some people will sand/polish the rails to further reduce drag, but I wonder how big of a difference that is going to make if you're saying it's seriously suffering from ejection issues. I think the next thing I would try is different ammunition. Also, you said previously your piston was "sticking". Did you mean the gas puck? Try removing the plug and puck, knock the carbon out, clean it if possible, and try again. I don't see that making a huge difference, either, but I don't know the last time you've cleaned it, so, it's just a guess. Lastly, I could be mistaken here, but I just get a feeling that I have read before that using the factory hammer with the G2 trigger wasn't a good idea. Just be careful.