Seff
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.30-06 - Turning Cover into Concealment since 1906
Posts: 344
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Post by Seff on Jun 13, 2009 10:01:09 GMT -5
Why did that need a bump? You didn't ask about anything.
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Post by savage94 on Jun 13, 2009 11:52:41 GMT -5
hahaha iduno it was a little too early to be on the comp. i guess ! ;D
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Sgt_Tom
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Post by Sgt_Tom on Jul 27, 2009 15:37:09 GMT -5
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Post by hairy apple on Jul 27, 2009 17:36:07 GMT -5
Looking good. What's going on with the gap in that last photo? Did you get the gearbox working?
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Sgt_Tom
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Post by Sgt_Tom on Jul 27, 2009 17:57:19 GMT -5
About the gap in the last photo. I have to put a sling ferrule there though I am not sure how. I need to solder a wire then I will figure out if its working.
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Post by hairy apple on Jul 27, 2009 17:58:59 GMT -5
Ah, got ya!
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Post by savage94 on Jul 28, 2009 8:36:30 GMT -5
cool i dont really like the color of the reciever though, but it still looks good!
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Sgt_Tom
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Post by Sgt_Tom on Jul 28, 2009 10:28:37 GMT -5
Yea I don't like it either. I am going to change it to a darker grey.
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Post by hairy apple on Jul 28, 2009 11:16:14 GMT -5
Actually, that looks really good. I've seen Garands with about that color before!
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Sgt_Tom
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Post by Sgt_Tom on Jul 28, 2009 11:25:18 GMT -5
Yes however I would like it to be a tad more dark.
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2nd Bat
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Post by 2nd Bat on Jul 30, 2009 12:38:22 GMT -5
Sgt Tom it's great to see an update on your progress. Your journey has been a long one (You started this thread in May of 2008!) The rifle looks great. I love that you have paid attention to the details like the enhanced stock shape and elimination of the selector switch. An actual Garand ferrule will fill the gap quite nicely although you will have to carefully file the channel so your gas tube slide will work. (You also may want to just eliminate it altogether as it simply unscrews or go with a bolt that doesn't rack)
I think the finish on your receiver is fine although it will look somewhat better with a light wash of black applied and then dull coated. Your bolt should match better as should your M14 barrel. Neither has to be an exact match of course. I like the aged look on the stock although I think it could be somewhat enhanced if you took your rasp and ran the grain lines along the length of the stock which would somewhat reduce the random scratching appearance you show. This may be a personal taste suggestion however.
Hopefully your mechanical challenges with the base rifle will be resolved and you will at last have a gun that begins to shoot as nice as it looks. If I was a betting man I would have bet against you a year ago but you have stuck with it tenaciously and now I wouldn't think of betting against your ultimately finishing it up.
Way to stick with it.
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Post by CharleyNovember on Jul 30, 2009 13:39:35 GMT -5
Soooo the moral here is you can pay 500.00 for one of Johns or you can spend over a year of your life making one. Both have plus and minus points on which way you go. I'd go with the John option though that is somewhat a limited choice now as John isn't in full production mode anymore.
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Post by burke on Jul 30, 2009 14:29:22 GMT -5
I did mine in a weekend......just throwing that out there.
Your Garand is very nice.
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Sgt_Tom
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Post by Sgt_Tom on Jul 30, 2009 16:10:40 GMT -5
First of all I'd like to thank you, 2nd Bat, for getting so many skirmish-able Garands out on the field and especially for all the help you've given me on making my own M1 Garand conversion. Looking back I can't believe how long it took me. It wasn't really because I didn't know what to do but most of the waiting was from not knowing where to get dremel parts. After a while when I found my M14's were not reparable I simply put the project away for a while. Its very demotivating working on a gun you know is broken. At one point I came back to it and now I am almost done! I have hopefully repaired the M14 I thought was irreparable but have yet to know if I fixed it until I solder a broken wire. I should be finished very soon!
Not really if you are a little more experienced then I was when I first attempted this you should be able to get it done in two weeks time if you work hard as Burke said above.
Yes the paint job didn't turn out perfect. I haven't finished painting the metal parts as you can see. The problem with the stock is I used real stain(not gel) and it didn't turn out well. I will try paint soon which I know will look much better.
Thanks again everyone for your patience, help and kindness! I'll be sure to have the finished product done soon!
~Sgttom
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Post by CharleyNovember on Jul 30, 2009 17:26:03 GMT -5
Some people can do them without much effort I think mine took a couple hours work but for others they would spend a lot of time and money on this project. For those of us that CAN do it, it seems simple and an easy job but for others it can be overwhelming and daunting to those people it would be worth the money to buy one premade. I am looking forward to the guy that wants to try and make some molds and some resin parts. That would certainly make an easy kit mod for people and probably a really cheap one.
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Post by hairy apple on Jul 31, 2009 4:06:50 GMT -5
Hopfully this weekend I'll pick up the stuff to start practicing molding parts. Basicly, I'm waiting for a paycheck untill I start. Then I'll tear down my m1 and start learning how to do the molds and hopfully it will greatly increase the ease and decrease the cost of an M1 conversion.
Sgttom: Again, very nice looking. Some people are able to do custom fabrication and some people just can't. Looks like you have the mindset for it!!! Nicely done. Once you get your gun back together let me know about that gearbox. I have several good gearboxes sitting around and I'll send you one if your gun still isn't working. All I'd ask is you send the broken one back to me so I can still have parts for keeping my stuff running!
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2nd Bat
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Post by 2nd Bat on Jul 31, 2009 12:37:55 GMT -5
Sgt Tom certainly get the stick-to-it-ness award on this project. (Although we should hold off until it is absolutely finished and functioning) Seff and Elder90 also go on that list of nominees. I know there are dozens and dozens (maybe more) of attempted conversions that never end up getting finished. It's a logical and fairly straight forward project and can be done at a wide range of finishes from straight forward to quite precise. SGT Tom is striving to do it all and do it well and has not given up which is awesome and inspiring.
Molding all the components and then producing a truly affordable, reasonably well done, replica would definitely be a worthwhile endeavor. I think if one does so they should (iff possible) acquire the most desireable (and most expensive components to replicate) For example Use a early, early war Garand gas assembly with the single slot nut and the slotted handguard clip. That way your finished version would be universally correct for any era of the war and replicate a rare and exceptional variant. Most would of course never know the difference but those who did would be wowed. You could mold these components without ruining them.
Even with the inexpensively prepared components there will still be quite a bit of assembly time required and the expense of inventoring parts and accomodating orders. Removing the selector switches and building the flush mounted clips is time consuming and dealing with component availability will at time make one crazy but getting a more affordable Garand out there will be terrific for the hobby. Good luck to whomever jumps on it.
Just my 2 cents.
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Sgt_Tom
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Post by Sgt_Tom on Sept 5, 2009 22:41:28 GMT -5
Well I am pretty much done. Got the stock finished and the parts all painted. But more bad news. Well I had everything done. Up till then the wiring was broken off on my M14 but I had just fixed it and was heading to test it out with my new battery. I was excited and happy and I thought in my mind "man nothing can go wrong now". It was all perfect everything was fixed inside and out. So I connected the battery and put the magazine in. Then just before I opened the door to go outside and test it my brother who was helping me fixed it said "whats that strange smell". He then pointed out my M1 Garand was smoking up. So he quickly took the battery out burning his hand in the process. So I went to look things over and two of the wires near the connector were melted together and another broke. So my dad helped us fix the wiring and when we were done we found the battery had been shorted and is now dead. So there goes another disaster with my M14. If I was superstitious I would think this rifle was doomed..... or maybe its me that's doomed . Now I have a dead battery and a rifle that looks nice but don't fire. I'll just hope it didn't ruin the motor too.
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2nd Bat
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Post by 2nd Bat on Sept 8, 2009 0:06:46 GMT -5
I just finished a half dozen additional rifles some of which have been far too long overdue. It seems this batch took forever to finish. Part was due to CYMA dropping out of the marketplace and base CYMA rifles being so hard to get. Part of the challenge was a supplier who went banckrupt (with a bunch of my parts) and part of the problem was availability of the shorty clips (which remains challenging) I also had a couple rifles that once assembled and ready to ship simply didn't work like they should (inconsistent semi auto fire) I had to disseasemble and after trying evrything finally had to send them to a shop for a second opinion and repairs. I finally got them back from the shop and reassembled them. I'm shipping four rifles tomorrow.
I have another batch right behind this one and just hope they will be a more typical batch. Every once in a while a group just seems jinxed! SGT TOM your drama goes way beyond anything I've had to deal with.
Good luck young man. Incidently this most recent batch really came out nice and I'm very pleased with them.
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Sgt_Tom
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Post by Sgt_Tom on Sept 25, 2009 20:23:56 GMT -5
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Karl
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Post by Karl on Sept 25, 2009 20:27:17 GMT -5
Lol, that "sling mount" is supposed to be the stacking swivel. Other than that it looks decent, until you paint it. Explaination of stacking swivel:
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Sgt_Tom
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Post by Sgt_Tom on Sept 25, 2009 20:40:12 GMT -5
Thanks for the info. Always thought it was a sling swivel. I plan to buy a sling mount but my stacking swivel will have to do for now. ;D
What exactly do you mean by. "Other than that it looks decent, until you paint it." until I paint it??
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WhiteRook
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Post by WhiteRook on Sept 25, 2009 20:54:56 GMT -5
Great job! I think this goes to show, don't give up on anything. I personally can't wait to make one myself. I think with a better wood paint job, it will be amazing.
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Sgt_Tom
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Post by Sgt_Tom on Sept 25, 2009 20:56:55 GMT -5
Yea a lot of hard work has gone into this. It will be a good feeling when I am done.
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Karl
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Post by Karl on Sept 25, 2009 21:38:30 GMT -5
I mean it looks ok for now, but when you paint it, it'll look better.
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Sgt_Tom
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Post by Sgt_Tom on Sept 26, 2009 23:06:36 GMT -5
Definitely. I took it out to a Reenactment today. 4 people noticed it was fake. I think its convincing but I guess guys who on the real steel can tell it apart. I still have some touching up to do. The paint job on the stock got scratched up bad enough so I'll have to redo it which isn't hard.
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WhiteRook
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Post by WhiteRook on Sept 27, 2009 6:51:16 GMT -5
It might be a good idea to put a clear varnish coating on.
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Sgt_Tom
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Post by Sgt_Tom on Sept 27, 2009 12:59:29 GMT -5
Well I put on a coat of clear gloss protective spray.
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Seff
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Post by Seff on Sept 30, 2009 12:06:44 GMT -5
I'm sorry I didn't post any further progress yet, but I'm busy doing my service, so I don't have time to fiddle with hobby projects as much as I used to.
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Sgt_Tom
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Post by Sgt_Tom on Jul 27, 2010 13:52:46 GMT -5
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