Browning M1919 30 Caliber Machinegun

[killbucket]

In order:
The ammo feed is designed to use the hicap that comes with the M14. There is a pic of this at my site, and If you look at the post about the ammo drive itself, you can see how I built the ammo bin structure around it.I'm going to go the next step and design an ammo-can sized unit as well that will be a drop-in. I am currently crunching numbers on making the item "turn-key" or ready for use with all components installed and tested.

I have a real set of 1917 sights that were given to me...

What you see there mostly is "expanded" PVC sheet. The trunnion and outer barrel are the ABS parts. Glues to use:
PVC to PVC: Oatey #31847
(Use sparingly on this type of PVC for stronger bonds)
ABS to ABS: Oatey #31803
(great for repairing or molding on AEG's!)
PVC to ABS: Oatey #30821
Always scrape off paint first.
J-B Weld is an Epoxy, and Epoxies do not bond well to ABS or PVC over time. It is fantastic for filling in those phillips heads to make them look more like rivets, tho.
The foot pads are glued onto a fresh 45-degree cut as this is what my mitre box does best. The I use the heat gun to make them lie flat after final assembly of the tripod. At first I was afraid of this looking hack, but the curves added to the whole look.
To bend the legs, I use a standard Wagner heat gun. The trick is to heat the tubing all around with the gun about 1-1/2" away, and heating a longer section on the outside of the bend as well. Then I hand-form them and quench with an ice cube (This trick will save lots of time and frustration. It seems plastic always takes longer than you think to solidify, and little movements at the final stage of hardening will stay for good or require a second warming). Don't try to use a baggie full of ice cubes, it will melt instantly. Wrapping a cloth over the baggie leaves impressions from the cloth in the plastic. The bare ice cube turned out to do the best job. Just watch your fingertips doing this. At least you're already holding an ice cube if you burn yourself!
Cover your plastic sheet with cheapo contac paper, the use spray adhesive to stick your pattern down. Center-punch and drill first, this saves a TON of time! After cutting your parts out, you can peel the contac right off. I usually label and keep the parts masked until I need them. On the exterior receiver parts, I leave the mask on till painting to protect the surfaces as much as possible.
If you have used the glue directly on the plastic, a saturation with Goo-Gone or Goof-Off will lift the stuff right off. On ABS, these products will leave white blotches in the surface,and do not know the long-term effects, so I avoid doing this. That being said, I have not observed any ill effects from doing this. It just adds time and mess if you omit the contac.

BIG NEWS:
We now offer the completed, add a battery and ammo, gun for sale at $495, shipped, US market only. It is in the shopcart today.

[2nd Bat]

Wow! That is an awesome bargain that I heartily recommend. Thanks for all the tips.

[TommyGunner]

Post some pictures up of the ladder sights form the 30cal and Ill see if I can make some untilitarian versions that look good and will be able to take feidl abuse.

Possibly if they turn out good I may be able to make them for sale in a few weeks.

TommyGunner

[killbucket]

I see how well my camera can do, it's an HP PHD (push here, dummy) and doesn't like close up stuff. It would be nice to pull silicone molds from them set to an airsoft-useful range, and then just cast them like car model parts...I'll dig them out.

[theriseandfall]

dang completed kits huh? I'm definitely in for one. So if i got this right... the whole ammo feed system fits in to the .30 cal ammo box and in order to reload all you really need to do is put more bbs in to the reservoir right? I'm not very technically inclined forgive my ignorance.

[2nd Bat]

I think alot of people will need clarity on your last Post Killbucket. What will the $495.00 offer you're suggesting include? A completely finished M14 based functioning gun with the innards and a feed system turn key deal with a tripod? That frankly sounds incredible if in fact that's the case. You're going to sell a bunch of them if that's the case.

Tommy Gunner I don't have the template for the 30 Cal rear site yet but imagine it's very very similar to the old style ladder site like you created for your Springfield. I'm going to need them for my BARs as well.

I see it as mostly just for looks and plan to aim over it anyway. This is after all airsoft and it's usually follow the flow marksmanship with these crew served weapons.

Obviously the actual item would be ideal but I fear it will be rare and very expensive or just too hard to track down with any consistency.

[TommyGunner]

If the sights really are like the Springfield ones than they will be quite simple to make indeed. And true while the actuall sights would be the best to use they are very expensive ($200) for a rear sight set and apparently not the easiet item to find.

If there are enough people interested I may persue building sights for the 30cal (and BAR for you 2ndbat) I can start after June 3rd (thats when Im finally done with Highschool) Im not too shure how much they would cost seeing as the one I built is still crude by my standards and has tons of stuff that can be added to it to make it even better.

As soon as I can locate some dimensions for the 30cal sight I can make one and factor in the time involved making it to the total cost.

They would come unpainted or primed with grey paint so that the person who has bough it may paint it to match the rest of the harware on there gun.

TommyGunner

[killbucket]

Still trying to locate those sights. Did shop cleaning today, they'll turn up.
Yes, that is what we're offering. Complete gun body, modified M14, tripod, ammo can drive unit. The price may adjust up later on after the reality of shipping the first setups sets in, but that is what we're offering now!

Yes, pour in more bb's, keep the battery charged, learn what "duty cycle" means.
With stock internals, keep it to 20% or so.
With this type of ammo feed, it will be entirely possible to destroy the gearbox if you are not careful. Part of the low pricing is "new dirtbike" warranty; none. If you burn it up, it's your path to repair. We are merely setting up the parts for you for a charge. We will fully test all units prior to shipment, there will be no worries about "dead" arrivals. These guns are hand-assembled by yours truly, and I won't ship anything I wouldn't show off or demonstrate myself.

EDIT: The painted W/C gun. It still needs the "brass" details added:

[2nd Bat]

I like the little spacer you used above the tripod. (I did the same thing on mine today) $495.00 for that set up is spectacular The gunmetal paint looks good on the gun portion but I believe (I could be wrong) that the water jacket would typically have been painted OD

So the same price for the Water cooled and air cooled versions? Not that you don't have your hands full but I think the M1919A6 is still worth tackling and would do well. (Probably a bit more skirmish worthy due to its increased portability over the tripod variation)

You are going to be a busy boy.

[killbucket]

The A6 stock and pod are $150 online. Ouch.
Once I get the vacuum-forming machine up, I'll look at making my own stock. The bipod is something I think I would just let customers find on their own, or find a suitable facsimile.

[TommyGunner]

Wow so your also selling watercooled versions all built and ready to fire also!

TommyGunner

[2nd Bat]

Vacume forming the stock would certainly be the way to go. I thought about doing one in wood thinking that originally that's what they were but apparently they were always a metal part. Pretty clever the way the slot just slides over the pistol grip and then is held in place by essentially a fancy hose clamp. The WW2 bipod design is far less elaborate then the Post war contraption.

[killbucket]

www.air-sharp.com/1.08%20minutes_2500rounds%20fired_2inch%20thick%20styrofoam%20cut%20in%20half_stock%20AGM%20gun%209point6volt%20nimh3000mah%20battery_Air-Sharp.com.MPG
Grainy GunCam Video.
First person to send this back to me with music I like (the sky's the limit, suprise me) and won't get sued for, gets a free ammo drive frame in .30cal.

I will have a revised ammo drive frame to photo today.

[TommyGunner]

I was curious to see a picture of a reall steel M1919 water cooled varient to compare to the really fantastic one Killbucket has made available, but all that came up was the water cooled M1917 30cal.

Can anyone provide pictures of a reall steel water cooled M1919.

TommyGunner

[killbucket]

As far as a plastic replica, the sight mounting is the only difference. Some did have the barrel, they were rare I agree.
Once I find nice clear pictures of a 1917 sight mount casting (or whatever it was) I will re-market the 'cooler as a 1917 for the WobblyWobblyOne guys.
More video of the gun in action, more specifically, what it can do.
www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=arniesairsoft
...And a much easier to navigate site is in place as we speak...er,...write.

EDIT: for those of you who are setting up the new wave of M14 guns, a few issues need to be addressed:

On the hop, you are grafting on a new feed tube on top and plugging the bottom with ABS glue.
To clarify, on the MP40, the whole hopup body got flipped over. On the M14, we are just drilling a new hole in from the top in the right place, and adding a new tube. I suppose I should have just re-used the one I cut off...
On the wiring, the rear handle group goes between the battery and the guns' original wiring. So you plug the battery into the connector provided on the handle group, follow those wires back.

TECH NOTE!!!:
For some STUPID reason, the battery connector on the AGM batteries and the guns have the wires flopped! the black- and red+ is correct, but the wires' position in the connector is reversed from every other "tamiya" style connector out there.

THE STOCK AGM POLARITY IS BACKWARDS.
UNLESS YOU SWAP THE WIRES IN THE BATTERY CONNECTORS, YOU MUST USE THE STOCK BATTERY AND CHARGER WITH THIS SETUP, AND NO OTHERS, AS THE POLARITY IS REVERSED. USE OF THE STOCK CHARGER WITH OTHER BATTERIES OR THE STOCK BATTERY WITH OTHER CHARGERS WILL RESULT IN AN UNHAPPY SITUATION, POSSIBLY INVOLVING FIRE, WHICH IS ALWAYS BAD.
...I always wanted to have a reason to shout a bunch without starting a flame war...

One will go to the upper switch, the other to the gearbox. From the upper switch, the wiring goes to one side of the trigger (there are two groups of three contacts, vertically arranged on the back of the switch.) switch assembly. The wire above or below this wire, coming from the switch, goes to the gearbox. So you have a complete circuit to the gun when the upper switch is on and the trigger is pulled.
Then there are two more wires twisted together going to the other side of the switch. They turn the ammo drive on and off as the trigger is pulled. The way this is wired, shutting off the upper switch allows you to run the ammo feed by itself to preload.

If the gun seems too long to fit, the gun may have dimensional differences, grind away at the inside of the 1919's barrel at the trunnion to make clearance, typically at the sides more than the top and bottom.
You may need to sand the spacer provided, or add washers to the rear mount screw to center the gearbox in the sideplates.


EDIT#2:
Nearly 3000 reads. What is the record?
I have taken photos of the wiring layout, will shop them up and post later tonite. This will make everything very clear.
I hate Eggplant. Ick. One somehow ended up in MY kitchen, and it's made the mistake of being nice and pulpy.......

[YankeeDiv26]

wow killbucket, only 495 for a ready to shoot .30 cal. thank you 100 times over. I'll definitely get myself one for my fast growing armory and make my local players extra jealous. As soon as I rebuild my funds (I spent 495 for a custom ww2 airsoft gun only a few months ago.) I'll have that .30 cal in my hands and eyes down the sight.

[theriseandfall]

man that water cool is pretty cool too! Have you thought about maybe rigging the ammo into the water can or something to make it more of a full setup?

[killbucket]

Since everything is already in the ammocan, and you need a can, I didn't design this in. It became a product "packaging" nightmare when I considered it. That's if you're talking about putting stuff in the barrel jacket. A "Steam Chest" would have room for all kinds of stuff. My gun is still missing this item. A lot of crews used Jerry-cans or whatever they could find without bullet holes in it.

[2nd Bat]

If you do a press release on Arnies and Airsoft News Europe you will be deluged with orders. (I speak with experience) If you plan to do a press release have a bunch pre-made and ready to go or you'll make yourself crazy

The market for vintage period weapons is far greater in Europe then here in the US and the current offerings for a 30 Cal is over $1,000.00 and in my opinion no nicer then your set up. Customs is your only potential snag and I always leave that on the shoulders of the buyers who are responsible for any seizures or tariffs. Thus far (Knock on wood) there haven't been any major problems short of some duties and tariffs occassionally charged to the buyer.

Incidently about half of the AGM M-14s I get in are cross wired. I always switch them around before shipping so they can be used universally with spare batteries. Made me crazy when I first discovered it and took a long time for me to figure out. It's definitely something you'll want to check on each and every gun. Of course if it is wrong you have to switch the charger. battery and gun wiring if you're going to make it all compatible with other systems.

[killbucket]

Well, we took the plunge. We'll go to mass production if needed, I'm in a valley full of hungry shop owners.

Back to the shop myself...pics later today, I got the Browning back. I gave it to a local artist with quick instructions to "Highlight it in 18k gold". And she did.
This becomes a living room ornament. The roses were its last victims.
Oh yeah, that eggplant that was lurking in the kitchen...

[2nd Bat]

I decided to sell that first one I got from you as it's the MP-40 version before your full story gets out. Perhaps it'll end up funnelinmg some additional interest your way. If it goes on Ebay it'll definitely generate exposure. I certainly have no interest in building and selling them.

[2nd Bat]

Killbucket,

Where did you acquire your Servo (as shown in the pictures) and what do you typically pay for them? I have run all over everywhere and haven't seen anything quite like it. I have found Servos at hobby shops but have no idea if they meet the proper specs or how best to "attach" the hex wrench section to the Servo. Also are you quite sure it's 1/2 inch shrink wrap tubing that used to attach sections of your spring tubing?

This part is all quite grey in your instructions.

[killbucket]

After your kit shipped I devised a different way of doing this (of course).

Step one. I took the catch out of the hicap that hold the bb's down when it isn't in a gun. The spring can be easily drug out with some tweezers or needle-nosers. I didn't dissassemble the mag to do this. the little plastic doohickey can flop about in there, that will be fine.

At the Mag end of the bb hose:
Use Just the spring to go through the feed plate with the double-stick. So the BB's go directly into the spring from the mag. Slight filing may be necc. to get a good fit. A spot or two of Superglue will hold it forever. Now it can flex like crazy without popping out, and there isn't a tube-to-spring transition to worry about.

At the gun end of the hose:
I used a chunk of mag loader tube for my hopup feed tube. you know, the clear plastic mess waiting to happen that comes with every std cap mag/LPEG out there. I heated this with my trusty heat gun and pushed the other spring into it and let it cool. I shrink wrapped mine in place. This allowed "heat-forming" of the spring's lead-in to the hopup. Again, an ice cube or two handy nearby will help freeze the tubing where you want it.

Bringing the two together:
1/2" shrink does work, you'll want two layers, and have to align the ends smoothly till the shrink tube "freezes". When it all cools off, you can pull one side or the other out of the tubing (twisting clockwise helps the spring walk out rather than grab harder), leaving a nice dis-connect. Glue the other side in place with the superglue.
This works well, but the union between the two has to be about 3" long to have stability, and it won't bend smoothly there. Depending on how far away from the gun your ammo can will be, this may or may not be an issue for you.

Then I remembered a sample bag of these I was sent so many years ago:#VC-375-16

the orange, 1' long one in the foreground. I cut the closed end off, a tie wrap around each end, one a little snugger, makes a great quick-disconnect. this is how the W/C gun is set up.

I have not had time to just try some silicone tubing or car fuel hose over this as a "coupler" but it would probably work well.

The servo:
Before you can mount the servo, you may need to file the protrusions on the face of the mount ears:

It's that little wall sticking up between the mount holes. Nix it, so the servo will mount nice and flat.
In the demo unit is a clear-bodied Cirrus metal gear "CS-60Mg" which is discontinued, but here it it's successor:
www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p.pgm?Q=1&I=LXANT4&P=7
Way overkill on the torque out put. Note this is not a "fast servo". I just grabbed the first one out of the box that day, and it turned out to be a truck steering servo.
Shipping units will have this servo, as it is all that is needed for the application:
www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXH288&P=ML
Note the "transit" (speed) rating is slightly better without the heavy gear train, which is not required here; there's a clutch in every hicap so it can freewheel when fully wound.
If you had a long ammo run, the hi-torque would be nice.
On every single test run, the ammo feed was completely pre-wound before firing. After every single firing, not matter how long the burst, the ammo stayed fully wound. Even running the AGM at 9.6volts nominal (actual reading is about 10.6v) we're still not using the ammo as fast as we could be!

On the hex drive:
You need one socket head cap screw M4X10 Pitch.7
(OSH hardware #9214388, 3 each).
What you do is drill (3.3mm/.129" drill size needed!) the servo output shaft hole so you can thread in one of the screws. It doesn't need to be in all the way, just straight and secure, and not snugged down. Finger tight is all you want/need. Luckily, the mag winding action will just keep it tight. Then, if you get the servo going the wrong way, the screw will just back out, rather than damage the servo or mag drive. Sweet.
If you crack the servo output, don't panic. Use a servo horn with all the arms removed for a "repair collar" and put the screw in anyway.

A little trial and error with a chunk of toothpick will get you the length of 3mm allen wrench section you need for a driveshaft. Cut this to size with a dremel or bolt cutters, then smooth the cut ends.

I put a blob of gearcase lube on each end before I put it all together. That way the parts won't eat each other.

Modifying a servo:
www.kronosrobotics.com/an116/GAN116_3003.shtml


humor found at shoot1919a4.com

[biged]

tommygunner said:

I was curious to see a picture of a reall steel M1919 water cooled varient to compare to the really fantastic one Killbucket has made available, but all that came up was the water cooled M1917 30cal.

Can anyone provide pictures of a reall steel water cooled M1919.

TommyGunner

Here is the link with ALL the Browning/Colt variants.

browningmgs.com/Images_1919A4/Brownings.htm

Most of the water jacket versions were made by Colt and used on the 1928 Colt tripod (aka M35 tripod).
The jacket version was rarely used on an M2 tripod (never seen a pic) because of the height requirements of the steam chest.

///ed///

[killbucket]

The site will be down for a bit, bandwidth crash last night, evidently the videos I put up are popular...

[CharleyNovember]

Load them up to youtube it will save your bandwidth.

[killbucket]

Arnies has done this for me already, but I have to go chase some links I put up and change them.
Annoying and happy problem to have...
www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=arniesairsoft

[theriseandfall]

So can you film a video of the 30cal writing my name? ;D

nice vids killbucket.

[TommyGunner]

How big did you make the cooling jacket on your soon to be M1917, it looks a bit small, maybee its just the angles you took the pictures at. How about a side profile pic of it.

TommyGunner

[killbucket]

It is 3-1/2" o.d.
I didn't have any specs to go by. would 4-1/2" look better, you think?
Still waiting for word from my hosting company. I wonder if I took down their servers last nite... ;D

EDIT: Seems there was this 8Mb video on my site that got downloaded a few times last nite...to a staggering total of 8.71GB before she went kablooey. Videos are all hosted at Youtube now, thank you Arnies!

I seem to be smiling a lot today. Another big shipment of 1919's going out monday.