Springfield Conversion

[deacon]

John, let me know if you ever come across a cheap Unertl scope. I could care less if its USMC marked or not. I'm looking for one for my real 1903.

[2nd Bat]

To keep costs down I am just using an inexpensive 3 power air rifle scope which looks the part and will function fine for airsoft purposes.

[2nd Bat]

The CZ 24 is finished and came out okay. One of the Springfields is likewise done (M1903 A1 scant stock) and I am well underway on the additional Springfields and the SMLE. The SMLE is fun and has always been an iconic British weapon. I expect within a month to have an impressive armory of WW2 weapons!

[jimmiroquai]

Good luck with the SMLE! I love the SMLE. It's so ugly that it's beautiful! Can't wait to see how you approach it. You'll have to cut a lot of the outerbarrel to fit the tiny upper handguards. I'm sure yours will turn out amazing.

[2nd Bat]

Actually lower your expectations as It won't look any where near as nice as yours. My goal is to keep production costs, efforts and build time low while still creating what I hope will be visually acceptable and function well enough to be competitive on a skirmish field.

The SMLE transends so many battles and combat eras and is appropriate for just about every combat theater from WW1 forward right up to current Afghanistan. I noticed during the seize of the hotel by terrorsist in Bali just a few years ago that the Indian Police were armed with SMLEs!

I got a lot done on the SMLE today and found a good source for the nose piece and rear sites. Unlike Springfield parts these are quite affordable. I hope to have two Springfields and the SMLE finished through the weekend.

I have a batch of Garands in progress as well. When I'm between work trips I try to get a lot done on the hobby front.

I was a little bummed today when one of the 5 BAR 10s I just bought failed practically the first time I fired it. Very strange, the gun once cocked would not fire (just went click) and then when I raised the bolt to re-cock, it fired! It did that every time. I'd send it back except that I already cut the barrel. Unless it's an easy fix it will become a parts gun. Arrrggggg! I had similar nightmares with the cheaper VSR clones but this is my first problem with a JG Bar 10.

[toast]

I'd love to see pics of the SMLE. I've plans to do my own (I just finished a Mosin Nagant) but the joint between the wood at the trigger guard frightens the hell out of me, not to mention the complexity of reproducing the bolt in a convincing fashion. Can't wait to see how you've done it.

[2nd Bat]

I'll get pictures posted showing the progression throughout the project as well as the finished gun. The goal was simplicity NOT authenticity so...please understand that much was compromised in the three day build. This is three days during which time I also finished a couple Garands, did final touch up on two Springfields and piddled around with a couple other projects so minimal time and costs invested.

Assuming folks are okay with the visual results it should prove to be a very doable home project for just about everyone. I expect to be finished tomorrow or perhaps as late as Saturday.

[2nd Bat]

I finished two more Springfields and a couple of SMLEs with the final detail work extending late into the night. I took lots of pictures which depict them (good bad and indifferent) quite well but my hosting site seems to be down today. I'll get them up as soon as I can.

I'll post the Springfields here since this is the Springfield thread and place the SMLEs on the appropriate new thread for them. This "slop em together" approach is a compromise of course but does offer an alternative and less expensive, less ambitious way to go about what I consider a viable final rifle.

I'll use them sufficiently to be able to report how durable and practical they are.

[2nd Bat]

Here are some recent pictures taken over the past week and half on this latest batch of Springfields using the new approach which hopefully will inspire more of you to make your own.

Here are the key required actual parts which sadly add up quickly cost wise although I suppose if you shopped carefully enough you might be able to keep the costs failry low:


What you see are the upper and lower stock bands with stacking swivel and sling hardware. In addition the lower sling mount, front and rear sights, cut off switch and READY swith. In addition you'll need the upper handguard and if you use the hairey apple approach the stock forearm sold on dupage trading. Other potential parts are: The butt plate and for an A1 version the ladder site and mount in place of the A3 peep site. In addition a sling and of course your base VSR type bolt action airsoft rifle.

With this latest grouping I built 2 A3 variants and an A1 variant featuring the scant stock. To create the appearance of the scant stock I cut away at the shape of the VSR plastic C stock and filled the resulting gaps with resin paste and sanded to shape.
Here are the two variants nearing their finished state:



For this batch I used a dowel inserted partially into the shortened VSR stock and bonded into place using dyna glass (like I did with the SMLEs.) Unlike the SMLEs, for the Springfields I had to cut the fat outer barrel of the VSR back to the hop up and mount a new outer barrel using copper tubing with several sections of tape wrapped around the actual inner barrel to serve as spacers. This sounds horrible but actually works quite well. I used strickly dyna glass resin paste to create the general shape for both the lower stock and upper handguard. Once dry I filed and sanded them into shape until satisfied with the look. I used the actual stock bands to determine when they were correct and constantly refered to line drawings and photographs of Springfields. The A1 of course has a shorter but taller upper handguard and a ladder rear site and the A3 has a longer, lower handguard with a peep site.



This picture shows the resin paste slopped on. Once dry and hardened it is filed and sanded down to create the appropriate look. The end result is quite solid and durable and can be finished in such a way to pretty accurately look and feel like wood. It is very solid and durable. Wood grain is created using a rasp file and acrylic stains.



The receiver group area can be shaped and alterred to more accurately reflect the appearance of a Springfield and the cut off switch, ready switch and a stove pull knob from a hardware store added to the back of the VSR bolt furtehrs the illusion. I also cut a round stove knob in half and attached it to the VSR bolt to create the rounded knob



Here are a few pictures of the rifles quite close to completion:

Finger grooved A1

Right side C stock A3


Assorted WW2 main battle rifles (airsoft conversions)
SMLE, Garand AEG and two Springfields


In addition I have built several A4 variants with 3 power scopes although sniper rifles for airsoft is pure folley of course. The rifles are quite accurate when compared to AEGs and making each shot count is both challenging and highly satisfying. They are especially fun when used to knock down six inch rubber soldiers from across the 3 car garage and do so quite effectively.

[thisissparta]

nice! oh do the bolts on the springfield pull back? It should but i didn't see any pics of it with an open bolt

[2nd Bat]

The action is as it should be for a bolt action rifle. You draw it up and back to cock and forward to seat the BB. Since you are cocking the spring used to power the BB, the action is somewhat harder than an actual bolt action rifle although I can cock it at the shoulder and perform this effort fairly quickly. The magazine which loads from below holds 30 rounds (instead of five) so the sustained rate of fire is probably quite in sync with (if not better than) a bolt action rifle. If one added a more powerful spring the FPS naturally would go up but the cocking effort would also be greater. This would probably require an average man to drop the rifle down to facilitate cocking and in my opinion would be less effective for skirmishing.

As it is they shoot quite hard and straight and the hop up still functions as designed. They can still be disassembled for repairs or upgrades and a manual is included explaining care and upkeep.



The weight of the finished rifle is quite close to an actual Springfield also (A little lighter)

[jrt1983]

Hello, I've been looking at different posts there about how to make the 1903 springfield me a question arises.
I have seen it needs to cut the barrel of the original replica (Vsr-10, bar10,....) and add a cannon "new" smaller size so that it is the replica with a good impression.

My question is: The gun that is added to the original vibrations and deviations gives it the BB?

I want to use it as a sniper and would be interested to know if doing external changes is a problem with precision.

[Sgt_Tom]

No the external changes won't hurt the precision.

[2nd Bat]

As mentioned nothing is effected from a performance perspective. It shoots the same as the donor weapon it is built around.

[2nd Bat]

Here are the latest 3 Springfields nearing final touches:



Shown is a M1903 A1 (Ladder site) In the center (finger grooved lower stock)

M1903A3 (peep site) Bottom. Both with the longer handguard and a scant stock shape

M1903A4 On top (C shaped stock, no sights awaiting the mounted scope)

I am finishing up a ton of projects and using up assorted bits and pieces I have accumulated. Essentially I want to make sure the shelves are stocked before the Christmas rush.



I will have nearly a dozen Garands finished and ready for sale ranging from numerous recruit editions to a couple of all wood deluxe versions (including the lower stocks fabricated tediously from actual wood stocks)

These Garands will range from $395.00 to $850.00 depending on materials used and level of upgrades.

[506pir]

Nice work man. I was wondering can the VSR scope mount take the springfield's scope or how could I modify the VSR to take the springfield's scope.

[2nd Bat]

You could set it up to use the normal scope mount that often comes with the BAR10 (VSR Style) rifle but it wouldn't be at all accurate visually relative to a WW2 set up. Getting the actual parts or even decent replicas can end up costing more than the whole airsoft replicas cost finished so in my opinion going that route doesn't make sense.

I build up the reciever group area to more closely approximate the look of the Springfield receiver group area. (Although given the functions of the base VSR rifle it is impossible to do it exactly.) I then place some metal tabs which screw into the appropriate surfaces and these become the tabs I attach the scope to using the weaver type mounts.

The scopes I have been using are inexpensive 3 or 4 power thin scopes designed specifically for air guns as they look pretty close to the WW2 scope and function about the same. Actually they are better from a functional perspective simply because optics have improved so much in 60 years. These feature a nice cross hair with windage and elevation adjustments and a real quick eye acquisition which the period correct scopes don't have.

Since the A4 is now finished as soon as the weather is decent I'll take pictures and get them posted along with shots of the A3 and the WW1 style A1. I am really delighted with this last batch as they came out super.

The best I've done overall. Really really fun plinkers and absolutely skirmishable. This is a great do it yourself project. Functionally they are exactly the same as the base rifle. The mag release works the same. The hop up is the same the safety works the same and the cocking and firing process is identical. The JG Bar 10 is fully compatible with all Marui upgrades so you can power it up make it more precise according to your wishes. I snip the nozzle down according to posts I've seen and add some plumbers tape. This does significantly increase the FPS over the rifle stock without changing the spring. Almost 20 FPS according to my tests. The posts suggest more but that's what my experience has been.

[2nd Bat]

Here the promised updated pictures of the latest batch of finished Springfields. This makes a total 27 that I have built in total

M1903A4







M1903 A3 Note it has the longer upper handguard and a rear Peep site. This was done during the war so the function was uniform with the carbine and Garand making marksmanship training easier.





I also have a M1903A1 which were used in WW2 but are different mainly in that they have the rear ladder type site and consequently the shorter (and taller) upper handguard. These soldiered on throughout the war and were most commonly the straight stock or scant stock and came with or without the finger grooves

[yahooda]

is that a 1903a1 in the background 4th picture of the 1903a4?

[2nd Bat]

Good eye, indeed it is. You noted the different upper handguard and ladder site. It is the classic Springfield and one of my favorites. I like the finger grooves as well. One technical note is that not all lower stocks had stock bolts hence some of my replicas have the small holes in the sides while others do not. This is authentic. Also in answer to other questions from PMs, the tab on the left side of the stock below the receiver group is an ON OFF switch to lock the bolt. It is strictly cosmetic on my replicas as is the READY switch. I use the actual parts and then fiberglass resin paste them into place, sand and finish. The overall receiver group area ends up looking pretty decent.

Also others asked about the tiny gap on the left hand side between the handguard and the lower stock and this facilitates the hop up which is a small sliding tab that you access with your finger tip

[yahooda]

could you post some pics of a 1903a1 like you did of the other ones? I only ask because that's my favorite gun of all time. Lol

[2nd Bat]

Sure. That version is my favorite M1903 variant as well. To me its the classic. I will get them up in the next couple days.

[506pir]

sorry if you already said how to do this but did you cut off the VSR's trigger guard

[mitranoita]

Congratulations to all Springfield!!!!very Beautiful!

I also having reacted Springfield 1903A1 Custom replica




M84 Scope whit Original M8, Original Base Mount and pivot.

(old Pics,whith modern Base mount and pivot)




Video Creation

Shooting (fair)

[HornetWSO]

Mitrano, you do very nice work! The A1 looks absolutely beautiful.
The videos really shows off how nice the rifle cycles and how good it looks out doors. Looking forward to more of your creations!

[yahooda]

Very nice Springfield! I remember watching some of your videos back in 2010 and was wondering when you would come to the ww2aa. I hope you make more masterpieces like your a1

[2nd Bat]

Wow. That is gorgeous! Great job!

[2nd Bat]

its now five years later! Finally AEG Garands appear to be on the immediate horizon. (GnG and ICS?). I ended up building and selling over 400 Garand conversions while managing to keep about five or six for my own use. I eventually made around 25 Springfields, 11 BARs a CZ and eight SMLEs.

Most of these are in the happy hands of customers all ver the world and over the 12 years since I made my first conversion it has kept me busy in my spare time. I hope I helped motivate a lot of people to make their own and have done my art to arm the WW 2 airsoft community with weapons otherwise not available. my work has never been as precise, artistic or thorough as some of the other skilled craftsmen out there but it has been prolific and it has been fun.

[aj czarkowski]

So you built over 400 rifles?! You should've opened up your own factory

[2nd Bat]

Keep in mind that is stretched out over 14 years!