shrek Posted December 29, 2011 Report Share Posted December 29, 2011 Iv been searching round the net on info about if its possible to DIY a side charging handle onto An AR-15 bolt carrier.... The hardness is the issue with the bolt carrier is it a surface case hardening or fully hardened? Some have said that it has to be drilled and tapped before hardening, others say it can be done after? Any ideas or experience would be appreciated, as a right hand side charger would just make my little AR into the perfect foxing tool! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TC Posted December 29, 2011 Report Share Posted December 29, 2011 Can't help with the drilling and milling but as it's not for rapid fire COF's have you though about just replacing the charging handle with a right hand/ambi one ? Downside is you have to lift your head off the stock a little to recock but it's a simple drop in part. Cheers Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TC Posted December 29, 2011 Report Share Posted December 29, 2011 Can't help with the drilling and milling but as it's not for rapid fire COF's have you though about just replacing the existing T piece charging handle with a right hand/ambi one ? Downside is you have to lift your head off the stock a little to recock but it's a simple drop in part. Cheers Tony Edit, clarify I'm referring to the T-Piece but hit reply rather than edit - duh... Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shrek Posted December 29, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2011 Thanks Tony, but i want it so i can fire and reload, whilst prone without moving my head. Also when foxing i want to close the bolt slowly which often causes the locking lugs to not engage fully a right hand bolt on the carrier would mean it was just a simple case of weighing it down with my thumb to engage the lugs... lovely and quiet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunsgobang88 Posted December 29, 2011 Report Share Posted December 29, 2011 Iv been searching round the net on info about if its possible to DIY a side charging handle onto An AR-15 bolt carrier.... The hardness is the issue with the bolt carrier is it a surface case hardening or fully hardened? Some have said that it has to be drilled and tapped before hardening, others say it can be done after? Any ideas or experience would be appreciated, as a right hand side charger would just make my little AR into the perfect foxing tool! Hi Shrek, The bolt carrier would need localised annealing before drilling and tapping. The trick is to do this while not effecting the hardness of the bolt carrier cam way. My experience (learnt the hard way!) is that the bolt carrier is either through hardened or very tough under a hard case. Easing the bolt forward is not an option as the live round ends up being ejected, the bolt needs releasing completely from the rearward position, Cheers Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John MH Posted December 29, 2011 Report Share Posted December 29, 2011 Cobalt drill and a tap that you'll throw away after use, there are hundreds that have been done in the UK. Give Mark Bradley a call and he'll give you some advice or better ask him to do it for you as you might need the upper milled to clear the side charging handle. Bradley Arms Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TC Posted December 29, 2011 Report Share Posted December 29, 2011 Makes sense - Be interesting to hear how you get on. Cheers Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shrek Posted December 29, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2011 Cheers all, Alan... im struggling to understand what you mean about a live round being ejected if i ease the bolt forward instead of what i persume you mean letting the bolt slide forward under its own spring pressure? John MH, i tried leaving bradley arms a message about advice and the possiblity of getting him to do it for me a good while back and i never heard diddly back from him, where is he based? as his location wasnt on his website last time i looked (no doubt it'll be on the far side of the country from me) and being somwhat of an engineer by trade the machining work isnt a problem, i just dont want to start hitting the bolt carrier with drillbits and making a mess if its not possible without annealing or some other process. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John MH Posted December 29, 2011 Report Share Posted December 29, 2011 From the horses mouth: Carbide drill. You can use a masonry drill, nothing else will touch it.The 6mm taps I use are £40 each and only good for about 8-10 holes. A carbide tap would probably work and so might carbon. At least with carbon vs HSS, if the carbon breaks you can smash it out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunsgobang88 Posted December 29, 2011 Report Share Posted December 29, 2011 Hi Shrek, In my experience with SGC upper receivers and bolt carriers if you ease the bolt forward the round exits the mag. lips and gets thrown around due to the extractor, ejector etc. If the bolt 'flies' forward this does not occur. As mentioned in a previous post, you will need to mill a slot on the right hand of the upper receiver for the cocking handle, Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baldie Posted December 29, 2011 Report Share Posted December 29, 2011 I,m just in the process of making jigs to mill the DPMS upper reciever [the one sgc use] Shrek. I,m also having some side charging handles made as we speak. Watch this space. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Posted December 30, 2011 Report Share Posted December 30, 2011 I,m just in the process of making jigs to mill the DPMS upper reciever [the one sgc use] Shrek. I,m also having some side charging handles made as we speak. Watch this space. I have just recently been made aware of the straight pull conversions of AR's in the UK. It's an interesting way of coping with foolish legislation. Last week, after a 30 year absence, I re-entered the assault rifle field with a DPMS Panther LR-308. Hope to shoot it this weekend.~Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baldie Posted December 30, 2011 Report Share Posted December 30, 2011 Yep, ridiculous legislation indeed Andrew. The british shooter has adapted surprisingly well though. The best PR shooters on the circuit these days are so slick with the side lever, its no real disadvandage anymore. I,ve seen our guys shoot again military using SA80,s and win. I also was priveledged to watch our team win the falling plates match at Bisley this year. Their average time was around 1.5 seconds slower than the two fastest military teams using semi auto,s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strangely Brown Posted December 30, 2011 Report Share Posted December 30, 2011 I also was priveledged to watch our team win the falling plates match at Bisley this year. Their average time was around 1.5 seconds slower than the two fastest military teams using semi auto,s. And one of those was a "proffesional" team from Oman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Posted December 30, 2011 Report Share Posted December 30, 2011 Yep, ridiculous legislation indeed Andrew. The british shooter has adapted surprisingly well though. The best PR shooters on the circuit these days are so slick with the side lever, its no real disadvandage anymore. I,ve seen our guys shoot again military using SA80,s and win. I also was priveledged to watch our team win the falling plates match at Bisley this year. Their average time was around 1.5 seconds slower than the two fastest military teams using semi auto,s. Impressive!~Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shrek Posted January 1, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 1, 2012 After alot of umming and arring about this side charging handle, i got stuck in on the lathe and had a go, firstly making a jig to carry the bolt carrier solid in the lathe.... Fortunatly to say the bolt carrier has been drilled threaded and recessed all ready for the bolt, i am one truely happy man tonight, as its taken all my patience which at a younger age i didnt have and my 24 years of fathers teaching in the workshop, And by christ it was hard stuff.... HSS bits were like cheese, tungsten carbide bits and 20 thousand'sths of an inch cuts between sharpening were the only thing that touched it. Just need to find a nice little peice of billet ally to turn up into a handle then i'll start on milling the reciever!!! I also took some photos during the machining, so i will get them up once iv got them off my phone!! Shrek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotch_egg Posted January 1, 2012 Report Share Posted January 1, 2012 photobucket is your friend. I have monitered this topic with interest. I am currently looking at an AR for CSR and a right hand charge handle will allow best position when using a sling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baldie Posted January 2, 2012 Report Share Posted January 2, 2012 After alot of umming and arring about this side charging handle, i got stuck in on the lathe and had a go, firstly making a jig to carry the bolt carrier solid in the lathe.... Fortunatly to say the bolt carrier has been drilled threaded and recessed all ready for the bolt, i am one truely happy man tonight, as its taken all my patience which at a younger age i didnt have and my 24 years of fathers teaching in the workshop, And by christ it was hard stuff.... HSS bits were like cheese, tungsten carbide bits and 20 thousand'sths of an inch cuts between sharpening were the only thing that touched it. Just need to find a nice little peice of billet ally to turn up into a handle then i'll start on milling the reciever!!! I also took some photos during the machining, so i will get them up once iv got them off my phone!! Shrek What have you machined down ? The carrier doesn,t need anything taking off it....just two holes drilling and tapping to take the handle, and you say that was already done [sgc carrier ? ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shrek Posted January 2, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 2, 2012 Dave, its a DPMS carrier with no bolt holes drilled. I drilled a single bolt hole and recessed a flat face throught the case hardening so iv got a square face the butt the new bolt up against instead of the original radius of the bolt. Only want a single hole for a bolt handle direct off the bolt, iv always found the extended handles to far back to use comfortably when prone. The photos will tell a better story, going to set the upper up in the milling machine today and mill out a slot for the bolt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John MH Posted January 2, 2012 Report Share Posted January 2, 2012 Be aware that without having an rearward extended bolt handle who may suffer from cases hitting your fingers and being knocked back into the ejection port as you cycle the bolt; that was the main reason the development of the extended bolt handle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shrek Posted January 2, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 2, 2012 For anyone whos interested, Was in the shop till 11 last nite and a number of hourse today and we're all sorted, just what i wanted and working a treat. Apologies about the photo quality.... my mobile phone camera is pretty rubbish! The jig i turned op and bored to hold the bolt carrier Milling the upper reciever The finished item Re-attached the scope and just lookin for a dry day to check the zero, then go and find some charlies!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baldie Posted January 2, 2012 Report Share Posted January 2, 2012 Knock yourself a few dummy rounds up and see if they feed ok Shrek. I bought a .308 AR10 a bit ago with a big side charger [though its on the left ] and the weight of the handle slowed down the bolt carrier enough to make the round not go into battery properly. Middle of the night is no time to find this out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shrek Posted January 2, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 2, 2012 Knock yourself a few dummy rounds up and see if they feed ok Shrek. I bought a .308 AR10 a bit ago with a big side charger [though its on the left ] and the weight of the handle slowed down the bolt carrier enough to make the round not go into battery properly. Middle of the night is no time to find this out. Step ahead of you mate, i went and rattled a number of rounds off into the hill behind the farmhouse when i finished it... everything running just as it should, just alot quicker than before!! A number of hours work has transformed my little AR into possibly with most practical rifle in the cabinet now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aggy Posted January 2, 2012 Report Share Posted January 2, 2012 I like what you have done there ,I have done the same but on the other side of my saiga shotgun and it transforms the gun totaly . Nice work Mick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Posted January 3, 2012 Report Share Posted January 3, 2012 To show my ignorance.... How is the firing/cycling of this weapon achieved? I'm guessing the gas system is nixed allowing you to fire the rifle, manually retract the bolt handle, then let it snap forward under the buffer spring power??~Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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