Firearms XIII - Talk about all the guns - General

[QUOTE=butre;49973350]I've wanted a fal for decades but none ever come up for sale locally at the right time. I want to paint it up like the rhodies did[/QUOTE] Ughhh I hate when I see people do this. Like, it looks good if you do it proper and do cerakote and shit but no one ever does. Everyone just spray paints it and it looks like shit. Honestly I think the FALs look so much better in the wood and blued steel style.

[QUOTE=ilikecorn;49973479]If I can find a wood stock that isn't trashed i'd go with wood. I'm getting an L1A1 flash hider because I like the look of that thing, so the wood would be approperiate. Plus a wood pistol grip looks more comfortable, as the poly one feels like it was made for child soldiers, more so than an AK's.[/QUOTE] If you feel like spending $300+ on a really nice wood stock and doing the finishing yourself, get one of the ones from Ironwood Designs. They're custom made from your choice of Black Walnut or Maple and look fucking amazing once you do them up. That's what I did with mine and it's GORGEOUS. [url]http://imgur.com/a/LeP7Z[/url] If you want to go cheaper, get an Israeli stock kit. 99% sure those fit Metric FAL. [url]http://www.dsarms.com/p-13089-israeli-heavy-barrel-wood-buttstock-original-hardware-not-included-fair-condition.aspx[/url] [url]http://www.dsarms.com/p-13104-fal-israeli-for-heavy-barrel-israeli-replacement-wood-for-israeli-handguards.aspx[/url] [editline]20th March 2016[/editline] [QUOTE=Levelog;49973483]I'd rather a G3 than an FAL personally[/QUOTE] Personally I find G3's and their commercial variants to be too flimsy and finnicky compared to FALs to justify their price point. [editline]20th March 2016[/editline] [QUOTE=ilikecorn;49973944]The glorious american state of oklahoma. We might not have anything right (we really really really don't) but at least gun rights aren't fucked here.[/QUOTE] I might stop by on my way to Wyoming later this year or early next year so we can play with our FALs together if you want :v:

[QUOTE=Snoberry Tea;49973942]Ughhh I hate when I see people do this. Like, it looks good if you do it proper and do cerakote and shit but no one ever does. Everyone just spray paints it and it looks like shit.[/QUOTE] it's not meant to look pretty, it's meant to break up the outline of the rifle. the flora in that region is similar to the flora here so the pattern is very effective here. I want a practical firearm, not a beautied up safe queen. besides that, they didn't use cerakote in rhodesia, they used regular old brush on paint.

[QUOTE=butre;49973998]it's not meant to look pretty, it's meant to break up the outline of the rifle. the flora in that region is similar to the flora here so the pattern is very effective here. I want a practical firearm, not a beautied up safe queen. besides that, they didn't use cerakote in rhodesia, they used regular old brush on paint.[/QUOTE] I know it's not meant to look pretty and I know why they did it in Rhodesia and I know HOW they did it in Rhodesia You are not in Rhodesia. You do not need to do it ugly "in the spirit" of what an actual fighting force did during wartime. You are a hobby shooter you ought to do it right and make it pretty, because non-essential things being pretty is 99% of why we buy them. [editline]20th March 2016[/editline] And in terms of it being a "practical firearm" in 100% of any capacity you can/will use that gun it will be practical. Even having a professional do a 'pretty' cerakote version of Rhodie camo will still be 'practical' in a situation you will never be in, using it for warfare, because it will still break up the outline of the firearm. It just won't look like a shitty 5 minute paint job that some child soldier did in a thatch hut.

it would be mostly for hog hunting and putting food on the table. .308 is too expensive to plink with on a regular basis and buying a gun and not using it is a sin. I know if I do it perfect every little scratch will kill me, making it ugly but effective will let me be less nervous about taking it with me on a walk through the swamp. look into wabi sabi some time, it might do you some good.

I maintain if I ever build a FAL it's gonna look like this. [img]http://i.imgur.com/3x6ksNz.jpg[/img]

[QUOTE=butre;49974120]it would be mostly for hog hunting and putting food on the table. .308 is too expensive to plink with on a regular basis and buying a gun and not using it is a sin. I know if I do it perfect every little scratch will kill me, making it ugly but effective will let me be less nervous about taking it with me on a walk through the swamp. look into wabi sabi some time, it might do you some good.[/QUOTE] Cerakote is incredibly durable and won't scratch easily enough for it to be something you would have to worry about. And if you WOULD still worry about it, ask the cerakoter to leave it in the oven at 300 for 3 days. It's something my local shop did once on accident and now does on special request because it makes the cerakote impossibly hard. It took them 5x as long to sandblast it off as regular cerakote, and cerakote by itself is very hard to sandblast. [editline]20th March 2016[/editline] [QUOTE=Grenadiac;49974132]I maintain if I ever build a FAL it's gonna look like this. [img]http://i.imgur.com/3x6ksNz.jpg[/img][/QUOTE] Please tell me that's a rail mounted tactical liquor holder and not just a bottle propping it up :v: That's very nice though. I love the combination of wood and railed pieces on the fore-end.

[QUOTE=butre;49974120]it would be mostly for hog hunting and putting food on the table. .308 is too expensive to plink with on a regular basis and buying a gun and not using it is a sin. I know if I do it perfect every little scratch will kill me, making it ugly but effective will let me be less nervous about taking it with me on a walk through the swamp. look into wabi sabi some time, it might do you some good.[/QUOTE] Hell yeah, dude. Forget that dolled-up shit, take function over form. Practicality has a beauty all its own, in my opinion.

Any idea how to clean this up? Can't tell if it's carbon buildup or some kind of natural fire bluing from 101 years of continuous use. Only noticed it when the light caught it today while I was cleaning it. [media]http://imgur.com/a/5Dhm2[/media] I can't feel any difference going over it with a q-tip and scrubbing isn't breaking it up at all, but it looks like some of it has flaked off. Weird.

A lot of that just looks like wear. Have you tried scratching it with your nails? It might even be just baked in fouling similar to burn rings on revolver cylinders. Not really harmful, but looks bad. If you are still paranoid, take it to a smith to look it over.

[QUOTE=PrusseLusken;49979721]that looks like discolouration from extremely uneven heat treatment[/QUOTE] If it's still under warranty, he should be able to send it back to the manufacturer and get the part replaced. Oh wait :hurr:

[QUOTE=Psychokitten;49980180]If it's still under warranty, he should be able to send it back to the manufacturer and get the part replaced. Oh wait :hurr:[/QUOTE] I mean it COULD have a lifetime warranty you never know.

[QUOTE=Grenadiac;49979382]Any idea how to clean this up? Can't tell if it's carbon buildup or some kind of natural fire bluing from 101 years of continuous use. Only noticed it when the light caught it today while I was cleaning it. [media]http://imgur.com/a/5Dhm2[/media] I can't feel any difference going over it with a q-tip and scrubbing isn't breaking it up at all, but it looks like some of it has flaked off. Weird.[/QUOTE] I wouldn't worry about it too much. You've got an 80+ year old gun there. Any abrasive scrubbing could hurt its original finish. Spray it off a bit with some carburetor cleaner, if it's carbon fouling it'll drip off black. My guess is it's just discoloration of the metal from use.

Yeah it was manufactured in 1914 or 1915, I'm not really worried about it but I was just making sure I shouldn't be. Don't want to take any unneeded chances with this gun. It really doesn't have much original finish left but what's there I'd like to preserve.

[QUOTE=Grenadiac;49981412]Yeah it was manufactured in 1914 or 1915, I'm not really worried about it but I was just making sure I shouldn't be. Don't want to take any unneeded chances with this gun. It really doesn't have much original finish left but what's there I'd like to preserve.[/QUOTE] I've got one just like it from around 1911-1913. All numbers matching too! I just wish the bore was worth a damn. At 7 yards half the time it's dead on, the other half it keyholes.

I think we go through this "omg I have one of those too" every other week jimmema. :v:

[QUOTE=Grenadiac;49981620]I think we go through this "omg I have one of those too" every other week jimmema. :v:[/QUOTE] More than likely, I have a hard enough time remembering how I got to work in the morning.

Does yours have those burn marks there? I'd be curious if it's normal on these or if it's just mine.

[QUOTE=Grenadiac;49981719]Does yours have those burn marks there? I'd be curious if it's normal on these or if it's just mine.[/QUOTE] That's a good question. I've got it vacuum sealed in oil at the moment, I can take a look when I do my routine run through here which is pretty soon.

[QUOTE=UncleJimmema;49981509]I've got one just like it from around 1911-1913. All numbers matching too! I just wish the bore was worth a damn. At 7 yards half the time it's dead on, the other half it keyholes.[/QUOTE] Do they even make replacement parts? If I remember correct, the whole upper receiver assembly is one piece, so replacing the barrel means replacing the whole upper half of the weapon.

I had a big response to your question but CloudFlare decided to ~check my browser~ and deleted it so I'll type it when I get to work. [editline]22nd March 2016[/editline] The C96 is short recoil operated, so the upper receiver assembly moves back a hair to unlock the bolt and allow it to cycle, delaying the bolt travel until pressure drops to a safe level, reducing felt recoil and wear on the bolt stop. The upper receiver is a single piece machined out of a single billet consisting of the barrel and the housing for the bolt. The bolt, bolt stop and sight attach to it. If a C96 barrel is fucked the owner has 4 options. The most common course of action for 7.63 C96s is to ream the chamber and barrel out to 9mm. No other part of the gun needs to be modified for this. You can replace the upper receiver with one from a parted out gun but it probably won't be in much better shape. There's a company in Florida that will saw the barrel off, thread the receiver and screw on a new barrel. I believe the same company can reline 7.63 barrels but I don't know how that works. Option 5 if you're like me is to be glad your barrel doesn't need replacement because you couldn't afford any of the above options if it did :v: [editline]22nd March 2016[/editline] Looks like the company i was thinking of (Broom Closet) has closed but another place does still reline the barrels for $195. [url]http://www.redmansrifling.com/mauser.htm[/url]

[QUOTE=Grenadiac;49983230] I believe the same company can reline 7.63 barrels but I don't know how that works. [URL]http://www.redmansrifling.com/mauser.htm[/URL][/QUOTE] They bore out the barrel to fit a metal sleeve with rifling into the barrel. It is then epoxied into place. The gun is then reamed to have a proper chamber again. Most run of the mill gunsmith won't do this. [video=youtube;XZ7sQya7tyk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZ7sQya7tyk[/video]

[QUOTE=Psychokitten;49983127]Do they even make replacement parts? If I remember correct, the whole upper receiver assembly is one piece, so replacing the barrel means replacing the whole upper half of the weapon.[/QUOTE] Well you can get the barrel lined, which means I'd have to convert it to 9mm. That also wrecks it's collector value. With my connections in the firearms industry I've been trying to find a local machine shop who'd be willing to make new uppers that my shop could potentially sell, although the economics of scale is currently putting a damper on that. The only other alternative is to find an original upper and hope the bore is good on it.

[QUOTE=UncleJimmema;49983685]Well you can get the barrel lined, which means I'd have to convert it to 9mm. That also wrecks it's collector value. With my connections in the firearms industry I've been trying to find a local machine shop who'd be willing to make new uppers that my shop could potentially sell, although the economics of scale is currently putting a damper on that. The only other alternative is to find an original upper and hope the bore is good on it.[/QUOTE] Maybe we should get in contact with Mauser and see if they're interested in producing replacement parts, maybe even putting it back into production? A modern C96. Imagine it.

Mauser is currently owned by Rheinmetall I believe. I don't think it's anything more than a brand name now. Plus these were insanely expensive even while in long term mass production with relatively cheap labor and next to no regulations - they'd be prohibitively expensive to build today and you'd be looking at a retail price of like 4 grand minimum.

So a Mauser Mauser is $6000, a Kimber Mauser is $1500, a Winchester (M70) Mauser is $850, and a Zastava Mauser is $700. Something doesn't add up there...

Yeah, Blazer makes a damn fine gun, but hell I remember being in Germany and seeing one for 2300 Euro. On an unrelated note I called Browning to see what's up with my gun. The lady says I may need to call some number direct, which I assumed was the Firearms Program, then hung up saying she'd "call me back" when she knew. She's told me she'd call me back and never has at least 5 times now, so I decided to call the Firearms Program myself. Once I did, I was told that Browning hadn't even initiated the transfer yet according to them. I assumed that "Send it out to Province" meant the Quebec CFO, but there's no entry of any transfer application being sent to their CFO according to the CFP head office. I guess now I either wait until I hear back from Browning, or call tomorrow and tell them that the CFP says there's been no transfer initiated and ask what the fuck is going on. At this rate I still won't have the pistol by April 10th, my next range day, and it's coming very close to a year since I ordered this, since I sent the e-mail to them May 31st last year.

Unicorn twins! 5.45 Green Ceremonial Russian! Supposedly 2 of 9 total in the US. [img]http://i.imgur.com/Kff6Nkk.jpg?1[/img]

[QUOTE=Psychokitten;49985238]Maybe we should get in contact with Mauser and see if they're interested in producing replacement parts, maybe even putting it back into production? A modern C96. Imagine it.[/QUOTE] Germany has a stupid "Weapons of war" type gun law that pretty much restricts them from producing any sort of military style weapons for the civilian market, even for export. Even though it can be argued that the C96 isn't military, they still won't let it be produced without heavy gimping.

[QUOTE=Psychokitten;49985238]Maybe we should get in contact with Mauser and see if they're interested in producing replacement parts, maybe even putting it back into production? A modern C96. Imagine it.[/QUOTE] That's actually one of my goals. I've been working with a few people to do exactly that. The uppers were going to be the start depending on how well they sell. The biggest problem is once again the economy of scale. For me to have 10 uppers made we're looking at $800-1000 an upper. I decide to do 100 That brings me down to around $600ea. If I do 500 that brings me down to about $325 or so. That's the price I want, but I can't afford to get 500 uppers based off of one CAD drawing that hasn't gone through some R&D. We're talking about a gun with over 100 years of tolerance varience here, so it's not exactly a plug and play kind of thing. Long story short I have to wait until my company gets bigger and we can start doing things in house before I can start looking at full repros.