StrangerDanger

Seems those Wiha's are a little longer. Might have to get a set of those. How exactly are you making the handles? Are you just putting the brass punch in a drill press vice, and boring the appropriate size hole for the desired diameter drill bit? How did you put that nipple on the end of the drill bit? I assume that was done with a lathe? Did you bore down a specific depth? It seems the deeper the better, so long as you don't get close to the bottom. Looks like you cut the drill bit with a lathe too? I'm really surprised that someone doesn't sell a set of long drive punches. Brownells sells a Grace punch that is 5/16" diameter. It seems like it would be a decent host for the rods. Here are the rod's I assume you used? http://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-tools-supplies/small-hardware/metal-stock/water-hardening-drill-rod-prod585.aspx This is a pretty good deal. You could get 18 drive punches at small incremental size bumps. Since the rod is 18" long, you'd have plenty of spares, or the capacity to make various lengths.

Thanks. I have been thinking about expanding this tutorial so it goes through tearing down the trigger group completely. The rest isn't that difficult once you've been through it once. I tore my M4 completely down for refinishing about two or three weeks ago. I think I disassembled the entire trigger pack in about five minutes. I added a few tools to my stable recently. I bought a set of extra long Starrett drive punches. These have pretty limited value though since they're 1/8", 3/16", 1/4", 5/16", and 3/8". That seems small, but most of the pins you encounter on firearms are below 1/8". It's really easy to snap the smaller punches. Longer length models are even more prone to this. I looked up Wiha, but didn't really see any that seemed significantly longer. The metric set does look nice, but I'd like to get something with a longer shank size than the Starrett set. On my DDLES AR15 Glock lower, there are several deep seated pins that I ended up having to tap out with an old drill bit. 'Bubba Smithing' and OCD don't get along well. I did add a set of long shank Bondhus allen wrenches in both metric and standard sizing. I foresee them getting used a lot on these firearms. Typically any bit that requires you to remove the wrench and reposition 180 degrees is eliminated. Once you get it tight, you can move in with a shorter bit for more torque control. I bought a set of Channellock snap ring pliers, the 8" 927 model. Not sure if I like them or not. The tips come together at an angle, so when you're picking up the snap ring, the ring wants to slide off the end of the tips. The 90 Degree angled tips are less pronounced in this. I have my eye on a Seekonk dial indicator torque wrench this week. I want one in the 1 - 100 foot pound range. I have one of their smaller units that is rated at 1 - 75 inch pounds. It adapts to all the Magnabits I have. Love it. I hate the clicker torque wrench I have. I have a yard time trusting it.

You should be able to hit a hardware store and buy a fastener. Since you're going to tap the retainer, you can get pretty much any screw you want. I still think modifying the IWC unit would be the best solution. I was thinking about how to spin it to file down the outer edge. I was thinking about getting a fastener, and a nut. Slide the QD mount onto the fastener and push it all the way down to the head of the fastener. Then screw a nut onto the fastener and tighten it against the QD mount to lock it in place. Then put the end of the fastener into the drill chuck. The head of the fastener needs to be smaller than the OD of the QD mount. Then you could spin the QD mount. I'd probably put the drill gun in a vice, then have someone pull the trigger while I hold a flat file on the raised rim of the QD mount. Keep filing until the lip has been lowered to match the half inch diameter. I received a package from IWC today, but it was just some of the low profile QD mounts for my BLAM4.

Interesting. I'm looking forward to seeing your progress. I received my AR15 9mm bolt carrier today finally after three months of waiting. Naturally, all the other parts are off being refinished, so I couldn't do much with it. So I opted to put together another load of parts to have coated at WMD Guns. Along with the BCG, I sent the disassembled 9mm heavy buffer in and the custom made 7.75" BCM chrome lined 9mm barrel that I had profiled down to 0.625". The barrel is going to be salt bath nitride coated inside and out. With the buffer, I'm doing an experiment where I'll have both the buffer and the receiver extension coated in Nickel Boron. With a blow back weapon, I'm looking to smooth out the action as much as possible. I tore down my Glock 36 and sent in the Slide, frame rail and the aluminum back plate. They're going to do the Nickel Boron on the inside of the slide, then paint the exterior Burnt Bronze. I was going to do the Glock 19, but I need it for a class next week. I tore down the AR15 MRP completely, and sent the monolithic upper, lower, receiver extension, bolt carrier group, piston and Thorntail light mount. The entire MRP upper is being Nickel Boron coated. Then they'll spray the exterior in Burnt Bronze Cerakote. The Raptor Ambidextrous charging handle, complete bolt carrier and receiver extension are being done in Nickel Boron too. The buffer is a JP Enterprises Silent Buffer. The goal is to have the upper receiver feeling like it's operating on ball bearings. I've changed a few things since this picture. The stock is now a Magpul ACL on a PWS 416 Receiver Extension with a JP Enterprises Silent Buffer. The weapon mount was switched to a Thorntail recently. The Battle Arms Development ASS ST was recently upgraded to a CASS ST. The BCM charging handle was swapped out for a Raptor. I want to swap out the LaRue mounts for absolute co-witness models. It'll save a little weight, look better and function a little better.

I always wondered what desert Benelli went to when picking their pastel tan color. As much as I wanted to like it, I couldn't. I guess it would be okay if I was hiding in the world's largest Banana Cream Pie, and low crawled below the cream.

Interesting how flexible those PCB's are. The easiest route to take looks like building a sammich. However, I think you should cut both switches smaller so when you apply pressure, that load isn't being spread out across all those contacts. You might encounter some poor activation issues as a result. That top switch is going to flex when you press against it, so it's going to spread the load unevenly to the lower unit. I think having two contacts per switch would provide the best feedback. It would keep the switch small and less prone to accidental light discharges. There are no switches available that control two independent circuits?

The overmold is certainly the hardest part. Once you cut on the handguard, you'll find it is pretty easy. No artistic talent needed. Approach it mathematically based on the size of your switch. Height, length and width. Then determine how you are going to look your wiring. The forward part of the handguard is very thick. I used a variety of bits on a dremel to mill a place for my IWC mount. That mount was much more complicated than a switch pocket will be. I would epoxy the switch to the handguard to prevent movement. The issue is you'll be balancing a bar across those two switches. You should use a flat piece of metal to bridge the contacts. Something thin like a hacksaw blade. The bar shouldn't be just balancing in the air on the contacts. You'll need some of that Sugru along the top and bottom to support the bar. Use that Sugru material to lay over the bridge and cover the PCB. I'd then fill around the Sugru with epoxy. Basically make a shell surrounding the Sugru material. The epoxy would assist in binding the Sugru to the handguard. You can do a lot with the epoxy to hide your work. Compare my first set of pictures of my light mount to the finalized product. Epoxy is clear, so after you've sanded the shape to where you want it, paint the work area with Plastic Dip. This will hide a lot of flaws. I'd consider routing the wire to your right side mount through the handguard. For simplicity, I'd do the rear PCB wired through the handguard over to the right side. You could have just a simple notch to allow the wire to exit the right side of the handguard. You could epoxy wire management points along the inner surface of the handguards below the magazine tube. That way when you disassemble, you could separate the two halves relatively easily. Or, you could go get yourself a Surefire X400 and mount it up. You'd end up with a light/laser in the same lightweight package. Sounds like your daughter is about the same age as mine. She demands to assist with all of these projects as well! My friend has a Benelli M4 set up with a weapon light on a Surefire M80. He brought it over for me to help him with a modification. I can't believe how uncomfortable that thing is to hold onto compared to the setup I put together. Not only is it lighter, but it actually feels good in my hand.

Maybe he's in Colorado and pressed. Still? 2500 over its value? The seller is probably rubbing his eyes in disbelief.

Wow, it's like watching a rape with popcorn. It isn't even assembled with that great of components. I can't say he gouged them, since it was started at a buck. The fools bidding went full retard. Hopefully they actually pay him.

I bet you could do the mods to the handguard. A mill isn't required. The plastic is pretty forgiving when making a pocket. It would take a few hours going slow, but you could notch a recessed pocket into the handguard where the upper forward part angles inward (where I mounted my IWC mount.) the plastic is pretty thick and grinds easily with a dremel. There is a lot of room ahead of the piston assembly. Placing the switches here will reduce accidental light discharges. It's also the perfect place for your thumb. You seem handy with the electronics. Could you use two solarforce switches? One for your light and another for the laser? Then shorten the switch boards contacts so there is only one or two of those contacts each. Then put the switches next to each other in the pocket. Then find a thin piece of metal to bridge over the top of the contacts so when you press down, it essentially activates both switches. You could also just bridge the two center points so essentially there would be three switching options. Forward contact = Light Only Second and Third Bridged Contact = Light and Laser Forth (rear) Contact = Laser Only This would avoid needing to set any relays between the switches. I'm still envisioning what method to use to retain the bridge and how to cover the switches. You could bed and seal the switch into the handguard with epoxy. It ends up being a hard smooth shell that you can shape by filing or sanding. When applying, it is in liquid form, so you can allow gravity to make a relatively even surface. Skill could come up with a cleaner install. You'd have to mount the PCB from the backside of the handguard, then just cut holes for silicon buttons to press through the handguard like this: basically, the handguard would keep the silicon buttons captive against the PCB. Depending on if you sealed the PCB in epoxy, and the edges around the activation point, the assembly would remain water resistant.

Interesting info about the tape switch internals. Where do you plan on mounting it? I agree that having a mechanical button is better than the typical pressure switch contacts. Regular pressure switches aren't always that reliable. Often, they are awkward to press.

Awesome job on the front mount. I'm still waiting on my IWC mounts from an order from a month ago. I guess it doesn't matter since my parts are gone anyway. Im really jealous of that 14" barrel. Strange that you had trouble drilling the bracket. I bought a black and decker set from Walmart that were TiN coated. I had very little trouble drilling it out by moving up about 1/8" at a time until I got to the 1/2" point. Thankfully there are no metal parts permenantly fixed to the grip. Just that pinned plate retainer. Given that it is steel, it would certainly hold the load and would thread well. Since you're drilling out the left side to allow the QD socket to seat nearly flush with the grip, that grip core might as well be modified all the way through to the right side. Threading the plate retainer is the best route to go. Trying to cut a nut into the opposite side is going to be a pain in the ass. You'd have to drill the core out to the size of the nut, then back fill it with epoxy. The strength would be questionable in terms of torque load. Hand tapping the plate retainer to whatever size thread you're using would be ideal. I'd then use a fastener that was long enough that it poked through to the right side to help center the retaining plate. I'd then cut the fastener so it was flush with the grip face on the right side. You should not use the Magpul QD mount due to its size. It will poke out a lot further than you want. Using even an Uncle Mikes QD cup would be better since you don't need it to be threaded. I'd like to get something akin to the IWC mounts with the anti rotation features, but I've yet to find a good option aside from modifying the crap out of this one: [/font][/color] Those bottom posts could be cut off to lower the QD mount. That larger outer diameter would have to be dealt with. You have two options: 1. Remove the outer lip via a lathe or putting the mount in a chuck and spin it. Then run a file on it until it's removed. 2. Drill your hole larger on the left side of the grip core. I believe it was either 0.625" or 0.688". Then back fill around the mount with epoxy. The added benefit of this is the epoxy will aid in limiting rotation.

Cancelled my vacation I had planned to Cortez, Co.

Socom guy's tubes have always been top shelf quality. Never heard even a gripe about them.

My concern is that pressure pad from Klarus is wired to function with the electronics in the tail cap. Hopefully it would be just a basic circuit you're making a contact with. Cutting the grip and placing it under the rubberized grip is certainly doable. On my pistol grip stock, I undercut the visible portion of the grip so I could seat the useable portion of the pressure switch higher up on the grip. It wasn't shown in the pictures, but I had a small fence built up around the pressure switch to reduce negligent light discharges when slung. I taped two cut allen wrenches along each side of the switch to create a raised ridge. You didn't really feel it when holding the grip, but when you went to squeeze the pressure switch, it was sunk into a pocket. Initial testing showed that when carrying the weapon slung, it was easy to bump the grip and cause the discharges. The use of tape also was effective in adjusting the sensitivity of the pressure pad by setting a pre-load on the switch. That locktite epoxy is awesome stuff. When it hardens, it's about as hard as glass. It's easy to file and shape. The mount along with the rest of my junk should be half way to Florida by now. The mount is being Cerakoted black to prevent any rusting. You can slap some cold blue on it after you make your cuts.

I'm still weighing my options with the tape switch. I'm pretty happy with the setup as is, so I'm not in a big rush to tear it apart. I figure I have a month or two to think about it. I saw some pressure pad that had a constant on button on the tape switch itself. These are pretty cheap. The description goes on about some strobe feature that I have no use for.

On the back side, the stand off posts will then be threaded into the IWC mount. These posts will apply tension to the IWC mount and pull it tight against the Spirolock ring. They also will prevent the IWC mount from spinning under load if you dimple the BLAM4 where the posts are screwed into place. You can do this with a center punch and a BFH, or you can drill into the BLAM4 just enough for the posts to screw in. Once done, you'll have an extremely low mounted QD socket on the BLAM4.

On the front of the BLAM4, the IWC QD post will poke through the steel bracket like this. Here, the Spirolock is installed on the outside of the IWC QD mount. This ring is slightly larger than the 0.500" and will prevent the mount from pushing back through the BLAM4.

Imagine this hole is the back side of the BLAM4 mount. The IWC mount will insert through the hole of the BLAM4 just like this.

On the BLAM4, take a look at this picture. Notice how there are three holes on the mount. Two tab holes that are supposed to prevent the rail from rotating, and a threaded hole to actually mount the MOE rail to the BLAM4. On mine, I drilled out the inner tab hole to 0.500". You can certainly do this with a drill gun and a vice. The existing hole will act as your guide. Then just keep enlarging the hole with larger bits until you get to 0.500". I then used a hacksaw and cut off the unneeded portion of the modified BLAM4. I epoxied over the threaded hole for cosmetics. I then used a b*stard file to shape the edges of the BLAM4 so no sharp edges were left. I also cut off the loop sling mount on the opposite side of the BLAM4 to minimize its size and weight. In the next post, I'll outline how the actual sling mount will be installed (Need more pictures.)

With the thorntail, you could do either a pressure pad or a momentary/constant on tail cap. I'd opt for the momentary/constant on switch. The value of the thorntail over the VTAC is how it pushes the light forward. It'll bring it closer to the muzzle. When holding your forearm, see where your thumb naturally sits. That's pretty much where you would want the momentary/constant on button. With my arm length, that puts my thumb at the very front of the forearm.

Surefire M600C on a Thorntail mount attached to the left side of your Surefire M80. It should get the weapon light in just about this position.

I placed an order for a Promag collapsible stock like on 2/10/13, and it has yet to process. My guess is that they burned through their existing supply. I purchased one to compare the quality and component interchangeability with an OEM collapsible stock.

Thanks for the wiring info guys. I believe the switch is simply a two wire arrangement. Basically it wouldn't matter which way you connected it then since you're just bridging the circuit with the pressure switch. I think it is within my skill level to do the job. I'm adding some complexity though if I do the job. One of the negatives about a regular tape switch is there is no constant on capacity. I believe it is within my skill level to modify a Surefire SR07 into the grip. I'd cut the picatinny rail mount free, and place the constant on button on the grip core where my thumb rests. The pressure pad would then be cut into the grip below my middle and ring finger. There is also the option of adding a pressure pad to the right side of the grip core for transitioning to my left hand. Using crimp connectors and shrink tubing, I believe the wires could be routed through the grip effectively building a circuit. My weapon lights have a hardwired tape switch connector already. So none of that would need to be wired. I haven't decided yet if I want to take on the challenge yet. A lot of it would be fun to try. On a side note, all my parts finally got picked up to go to WMD Guns today. So I won't have any of those parts back until some time in April. I also packed up my optics and lights today and they're scheduled to go off to a company named Controlled Chaos Arms in Iowa. Supposedly they do their work pretty quick. On the Benelli M4, The Surefire M600C will be painted in Burnt Bronze along with its Aimpoint T1. The windage and elevation knobs, the power adjustment knob, LaRue release lever and the LaRue adjustment knob will remain black. They're all being done in air cured Cerakote with as matte of a finish as I can get.

Mainly it is limited experience that keeps me from cutting the wire. I also don't know what's inside the tape switch. Is it just two wires? Or is it a rat nest of smaller ones? I'd imagine it is just two... I wonder if they're color coded wires? I'm sure I could find a machine shop locally that could cut the groove. I could probably cut it myself honestly. I'd have to drill a half in hole through the core of the pistol grip to allow the head of the light to loom through the assembly. Unless of course I went the route in cutting the wire. Then I could feed the cut end through the existing hole. I really don't want to make a right side mount. Making the one I have now was an epic PITA.