agm65ccip Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 Hey this isnt a question I just thought I would launch down a road that I thought was pretty cool. Duggan showed a picture of his gun and it has a nice button pad for quick and easy pressing. When he said that it cost him $125 I thought that was a little steep so I went about it the poor man's way. I took out the button and drilled a hole right in the middle of it with a drill press (would hate to mess that part up) and then tapped the hole for a #4-40 machine screw. Like this: After that I had a nice black piece of plastic lying around so I made it into a 1.5"x.75" rectangle. I drilled a clearance hole in the center and put a countersink on it for a flathead screw. Like this: All in all I thought it turned out really well and it cost me a grand total of $.22 for the screw to do. I'll admit I was a little scared about drilling because I would only get one shot before shopping for new parts. As Duggan mentioned getting the button back into the gun with the spring behind it required some finger acrobatics but nothing too especially akward. Anyway I thought I would throw that out there just for your amusement (and to see if I could post pictures successfully :-) ). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sneakerfreak602 Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 Great innovation. How long did it take you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agm65ccip Posted January 20, 2009 Author Share Posted January 20, 2009 The longest part was setting up the button in the drill press as that was the part that really mattered and I couldnt do it over. But after that things went really quickly so I would say 30-35 minutes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M1014 Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 your pad is too big and theres something criticaly missing on it,,what is it???? its like you mowed your lawn whth no blade Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Creeper Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 Looks pretty good! The only thing I can suggest to make it look better is to get yourself a nice countersunk allen head screw. OK... one more thing. If you know how to groove or checker, that'd be nice on the plastic, or perhaps you might want to try grit surfacing it... warm the plastic until pliable and press it into course grain sandpaper, preferably in a vice, until cool. Instant rough texture surface. .22 cents... that'd be what, 568 of your bolt releases for $125? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agm65ccip Posted January 20, 2009 Author Share Posted January 20, 2009 I'm with you on the allen head, but more important I thought was getting it black...the hardware store I was at didnt have a black #4-40 screw and they were out of the allens and I wanted to get it back in action sooner rather than later thinking that a little shooting might reveal some other flaw I have not yet thought of. I havent heard of grit surfacing before but I suppose I'll have to try something like that, the surface now is a little tacky but not great so I guess we'll see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Creeper Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 I'm with you on the allen head, but more important I thought was getting it black...the hardware store I was at didn't have a black #4-40 screw and they were out of the allens and I wanted to get it back in action sooner rather than later thinking that a little shooting might reveal some other flaw I have not yet thought of. I haven't heard of grit surfacing before but I suppose I'll have to try something like that, the surface now is a little tacky but not great so I guess we'll see. I know what you mean. 4-40 is tough, 4-40 CS allan is tougher, and a choice between stainless and black is even tougher still. I have a Ace Hardware nearby that usually (and amazingly) carries 4-5 versions of 4-40. The texture or grit finish is something that you started to see a decade or so ago on Glocks. Typically, the frame is heated or chemically (temporarily) softened and the texture is "embossed" into the plastic. I wouldn't want to experiment with it on a gun frame, but on a zero cent piece of plastic, you can play with it and not be out anything for the experiment. Chances are, I'll be following in your footsteps with a similar project. Good show. C Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[email protected] Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 Vey inovative, I agree use an allen head, perhaps reduce the pad size some and checker it if possible. What is that charging handle you have there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agm65ccip Posted September 19, 2009 Author Share Posted September 19, 2009 Vey inovative, I agree use an allen head, perhaps reduce the pad size some and checker it if possible. What is that charging handle you have there? Thanks, well after a good long time of shooting with it, I can honestly say that the size and texture are working really well. I usually just make a fist and tap it and the bolt closes. So size is a plus but I definately would not make it any bigger, texture doesn't matter as much as I thought it would, it just takes so little effort to push the pad that there really is no need for heavy gripping. The charging handle is just the stock handle, I thought about replacing it with one from midway usa but I just havent gotten there yet. This charging handle has never caused me any problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lefty81 Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 I remember seeing something similar to that mod on a different forum. After some searching, I found the aftermarket product at speedshooter.com, it's called a speedbar. I tried to attach a pic with no luck but you should be able to find it on their website. It runs $20 and seems to pose less of a threat to messing something up. Here's the link http://www.speedshooter.com/product_detail.cfm?ID=BEN003 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OhioM4 Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 The really cool part is that now you have the button drilled and tapped, what you attach to it can be easily changed on a whim. When you get around to reshaping and texturing the oversize button you can post more photos of the refinements as you act on any suggestions. Speaking personally I would like to see an orange jack'o'lantern or skull button for Halloween. Wait! I know the perfect bolt release button...mount a small Obama campaign button to it for the next Town Hall meeting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agm65ccip Posted September 20, 2009 Author Share Posted September 20, 2009 Lefty: I did see the speedbar you mentioned when I was researching this project, but it just wasn't the style I was looking for. Having the drill press is what made this even possible, I would not have done it if I had to drill the hole by hand. However, in all reality even if I bungled the hole all would not be lost. I would just take some of that "steel epoxy" (like what tucker used in his bolt mod) and filled in the hole. At that point the gun would still work but modding the button would be over. Ohio: Hahaha wow, I guess hadn't even considered all the possibilities...some advertising space perhaps? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cody6.0 Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 If you don't have the time patience or otherwise to groove or texture the piesce you could always cut and fit some grip tape to the button. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Creeper Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 I remember seeing something similar to that mod on a different forum. After some searching, I found the aftermarket product at speedshooter.com, it's called a speedbar. I tried to attach a pic with no luck but you should be able to find it on their website. It runs $20 and seems to pose less of a threat to messing something up. Here's the link http://www.speedshooter.com/product_detail.cfm?ID=BEN003 I've not been scouring the interweb for cool farkles lately, so the DMW speedbar is a new one for me... very cool. I think I'll try one on my M2. Thanks, C Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cksh8me Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 Nice job. It's always good to see somebody make something anybody can go out and buy one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agm65ccip Posted December 21, 2009 Author Share Posted December 21, 2009 Just as a follow up, I was out on the range the other day when it was about 11 degrees and this plastic bolt release cracked right in half...I'm assuming it had something to do with being cold. Either way I decided not to play around this time and chose some stainless steel. Same procedure as listed above but I just thought I would throw this out there in case anyone was debating doing it themselves go steel early. Pad dimensions are about the same as before, thickness is 1/8", I probably could have went with thinner steel but 1/8" seemed pretty reasonable. Parts used. Top view Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agm65ccip Posted December 21, 2009 Author Share Posted December 21, 2009 Side view Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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