Anyone tried forging the bolt handle

[daviscustom]

I am hoping to get time this afternoon to try reshaping the bolt handle.....will see how it goes.

[stangfish]

Understood, I will leave it at that!



Rebel

[LoneWolf]

Rebel

LMAO.... Thanks Stang.

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[daviscustom]

Well the answer is "YES" of course the bolt handle can be forged and reshaped.

I heated the handle at the different bends that were cast into it, and first took the bends out that I didn't want and then curved it forward. I started out to try and draw the knob out into a longer stem, but it was pretty hot today and everything had gone so well up to this point I decided to stop before I tore something up. I did forge it into something close to a cylinder before I quit, but I don't think I gained much length. I made a quicky aluminum knob for it, but I think I will likely make some changes to it before I call it done. It makes the action much easier to cycle and the extra leverage pretty much eliminates any concerns about the bolt lift issues.

I will take some pics and get them uploaded ASAP.

[daviscustom]

Here you go.....going to take it to work and bead blast it tomorrow and then reblue it with Oxpho-blue.

http://i400.photobucket.com/albums/pp90/daviscustom/IMGP7062_zps313c8fc6.jpg




Here is a pic in the action and the bullpup stock "in progress".....going to try to do all the inletting I can before doing any final cosmetic shaping, so no it won't end up looking much like a funky shaped 2" thick board.

http://i400.photobucket.com/albums/pp90/daviscustom/IMGP7064_zps018e93c8.jpg

[LoneWolf]

That looks sweet man. What length of barrel do you intend to use in the bullpup design?

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[stangfish]

BullPUP Wolfman Bull PUP!

[DrThunder88]

"Bullpen" is probably the least unflattering "bull-" adjective he could've used!

Nice work on the handle and cool project! I'm not a fan of bullpups, but I am always amazed at how people get projects like that to work. Is that an AR magazine too?

[daviscustom]

Thanks guys.......it should end up being a 16.5" barrel. Subsonic 458 Socom doesn't really benefit from a longer barrel so OAL on this little thumper is going to be just a little over the 26" minimum.

DrThunder88: yes it is an AR mag and AR mag latch with a redesigned mag release button. Planning to make the forward trigger hardware so that it will accept standard AR pistol grips as well.



Bullpen.....guessing predictive text on his cell phone nailed him on that one and he didn't catch it.

[LoneWolf]

BullPUP Wolfman Bull PUP!

Auto correct got me again!

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[03mossy]

daviscustom- make sure you post up final pics of that project, looks pretty sweet!!!

[navyman]

Hello sharpshooters correct on his info But the casting was in ceramic molds. This changed the steel to be very pour is and light. if you reheat it I'm sure it will brake. (the bb sized opening ) the ones that were done by phoenix arms are TIG welded on bead blasted and slick coated. There price is not to bad for the work involved. I've had one of 4 bend that I felt good about giving to my customers. the others I welded new ones on. I also sent one to phoenix arms and had them leave it ruff so I could see there process.. They are Good...

[stangfish]

I need a smart phone. I misspell everything and can only blame myself. Some of my darling daughters text make no sense to me. She blames it on the phone.

[LoneWolf]

The sad thing is you spell something correctly and the phone thinks it should be something else so it just changes.

I do try to reread and edit before posting though.

Anyways, back to the thread!

I wanted to know if you got the action screwed down and if the bolt still feels good and solid during operation?

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[daviscustom]

Yes it feels good to me. I don't doubt what navyman is saying, but in the process of bending and reshaping the bolt handle I never felt or saw any signs of anything giving like it was about to fail. Resistance to bending when it was heated and being reshaped felt pretty constant throughout the process, and during grinding filing and threading I found no signs of pourosity or cracks/seams in the metal. Guess I will see if anything shows up when I beadblast it.

Maybe I got lucky, but I didn't find any flaws in my bolt handle.

That's why I posted this question, I was leery of trying to mess with a cast part like this, but in general the handle was much softer then I expected ( the finish part).... didn't appear to be brittle at all.

[navyman]

Great Job!! It may have been just me. I have one in the shop now to move forward now. I'm going to change my gas to natural and see if a cleaner more even heat works better. will post a picture tomarrow

[daviscustom]

I was using an acetylene torch and I just clamped it a heavy vise....holding it by the ring where it attaches to the bolt (trying to use the vise as a heat sink to keep from getting that ring too hot). I just heated the spots where it was bent and straightened each bend individually...tried to keep the heat localized to only the area I wanted to change. As I said, I may have gotten lucky and just got a handle that was a good solid casting. I don't think I really did anything special to make it turn out right....that I know of.

[navyman]

it may be the castings I had were bad the one I did last night and the savage slug gun I bent this morning worked perfect.

[daviscustom]

Good, I was starting to second guess my instincts on mine going well.

[DrThunder88]

DrThunder88: yes it is an AR mag and AR mag latch with a redesigned mag release button. Planning to make the forward trigger hardware so that it will accept standard AR pistol grips as well.

Very nice. I was fooling around to see if a Pmag would fit in an 11, but the opening in the receiver as too narrow. I imagine an Axis' receiver would be a bit more generously proportioned.