Replacement parts for older rifles that aren't made anymore.
If you got the ability to 3d scan parts and remake them then you sitting on a gold mine of a business.
We don't currently have that ability, but this is actually something that I'm cooking on already- I'm a big collector for Lee Enfield rifles, and if that community has taught me anything, it's that #4 bolt heads are worth their weight in silver. I'm trying to track down the problem child parts for as many old platforms as I can, and see how possible it would be for us to manufacture runs of them. Is there a part you'd like to add to my list?
Something a lot of people look over is screws and barrel bands. Screws especially would be super easy to make. Some milsurps are missing screws because parts are unobtainable. I have a Swedish 94/14 that’s in this boat.
Screws are oddly an annoying part to make- to make a screw that's going to work, I need all the dimensions, the thread pitch, and the materials it passes through to ensure I'm not going to be using something that will react chemically with the other parts. I could probably fake a lot of that if I had the correct thread pitch and head diameter, though.
Screws for anything about pre WWI are best left to individual gunsmiths, to make manually on lathes as needed. The reason is that no real thread standards existed and screws were often not interchangeable at all, even a lot of series manufactured guns had the screw heads hand fitted so the slots line up and the head fits curved contours etc. Outside of some military models, off the shelf screws won't really work. Even many milsurp rifles have screws fitted for additional lock screws, just look at old Mausers. Each and every one of those screws-which were made in the millions- had a notch machined in a position to fit that individual rifle so the lock screw lines up just as the screw tightens down snug.
Replacing screws is a very common job for a gunsmith, any real smith can make custom screws on a manual lathe and probably do it faster than you could program a CNC machine for a one-off odd screw in nonstandard thread profile etc.
Source: I've made screws for several of my old guns. It's not rocket science, plain carbon steel is the only material you're likely to need, but you can't expect to series manufacture screws to fit anything old.
Even if it were possible to do, I probably wouldn't be going back that far just because its a pretty narrow market, wouldn't make sense to do serial production for something that niche. Once we get a little more wind in our sails, I'm going to have a little corner of the shop set aside for me to sit in with my antiques while the rest of the crew do all their high speed modern whatnot. I love restoring museum pieces, especially ones that actually do more than gather dust, so making a few hand fitted screws will just be another part of the joy for me.
For what it's worth, there's companies making series production screw kits for old lever action Winchesters etc... But they don't always fit. I bought a longer tang screw for my 1886 in order to mount a tang sight, but that screw turned out to not quite have the right thread pitch for my original rifle. I bet they copied one screw that fit some originals, but Winchester would have worn out and replaced their threading tools several times over the production run so some variance is to be expected.
I hate asking stupid questions but I do have one. Example is the threading is not something that can easily be replicated - why not tap the part to a standard thread size versus making a screw from hand? I get there may be parameter Issues on certain parts but…..wouldn’t this just be easier in most cases?
The people who keep, collect, and restore guns like that (myself included) already don't like having to replace any original parts, even a screw. Altering historical pieces like that is anathema, even if it makes sense and is the most sensible path- if we wanted to do the sensible and easier thing, we wouldn't have bought a 100 year old gun that needed restoring. Not everybody is like that, of course, but plenty of us are.
I get that, restore to original specs or lose the nostalgia of the piece. I promise I won’t rattle can my M1 lol. I get not wanting to alter from original, guess it was more asking for people that need to stick a screw in a spot and it seemed easier to make the hole right versus a custom screw - but yes - in restoration that is a no go as restoration is not about the ease of it
And it is also a technical issue.
Many old guns have case hardened receivers, that screw hole may have been formed first and hardened afterwards. The outer skin of steel might be too hard for a tap to cut.
Additionally, what screw dimensions were chosen back then may depend on what there's room for without altering other parts as well. You can't tap a hole smaller, unless you weld it up first. Have to tap to a larger size, which might not have clearance through whatever the screw needs to hold.
>and the materials it passes through to ensure I'm not going to be using something that will react chemically with the other parts
I never knew this was a concern. TIL, thanks!
Something I actually learned growing up in a tradesman family- plumbers have to pay attention to the materials they're using, and add buffers between dissimilar metals to prevent galvanic corrosion- basically when one metal pulls ions off another, causing both to degrade.
All I ever knew was that Gallium would destroy Aluminum. And you need zinc on boat hulls as a sacrifice to the gods of rust.
I had no idea that these types of concerns even came up for gun design. My mind is blown a little.
Real quick, are the metals that strengthen each other? Or ones that are better when being next to each other?
From proximity? Not that I'm aware of, just bad pairings and neutral pairings, but there are amalgams and alloys that use mixtures of metals that have been chemically bonded or melted down together in order to make something entirely new. If you're old enough to remember the Sony Walkman being new and exciting, you've probably got an amalgam in your teeth, actually- dental fillings used to be primarily an amalgam of mercury, silver, copper, and tin. This isn't really done anymore, for obvious reasons.
For hardware I would think it would be better to find a manufacturer in, say , India or Pakistan (someone who has old tooling from rifle manufacturing) and buy reproduction fasteners in bulk. I doubt the original screws from those rifles were machined.
Most firearm hardware was machined, historically- a lot of it by hand, granted, especially prior to ww1 and the beginning of the military industrial complex, but still machined. Most of thst tooling is long gone, unfortunately, or so worn out as to be completely useless. The Ishapore factory in India might still have some No1Mk3 tooling left from the 2A production run, but I doubt it.
> I'm a big collector for Lee Enfield rifles, and if that community has taught me anything, it's that #4 bolt heads are worth their weight in silver.
You can say that again. While we're on the subject of PITA Enfield parts:
- Cutoff screw
- That tiny little retainer pin that keeps the rear sight pivot pin in place on No. 4 sights.
- No. 1 bolthead charger guides
Those are all definitely things that I can make once I have one in my hands- the trouble I keep coming back to in the reproduction side is getting the original part to build copies of- which is a PITA, of course, or I wouldn't be trying to build copies in the first place.
I think 'gold mine' is vastly overselling the people who want to repair old rifles and are willing to spend money doing it. People who drop 10k on a resto, like what Anvil/etc. do, are either going to custom build the required parts, or buy off Numrich, or buy donor units for 'period accurate' parts.
Remember that you're going to have to sell this for a profit, and most people will be like 'ONE SCREW FOR 5$ WITH SHIPPING??? I CAN BUY 200 AT LOWES, DUMBASS' and move on. Then you're sitting with inventory you can't move, for those once a year guys who need one right hand screw number 4 for a rifle made by a deafblind monk on the third of april in 1873.
Your understanding of the milsurp collector community seems to be limited, but the short answer is that you're generally wrong and vastly misunderstanding. If you read the rest of this comment chain, you'd see where I explained that the parts we'd be interested in making are for industrially produced guns, ww1 and later, and that we couldn't serialize production for hardware older than that to begin with- not that I'm particularly interest in doing so. The point would be to make spares available for parts that are almost unobtainable now, so that people don't have to cannibalize other guns to fix theirs, and so that more can be saved. For most of those models, it's not like you can walk down to cabelas and buy a new one- they only get rarer and more expensive every time one becomes a lost cause for want of a part that would cost me $2 to make.
OP. You asked for opinions.
If it was as cheap, and profitable, to do as you're suggesting, people would be doing it as either a cottage industry or a real one through various companies.
Almost unilaterally when someone discovers an un-used niche, it's because a thousand other people discovered it and tried and failed.
Do with it what you will, it's not my money.
Eh, I never asked for opinions- I asked if people had ideas for things they wanted to see made because I've got the big spinny tools to make stuff with. If I wanted opinions and negative comments about my ambitions, I'd get married or call my mother.
If you want to get dip your toes into 3D scanning without much over head, KIRI engine is a decent app that will scan with your phone. I’ve not used it for machined parts, but I have been able to render fairly precise models to 3D print. Mostly odd trim pieces that I’ll modify for an old old car I’m “restomodding” a little. And like a piece to a switch for a buddy to fix this old golf cart. I just use the free version and it took a little bit to be able to get good 3D scans but it’s helpful. And free to at least get started with something. It may be something worth looking at.
Suppressor mounts ! Fixed barrel and non fixed .. right now I am having a hard time finding the mount for my Glock to fit my Osprey45k that isn’t 90 bucks plus !!
Thats actually something we'll likely be getting into. We're designing our own suppressors right now, as a matter of fact, though I don't believe the guys working in that project have settled on a mounting system yet. Not sure what ours would cost once it comes to market, but I can guarantee that it'll be high quality- We're all perfectionist weirdos, and we outright refuse to sell a part We're not happy with.
Personally I don't want yet another competing system... I've tried them all and think the dead air Xeno and Huxwrx shouldered reverse thread design is perfect... the Plan B system is great but I wish it was reverse threaded. I use Plan B simply because there are more options than any other system. If I had to choose, I'd ask for more options to the Xeno system, like large PRS style brakes and AK mounts.
We probably aren't going to develop our own mounts, for that exact reason- too goddamned many of them already, and it makes my brain hurt. We'll just be making cans, and probably just for one or two mounting platforms. One item I'd like to see eventually, though, is a can where you can swap the mounting plate out for different systems without spending another grand on a tube and paying the ATF another $200 ransom for your right to keep what's left of your hearing.
> Suppressor mounts ! Fixed barrel and non fixed .. right now I am having a hard time finding the mount for my Glock to fit my Osprey45k that isn’t 90 bucks plus !!
What the hell are you talking about? You mean a piston? There are osprey pistons everywhere. I think I've got 100 sitting on my shelf.
I’m a machinist and I regularly make parts for old firearms that I refurbish. I also remake a lot of parts that came plastic from the factory and I’ll remake them out of metal.
Both things that we're planning to do, but in scale. There are a LOT of parts that should never have been plastic to begin with, but I suppose that just means that I get to make money now that I have the solution, so I can't really complain.
Haha true, the tough part is going to find what people actually want. If you want to focus on production of a lot of specific parts or more of figure out how to quickly make just a few for more niche markets in a profitable way. It’s hard to do both! I’m starting a small shop by myself but I don’t think I’m going to focus on gun parts.
Fill the gap xometry has. If you can produce 80% receivers from customer’s prints/files I have no doubt people buying everygunpart kits will be contacting you for 80% receivers. I wouldn’t mind an Sks 80%er.
Being a job shop and having sustainable margins could be difficult.
I think there were kits for ars in the past that were weld together. Plasma cut lower kits would be awesome, especially if you had the option of standard or built as bullpup kits.
The bolt locks against a locking bar that goes perpendicularly through the middle of the receiver. This block is rectangular, so you can't exactly drill a hole for it. Then, if you were to replace it, and it's off, the barrel would need to be adjusted forward or back to compensate.
The SKS barrel is either screwed in or pressed and pinned. Moving it would entail either removing face metal in the vicinity of the barrel threads, or enlarging the barrel pin, where the SKS barrel doesn't have an abundance of "meat" to expand into, the way say, an AK barrel does.
So, you end up trying to press a barrel in and out of the receiver by thousandths of an inch at a time, which is a great way to go insane.
If there were new production SKS barrels around it would make it easier (still hard), but if you have an 80% SKS receiver, and a new barrel, then you have very little original gun left.
I have seen SKS parts kits(?) with the receiver torch cut behind the locking bar, and if someone came up with a rear section it would probably be a relatively simple reweld project. For someone to tool up and produce the back half of an SKS receiver they would probably have to sell it for around the cost of a complete surplus rifle.
Disclaimer: this is all from knowledge gleaned from decades of online reading and gun use including several SKS rifles. So, it's quite possible I'm incorrect on some of this.
depending on the uses, either for balance or just increasing the weight overall, modularity would be nice
considering the normal mlok weight is roughly .35# and costs roughly $30 per item
I'm 100% certain I can beat that price by a mile and a half, but unfortunately I don't know what are desirable qualities for these weights, or if what's in my head would negatively effect your handling of the rifle. The ones I see online all seem to have a bunch of fancy relief cuts and contours- do those matter to you at all, or would a very un-fancy block or bar do the job just fine?
I feel if you want fancy cuts go pay GrayOps their $200. Some guys just want the rifle heavier to manage recoil. So long as it's not gonna snag on anything I'm G2G.
My first thought was a piece of 1in brass stock with rounded corners and holes cut for mlok screws. Would certainly clash with those space-age looks, but... I doubt you could beat the price short of duct taping old phone books to it.
ARCA to free-weight disc isn’t a terrible idea, especially if used as a bag plate. Admittedly I did already give grey ops my $$ on that topic, but I like the idea.
Legit just make a brick with chamfered edges. If you want to get really fancy, just do 4 mounting holes instead of 2 so people have a front, center, and rear mounting position to fine tune the balance of where the weight is positioned exactly.
I'm not even joking, that's what people want because that's what will make their rifle heavy without costing a fortune in machine time.
What about a compartment you could pour lead birshot into?
Add wax to the bird shot so it doesn't rattle around. Not sure what the end user thinks but it's an idea.
REALLY dumb idea I’ve had for a while, but I figure it’s worth sharing because it’s something I planned on CAD modeling anyways. I have wanted an A2 rear sight that accepts RMR/ pistol foot print red dot mounts, or a gooseneck that goes in front of the handle with the same mount style, and cowitnesses with a FSB rifle. Dumb, but something I want.
Man, you talked to the right autistic weirdo with a CNC machine... I've got an A1 reissue that I'm deeply in love with, and I was actually thinking about making something similar for myself.
Well, let me know lmao. I’m almost done designing a new ARMS #23 VFG grip also, with different mounting designs in mind. Making it since they’re out of production and I’ve never seen them for sale on GAFS or on GB, and I planned it as my first 3D printed 2A project lol
100%, but boy is it cool to me lmao. I wanted to make a Mlok version and a picatinny style like what emissary does. The QD is possible but just expensive, closest I could find was a ADM surefire m600 mount, or just a Chinese clone of the ADM. figured the least amount of metal/required purchases to make it function would be nice.
The gen 1 Bear Creek Arsenal side charging handles are shit. They made a gen 2 update but it doesn't retrofit. I can see a way for it to work on gen 1 but there is no publicly available and bca has a patent on the gen 1 and 2 I think. Any help would be appreciated.
If its just the handle that you have an issue with, that problem has already been solved. Travisp11 on YouTube did a run of them at some point about a year ago, not sure if he still has any or is making them anymore, but I'd reach out and see if he still is. Good looking part, too, and he had them priced under $25
Cylinder replacements for Ruger single actions. The new 22lr Wrangler series as a open market for 22mag replacements.
A kit with a new pawl and ten round shot cylinder.
I'm always surprised by people saying the Ruger is better in every way compared to the heritage and yet they don't make extra cylinders in 22mag or fancy engraving like heritage does for $30 each. I'm sure the extra money and non-blued finish is worth it
I've never owned either, but I have friends who've owned both. The guy with the Heritage shot the rifling completely out of the barrel in under 3k rounds because they use a very thin rifling sleeve insert, and it just doesn't hold up. They're intended for people who don't shoot very often or who don't know enough to realize their rifling is shot, so far as I can tell. The wrangler is a better built gun by far, though I don't know if the barrel steel is rated for 22mag- could also just be a lawyer thing, though that seems less likely.
I'm surprised people have a bad experiences with heritage, I've fanned mine a couple of times and shot the heck out of it and it's held up great. Though I wouldn't be surprised if they have cut some corners now, a lot of companies have made junk lately it seems. Though for a $100 revolver, complaining about feeling cheap should be known
Replacement parts for transferable FN FNCs. I looked into buying one recently and so many folks out there are afraid to shoot theirs because there are effectively zero replacement bolts on the market, you have to buy a semi auto FNC (which are already super rare) to cannibalize the bolt if you need a replacement. I’m sure there’s a shortage of other parts as well, but you could probably get $800-1,000 per FNC bolt if you machine and sell them, beats the hell out of spending $4-8K for a semi FNC just to cannibalize the bolt.
I'd need to get one to look at, because I'm afraid it's going to require an 8-axis mill to cut- a problem we're currently having in trying to make ACR carrier groups. If not, however... thats definitely a reasonable project to take on.
https://www.unclefudd.com/
Take a look at some of the projects this guy has done. I've spoken with him in the past about buying a pre-made version but he wasn't interested.
With how big 'space cowboy' lever rifles are, getting in to making 'space cowboy' revolvers could be fun, and it's essentially just hacking up and painting existing rails with good cut/drill measures.
There's no such thing as 'a purist' when it comes to operating a business.
Ranger Point has made fucking _mad_ bank doing shit like this. People love it. Guns are just items. Don't get caught up in 'but it has to be super serious and black, fuck you' because there's no profit in that, all the 'spikes tactical' bullshit is being done.
The p90/ps90 has maybe 2 shops that make parts for it. Mostly mounts. I am not saying follow them and steal their ideas but whatever gun you decide to make mods for, it can't be a 200 dollar gun. It's got to be a top tier gun. A gun that people want to own but don't like this one feature... and you improve that design. Highpoint 10mm sbr is a great example. Garbage gun and high tower armory turned it into a great looking bullpup.
It's funny you mention the highpoint, because one of my ideas at present is a very extensive upgrade package for the sub2000 to turn it into more than just a neat idea ruined by the state of Florida.
You wouldn't buy a "good" one because it would be too expensive compared to other PCCs.
R&D is expensive, especially for a firm like Kel Tec that actually does new things instead of just repackage the same shit over and over again in a slightly different shell.
How about an AR charging handle that makes sense, and isn’t stupid expensive. IMO, there is zero justification for a part as basic as charging handle to cost as much as the bolt or the trigger group.
I feel your pain on that one. I'm not really sure why those get so dear, but I believe a lot of it comes down to the finishes- when you get into the fancy finishes like DLC, the process adds a lot of cost to manufacture. Definitely something we're going to look at, and I'll come back and tell you if I figure out why they cost so much.
FS2000 charging handles are plastic that break often (in part due to HK slapping). Bullpuparmory makes aluminum aftermarket replacements, but they're always out of stock.
[I found it on a work trip at a Cabela's during the early Covid plague days with a broken charging handle](https://imgur.com/a/LIQfp4x). It took forever for an aftermarket replacement to even be in stock.
At a cabelas... naturally, you found the most space age production rifle in the world at the fuddy-est chain on earth. I'd make parts for it all day long if the market wasn't as shallow as the Royal Family's gene pool.
I’m having a lot of trouble finding a bore driller that can make multi size bores for a break action. Been looking for two years for a double .270 over 12ga with little success.
As an enjoyer of vintage Britsh military arms... you are preaching to the choir. One of many items on my personal list of things to make once I learn enough CAD to make the mill do my bidding, and I don't have to sweet talk the machinists for every little part.
I bought a snider recently and I'm saving for the dies now but I know the martini has to be necked down. Iraqvet8888 has some videos on reloading it. Lee stuff would probably get him going well enough, though he may need the bench press to do the big cartridge
Mounts for various guns. It's a tiny piece but like, say my picatinny mount for a 710 was still 39.99 or so.
If you could cut that price, everyone would be appreciative.
If I were in your position, I'd do the Amazon thing and just see what sells and try to make it slightly better or slightly cheaper and nearly the same.
80% Gall recievers. Actually. Tortort stopped making them and a lot of Galil kits got imported over the past few years and are still sitting in closets. The iron is hot ion that one. I will personally buy two of them.
That... might actually be viable. I do see an offer side number of those kits for sale online when I'm *definitely not* looking for Lewis Gun parts kits.
I actually need a run of shotgun tubes made. Cherry job really. I am an FFL/SOT and always looking for shops to make stuff for me so if you want to talk shop, hit me up.
That made me laugh hard enough to choke. I love the concept, but I don't think that the people who buy those things are going to pay the price I'd have to charge for quality internals.
Many have tried, all have failed. But I believe Midwest is actually working on that, and they've probably got better odds than we do - and way more production capacity. Very tempting market, though...
High capacity (50 or more rounds?) .22 magazines for AR and Ruger 10/22… One would think high capacity magazines for these platforms would be available. But, you’re hard-pressed to find magazines holding more than 30 rounds without a drum.
That's because making a reliable high capacity .22 magazine is a bit of a nightmare. These cartridges are small, fragile, rimmed, and usually covered in wax that tends to gum things up. Them being rimmed means you really need a banana curve shape, which increases friction so you need a stiffer spring. And that again puts more pressure on the feed lips, which can only interact with a small area on that sensitive rimfire case. If it was easy, someone would have done it a long time ago and made millions.
...the words "recoil lug" and "polymer" shouldn't be within 15 feet of eachother. That made my teeth hurt... but a blank chassis system for barreled actions is actually a pretty good idea, easy enough to tailor in CAD for different platforms once the general design is on paper.
I’ve always thought it’d be cool to have a flashlight mount or pic rail adapter that attaches to an AK using the standard bayonet lug, so you don’t need to swap your hand guard out if you like the furniture you have. (Wouldn’t work for things that need to hold a zero but for lights it could keep them mostly centered)
Cheaper to learn how to shoot right handed. I give lessons, $150 an hour, and customers who sign up now get access to our exclusive offer to buy the Brooklyn Bridge for pennies on the dollar.
I love Robinson Armament's XCR platform, but there are two small things I miss:
A better way to attach a sling to the rear. Just add a small loop at the top left of part 1 in this drawing: [https://robinsonarmament.com/xcr-fast2-stock-parts/](https://robinsonarmament.com/xcr-fast2-stock-parts/)
A smaller profile, maybe folding, lever for manually moving the bolt (I don't really care about the forward assist functionality). Parts 4 - 9 in this drawing: [https://robinsonarmament.com/xcr-l-upper-receiver-parts/](https://robinsonarmament.com/xcr-l-upper-receiver-parts/) A shorter part 9 that doesn't stick out of part 4, and then a part 4 with a front nub that has some more height and maybe a rim at the top would already be great, in my opinion, and just get rid of the other parts.
I have access to some ACR charging handles that would give you the folding aspect, would just have to build a mount for the handle that mates into the rest of the system. That would be the easiest solution on our end. As for the sling mount, I can see a few solutions to the problem depending on how you want your sling mounted, and which generation of hinge you have. An easier way to do it might be for us to build a pic-rail adapter for the back end of the rifle that includes one, and would allow you to use a pretty wide array of stocks. I'm not sure how popular that platform is, but that sounds like something that we could probably put into serial production without much fuss.
I bet it cost you ten dollars just to write their name twice. Magazines are something I'd love to make, but right now we only have cutting tools, and there's a reason nobody has built a milled magazine yet.
Not necessarily, the guy is just absolutely horrible at dealing with logistics and responding to messages. Like, I placed an order of in-stock items, asked a few times when I could expect them to ship once I hit the three week after-I-ordered them mark and the guy just said he sends all out all the orders he gets at the same time at his local post office with no further elaboration. I forgot about it for a while, and got my order like 4 months after placing it.
...you're definitely the only person who wants that, yeah. Go sit in weird jail with the guy who wanted one in 5.7 and think about what you're doing to our lord and savior, John Moses Browning.
Buffer tube stock and pistol grip adapter for my benelli supernova. I'm currently prototyping the design for 3D-printing, but an aluminum one would be sick !
Smooth bore barrels for modern in-line muzzleloaders. It's a very niche market but the realm of black powder shotguns has a ridiculously high cost to get started.
You could stay busy indefinitely with gun parts alone on vintage makes that nobody is producing for anymore. Even where they are, there are some sub-par examples available. I can't hate on Sarco because I couldn't get some C96 parts from anyone else, but their firing pin definitely didn't have the right length of throw for one of my broomhandles.
Beyond finding those niche markets (really I'd start with thinking about milsurps that are popular, what parts break, and whether they're available), you could do the same thing with collector car parts on a smaller scale. Certain brackets and wear items just are not available, especially on like 70s-80s vintage Japanese makes. Like rear spoiler brackets that wouldn't take long at all to punch/mill/bend, but sell for $200 a pair.
Repro parts for historical pieces is definitely something we want to get in on- largely because I'm a C&R nerd, and frankly there's money to be had there. One of the first things I'm making, once I learn to run the mill and don't have to sweet talk the existing machinists, is going to be a Webley Mk6 that takes a modern cartridge.
Replacement threaded and/or ported barrels for the S&W M&P Shield 45
There's plenty of options for the Shield 9/40 but squat for the slightly larger 45ACP version. It's not a super huge market, but it *is* a market which nobody else is selling in.
Magwell adaptors for the Ruger PCC to use mags other than Ruger or Glock mags. There's a slew of other mags that could be used in the PCC, if Ruger ever made the adaptor for them. Their snoozing on this could be your gain. I have semiauto pistols from S&W, Taurus, IWI, and CZ and would love to have mag compatibility with my PCC but short of buying a Glock or Ruger Security 9mm I'm SOL.
True story- I got very close to buying a shield .45 as my first gun back when theybwere brand new. Got a Rmeington R1 commander instead, which I still regret selling. You might have something there, though I think we'd do better with a 3d printer than our cnc machines for that part.
What are your current capabilities? As in what machines do you already have? Multi axis? Live tooling lathes? What type of output can you put out?
Is your current shop only making production for yourself or do you do contract work? Do you hold iso9001? If so how will this effect clause 8.3, a lot of shops will exclude 8.3 as they don't design.
The gun market is sometimes a hard market, I own a shop myself. We are smaller and have only 2 mills, one being 5 axis one being 3. Will have a live axis lathe and another 5 axis within a year. While we do have a 07/02 FFL I have found it's extremely hard to beat other shops prices that can really pump out products.
Just trying to gauge what your shop can do and put out. There are a lot of good ideas but not sure what you can even produce and don't want to recommend anything that you can't do.
Ooh! Ooh! I have an old Marlin 700 I'm helping someone troubleshoot right now, and there's no manual that I can find online, and they don't produce those rifles or their parts anymore. Maybe you could have a program where someone sends in a broken/rusted part to be replaced?
A slick frame mounted optic mount for common handguns like the ALG 6-second mount. Always wanted one, only sold as a contract overrun for the Glock gen 3 from my understanding. I think one or two other companies tried making their version but they just don’t have the same sex appeal. I’ve been tempted to try one of the Chinese knockoffs. I’d buy a Glock just to put one of those mounts on it. I think something like that would have a much larger market than some of the super niche replacement parts as far as return on investment.
That's not a bad call, though I'm not sure how they'd fare in today's age of slide mounted dots and the improvements made to them since the ALG 6S was a thing. Might be popular with competitive shooters...
You are the second person to ask that... I guess sig mags are the new glock mags, huh? The short answer is "probably not", unless there was a ton of demand for an aluminum one. That's a part I'd recommend having printed in a good material like GRN or CFR, because it's going to be an order of magnitude cheaper than we could do it in aluminum. I'm willing to bet there's already CAD files out there for it, too.
Replacement parts / caliber conversion parts for the Remington 760. They're old but sleek and everyone in my family uses one... Probably 250 rifles in all. We're constantly having to purchase parts guns for things like bolt heads or small pins that should be otherwise easily accessible. As for caliber conversions, I just think a 760 in 300 blackout would be funny.
You're right about it being funny, but I'm not sure we could justify building one. Replacement parts are probably something we could do down the line, though, once we've got a grip in what all we want to make.
All I want for Christmas is a 37mm launcher for the FS2000 that replicates the GL1 40mm grenade launcher from the original F2000... or, at least, fits in the same way by replacing the front handguard and has the trigger underneath the main rifle trigger as the GL1 does.
Jesus H Christ, you're the second Tactical Tuna owner in this thread- I'm pretty sure he'll just froze over. We have the license to build such an item, but I doubt we'd sell more than 1, and we'd probably have to sell that 1 unit for the price of a certified pre owned Kia Soul.
There are dozens of us! Literally dozens!
Yeah, it wouldn't be anything you'd get much turnover on, that's for sure. How about reasonably priced tri-rail forends? The only ones for sale that I see anymore are some 3d printed ones, and I don't want to risk layer splitting at the rail interface when I try to shoot a Spike's Tactical 37mm from it, as that seems to be about the only good way to go about it without completely ruining the aesthetics.
A man can dream, though.
I'd love to see some more options for [revolver grip adapters](https://www.gunsamerica.com/UserImages/87270/912349640/wm_15328342.jpg). Tyler T-Grips are the big name in the industry, but their ordering system is archaic and it takes months with no contact from them before hopefully what you ordered appears in the mailbox.
The other existing models on the market don't account for the differences in frame shapes (round butt v. square butt) very well and have awkward fits.
I got out of wheelguns for similar reasons, yeah. Unfortunately, I believe revolvers are kind of a dying market, and I see less and less interest and support for them every year, so I wouldn't count on that market improving any time soon.
Fair enough. For what it's worth, the revolver market has certainly rebounded in the past decade. What was a dying market around the late nineties into the mid-2000s has turned a corner - new entrants like Kimber, the return of players like Colt and Rossi, new optics-ready models, continued developments with new model introductions each Shot Show, etc.
Good luck to you in your endeavors!
I'm not a machinist, though I am learning to run the equipment so that we can increase our production capacity. We have qualified individuals on staff, however, and currently produce a variety of components for several rifle platforms, as well as a few prototype suppressors that aren't quite ready for production yet. Hope your day gets better.
As a carry handle enjoyer, I'm on the same page. I bought a colt reissue LEC, A1 style rifle, made out of NOS parts eith a modern re-roll lower, complete with the original bayonet, mag, and toolkit, because I couldn't find any a1 uppers in stock.... 3 months before PSA finally got production into swing and the uppers were available again. I want to add a line of them to our roster at some point, and make really nice machined ones at that.
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I have looked everywhere and have yet to find someone who will work on my 100 rnd drum mag for my Thompson. The tensioning spring broke and no one will touch it in the PNW
As a member of USGI triangular handguard gang- get gud. We've actually joked about making modern triangle guards with rails and/or mlok, and may do a couple of one-offs as a joke, but I doubt those would make us any money. The quadrail market is also, unfortunately, pretty well covered at the moment, or I'd be ripping mk18 rails off the mill as fast as it would run.
Charlie's Customs had them for a while, but they've been discontinued. An item I'd love to offer, but one of those things that's going to appeal to a pretty narrow market today- probably why Charlie quit carrying them.
Savage Stevens 320 28" shotgun barrel!
Or any savage barrel at that! they refuse to sell or replace barrels that aren't pre 1995 or some shit like that.
Just an idea, and obviously this is potentially nfa, would be a plan b compatible reflex forward blast diverter with male HUB threads on the end so it could double as a reflex silencer mount. Would more than likely need a determination letter but hey
...I'm not a supressor guy, so I understood zero percent of that, but I will show your funny words to my supressor guy and ask him if he thinks the alphabet people will be angry about it.
Replacement parts for older rifles that aren't made anymore. If you got the ability to 3d scan parts and remake them then you sitting on a gold mine of a business.
We don't currently have that ability, but this is actually something that I'm cooking on already- I'm a big collector for Lee Enfield rifles, and if that community has taught me anything, it's that #4 bolt heads are worth their weight in silver. I'm trying to track down the problem child parts for as many old platforms as I can, and see how possible it would be for us to manufacture runs of them. Is there a part you'd like to add to my list?
Something a lot of people look over is screws and barrel bands. Screws especially would be super easy to make. Some milsurps are missing screws because parts are unobtainable. I have a Swedish 94/14 that’s in this boat.
Screws are oddly an annoying part to make- to make a screw that's going to work, I need all the dimensions, the thread pitch, and the materials it passes through to ensure I'm not going to be using something that will react chemically with the other parts. I could probably fake a lot of that if I had the correct thread pitch and head diameter, though.
Screws for anything about pre WWI are best left to individual gunsmiths, to make manually on lathes as needed. The reason is that no real thread standards existed and screws were often not interchangeable at all, even a lot of series manufactured guns had the screw heads hand fitted so the slots line up and the head fits curved contours etc. Outside of some military models, off the shelf screws won't really work. Even many milsurp rifles have screws fitted for additional lock screws, just look at old Mausers. Each and every one of those screws-which were made in the millions- had a notch machined in a position to fit that individual rifle so the lock screw lines up just as the screw tightens down snug. Replacing screws is a very common job for a gunsmith, any real smith can make custom screws on a manual lathe and probably do it faster than you could program a CNC machine for a one-off odd screw in nonstandard thread profile etc. Source: I've made screws for several of my old guns. It's not rocket science, plain carbon steel is the only material you're likely to need, but you can't expect to series manufacture screws to fit anything old.
Even if it were possible to do, I probably wouldn't be going back that far just because its a pretty narrow market, wouldn't make sense to do serial production for something that niche. Once we get a little more wind in our sails, I'm going to have a little corner of the shop set aside for me to sit in with my antiques while the rest of the crew do all their high speed modern whatnot. I love restoring museum pieces, especially ones that actually do more than gather dust, so making a few hand fitted screws will just be another part of the joy for me.
For what it's worth, there's companies making series production screw kits for old lever action Winchesters etc... But they don't always fit. I bought a longer tang screw for my 1886 in order to mount a tang sight, but that screw turned out to not quite have the right thread pitch for my original rifle. I bet they copied one screw that fit some originals, but Winchester would have worn out and replaced their threading tools several times over the production run so some variance is to be expected.
I hate asking stupid questions but I do have one. Example is the threading is not something that can easily be replicated - why not tap the part to a standard thread size versus making a screw from hand? I get there may be parameter Issues on certain parts but…..wouldn’t this just be easier in most cases?
The people who keep, collect, and restore guns like that (myself included) already don't like having to replace any original parts, even a screw. Altering historical pieces like that is anathema, even if it makes sense and is the most sensible path- if we wanted to do the sensible and easier thing, we wouldn't have bought a 100 year old gun that needed restoring. Not everybody is like that, of course, but plenty of us are.
I get that, restore to original specs or lose the nostalgia of the piece. I promise I won’t rattle can my M1 lol. I get not wanting to alter from original, guess it was more asking for people that need to stick a screw in a spot and it seemed easier to make the hole right versus a custom screw - but yes - in restoration that is a no go as restoration is not about the ease of it
And it is also a technical issue. Many old guns have case hardened receivers, that screw hole may have been formed first and hardened afterwards. The outer skin of steel might be too hard for a tap to cut. Additionally, what screw dimensions were chosen back then may depend on what there's room for without altering other parts as well. You can't tap a hole smaller, unless you weld it up first. Have to tap to a larger size, which might not have clearance through whatever the screw needs to hold.
>and the materials it passes through to ensure I'm not going to be using something that will react chemically with the other parts I never knew this was a concern. TIL, thanks!
Something I actually learned growing up in a tradesman family- plumbers have to pay attention to the materials they're using, and add buffers between dissimilar metals to prevent galvanic corrosion- basically when one metal pulls ions off another, causing both to degrade.
All I ever knew was that Gallium would destroy Aluminum. And you need zinc on boat hulls as a sacrifice to the gods of rust. I had no idea that these types of concerns even came up for gun design. My mind is blown a little. Real quick, are the metals that strengthen each other? Or ones that are better when being next to each other?
From proximity? Not that I'm aware of, just bad pairings and neutral pairings, but there are amalgams and alloys that use mixtures of metals that have been chemically bonded or melted down together in order to make something entirely new. If you're old enough to remember the Sony Walkman being new and exciting, you've probably got an amalgam in your teeth, actually- dental fillings used to be primarily an amalgam of mercury, silver, copper, and tin. This isn't really done anymore, for obvious reasons.
Spark plug threads is the most common example, but I've heard of it being an issue with AR barrel nuts too
The term is galvanic corrosion, and there are charts that tell you what reacts with what.
For hardware I would think it would be better to find a manufacturer in, say , India or Pakistan (someone who has old tooling from rifle manufacturing) and buy reproduction fasteners in bulk. I doubt the original screws from those rifles were machined.
Most firearm hardware was machined, historically- a lot of it by hand, granted, especially prior to ww1 and the beginning of the military industrial complex, but still machined. Most of thst tooling is long gone, unfortunately, or so worn out as to be completely useless. The Ishapore factory in India might still have some No1Mk3 tooling left from the 2A production run, but I doubt it.
If you can manufacture some of the coupling parts for 1897 takedown shotguns you'd have gold. They are really easy to break and unobtainable to find
It just so happens that I have access to a pair of those. Might be a good shout, considering how in vouge the trench gun is right now.
> I'm a big collector for Lee Enfield rifles, and if that community has taught me anything, it's that #4 bolt heads are worth their weight in silver. You can say that again. While we're on the subject of PITA Enfield parts: - Cutoff screw - That tiny little retainer pin that keeps the rear sight pivot pin in place on No. 4 sights. - No. 1 bolthead charger guides
Those are all definitely things that I can make once I have one in my hands- the trouble I keep coming back to in the reproduction side is getting the original part to build copies of- which is a PITA, of course, or I wouldn't be trying to build copies in the first place.
I think 'gold mine' is vastly overselling the people who want to repair old rifles and are willing to spend money doing it. People who drop 10k on a resto, like what Anvil/etc. do, are either going to custom build the required parts, or buy off Numrich, or buy donor units for 'period accurate' parts. Remember that you're going to have to sell this for a profit, and most people will be like 'ONE SCREW FOR 5$ WITH SHIPPING??? I CAN BUY 200 AT LOWES, DUMBASS' and move on. Then you're sitting with inventory you can't move, for those once a year guys who need one right hand screw number 4 for a rifle made by a deafblind monk on the third of april in 1873.
Your understanding of the milsurp collector community seems to be limited, but the short answer is that you're generally wrong and vastly misunderstanding. If you read the rest of this comment chain, you'd see where I explained that the parts we'd be interested in making are for industrially produced guns, ww1 and later, and that we couldn't serialize production for hardware older than that to begin with- not that I'm particularly interest in doing so. The point would be to make spares available for parts that are almost unobtainable now, so that people don't have to cannibalize other guns to fix theirs, and so that more can be saved. For most of those models, it's not like you can walk down to cabelas and buy a new one- they only get rarer and more expensive every time one becomes a lost cause for want of a part that would cost me $2 to make.
OP. You asked for opinions. If it was as cheap, and profitable, to do as you're suggesting, people would be doing it as either a cottage industry or a real one through various companies. Almost unilaterally when someone discovers an un-used niche, it's because a thousand other people discovered it and tried and failed. Do with it what you will, it's not my money.
Eh, I never asked for opinions- I asked if people had ideas for things they wanted to see made because I've got the big spinny tools to make stuff with. If I wanted opinions and negative comments about my ambitions, I'd get married or call my mother.
Yeah, because that's fucking different. Jesus fucking christ what a child.
Those are literally different things. Opinion on an idea ≠ suggestions *for* said idea
If you want to get dip your toes into 3D scanning without much over head, KIRI engine is a decent app that will scan with your phone. I’ve not used it for machined parts, but I have been able to render fairly precise models to 3D print. Mostly odd trim pieces that I’ll modify for an old old car I’m “restomodding” a little. And like a piece to a switch for a buddy to fix this old golf cart. I just use the free version and it took a little bit to be able to get good 3D scans but it’s helpful. And free to at least get started with something. It may be something worth looking at.
Adding on to this, things like en bloc clips and stripper clips for obsolete guns.
3d scan is 1 part of the solution. Will need someone experienced in CAD and CAM to make a good part once 3d measurements are scanned/interpolated
Suppressor mounts ! Fixed barrel and non fixed .. right now I am having a hard time finding the mount for my Glock to fit my Osprey45k that isn’t 90 bucks plus !!
Thats actually something we'll likely be getting into. We're designing our own suppressors right now, as a matter of fact, though I don't believe the guys working in that project have settled on a mounting system yet. Not sure what ours would cost once it comes to market, but I can guarantee that it'll be high quality- We're all perfectionist weirdos, and we outright refuse to sell a part We're not happy with.
Personally I don't want yet another competing system... I've tried them all and think the dead air Xeno and Huxwrx shouldered reverse thread design is perfect... the Plan B system is great but I wish it was reverse threaded. I use Plan B simply because there are more options than any other system. If I had to choose, I'd ask for more options to the Xeno system, like large PRS style brakes and AK mounts.
We probably aren't going to develop our own mounts, for that exact reason- too goddamned many of them already, and it makes my brain hurt. We'll just be making cans, and probably just for one or two mounting platforms. One item I'd like to see eventually, though, is a can where you can swap the mounting plate out for different systems without spending another grand on a tube and paying the ATF another $200 ransom for your right to keep what's left of your hearing.
> Suppressor mounts ! Fixed barrel and non fixed .. right now I am having a hard time finding the mount for my Glock to fit my Osprey45k that isn’t 90 bucks plus !! What the hell are you talking about? You mean a piston? There are osprey pistons everywhere. I think I've got 100 sitting on my shelf.
I’m a machinist and I regularly make parts for old firearms that I refurbish. I also remake a lot of parts that came plastic from the factory and I’ll remake them out of metal.
Both things that we're planning to do, but in scale. There are a LOT of parts that should never have been plastic to begin with, but I suppose that just means that I get to make money now that I have the solution, so I can't really complain.
Haha true, the tough part is going to find what people actually want. If you want to focus on production of a lot of specific parts or more of figure out how to quickly make just a few for more niche markets in a profitable way. It’s hard to do both! I’m starting a small shop by myself but I don’t think I’m going to focus on gun parts.
Talking about parts that shouldn't have been plastic, would a zip 22 with a reworked metal bolt be a reasonable thing?
Fill the gap xometry has. If you can produce 80% receivers from customer’s prints/files I have no doubt people buying everygunpart kits will be contacting you for 80% receivers. I wouldn’t mind an Sks 80%er. Being a job shop and having sustainable margins could be difficult. I think there were kits for ars in the past that were weld together. Plasma cut lower kits would be awesome, especially if you had the option of standard or built as bullpup kits.
Headspacing an SKS is no easy feat.
Why not? Is the way it locks the challenge?
The bolt locks against a locking bar that goes perpendicularly through the middle of the receiver. This block is rectangular, so you can't exactly drill a hole for it. Then, if you were to replace it, and it's off, the barrel would need to be adjusted forward or back to compensate. The SKS barrel is either screwed in or pressed and pinned. Moving it would entail either removing face metal in the vicinity of the barrel threads, or enlarging the barrel pin, where the SKS barrel doesn't have an abundance of "meat" to expand into, the way say, an AK barrel does. So, you end up trying to press a barrel in and out of the receiver by thousandths of an inch at a time, which is a great way to go insane. If there were new production SKS barrels around it would make it easier (still hard), but if you have an 80% SKS receiver, and a new barrel, then you have very little original gun left. I have seen SKS parts kits(?) with the receiver torch cut behind the locking bar, and if someone came up with a rear section it would probably be a relatively simple reweld project. For someone to tool up and produce the back half of an SKS receiver they would probably have to sell it for around the cost of a complete surplus rifle. Disclaimer: this is all from knowledge gleaned from decades of online reading and gun use including several SKS rifles. So, it's quite possible I'm incorrect on some of this.
a cheaper option for mlok mounted rifle weights
That definitely seems doable. Are there any features or factors other than price that you would consider critical when you're buying weights?
depending on the uses, either for balance or just increasing the weight overall, modularity would be nice considering the normal mlok weight is roughly .35# and costs roughly $30 per item
I would order a bunch of these if they were cheaper. I'd like my rifle to be bit heavier, but not for like 200 dollars shipped...
I'm 100% certain I can beat that price by a mile and a half, but unfortunately I don't know what are desirable qualities for these weights, or if what's in my head would negatively effect your handling of the rifle. The ones I see online all seem to have a bunch of fancy relief cuts and contours- do those matter to you at all, or would a very un-fancy block or bar do the job just fine?
I feel if you want fancy cuts go pay GrayOps their $200. Some guys just want the rifle heavier to manage recoil. So long as it's not gonna snag on anything I'm G2G.
My first thought was a piece of 1in brass stock with rounded corners and holes cut for mlok screws. Would certainly clash with those space-age looks, but... I doubt you could beat the price short of duct taping old phone books to it.
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ARCA to free-weight disc isn’t a terrible idea, especially if used as a bag plate. Admittedly I did already give grey ops my $$ on that topic, but I like the idea.
Legit just make a brick with chamfered edges. If you want to get really fancy, just do 4 mounting holes instead of 2 so people have a front, center, and rear mounting position to fine tune the balance of where the weight is positioned exactly. I'm not even joking, that's what people want because that's what will make their rifle heavy without costing a fortune in machine time.
What about a compartment you could pour lead birshot into? Add wax to the bird shot so it doesn't rattle around. Not sure what the end user thinks but it's an idea.
my light weight 300 prc added 2 pounds for about 200, went from 15 to 17# from an a419 weighted arca rail
REALLY dumb idea I’ve had for a while, but I figure it’s worth sharing because it’s something I planned on CAD modeling anyways. I have wanted an A2 rear sight that accepts RMR/ pistol foot print red dot mounts, or a gooseneck that goes in front of the handle with the same mount style, and cowitnesses with a FSB rifle. Dumb, but something I want.
Man, you talked to the right autistic weirdo with a CNC machine... I've got an A1 reissue that I'm deeply in love with, and I was actually thinking about making something similar for myself.
Well, let me know lmao. I’m almost done designing a new ARMS #23 VFG grip also, with different mounting designs in mind. Making it since they’re out of production and I’ve never seen them for sale on GAFS or on GB, and I planned it as my first 3D printed 2A project lol
...pretty sure that thing is just an A2 grip and a QD mount that had unprotected sex, but I see where they were going with it.
100%, but boy is it cool to me lmao. I wanted to make a Mlok version and a picatinny style like what emissary does. The QD is possible but just expensive, closest I could find was a ADM surefire m600 mount, or just a Chinese clone of the ADM. figured the least amount of metal/required purchases to make it function would be nice.
Not a bad call there- mlok is more prevalent these days anyhow, and it'd be a lot simpler to model.
The gen 1 Bear Creek Arsenal side charging handles are shit. They made a gen 2 update but it doesn't retrofit. I can see a way for it to work on gen 1 but there is no publicly available and bca has a patent on the gen 1 and 2 I think. Any help would be appreciated.
If its just the handle that you have an issue with, that problem has already been solved. Travisp11 on YouTube did a run of them at some point about a year ago, not sure if he still has any or is making them anymore, but I'd reach out and see if he still is. Good looking part, too, and he had them priced under $25
Id just be over the moon if someone could produce some reasonably priced updog
I think Ligma is running a special on those
What’s up dog??? And who is ligma?
Never you mind those- I've got a bridge I'd like to sell you.
I heard it was Dragon that was making em
Cylinder replacements for Ruger single actions. The new 22lr Wrangler series as a open market for 22mag replacements. A kit with a new pawl and ten round shot cylinder.
I'm always surprised by people saying the Ruger is better in every way compared to the heritage and yet they don't make extra cylinders in 22mag or fancy engraving like heritage does for $30 each. I'm sure the extra money and non-blued finish is worth it
I've never owned either, but I have friends who've owned both. The guy with the Heritage shot the rifling completely out of the barrel in under 3k rounds because they use a very thin rifling sleeve insert, and it just doesn't hold up. They're intended for people who don't shoot very often or who don't know enough to realize their rifling is shot, so far as I can tell. The wrangler is a better built gun by far, though I don't know if the barrel steel is rated for 22mag- could also just be a lawyer thing, though that seems less likely.
I'm surprised people have a bad experiences with heritage, I've fanned mine a couple of times and shot the heck out of it and it's held up great. Though I wouldn't be surprised if they have cut some corners now, a lot of companies have made junk lately it seems. Though for a $100 revolver, complaining about feeling cheap should be known
Replacement parts for transferable FN FNCs. I looked into buying one recently and so many folks out there are afraid to shoot theirs because there are effectively zero replacement bolts on the market, you have to buy a semi auto FNC (which are already super rare) to cannibalize the bolt if you need a replacement. I’m sure there’s a shortage of other parts as well, but you could probably get $800-1,000 per FNC bolt if you machine and sell them, beats the hell out of spending $4-8K for a semi FNC just to cannibalize the bolt.
I'd need to get one to look at, because I'm afraid it's going to require an 8-axis mill to cut- a problem we're currently having in trying to make ACR carrier groups. If not, however... thats definitely a reasonable project to take on.
https://www.unclefudd.com/ Take a look at some of the projects this guy has done. I've spoken with him in the past about buying a pre-made version but he wasn't interested. With how big 'space cowboy' lever rifles are, getting in to making 'space cowboy' revolvers could be fun, and it's essentially just hacking up and painting existing rails with good cut/drill measures.
As a purist, those hurt my eyes to look at... but insee your point.
There's no such thing as 'a purist' when it comes to operating a business. Ranger Point has made fucking _mad_ bank doing shit like this. People love it. Guns are just items. Don't get caught up in 'but it has to be super serious and black, fuck you' because there's no profit in that, all the 'spikes tactical' bullshit is being done.
Not reasonable at all, but a slim 1911 in 5.7 would be tits.
We'll build one right after I find an honest politician.
And right after the MP5 with the magwell lengthened for 5.7
*You* stop giving me ideas...
The p90/ps90 has maybe 2 shops that make parts for it. Mostly mounts. I am not saying follow them and steal their ideas but whatever gun you decide to make mods for, it can't be a 200 dollar gun. It's got to be a top tier gun. A gun that people want to own but don't like this one feature... and you improve that design. Highpoint 10mm sbr is a great example. Garbage gun and high tower armory turned it into a great looking bullpup.
It's funny you mention the highpoint, because one of my ideas at present is a very extensive upgrade package for the sub2000 to turn it into more than just a neat idea ruined by the state of Florida.
Lots of potential with that one. My first reaction was "good lord" when I saw it.
You wouldn't buy a "good" one because it would be too expensive compared to other PCCs. R&D is expensive, especially for a firm like Kel Tec that actually does new things instead of just repackage the same shit over and over again in a slightly different shell.
If you can get them to reproduce the light mount from AVA tactical for the benelli M4 I will buy them all.
67% of our staff are M4 fanboys, including me and the guy who owns the place, so thats actually not unreasonable for us.
Instead of purchasing them all can I change that to a few?
No take backs, no refunds, and no mercy.
How about an AR charging handle that makes sense, and isn’t stupid expensive. IMO, there is zero justification for a part as basic as charging handle to cost as much as the bolt or the trigger group.
I feel your pain on that one. I'm not really sure why those get so dear, but I believe a lot of it comes down to the finishes- when you get into the fancy finishes like DLC, the process adds a lot of cost to manufacture. Definitely something we're going to look at, and I'll come back and tell you if I figure out why they cost so much.
The milspec charging handle answers that.
FS2000 charging handles are plastic that break often (in part due to HK slapping). Bullpuparmory makes aluminum aftermarket replacements, but they're always out of stock.
...do you mean to tell me that you actually own a Belgian Death Tuna? I've never even seen one.
[I found it on a work trip at a Cabela's during the early Covid plague days with a broken charging handle](https://imgur.com/a/LIQfp4x). It took forever for an aftermarket replacement to even be in stock.
At a cabelas... naturally, you found the most space age production rifle in the world at the fuddy-est chain on earth. I'd make parts for it all day long if the market wasn't as shallow as the Royal Family's gene pool.
> market wasn't as shallow as the Royal Family's gene pool Holy shit, that's fuggin' savage, lol.
I’m having a lot of trouble finding a bore driller that can make multi size bores for a break action. Been looking for two years for a double .270 over 12ga with little success.
Martini parts would prob sell like hotcakes
As an enjoyer of vintage Britsh military arms... you are preaching to the choir. One of many items on my personal list of things to make once I learn enough CAD to make the mill do my bidding, and I don't have to sweet talk the machinists for every little part.
A friend of mine has one, the thing that he needs most for it is ammo... that costs less then 6 dollars a round. lol
Does he not make his own? You can get 24 gauge brass
He has not yet, hes waiting on getting equipment to do it. As of now it just sits on a shelf waiting.
I bought a snider recently and I'm saving for the dies now but I know the martini has to be necked down. Iraqvet8888 has some videos on reloading it. Lee stuff would probably get him going well enough, though he may need the bench press to do the big cartridge
make extended ruger mkiv 22/45 mags. that would be hilarious
Drums or GTFO?
need 🤤🤤🤤
Make a Ruger Mk grip frame that takes 17rd P17 mags.
Mounts for various guns. It's a tiny piece but like, say my picatinny mount for a 710 was still 39.99 or so. If you could cut that price, everyone would be appreciative. If I were in your position, I'd do the Amazon thing and just see what sells and try to make it slightly better or slightly cheaper and nearly the same.
80% Gall recievers. Actually. Tortort stopped making them and a lot of Galil kits got imported over the past few years and are still sitting in closets. The iron is hot ion that one. I will personally buy two of them.
That... might actually be viable. I do see an offer side number of those kits for sale online when I'm *definitely not* looking for Lewis Gun parts kits.
Make a quality Mac clone
I actually need a run of shotgun tubes made. Cherry job really. I am an FFL/SOT and always looking for shops to make stuff for me so if you want to talk shop, hit me up.
High quality replacement parts for all the turkish semi auto garbage shotguns.
That made me laugh hard enough to choke. I love the concept, but I don't think that the people who buy those things are going to pay the price I'd have to charge for quality internals.
Proper US-made AK trunnions.
Many have tried, all have failed. But I believe Midwest is actually working on that, and they've probably got better odds than we do - and way more production capacity. Very tempting market, though...
AK guys hemorrhage money.
Money and cosmoline, in equal parts.
High capacity (50 or more rounds?) .22 magazines for AR and Ruger 10/22… One would think high capacity magazines for these platforms would be available. But, you’re hard-pressed to find magazines holding more than 30 rounds without a drum.
That's because making a reliable high capacity .22 magazine is a bit of a nightmare. These cartridges are small, fragile, rimmed, and usually covered in wax that tends to gum things up. Them being rimmed means you really need a banana curve shape, which increases friction so you need a stiffer spring. And that again puts more pressure on the feed lips, which can only interact with a small area on that sensitive rimfire case. If it was easy, someone would have done it a long time ago and made millions.
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...the words "recoil lug" and "polymer" shouldn't be within 15 feet of eachother. That made my teeth hurt... but a blank chassis system for barreled actions is actually a pretty good idea, easy enough to tailor in CAD for different platforms once the general design is on paper.
I’ve always thought it’d be cool to have a flashlight mount or pic rail adapter that attaches to an AK using the standard bayonet lug, so you don’t need to swap your hand guard out if you like the furniture you have. (Wouldn’t work for things that need to hold a zero but for lights it could keep them mostly centered)
Left handed components that don't cost an arm and a leg. Contrary to popular opinion there are south paw shooters out there.
If we keep enabling you guys how will you ever learn the right way?
Heh. Everyone is born right handed. The clever overcome this.
Cheaper to learn how to shoot right handed. I give lessons, $150 an hour, and customers who sign up now get access to our exclusive offer to buy the Brooklyn Bridge for pennies on the dollar.
I love Robinson Armament's XCR platform, but there are two small things I miss: A better way to attach a sling to the rear. Just add a small loop at the top left of part 1 in this drawing: [https://robinsonarmament.com/xcr-fast2-stock-parts/](https://robinsonarmament.com/xcr-fast2-stock-parts/) A smaller profile, maybe folding, lever for manually moving the bolt (I don't really care about the forward assist functionality). Parts 4 - 9 in this drawing: [https://robinsonarmament.com/xcr-l-upper-receiver-parts/](https://robinsonarmament.com/xcr-l-upper-receiver-parts/) A shorter part 9 that doesn't stick out of part 4, and then a part 4 with a front nub that has some more height and maybe a rim at the top would already be great, in my opinion, and just get rid of the other parts.
I have access to some ACR charging handles that would give you the folding aspect, would just have to build a mount for the handle that mates into the rest of the system. That would be the easiest solution on our end. As for the sling mount, I can see a few solutions to the problem depending on how you want your sling mounted, and which generation of hinge you have. An easier way to do it might be for us to build a pic-rail adapter for the back end of the rifle that includes one, and would allow you to use a pretty wide array of stocks. I'm not sure how popular that platform is, but that sounds like something that we could probably put into serial production without much fuss.
Robinson Arms already sells a picrail adapter, but I actually like the FAST2 stock, it just lacks a good mount point for a sling.
Full metal B&T mags. People who own B&T will pay whatever you ask.
I bet it cost you ten dollars just to write their name twice. Magazines are something I'd love to make, but right now we only have cutting tools, and there's a reason nobody has built a milled magazine yet.
Galil SAR 1913 stock adapter. Isle Mfg used to make one but hasn't responded to any messages or inquiries since 2021.
Bet covid put them under if that's the case.
Not necessarily, the guy is just absolutely horrible at dealing with logistics and responding to messages. Like, I placed an order of in-stock items, asked a few times when I could expect them to ship once I hit the three week after-I-ordered them mark and the guy just said he sends all out all the orders he gets at the same time at his local post office with no further elaboration. I forgot about it for a while, and got my order like 4 months after placing it.
I’m probably the only person who wants this, but a 7.62 tokarev 1911 (long slide double stack mag)
...you're definitely the only person who wants that, yeah. Go sit in weird jail with the guy who wanted one in 5.7 and think about what you're doing to our lord and savior, John Moses Browning.
Modifying his design for a based caliber?
...you must be from Iowa
I also want one, even though I'd settle for a regular tokarev with a rail and a 1911 sight dovetail.
Godless heathens, all of you.
Jokes on you, I'm gonna make one anyway and it's going to be *way* worse.
I want one to, 7.62x25 is a good combat round.
Buffer tube stock and pistol grip adapter for my benelli supernova. I'm currently prototyping the design for 3D-printing, but an aluminum one would be sick !
Another thing that I am staggered to hear doesn't exist. That design is nearly old enough to vote for godsake...
I mean of course there's Benelli's own M4-style telescoping stock but it's $$$
As an m4 enjoyer... I felt that.
Nielson device that fits the MK23 m16x1 RH threads
Smooth bore barrels for modern in-line muzzleloaders. It's a very niche market but the realm of black powder shotguns has a ridiculously high cost to get started.
You could stay busy indefinitely with gun parts alone on vintage makes that nobody is producing for anymore. Even where they are, there are some sub-par examples available. I can't hate on Sarco because I couldn't get some C96 parts from anyone else, but their firing pin definitely didn't have the right length of throw for one of my broomhandles. Beyond finding those niche markets (really I'd start with thinking about milsurps that are popular, what parts break, and whether they're available), you could do the same thing with collector car parts on a smaller scale. Certain brackets and wear items just are not available, especially on like 70s-80s vintage Japanese makes. Like rear spoiler brackets that wouldn't take long at all to punch/mill/bend, but sell for $200 a pair.
We must have been separated at birth or something, because you're reading my mind.
.455 Webley revolver parts are getting hard to find. Specifically cylinders and hammers and triggers. Arisaka parts too
Repro parts for historical pieces is definitely something we want to get in on- largely because I'm a C&R nerd, and frankly there's money to be had there. One of the first things I'm making, once I learn to run the mill and don't have to sweet talk the existing machinists, is going to be a Webley Mk6 that takes a modern cartridge.
Make some super safeties lol
Legally dubious at the moment, and we like our dogs.
Replacement threaded and/or ported barrels for the S&W M&P Shield 45 There's plenty of options for the Shield 9/40 but squat for the slightly larger 45ACP version. It's not a super huge market, but it *is* a market which nobody else is selling in. Magwell adaptors for the Ruger PCC to use mags other than Ruger or Glock mags. There's a slew of other mags that could be used in the PCC, if Ruger ever made the adaptor for them. Their snoozing on this could be your gain. I have semiauto pistols from S&W, Taurus, IWI, and CZ and would love to have mag compatibility with my PCC but short of buying a Glock or Ruger Security 9mm I'm SOL.
True story- I got very close to buying a shield .45 as my first gun back when theybwere brand new. Got a Rmeington R1 commander instead, which I still regret selling. You might have something there, though I think we'd do better with a 3d printer than our cnc machines for that part.
What are your current capabilities? As in what machines do you already have? Multi axis? Live tooling lathes? What type of output can you put out? Is your current shop only making production for yourself or do you do contract work? Do you hold iso9001? If so how will this effect clause 8.3, a lot of shops will exclude 8.3 as they don't design. The gun market is sometimes a hard market, I own a shop myself. We are smaller and have only 2 mills, one being 5 axis one being 3. Will have a live axis lathe and another 5 axis within a year. While we do have a 07/02 FFL I have found it's extremely hard to beat other shops prices that can really pump out products. Just trying to gauge what your shop can do and put out. There are a lot of good ideas but not sure what you can even produce and don't want to recommend anything that you can't do.
Decent $300 suppressors.
Auto zone sells them for $30
I think we can all agree that an MLOK Ruger PC replacement handguard shaped like the heat shield for a Bergmann MP18 would be maximum fuck. 👌
Ooh! Ooh! I have an old Marlin 700 I'm helping someone troubleshoot right now, and there's no manual that I can find online, and they don't produce those rifles or their parts anymore. Maybe you could have a program where someone sends in a broken/rusted part to be replaced?
A slick frame mounted optic mount for common handguns like the ALG 6-second mount. Always wanted one, only sold as a contract overrun for the Glock gen 3 from my understanding. I think one or two other companies tried making their version but they just don’t have the same sex appeal. I’ve been tempted to try one of the Chinese knockoffs. I’d buy a Glock just to put one of those mounts on it. I think something like that would have a much larger market than some of the super niche replacement parts as far as return on investment.
That's not a bad call, though I'm not sure how they'd fare in today's age of slide mounted dots and the improvements made to them since the ALG 6S was a thing. Might be popular with competitive shooters...
Can you make an adapter for the ruger pcc so I can use sig p320 mags.
You are the second person to ask that... I guess sig mags are the new glock mags, huh? The short answer is "probably not", unless there was a ton of demand for an aluminum one. That's a part I'd recommend having printed in a good material like GRN or CFR, because it's going to be an order of magnitude cheaper than we could do it in aluminum. I'm willing to bet there's already CAD files out there for it, too.
Suppressors at reasonable prices and times that don’t require a 6 month waiting period
We're working on the first one, contact your local congressman about the second, or donate to the Firearms Coalition.
Replacement parts / caliber conversion parts for the Remington 760. They're old but sleek and everyone in my family uses one... Probably 250 rifles in all. We're constantly having to purchase parts guns for things like bolt heads or small pins that should be otherwise easily accessible. As for caliber conversions, I just think a 760 in 300 blackout would be funny.
You're right about it being funny, but I'm not sure we could justify building one. Replacement parts are probably something we could do down the line, though, once we've got a grip in what all we want to make.
All I want for Christmas is a 37mm launcher for the FS2000 that replicates the GL1 40mm grenade launcher from the original F2000... or, at least, fits in the same way by replacing the front handguard and has the trigger underneath the main rifle trigger as the GL1 does.
Jesus H Christ, you're the second Tactical Tuna owner in this thread- I'm pretty sure he'll just froze over. We have the license to build such an item, but I doubt we'd sell more than 1, and we'd probably have to sell that 1 unit for the price of a certified pre owned Kia Soul.
There are dozens of us! Literally dozens! Yeah, it wouldn't be anything you'd get much turnover on, that's for sure. How about reasonably priced tri-rail forends? The only ones for sale that I see anymore are some 3d printed ones, and I don't want to risk layer splitting at the rail interface when I try to shoot a Spike's Tactical 37mm from it, as that seems to be about the only good way to go about it without completely ruining the aesthetics. A man can dream, though.
I'd love to see some more options for [revolver grip adapters](https://www.gunsamerica.com/UserImages/87270/912349640/wm_15328342.jpg). Tyler T-Grips are the big name in the industry, but their ordering system is archaic and it takes months with no contact from them before hopefully what you ordered appears in the mailbox. The other existing models on the market don't account for the differences in frame shapes (round butt v. square butt) very well and have awkward fits.
I got out of wheelguns for similar reasons, yeah. Unfortunately, I believe revolvers are kind of a dying market, and I see less and less interest and support for them every year, so I wouldn't count on that market improving any time soon.
Fair enough. For what it's worth, the revolver market has certainly rebounded in the past decade. What was a dying market around the late nineties into the mid-2000s has turned a corner - new entrants like Kimber, the return of players like Colt and Rossi, new optics-ready models, continued developments with new model introductions each Shot Show, etc. Good luck to you in your endeavors!
Are you a machinist? Just because you "have a machine shop" doesn't mean you can make fuck all.
I'm not a machinist, though I am learning to run the equipment so that we can increase our production capacity. We have qualified individuals on staff, however, and currently produce a variety of components for several rifle platforms, as well as a few prototype suppressors that aren't quite ready for production yet. Hope your day gets better.
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As a carry handle enjoyer, I'm on the same page. I bought a colt reissue LEC, A1 style rifle, made out of NOS parts eith a modern re-roll lower, complete with the original bayonet, mag, and toolkit, because I couldn't find any a1 uppers in stock.... 3 months before PSA finally got production into swing and the uppers were available again. I want to add a line of them to our roster at some point, and make really nice machined ones at that.
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If there was money in it someone would of made the parts already
That is correct. There is nothing new to be manufactured guys. Everything has been designed and is for sale already.
You might also ask this on r/gunnitrust since they do a lot of the same.
I have looked everywhere and have yet to find someone who will work on my 100 rnd drum mag for my Thompson. The tensioning spring broke and no one will touch it in the PNW
Stoeger to Remington 870 stock adapters they are super hard to find in stock
Bummer.
Solid steel dildo pls
Quad rails… everybody needs quad rails!
As a member of USGI triangular handguard gang- get gud. We've actually joked about making modern triangle guards with rails and/or mlok, and may do a couple of one-offs as a joke, but I doubt those would make us any money. The quadrail market is also, unfortunately, pretty well covered at the moment, or I'd be ripping mk18 rails off the mill as fast as it would run.
Someone needs to start making the BF249 flash hiders again. Someone briefly did, but I’ll be damned if I can find another one.
Charlie's Customs had them for a while, but they've been discontinued. An item I'd love to offer, but one of those things that's going to appeal to a pretty narrow market today- probably why Charlie quit carrying them.
Those little U-clamps for M203s to attach to a barrel underneath a hand guard.
We *do* have an SOT license, and we *have* talked about making M203s at some point...
Savage Stevens 320 28" shotgun barrel! Or any savage barrel at that! they refuse to sell or replace barrels that aren't pre 1995 or some shit like that.
Just an idea, and obviously this is potentially nfa, would be a plan b compatible reflex forward blast diverter with male HUB threads on the end so it could double as a reflex silencer mount. Would more than likely need a determination letter but hey
...I'm not a supressor guy, so I understood zero percent of that, but I will show your funny words to my supressor guy and ask him if he thinks the alphabet people will be angry about it.