Frankenguns
Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2018 5:57 pm
Anyone who has read my posts knows that I like nothing more than modifying my guns, although I must say it is always to a purpose not for the looks! My club has christened some of my guns as Frankenguns and to be honest they are not the prettiest, but I now have them all functioning reliably and I enjoy competing with something that does not follow the crowd. I am sure that many of you modify your guns, whether for sport, HD or LE so I thought I would try and set the ball rolling and start a discussion with some before and after pictures and some brief descriptions of the modifications and the reasoning behind them. All my guns came out the way they did due to function, the form followed sometimes a few wrong turns and miscalculations. We in the UK are not so well served with parts and custom add-ons this side of the pond so needs must and the following are my creations. I did set myself some rules, I never interfere with the high pressure areas and with the exception of some gentle easing and smoothing, I will not file, cut or drill my guns. They can all be returned to stock configuration.
First, my least modified competition gun, and appropriately for this site, my high capacity Model 37.
I bought this gun with the long mag tube already fitted, the lug had been moved to the end of the barrel to accommodate the 10 round tube. the tube was fashioned by cutting the existing threaded ends off a short tube and welding a plain tube to both. It was not a very good job and it took much careful easing and polishing to get it to work, plus a 40" wolff spring. A barrel clamp had been fitted which had partially crushed the mag tube and this was rectified by driving a round nosed aluminium rod carefully through the constriction. I found, in a friends box of bits, a M37 Black Warrior pistol grip stock ( I already had another pistol grip but more of that later) and a ringed Remington Fore-arm. The trusty Dremel took care of the Fore-arm internals and the wooden furniture was set aside for other needy cases and projects. An elasticated side saddle was put on the stock which also supports a raised soft cheek piece. The safety catch was made fully ambidextrous and rotates through 90 degrees instead of being push through. A home made light gathering tube foresight and a ghost tube rear take care of the sighting. I gently eased around the loading port to take away all the sharp edges and so as to permit a "load two" in competition, I've not yet successfully achieved a "quad load" with the 37 but loading is in the main much faster now. I sourced a new yoke and run the gun with the yoke hard against the mag nut to prevent loosening of the barrel (apparently a military fix, but all my 37's are so locked now, with far fewer fails than previously)
One item that I developed when having all sorts of fail to extract, eject and cycle was my barrel locator device. When assembling my 37's, I leave the yoke loose, I slide my device along the top extractor slot and into the extractor cut-out in the barrel. This is a fairly tight, interference fit and ensures the barrel is perfectly aligned when I rotate the mag nut into the lug and then drive the yoke hard against the mag nut to complete the assembly process. It works for me!
This simple device (pictured below) was made from 5mm wide aluminium scrap, filed on the lower shaped end to 3.8mm wide
First, my least modified competition gun, and appropriately for this site, my high capacity Model 37.
I bought this gun with the long mag tube already fitted, the lug had been moved to the end of the barrel to accommodate the 10 round tube. the tube was fashioned by cutting the existing threaded ends off a short tube and welding a plain tube to both. It was not a very good job and it took much careful easing and polishing to get it to work, plus a 40" wolff spring. A barrel clamp had been fitted which had partially crushed the mag tube and this was rectified by driving a round nosed aluminium rod carefully through the constriction. I found, in a friends box of bits, a M37 Black Warrior pistol grip stock ( I already had another pistol grip but more of that later) and a ringed Remington Fore-arm. The trusty Dremel took care of the Fore-arm internals and the wooden furniture was set aside for other needy cases and projects. An elasticated side saddle was put on the stock which also supports a raised soft cheek piece. The safety catch was made fully ambidextrous and rotates through 90 degrees instead of being push through. A home made light gathering tube foresight and a ghost tube rear take care of the sighting. I gently eased around the loading port to take away all the sharp edges and so as to permit a "load two" in competition, I've not yet successfully achieved a "quad load" with the 37 but loading is in the main much faster now. I sourced a new yoke and run the gun with the yoke hard against the mag nut to prevent loosening of the barrel (apparently a military fix, but all my 37's are so locked now, with far fewer fails than previously)
One item that I developed when having all sorts of fail to extract, eject and cycle was my barrel locator device. When assembling my 37's, I leave the yoke loose, I slide my device along the top extractor slot and into the extractor cut-out in the barrel. This is a fairly tight, interference fit and ensures the barrel is perfectly aligned when I rotate the mag nut into the lug and then drive the yoke hard against the mag nut to complete the assembly process. It works for me!
This simple device (pictured below) was made from 5mm wide aluminium scrap, filed on the lower shaped end to 3.8mm wide