Friday, October 4, 2019

bolt action AR-15


BOLT ACTION AR-15
Free conversion. First off, an apology to my true blue minions that subscribe to my newsletter, for this repeat subject. Bear with me, I'll babble on about the philosophy of bolts versus semi after I give the mechanics of conversion. Nothing you won't see in my book Apocalypse Gun Porn ( in BBBno2, free, link at my web site ), but with all the new readers perhaps a subject worth repeating. Plus, hopefully, someone somewhere finds this article through a search and I save them $60, they fall in love with me, tell all their friends, and I get a few more permanent readers.
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To close off the gas tube on an AR, one normally gets an adjustable gas block they can close off. These typically run over $50. Here is how you can do it for free. Warning, proceed at your own risk, entertainment purposes only, not a gunsmith, blah, blah. Be an adult. Take responsibility. If this fries your face, it is YOUR bad. This is a hypothetical. Look at your A3 front sight ( an A shape with the little thingy poking up you aim with ). Look at the horizontal line on the A. Three quarters of the way to the right, as the rifle is laid down with the bolt release facing up, is a tiny hole.
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Get yourself a pin punch. I believe it is a 3/32 ( yeah, commie scum, that ain't metric ). After removing the handguards, you punch out this pin ( you'll need a bench block-even homemade from wood ). Assuming you took out the bolt carrier group and charging handle, the gas tube can now be pulled out. It is snug, but will withdraw without a tool. If you had been looking down the barrel from the stock, the tube would have been inserted with the pin east to west and the gas opening facing south. You want to flip the tube upside down.
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Normally, you cannot do this because a AR gas tube is not straight. It runs along then makes a slight jog up, perhaps a quarter inch, then runs straight again. What you have to do is duplicate that but in the opposite direction. Normally, the gas tube will curve north of the gas tube opening. You want the curve to be on the south of the gas tube opening ( NOT the opening at the receiver end, the opening at the front sight end ). Take a vise, and carefully straighten out the tube, then curve the tube the opposite way it was. Inserted into the rifle originally, the tube curved UP. You want to curve it DOWN. Then when you insert it correctly the gas opening faces up rather than down. Now, gases from the barrel hit a block rather than being allowed in to an opening.
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It just takes a couple of small adjustment to the tube to reverse the curve. Don't force it, like when the wife finally gives you some loving. Just small bends as you keep placing the tube in the vise a few times to change the orientation. The tube is pretty strong, you will probably have to tap it with a hammer rather than pull on it by hand. Put it back into place to make sure the bolt group seats properly. Once satisfied, pin the tube back into place. One caveat, I don't know if you can reuse the pin or need a new one. They are 50 to 99cents at PrimaryArms.com so it can't hurt to be sure.
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There should be zero issues with this hack. I've done it, but I have yet to get out and fire the rifle to be absolutely sure. At most, I imagine the biggest issue would be a bit of carbon build-up that might freeze the tube into place without cleaning ( as suggested by a minion ). There shouldn't be any gas blowing back on you. Of course, wear those safety glasses to be sure, if you try this. But just looking at your rifle this doesn't seem physically possible. Now, I can hear you screaming in impotent rage, why, oh why, would you want to neuter a wonderful rifle to “only” fire as a bolt action rather than semi-auto?
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Easy peasy, little lemon squeesy. There is this little unloved tidbit of reality called logistics. Either in an apocalypse or even in a civil war, those extra rounds you just shat out will not be replaced. WWHHhhhhhhaaaaaaat?????? UNPOSSIBLE! We are 'Muricans, hear us roar, the tap of wasteful luxuries will never be turned off! We refuse such a paradigm! Suppressive fire is the ONLY tactic ever, and we insist on it! Francis, you poor deluded moronic fool, please relax. Sit down, deep breath. You and your way of life is hosed. End story. Get over it and move on. This ain't going to be your daddy's war. The ammo you came with to Spicy Times is all there is.
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You can waste it, run out soon and die in one last bayonet charge, or you can nut up and realize your crap stinks like everyone else. You no longer get special consideration. THE APOCALYPSE REFUSES TO CHANGE JUST FOR YOU. Deluded humping snowflake mother humper. Look, if you have big bucks, stock the hell out of ammo and keep spraying and praying ( sorry, brain chemicals are outside your control. Under stress, you will jerk the trigger until dry ). Under my carefully calculated removal of a guess out of my ass, you should have four to five times the ammo for a semi as you do a bolt action.
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And the minimum rounds you need for a bolt, going into a civil war followed by an apocalypse, is at least five thousand rounds ( or round equivalents with reloading ). So if you insist on semi-auto, that minimum is twenty thousand rounds. That is $4k of steel cased ammo to go along with your $400 rifle ( that assumes the price hasn't increased since I wrote this ). Not to mention all those evil high capacity magazines and gear to hold said mags.
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With a bolt action rifle, your uncontrolled brain spazing out in panic says, in effect, one round, just one round! Make it count! With a semi, your brain is yelling at you to destroy the target before the target gets you. The same message it gave the bolt action user, but the process of destroying the threat is different. One is caution firing and the other is incautious firing. A bolt action is just a tool making your brain chemicals work for you rather than against you. AND, hello, logistics. And, as a special extra bonus, that darn AR is going to be a WHOLE lot easier to clean.
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For poor people, with limited budgets for ammunition, a bolt action is just what the doctor ordered. All the rest of you Tommy Tacticals equating dingus size with the number of magazines carried, well by all means DON'T use the AR as a mid range marksman rifle. Just keep using it as a light weight but powerful submachinegun. And PS, Jesus on a pogo stick. Questioning your shooting skills is not questioning your manhood. Skills are skills. Nothing special about them. And we all suffered from uncontrollable brain chemicals. Please remember puberty and your Little Brain making all the decisions. Don't be emotional, Nancy.
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( addendum-still haven't gotten out shooting.  Furnace, the roof breaking.  Definitely going, as the NOL expressed an interest and we all know shooting is the cement that holds preppers to The Dark Side.  My second conversion went fine, except I was a little off on the tube bend and I had issues feeding from the mag.  All I had to do was reach in with a screwdriver and move it a smidge over to center in the upper receiver and all was good.  Just a heads up to check actual functioning to assure proper alignment )
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( Addendum, three months later.  As you are shooting and the rifle heats up, the gas tube is shifting.  I kept getting bolt jams.  Cut off just under an inch of the tube, on the receiver ( not front sight ) end.  Now it is flush with the receiver wall and doesn't mess with the bolt gas intake.  And yes, get new gas tube pins.  Also, the gas only travels up slightly from the gas intake, perhaps about an inch.  No worries about frying your face )
( .Y. )
( today's related Amazon link click HERE )
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29 comments:

  1. Maybe I am displaying a bit of naivety here, but couldn't you just use a dab of JB Weld to seal up the gas tube?

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    1. I don't know anything about JB weld and how it stands up to the gas pressure. At first I was thinking I would have to fill it with molten lead. Not sure how I would have managed that. This way seemed obvious once I took it apart and saw how uncomplicated the thing was. And I'm the worlds worst mechanically intuitive guy.

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    2. You might be right. I took a second to research it and JB Weld is rated for 5000 psi, continuous duty. AR's like to run between 22 and 25k. I like keeping a tube around just in case, so if need be,I can try it. Or just do your trick.

      I just got an inverter big enough to run my router so my AR build is on. It probably will take a couple of weeks because my battery bank is too small. I went with the aluminum lower and got two in case I screw up. I will give ya a report when done.

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    3. Good luck. I know my failure was 80% bad equipment, 20% I'm a dumbass, so you shouldn't have issues.

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  2. I know that there’s not supposed to be any such thing as a stupid question (But let’s be honest, there is. Such as the time when the two professional football players, Otis Sistrunk and Phil Villapiano (Yes, I’m that old) visited our school, and were answering questions, and Lawrence Leech, when called upon, asked if they liked playing football? Resulting in a enormous “DUH” by everyone in the elementary school audience :D )

    But is there a way to have a setup to where you can toggle between bolt operated, and semi, much as the current M-16 setup which allows you to choose between semi and tri-burst? I am not familiar with this gun, so if it’s obvious as to why you cannot, I would not know.

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    1. You can install a gas adjustment which allows you to, well, you know, adjust how much gas is fed back. From all the way off to full on dirty ( more gas, less chance of the bolt not working properly. Less gas- less recoil, less carbon, less wear and tear. But, jams, failure to extract? ). The trick would be to find one that was faster than another. Instead of needing, say, an allen wrench, it would have a knob. Etcetera.

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    2. Yeah well , every semi gun has that capability built right into the trigger actuation control mechanism. If you cannot control yourself then it might well be a moot point as to how long ammo will last.
      If a person can't control themselves then I say go with the better gun in the form of any purpose built bolt action rifle. Over that of purposely disabling a POS AR that comes from a design which has built in faults already incorporated.

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    3. When it comes to brain chemicals, you cannot control yourself. Once repetition and experience reduce chemicals, then sure. As to why the AR, extreme low cost and saturation parts availability. Of course you will be penalized by other negative inputs inherent in the design. What gun is perfect? Enfields are pie plate accurate. Parts are near impossible to find affordably. I'm not arguing the M16 is any better than it ever was. More than all other choices are now worse. At least for the frugal survivalist.

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  3. Could you just carry the California approved 5 round magazines loaded with 1 bullet each?

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    1. Have you priced any mag not a standard 30rd? In-sane.

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    2. I would rather get a single shot shotgun or rifle before doing that. Definitely a way to cut down on ammo consumption and easier to feed, plus way cheaper.

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  4. The brain chemical thing is very real.

    I seem to remember when cops only required one or two bullets to stop a perp! Yes, that was when the lowly .38 revolver was the gun of choice.

    Nowadays it requires two high capacity semiautomatic magazines for cops to miss them! Then, if they manage to hit anything, those bullets go right though because they arr too fast! There's no noticeable burning hot chunk of lead to tell the smitten one, "You've got shot!"

    While I'll probably never have an ar gun, it's nice to know how to modify one to be frugal.

    - Stevelo

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  5. If all you're doing is forcing your brain to conserve wouldn't a magazine loaded with 3-5 rounds give you the same psychological effect? It would still give you the option of a couple of quick follow up shots as well and wouldn't require any "hypothetical" gunsmithing.

    Just a thought.
    -Novice

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    1. I can't discount that. Very possibly it would work the same. Except, if you give these out to use to teammates/family that aren't preppers, they will probably still go Full Retard and dump the whole mag downrange, or try to sneak in more ammo. I think trying to make a fgun "non-prepper proof" would be harder than making it "soldier proof". Not saying this WILL happen, just saying if Sgt. Murphy is supervising, it COULD.

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  6. A bit of professional advice: DO NOT futz with the gas tube in the fashion you suggest. Between carbon buildup, and the stress that you put the gas tube under what with the bending it in directions that it was -not- designed for. If you -truly- want a 'bolt gun' then BUY a bolt gun... If you want a convertible gas block, then get a second upper, install a proper adjustable gas block... or buy a adjustable bolt. I know of what I speak: U.S. Army 91F Small Arms/Artillery repairman and master gunsmith. If you do (and apparently you have,) do NOT reuse the aforementioned futz'd with gas tube and rebend it... the gas tube is -THE- number one point-of-failure over time on the M-16/AR series rifles. Second is firing pin breakage and then bolt head shear. After doing it for 25 years, those were the top three failures I found on doing arms rooms inspections. Trust me... you really dont want to have a blowout... just some professional advice...

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    1. To be clear, if I never reuse the tube for its intended function, I'm good, right? ONLY for bolt action.

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    2. Thanks for the suggested parts for the AR-15. This was a question I thought about.

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    3. Messing with your AR in this fashion is a very bad idea.

      Doing something stupid to prevent stupid people from doing stupid things is never indicated. Just train some trigger discipline.

      I've years of experience working on weapons of all sorts, including the inescapable AR, and this is a categorical bad idea. The AR is a system, build to operate as such. Mess is any single aspect and you can not predict what the end result might be.

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    4. So, all those people who, say, altered a motor vehicle, they were altering a vehicle that was designed to operate differently than they were attempting. They shouldn't have done so, according to you. Correct?

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    5. Poor analogy. Only slight comparison between motor cars, a collection of several balanced systems, and semi-auto rifles.

      But, to play your game, if you change the strength of the rocker arm springs, everything changes within that system, including the mean time between failures.

      It helps to know something about which you are talking.

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    6. That's a stupid media trick and you shouldn't do it, and you know it. Trying to convert and AR to a bolt is stupid too, and I suspect you know that too. Guess what? That gas tube has been hardened, and if you try to unbend it you'll be disappointed. Take someone that knows advanced first aid when you shoot it. Or find a way to support the gun and use a string for the trigger - at least 20 foot long. And maybe hold a viking shield up in front of yourself. lol

      Get another gas tube, what are they, about $8?
      Clamp the new tube to a solid block of hard wood, like oak. Using a very dull metal working chisel and a 3 lb sledge hammer, smack that chisel on the tube in 2 different places, crimping it shut. Careful, this will bend the tube upwards, so, carefully bend it back.

      Or, do as logic dictates, learn how to control your gun and yourself. It's not hard, but you do have to peel yourself off the couch. I'm betting that if a person is so cucked that they piss all over themselves when the time for dying approaches no gun yet created will work for them. THAT'S why it's called a die-off. If everybody takes your advice and nobody dies, what's the point?

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    7. If I buy a part that shuts off the gas, or if I duplicate that by blocking the gas, what is the difference? This is where I'm confused with the objections. I simply cannot debate the effects of stress in combat with anyone that denies it will happen. Again, I am speaking of the average person, with average means that cannot train excessively. By all means, shoot all the ammunition you want and call yourself immune from stress. The average person won't be. The average military recruit gets crap-all for training, as does the survivalist. Yes, you CAN overcome this, given enough time and money. No, the average prepper won't. I could, I suppose, expect only the highest performance from all my readers. I can be like certain Idaho Gurus and demand concrete bunkers atop mountains, pallets of ammunition, MRE's and freeze dried and etc. But then I'm living in FantasyLand. Not everyone is a Survivalist Rock Star.

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    8. Part of being an engineer is knowing a little something about metals. For example, the more you machine metal the weaker it may become. I did forensic engineering for a steel bldg manuf for a couple years. Machining means manipulation of the metal by any means. When the gas tube was bent at the factory the bends became slightly more brittle. However, they used tube bending equipment to do the bends so the stress was transferred over a larger area. When you bent the metal back as you described you enhanced the stress and it now became concentrated. Someone else mentioned the gas is under 5000 psi so that much pressure on a jeopardized, plugged up gas tube, with no place to go is dangerous. One other thing, what does blocking the gas tube do to the recoil, make it more or less? I'm guessing more. So follow up shots are going to take even longer. sheesh

      The "combat stress" that has you paralyzed with fear is far less that what you have built it up to be. It's very manageable and doesn't require enormous amounts of learning or practice, but you do have to learn something, I've always found it puzzling that your solution for dealing with "combat stress" is to put yourself in an even more stressful position by using an inadequate gun that you don't even shoot very much. If that isn't a recipe for failure and disaster I don't know what is. To each his own they say....

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    9. Dealing with stress is half the equation. Logistics is the other half. On stress. A new situation was when the ex-wife had her first heart attack. I got the 911 thing done, but it wasn't instant or graceful. There was hesitation and panic. Events thereafter were less stressful and became routine. Combat/medical emergency, both new situations. Why would the gas have a hard time turning back the way it came? Path of least resistance. I've heard folks talking about adjustable gas blocks talking of less recoil as they turned down the dial. Not sure that translates into less recoil when no gas at all goes through.

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  7. Just buy a Mossberg Patrol and be done with it.
    MICoyote

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    1. Spare parts and price are why I'm doing this, not THE best gun

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  8. also: The gas tube pin: Get another one. They're like $2 bux for a bag of 10... reusing them is contraindicated in TM9-1005-249-23P THE bible of the M-16 variant...

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    1. Is the company I suggested where you can get a bag of 10? I ask as I'd like to have the option of ordering parts in bulk rather than onesies and twosies.

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