Homebuilt Browning M1919A4s

[emcon5]

Are you in CA now Lee? I knew you had talked about it, but don't remember the outcome.

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by emcon5

Are you in CA now Lee? I knew you had talked about it, but don't remember the outcome.

Guess we know the outcome...welcome to beautiful Manteca. But cheer up, Modesto isn't far away.

Lee, hope you find a "Yob"...with your resume' you are in a difficult area of the USA.

[id10t]

One of the guys on falfiles.com just bought a full auto Izzy FALO (heavy barrel FAL), around $9k IIRC.

Originally Posted by Leland Pate

I just have the sweetest wife alive. She supports me as I play gun-building house hubby.

Believe it or not, these are legal in CA because they are not considered to be shoulder fired rifles and therefore not covered by the AW laws. I've seen guys convert bolt action .50 cal BMG rifles to spade grips, thus eliminating the stock and shoulder fire capacity... then the .50cal is perfectly legal. Guess they only banned shoulder fired .50 cal rifles; not the cartridge, itself.

A fully transferrable FA 1919A4 will cost you between $12,000-$15,000. Ludicrous! I did this more for the fun of the build and the challenge of the project. "Can I do this?" "Is this ever going to work?" I like that.

[Burnin' oil]

Originally Posted by Leland Pate

I just have the sweetest wife alive. She supports me as I play gun-building house hubby.

Believe it or not, these are legal in CA because they are not considered to be shoulder fired rifles and therefore not covered by the AW laws. I've seen guys convert bolt action .50 cal BMG rifles to spade grips, thus eliminating the stock and shoulder fire capacity... then the .50cal is perfectly legal. Guess they only banned shoulder fired .50 cal rifles; not the cartridge, itself.

. . .

Good luck explaining that to your local politician. I was actually thinking about the AK47s you built and the issues regarding magazines - capacity and whether they are fixed.

[emcon5]

Originally Posted by Burnin' oil

Good luck explaining that to your local politician. I was actually thinking about the AK47s you built and the issues regarding magazines - capacity and whether they are fixed.

Home built AK's are a pretty big thing with the Calguns guys. They have build parties regularly, where a bunch of folks get together with their parts kits and flats and crank them out. CA compliant magazines and mag locks are readily available, as are the parts to make a drop-magazine legal "featureless" build.

Speaking of which, If Leland has made that many of them, that means he has the jigs.....

AK BUILD PARTY AT LELAND'S HOUSE!!!!!

Call it Porsches and Kalashnikovs. The juxtaposition of fine German engineering and crude Russian stamping is pretty funny, if you think about it.

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by Leland Pate

Here are some AK parts I parkerized earlier this year. You want to talk about overboard? I think I've built almost 30 AK47's since X-Mas.

I need a JOB!

Couple of quickie questions:

What are you using for the press for the AK-47's? I have a couple of parts kits I need to assemble. I think I also need a better riveting setup, any direction?

Back on the 1919, so the side plate is considered the reciever? The price of the whole thing doesn't seem too bad. I see you've set it up for .308. Can it be also setup for the original 30-06?

Thanks.

[Leland Pate]

As for building the AK's, here is a link to a tutorial I did on Calguns recently:

AK47 Build Tutorial - Calguns.net

Here are a few teaser pics of some I've built recently:









As for the 1919... Yes, the right side plate is the receiver. The Israelis converted the 30-06 USGI guns to run .308. But, with a few mods, they can be converted back to 30-06, if you wish. Also, you can convert them to 8mm Mauser and 7.62x54r with some other changes.

[azasadny]

Leland,
Thanks for the Parkerizing tips!!

[emcon5]

What parts kits are you using for the AK?

[Leland Pate]

Originally Posted by emcon5

What parts kits are you using for the AK?

These were all the barrel-less Polish PMKMS kits from Apex Gun Parts. They are selling for $165. Barrels are out of stock but hopefully they'll get some more in soon.

-A couple disclaimers-

These are all homebuilt rifles for my personal use and enjoyment. Each rifle is legally configured to comply with lame-ass CA law. The folding stocks have been pinned to prevent folding (26" minimum OAL) and the gas ports on the virgin barrels have not been drilled. In this configuration, they are single shot rifles and do not fall under the AW evil features categories. The wife and I are moving to Boise early next year and I'll drill the flippin' holes then to make them semi-auto.

[emcon5]

Any thoughts on the Bulgarian AK 74 kits, with original barrels?

[Leland Pate]

Do you have a link?

[emcon5]

Originally Posted by Leland Pate

Do you have a link?

Parts Kits :: Kits With Barrels Installed :: Bulgarian AK74 5.45 x 39 Wood Parts Kit With Bulgarian Barrel - AK-Builder.com

[Leland Pate]

Hmmmm... I like Curtis and use almost all of his tools and flats when building. However, I'm not sold on the US barrels. I've never built with one but have read a lot of mixed reviews on them. I think it's kind of a crap shoot. You can still find E. German and Bulgarian 5.45 barrels around and I think you'd end up with a better rifle.
Please note those are not original barrels. They have US made barrels installed.

I'm not far away from you if you decide to build one. I'm happy to help.


EDIT: I just followed the link and was surprised to see he is selling those 74 kits with the original hammer forged chrome lined barrels. If you've got the cash, I say go for it. You are going to pay a bit of a premium, but he does a lot of the hard work for you... headspacing the trunnion to the bolt... pressing on the RSB and gas block... drilling and pinning everything. Go for it!

[red-beard]

Looks like Ohio is out of 1919s...

[Leland Pate]

Wow. That's recent.

Sign of the times...

[BRPORSCHE]

Originally Posted by Leland Pate

As for building the AK's, here is a link to a tutorial I did on Calguns recently:

AK47 Build Tutorial - Calguns.net

Here are a few teaser pics of some I've built recently:

It looks like the SCWDP is moving right along....

[UconnTim97]

Originally Posted by Leland Pate

I just have the sweetest wife alive. She supports me as I play gun-building house hubby.

Believe it or not, these are legal in CA because they are not considered to be shoulder fired rifles and therefore not covered by the AW laws. I've seen guys convert bolt action .50 cal BMG rifles to spade grips, thus eliminating the stock and shoulder fire capacity... then the .50cal is perfectly legal. Guess they only banned shoulder fired .50 cal rifles; not the cartridge, itself.

A fully transferrable FA 1919A4 will cost you between $12,000-$15,000. Ludicrous! I did this more for the fun of the build and the challenge of the project. "Can I do this?" "Is this ever going to work?" I like that.

I can think of worse ways to spend your time. Enjoy it!

[Jim Bremner]

Originally Posted by Burnin' oil

That's awesome.

Where are you living these days? 'Cause I know it can't be California . . .

you can own them here in California. If you have owned a belt prior to 1/1/2000 you can have a full size belt. If you bought it after 1/1/2000 you can have a 10 round belt.

[Leland Pate]

Correct, but because I don't have any linked ammo that I owned prior to the ban... I am stuck with 10 round linked belts. However, a guy I go shooting with has several pre-ban belts of .308. He has spray painted the last 10 rounds on each belt so that he never shoots the full belt. That way, he doesn't destroy his hi-capacity feeding device and can always add more. How silly is that?

The majority of my cool toys are currently in storage out of state. I never had an interest in belt fed weapons until I moved here. I can't own the usual battle carbine type rifles here (without seriously neutering them) but I can own a Browning M2HB if I could afford the $4000 price tag for a parts KIT!