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Edited ~ medicmandan

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Edited ~ medicmandan

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As I did with my first theme build (SPACEFORCE-15), I started this rifle in the “Palmetto State Armory has lost a customer" thread. This is my 2nd themed rifle build based on the PSA roll-marked designs coming from that thread. I am moving it to GD like I did the SPACEFORCE-15 rifle, as not to muddy up the other thread.

I'm sure from GD I'll catch some heat for this build, and that's expected. I get it, it isn’t for everyone, it's an odd design to say the least. This rifle design was based on the PSA CHRISTMAS-15 custom lower. It was modeled after the Red Ryder BB gun from which that lower was dedicated from the movie “A Christmas Story”. Since I started the build early this year, it has morphed into something more, mainly because of the Lever action design. Because this rifle, along with most of the custom PSA lowers produced recently, have each started here on ARFCOM, I thought now may be a good time to share.

The Firearms blog posted a short right-up today on the rifle HERE (TFB).
A link to the YouTube video can be found in the build guide below (the build guide originating from the other thread).

Thank you for reading.

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BUILD GUIDE  -  Red Ryd-AR Update #1

As promised, here is a small update on the CHRISTMAS-15 “Red Ryd-AR” rifle. Keep in mind I’m trying my best to follow some of the lines of the original Red Ryder BB gun as a tribute design, so I do have some overall direction to try and follow. The rifle will include a completely functional lever action, which has taken me a good amount of time to complete; all of the mechanics are now fitted into the rear stock (only minimal modification to the lower required).

While this isn’t something I would normally do to any regular AR (I live in a non-restrictive state), I could see how the design may be of some value to some, for hunting, or as a novelty. For this reason, there are a few things I do not really want to display just yet. Please excuse the “hide” boxes.

I started this project in February and had a significant amount of failed attempts for “attachment” style lever actions. My original plan was to design a lever action as a charging handle replacement only, but as I worked on the layout, a true lever action would work just as well. I wanted to use pre-made walnut furniture, but no luck there once the mechanical design morphed into the buttstock. I finally found some walnut wood only to realize it didn’t really match the Red Ryder coloring. I traded it for hard sugar maple. Hard maple is horrible to work with by the way, I swear it’s tougher than 6061 aluminum, definitely tougher than English walnut (at least, in my limited experience). But it works well with the internal components of the lever action, which is now very functional and 100% reliable during cartridge loading, exchange, and ejection via mechanical experimentation.

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It wasn’t necessary, but to keep the upper receiver looking less tactical, I machined off the rail, and dovetailed a riser to replace the slots. This also let me fit in a BCG cover flap to replace the charging handle slot, which locks in place when the receivers are pinned together. I used a Wilson sight made for a Marlin rifle at the rear (as low as comfortably possible), to keep the front sight from sticking up too tall.

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I left some room at the rear of the stock to shorten to desired length once I get a “feel” for the finished product. I’ve got two barrels to work with on this project, A carbine length 16” (no gas tube on this rifle, gas port will be blocked), and also a 24” bull barrel which I can cut and machine to desired specs.

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Once I figure out what I am going to do with the front end, I will get a few more pics posted up.

Red Ryd-AR Update #2

I finished up some of the major parts today. I got the front hand guard rough sanded and fit. I had to make two rear anti-rotation pins from brass (exposed), to go along with the locking ring up front to make sure the grip remains secure. The grip has a rear shelf milled into the back so I will not need to use visible screws on this end.

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The front hand guard locking ring was milled from solid stock, I couldn’t find anything to adapt. My mill is old school (by hand). So I rough in lines and then shaped up the curves with a belt sander (not sure how the pros do it). The ring uses a single #8-32 hex screw that mounts from the bottom through the fore grip into the gas port cover block to lock the handguard in place. The gas port cover uses its own locking set screws.

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I ended up using the carbine length barrel for now, but I may clean things up with the longer barrel I have on hand later, not sure. I sorta like the shorter barrel. The hand guard ring was spaced to cover the line between the gas port cover block and the barrel shoulder, so once everything is painted it should appear seamless.

I repeated the seamless idea by incorporating the front site block between the barrels threaded shoulder and the barrel extension (I wanted a standard 11 degree finished look), plus I can add a suppressor later if I want.

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Keeping with the Red Ryder Carbine theme, the front site block includes a lower “non-functional” cartridge tube. I had worked on a design for a function feed tube, but got away from that after some R&D. The front sight is dovetails for adjustment, thought it stands taller than I would have liked. Unfortunately anything lower concerning sights would have made the rear sight very difficult to use, based on the design of an AR.

Lots of little thing to piece together and figure out on the front end, took me more time than I thought it would.

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So far, so good. Little bit more work and I can tear it down to start finalizing paint.

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I order a bunch of Cerakote “H” Graphite black, and the newer Elite Blackout, but now I am considering using those for another project and either ordering some Elite Midnight, or “H” SOCOM blue. I want the rifle to have a blued finished look and I do not think the Blackout or graphite will do the job. I have not used the elite series before and I am getting mixed info on mixing colors, or painting over the first coat. I may use the graphite, mixed with a small order of SOCOM to get the desired color. I have used the “H" series in the past with very good results. I had considered actual blueing, but with aluminum, brass, and a mix of stainless and other steel parts, I worry about consistency. Cerakote would likely be the best option for this project.

Another concern I am working through is the magazine, plastic or metal. I ordered a couple ten round Magpul mags, but I am now thinking metal makes more sense.Not sure about lower color-fill after painting either. I don't want it to look super flashy, but I do want the rollmark and selector marking to be visible. I was thinking maybe a darker redish-brown to match the stock? And I may or may not add the logo I designed on the upper receiver. Also may or may not add the Red Ryder lasso logo to the stock.

Red Ryd-AR Update #3

All of the metal parts have now been sand blasted and Cerakoted to match. I went with a satin finish (18:1-Graphite Black), to more closely reflect the finish of the original Red Ryder carbine, instead of an AR flat tone. I used Testors flat Cherry, with a few drops of flat black for color fill. Not sure why the color fill  photos look like different shades, shiny, or even as bright as they appear, the actually color fill is much more subtle, more of a rust-burgundy color. Same for the Cerakote, it matches.

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For those that inquired about the front lever housing and what I was going to do to strengthen it, I machined a steel external sleeve for this purpose. Heat treated and also Cerakoted to match. In the event I move forward with any sort of manufacturing of the rear stock lever assembly, the front sleeve design was included in the patent submission. The rear stock assembly would include the sleeve, and a jig for converting a forged lower.

While I tapped the upper portion of the front lever mount for 4-40 screws, the design actually uses a drill through hole, no tapping, and a pin similar to what is used on the hammer assembly of an AR (just smaller). The lower holes use a titanium 1.55 pin, identical to most anti-walk pin used for AR’s. The jig guide would only require opening the lower trigger guard mount hole to match the sleeve, then drill a top pin hole, and would include guide rails to use a Dremel for removal of the rear the magwell corners for sleeve fitment. The sleeve blends in well for as thick as the metal actually is, (better than expected, much less noticeable with a pin in the upper hole), it is extremely strong.

There is also a Cerakoted solid brass guide sleeve made for the lever catch, fitted into the rear trigger guard housing (makes that a bit more solid as well.

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I decided to go with a push button style safety to keep things clean and neat on the lower (Cerakoted, but not yet color filled). Take down pins are custom, the front was designed to better match the lower receiver take down spring well curve. The rear take down pin includes a ring for a leather strap, just like with the Red Ryder carbine.

The upper lift gate for the BCG was finished and installed, and I added my logo to the top rail (no color fill there, I wanted to keep it clean and subtle). I used a Strike industries dust cover, matches well with the Cerakote satin. I can’t remember who suggested I get rid of the ghost ring rear peep sight from my last update, but good call. I ordered a standard V blade and it looks much better (thank you).

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I've been layering the top finish on the maple stock and hand guard daily over the past week or so, hopefully I will have it done soon. It will be slightly darker than the original Red Ryder, but still have a red mahogany finish. Not sure on high gloss or satin yet. The BB gun is satin, but the gloss is looking pretty good, even with the "aged" finished stain I gave it.

Red Ryd-AR Update #4

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Thirty-plus coats of Tru-oil later (now 60+), and I finally finished up the rifle and got it assembled. Clear coat isn’t perfect, but at least now I can pinpoint any small spots and dial them in. I still sorta wish I had gone with a more extreme curly maple. What I used has some slight waves, nothing drastic. I guess the finish turned out well enough for the theme I was following. The images do not show the sheen very well, nor the deep color. The finished product is very uniform. Not sure why the images look so uneven, maybe the reflection (maybe my phone). I’m glad I used Cerakote to make sure all the metal parts match (even the bolt carrier), different shades of black may have taken away from the finished look.

The front site post is dovetailed at the top for the fiber optic rod carrier, and also at the base at the barrel clamp mount (not actually a clamp). I have a front post that is slightly over a 1/2 inch shorter to switch out if possible. This will depend on the range of the rear sight base, and at what distance I zero in the rifle. The short based would be preferred, as it will look better, but the design and measurements called for the taller site as installed. I will know more after test firing.

Concerning testing, so far so good concerning cycling.  I was a little worried in the beginning, as I was feeding Magpul dummy rounds for cycle tests. A little tough at times to cycle. I noticed this may be more of an extractor issue with the polymer (everything is brand new). So I pulled the firing pin and ran 55gr Federal. Zero issue cycling brass. While the rifle looks best with a 10 round mag, any magazine will fit and function properly, including D-60 drums. Cycling is a little tight (again, it’s all new), but fast. Like, watch that trigger finger fast.

One of the concerns I ran into early on was the bolt catch. It is not needed for this design. In fact, if the bolt catch caught on an empty mag, I wasn’t sure about jamming something up or accidentally busting a gear if I got overzealous during break-in. I didn’t want to get rid of it all together; it would create an odd void if left empty. An early “filler” concept looked really dumb. So, in the end I modded a standard bolt catch down to streamline it as narrow as possible for a better overall look. I shaved off the mag catch internal lip completely. Because I added a tension spring to the rear mechanism, the rifle always wants to return the carrier forward. Nothing drastic, only a slight forward pressure, but in the end the bolt catch ended up being necessary.

Over the next week or so I plan to continue cycling rounds and working the action daily, checking internals and signs of any possible wear before taking the rifle out to the range. Aside from the upper receiver dovetailed site rail, I have not used lock-tite to secure threads as of yet. Nothing has been altered from the standard milspec design concerning the bolt, extension, or barrel. The FCG and safety parts have not been altered either. As a lefty with my faced near the ejection port, I like to play it safe. Plus I am always paranoid I have forgotten something critical, so I try to not rush a build like this to the range. Once I make it there, and get the basic checks completed, I plan to run it and see what it can do.

A big thank you to all of those that have offered advice and tips along the way!

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Red Ryd-AR Update #5

Finally made it to the range. I kept the round count very low (25 rounds total). Specifically so I wouldn’t miss catching issues by taking a lot of ammo and getting ahead of myself. I’ve not had the time to cycle dummy rounds and go over possible “wear Issues” prior to this first trip as planned. I’ve lost nearly all of my Magpul dummy rounds under shop benches, to the cat, or in the yard! It doesn’t help that I am slightly colorblind, so combine that with the fact that the “Brain-Ninjas” at Magpul cast dummy rounds in black, and every other ejected round finds a temporal black hole to evaporate into! I ran out of them, I don’t like to test cycle live rounds at the shop.

The rifle shot high at 50 yards, so I moved the rear sight higher, allowing for a better cheek weld, and I can now install that lower front sight riser I made prior. I haven’t used any locktite as of yet for this build, thus the reason I keep checking the front sight assembly and fidgeting with parts (paranoia). Also, I am NOT an “operator” (or even slightly cool), I don’t normally shoot with Mechanix gloves. But, I didn’t wanna scratch up that wood stock I’ve got 80+ hours invested in. And if I had a housing or part burst free during test firing, maybe the work gloves would keep the rifle from taking a finger off, or maybe just prevent them from launching down range! I’m also a lefty, shooting an AR offhanded isn’t horrible for me. But THIS rifle is not a normal AR, that stupid leather strap drove me frickin nuts! The only real way I could get a somewhat clear video was to shoot offhanded (Propped the phone against a towel because I made the mistake of thinking someone at the range might offer to help).

The video is spliced at a function test with no rounds, and then three rounds fired consecutively. These are early rounds, numbers 6, 7 and 8. I shot three individual single rounds first, then two rounds to begin a cycle testing, then this video of three rounds. Still very new. I have zero experience with phone recording, or editing (it shows), or making a YouTube channel (which sucked), so please forgive the issues and short run. I will get something better done at some point down the road when I have help.

Red Ryd-AR BrickWurX Mfg. Test cycle and 3 shots

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The ammo used (55Gr federal 5.56), cycled better than the polymer dummies. It wasn’t flawless (probably because I was babying the rifle), but no ejection issues other than from time to time there was a slight “catch” within the first 1/2" of travel. I could feel it early which caused me to pause, but, the round would eject no problem. First I thought it may be the hammer sliding along the BCG on reset, but I found issue with the original design of the square headed cam pin (note the wear for so few rounds). The entire BCG is PSA, nothing wrong with the parts, I’m just using them in a way that is not "as designed" (think piston driven AR). With no gas to push the bolt hard forward unlocking the cam pin by force, it wants to catch on the upper receiver guide rail occasionally. It was only a touch of resistance, but I didn’t like it (noticeable in the video, ejecting the 3rd round, & corrected later with minor adjustments).

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That's awesome!!!!