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1/11/2007 4:29:04 AM EDT
Have you ever sawed off one of the KAC panels to make room to fit something on a rail and then wondered how to make use of the "stub" without it sliding on the rail? I came up with this:


    Drill a 8/32 hole (hopefully centered  ) in the stub. Thread the hole with a 8/32 tap. The plastic is plenty firm and thick enough. Screw a 8-32-1/4" button head cap screw into the hole. The 1/4" cap screw is long enough to hold the stub in place but not long enough to bottom out on the rail. The screw is hardened steel and I don't want to damage the rail. If that is not a concern you could use a longer screw and get a very firm lock up on the rail. With my set up the stub does not move anymore than normal KAC panels do. BTW its the same type of securing screw that the M5 RAS uses but smaller.


    I installed this on the side of a M-5 RAS for the pic but if you don't like the screw these stubs could be used on a top or bottom rail out of site. The stub is what was left of the panel in front of the VFG on the bottm rail.

    The 8-32-1/4 button head cap screws are a little hard to find but I had these left over from using them on a AK trigger guard when I did a screw built AK. IMHO they don't look too bad.


   Being the cheap bastard that I am I just hate to see the stubs sitting unused and I really dislike anything sliding around on a rail. I hope the pics help.

Lets hear your ideas to get this thread going. I know there is a lot of good tips and how to ideas just waiting for a place to go.  There is a old link to a tip thread from 2005 that is hot linked. Lots of good ideas there too.

OLD TIP THREAD LINK:

www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=6&f=2&t=192380






1/11/2007 4:31:37 AM EDT
[#1]
Great idea!
1/11/2007 5:42:56 AM EDT
[#2]
I’ve been doing something similar for a few years now. Instead of tapping the hole in the panel this is what I did:

Drilled through the panel, inserted a rubber automotive plug with threaded insert into the hole in my YHM HG’s at the position I wanted the panel. The screw threads into the insert causing it to expand in the HG hole securing the panel in place.

This method held up excellent for 3 years?!  I just recently retired the YHM HG’s and went with Midwest Ind.




ETA:

I noticed some slop in the KAC panels after instl on my new MI HG’s. I did some searching of the site and discovered I was not alone. My fix for this was a small bead of black RTV ran along the inside of the panel. Once cured it allows the panels to slide on easily but keeps them securely in place.



1/11/2007 5:52:47 AM EDT
[#3]
Good idea, but now you need a screw driver to remove it
1/11/2007 6:01:49 AM EDT
[#4]
Not a screw driver, but an allen (hex) key. And ya know, the entire time I used my modified panel, I only removed it maybe twice.
1/11/2007 7:03:39 AM EDT
[#5]
Its great how one idea begets another. Keep em coming. That is what this forum needs more of. BTW I had thought about using the threaded holes too but could not figure what to plug them with. A tire plug would hold up under a lot of heat too.
1/11/2007 7:09:58 AM EDT
[#6]
We had a thread running here for awhile where folks posted their ideas and tips. Guess it went to the archives.
1/11/2007 7:13:46 AM EDT
[#7]

Quoted:
We had a thread running here for awhile where folks posted their ideas and tips. Guess it went to the archives.


Maybe the mods could find it and make it in a sticky.
1/11/2007 7:20:45 AM EDT
[#8]

Quoted:
Maybe the mods could find it and make it in a sticky.



I do have connections in that dept.

ETA: I tried doing a site search and an archival search and came up empty handed. The thread was titled something like “ Post your cheap yet potentially valuable tricks.”

Maybe someone with better “search-foo” than I can find it. It was quite an old post and most of the pics are probably gone, I know I pulled mine down.
1/11/2007 8:11:19 AM EDT
[#9]
damn thats great man, I have a bunch of leftovers stubs laying around lol. I have a bunch of anodized thumbscrews in various colors and designs from my custom pc's, such as black chrome skulls maybe I'll use them.
1/11/2007 2:42:07 PM EDT
[#10]

Quoted:
We had a thread running here for awhile where folks posted their ideas and tips. Guess it went to the archives.


this one?
1/11/2007 2:49:55 PM EDT
[#11]
That's it, good find!
1/12/2007 11:27:32 PM EDT
[#12]
How about more tips. I hot linked the old thread (thanks) and changed the title in my org post. Hopefully it will take off.
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