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Posted: 11/20/2008 10:08:36 AM EDT
| who has taken an 80 % lower and compleated it? i just bought one and was curious, i just have a drill press and some other hand tools will this be enought? i also bought the jig that goes with it. |
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Same boat here. Just bought 4 80% lowers, jig w/ buffer tube guide, bits and tap. It seems many of us decided to go this route. Not sure if it's enough to justify a sub-forum for the 80% crowd, but I know there will be many questions asked in the next several months.
There are some builds I've seen with completed 80% lowers on them here. Most of them look nice too. |
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I have not built one but did work in a machine shop at one point and in reading the writeup on 80%ers posted here in the FAQ's I think you would be hard pressed to do a good job with just a drill press.
I think a small mill and a x/y axis vise or table are going to be needed for cutting the slots and flats.....You might do it in a really strong drill press with a x/y vise but your failure potential would be very high. |
I finished this 80% lower earlier this year. I used another lower as a pattern (jig) to locate the critical holes. I just clamped them side by side and parallel, then drilled through to the 80% unit and reamed all the drilled holes to the final size. All the rest of the holes were rather easy to layout and drill. I did it all on a drill press with a good 2-axis slide vise. Another guy and I shared the cost of the drill and tap for the extension tube. Finished the whole thing with flat black Norrell's Moly Resin. This is really a great product.
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Quoted:
I finished this 80% lower earlier this year. I used another lower as a pattern (jig) to locate the critical holes. I just clamped them side by side and parallel, then drilled through to the 80% unit and reamed all the drilled holes to the final size. All the rest of the holes were rather easy to layout and drill. I did it all on a drill press with a good 2-axis slide vise. Another guy and I shared the cost of the drill and tap for the extension tube. Finished the whole thing with flat black Norrell's Moly Resin. This is really a great product. http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/medium/LW_Rt_Side_No_Scope_Closeup.jpg http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/medium/LW_Lt_Side_No_Scope_Closeup.jpg http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/medium/9237LW_Carbine_2.jpg where did you buy the moly resin? |
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I finished this 80% lower earlier this year. I used another lower as a pattern (jig) to locate the critical holes. I just clamped them side by side and parallel, then drilled through to the 80% unit and reamed all the drilled holes to the final size. All the rest of the holes were rather easy to layout and drill. I did it all on a drill press with a good 2-axis slide vise. Another guy and I shared the cost of the drill and tap for the extension tube. Finished the whole thing with flat black Norrell's Moly Resin. This is really a great product. http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/medium/LW_Rt_Side_No_Scope_Closeup.jpg http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/medium/LW_Lt_Side_No_Scope_Closeup.jpg http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/medium/9237LW_Carbine_2.jpg where did you buy the moly resin? I purchased the Moly Resin directly from Norrell Firearms http://www.johnnorrellarms.com/ |
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I just finished one last week. It was a lot more difficult than I thought it would be. I did not use a jig because I have access to a milling machine with a digital readout. I went very slow and tried to be careful, but I still messed up two holes. I was able to fix them, but it really annoyed me and caused me a lot of extra work. In retrospect a jig would have made it a whole lot easier. Just setting up for each operation was a pain without the jig. Be glad you have one. Check your fire control and rear lug internal sizes. My lower was 0.030" small in both areas. Fixing that could be a pain with just a drill press.
I learned a lot doing it and am now thinking about doing a 0% lower. Good luck. |
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I did one a few years ago with a drill press, dremel and a few files and hand tools, of course I had to buy all the correct size drill bits, buffer tube tap and reams.
I was inspired by something I saw on TV about guys in Afghanistan, about the afghans coping soviet arms with hand tools in a cave using rocks for a work bench. I thought it was petty hard to do but mine turned out O.K. and functions fine, I have yet to put some type of finish on it but will one day. |
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No actual experience, but the ATF standard for an 80% lower just changed. The new version with almost everything complete except the FCG/trigger well looks even easier to finish with just a drill press. Same here - and correct you are on the newer standard (which seems to change every couple of years). New standard: "80%" is, and always has been an inaccurate description. BATFE does not use the term and its also being re-defined all the time. As for the latest interpretation of where the line is drawn between a chunk of metal and a gun, from 2008, and directly from BATFE, this appears to be it: "Here is the new "standard" for 80% AR-style receivers. "Our Branch has previously determined that dimples or other indexing marks for pivot pin holes are counted as if the holes were fully drilled. Additionally, we have previously found that if any portion of the trigger group cavity area of an AR-type receiver has been milled (regardless of whether or not pivot pin holes are present), then that receiver-blank can be recognized as a "firearm" frame or receiver." Source: FTB Letter 903050:MMK 311/2008-650" |
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I have all the jigs that Justin at CNC made, they are first rate tools and am waiting on my lower to show up so I can get busy, sure a completed one would be cheaper but the thought of doing it myself has got me stoked up.
I have 2 other completed rifles and have a Bohica Arms FAR50MK111 on order that I plan on doing a heavy duty lower for. |
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