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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - USC/UMP Conversion (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 8/11/2013 4:10:16 AM EDT
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Hey all,
Started to convert my USC to a UMP configuration. I don't exactly have the cash to buy the parts at the moment so I thought I'd cut the vent hole in the upper first. Only problem is that I botched it slightly. Would there be anyway to salvage it? Otherwise, I guess I can live with the 'done by hand' look it definitely has now. |
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Hey all, Started to convert my USC to a UMP configuration. I don't exactly have the cash to buy the parts at the moment so I thought I'd cut the vent hole in the upper first. Only problem is that I botched it slightly. Would there be anyway to salvage it? Otherwise, I guess I can live with the 'done by hand' look it definitely has now. No!!! That is the only part I would have sub-ed out. Maybe enlarging them by a professional to hide the mistakes. Pics? In before pics of homemade barrel fluting. |
| I would send it of to try and get them enlarged and try to clean them up. The bottom one would be covered by rails, the side would still be pretty exposed. I have a railset if you want to try tthem first. Pm me if interested. I would see if they can be cleaned up. |
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Ok. Just took the pics. http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm149/SterlingMedal/SAM_0025_zpsfdf2d8b5.jpg http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm149/SterlingMedal/SAM_0023_zps8499e059.jpg http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm149/SterlingMedal/SAM_0022_zpsca7f47bc.jpg Sorry for the massive pics. Don't know how to re-size them. I imagine the vents will be functional and mostly covered up by the rails. That's pretty rough. I would send it off to have them cleaned up best as possible. The USC/UMP conversion is not the best project to start when your low on cash but the milling of the vents and magwell is the cheapest part of the conversion. This is the only part I had someone else do on mine. |
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Send it to Tom Bostic ASAP!!!!! Quoted:
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Ohhh myyyyyy GAWD!!! 
Sorry, but that looks like crap. I would send that to a professional to try to clean up. Send it to Tom Bostic ASAP!!!!! +1. That isn't even "done by hand." That is like someone with turrets and a Dremel attacked your USC... |
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Thanks for the entertaining replies guys.
Spoke to the guys at my shop yesterday and they said their gunsmith would be able to clean it up and make it look purty. Only problem is I gotta wait three weeks to put in the order. The gunsmith is taking a siesta from taking orders. |
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Thanks for the entertaining replies guys. Spoke to the guys at my shop yesterday and they said their gunsmith would be able to clean it up and make it look purty. Only problem is I gotta wait three weeks to put in the order. The gunsmith is taking a siesta from taking orders. Might try calling Tom Bostic. He was able to do me a G36K and UMP conversion in about 6-10 days. Don't know what he'd charge ya, but be faster and possibly cheaper, only thing is you'd have to ship it. |
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Might try calling Tom Bostic. He was able to do me a G36K and UMP conversion in about 6-10 days. Don't know what he'd charge ya, but be faster and possibly cheaper, only thing is you'd have to ship it. Quoted:
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Thanks for the entertaining replies guys. Spoke to the guys at my shop yesterday and they said their gunsmith would be able to clean it up and make it look purty. Only problem is I gotta wait three weeks to put in the order. The gunsmith is taking a siesta from taking orders. Might try calling Tom Bostic. He was able to do me a G36K and UMP conversion in about 6-10 days. Don't know what he'd charge ya, but be faster and possibly cheaper, only thing is you'd have to ship it. +1 He specializes in these. It's guaranteed to be done right. |
But that doesn't mean it don't heat up under the handguard. I like to shoot rapid strings of three with a half to one second in between. It gets kinda toasty after doing that for a half hour.
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http://i.imgur.com/gU8USmk.gif DUDE! Mail that upper to AviatorDave over on HKPro. He did my side and bottom vents for around $30-40. It's NOT worth hacking up a $1600 firearm for that little money!!! +1 for aviator dave, he did my conversion for me and was very fair priced. |
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Well once you start that bad, what does it really matter...??? Quoted:
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Why did you keep going? Well once you start that bad, what does it really matter...??? I look at it this way. If I screw it up, I don't really care as long as it does what it's supposed to do. If someone else screws it up, I'm gonna shove a 12ga where no man has gone before. |
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I look at it this way. If I screw it up, I don't really care as long as it does what it's supposed to do. If someone else screws it up, I'm gonna shove a 12ga where no man has gone before. Quoted:
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Why did you keep going? Well once you start that bad, what does it really matter...??? I look at it this way. If I screw it up, I don't really care as long as it does what it's supposed to do. If someone else screws it up, I'm gonna shove a 12ga where no man has gone before. With a $2000 + gun like a USC conversion, form does not necessarily follow function. Especially when resale is concerned. But if you're happy with it 
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With a $2000 + gun like a USC conversion, form does not necessarily follow function. Especially when resale is concerned. But if you're happy with it Quoted:
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Why did you keep going? Well once you start that bad, what does it really matter...??? I look at it this way. If I screw it up, I don't really care as long as it does what it's supposed to do. If someone else screws it up, I'm gonna shove a 12ga where no man has gone before. With a $2000 + gun like a USC conversion, form does not necessarily follow function. Especially when resale is concerned. But if you're happy with it I would put it closer to $3,000. But your point still stands. What other people do with there money is not my concern I guess |
| Very true about other people's money but HK guys (myself included) are usually more than a little snobbish about the looks and authenticity of their guns. That said, the only people who would probably buy that are 1) looking to strip it for and UMP parts or 2) goobs who don't know what they're looking at but think its super cool and "be willing to give you $900 for it but only if you include the laser sight and all the tacti-crap you can muster". |
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1) looking to strip it for and UMP parts Probably not... No UMP parts on a USC, and he mutilated the part you want to KEEP! Not like he messed up the USC stock, USC lower, or any of the throw-away stuff... I guess it can be fixed, but will just have larger vents... still
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| I know, I have done lots of conversions on these for customers and myself. I mentioned it because the end goal here was to do a UMP conversion. If he did that then it would be ripe for the harvest; short of a full conversion and he just successfully converted a $1500 gun into a $700 gun. |
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You all act like I'm going to sell this at some point.
Thing is, I'm not. This was a project I decided to do for the hell of it. This thing is never being sold, by me anyway. And as far as what I do with my money. It still functions properly. It's still dead on accurate with open irons. And everyone at the range still thinks it's neat, if not a little scarred now. So please, enough with the criticisms. I was just looking for help and constructive opinions. |
You look a little oversized already. Here is the CAD model I drew up before I cut mine. I based it off of measurements from an actual UMP post sample
Here is what rail coverage will look like. Aside from being bigger holes, I think that once they are cleaned, it will look fine as long as they are aligned correctly. 
The bottom one will be covered completely by the rail 
I can take more detailed pics later if you need--I just pulled these from my conversion writeup I did last year Assuming you started on the back ones on the sides first, it looks like you started out strong...maybe not a fast on the project beers next time 
Keep us posted on the results |
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You look a little oversized already. Here is the CAD model I drew up before I cut mine. I based it off of measurements from an actual UMP post sample http://i780.photobucket.com/albums/yy83/iksmith21/umpcuts.jpg Here is what rail coverage will look like. Aside from being bigger holes, I think that once they are cleaned, it will look fine as long as they are aligned correctly. http://i780.photobucket.com/albums/yy83/iksmith21/DSCN0538.jpg The bottom one will be covered completely by the rail http://i780.photobucket.com/albums/yy83/iksmith21/2012-01-24_13-57-02_209.jpg I can take more detailed pics later if you need--I just pulled these from my conversion writeup I did last year Assuming you started on the back ones on the sides first, it looks like you started out strong...maybe not a fast on the project beers next time
Keep us posted on the results Dude, I totally used your CAD model for reference. I at least have the holes the proper length thanks to you. |
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Sterling,
Totally not trying to bust your balls, I admire your courage to do it yourself, just- wow. As far as value, I don't care either what you do with your money and if you aren't looking to convert this for profit and sale, then who cares. Personally I think Tom's work is the standard to judge other's by, but if you use your local smith that's cool too. AFAIK Tom started all the UMP/G36 stuff. Unfortunately, due to lack of host-gun parts it seems like full-on conversions are slowing down 
Best of luck and keep us posted. |
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Heard back from Tom last night.
Says he'll completely redo it for $100 plus return shipping. Can't wait till I have some extra money so I can get this done right. Just waiting on the where to send the upper part. His site doesn't exist and there's really no address given for where to send this stuff. Hopefully I hear back today so I can get everything ready to ship. |
| He did 2 complete conversions for me, WAY faster than he quoted and they've held up and look/function great! Have no worries about Tom. He's good people. He doesn't have a website, but he does have a Facebook page (TommyBuiltTactical LLC) and is usually busy, so waiting for a reply can take a bit. |
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Crazy_Harry. Can you post a link to the write up that you did? I am trying to decide if I want to do a UMP as my next SBR, or a Krink. Here ya go. I had to google search for my own thread
My conversion The UMP is definitely worth it. With the suppressor, it sounds like an air stapler and is incredibly accurate. Definitely a hit at the range and I wouldn't hesitate to do it again. Doing all the work myself, I think the total project ended up around 2850 (including the $200 permission slip). This was back when a USC could be had for around $1400 though. Also, I used all HK parts instead of the grease gun lower. I figured that HK goes above and beyond with their designs and all of their parts are designed to interact. Plus, keeping it authentic is the only way to do a project at this price point anyway. That being said, mags are harder to find these days. They were hanging around $150 each when I built it but I managed to find a LEO supplier that let them go at about $80/per but I had to buy more than 5. Oh well--what is the point of a detachable mag if you only have one, right
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Definetly keep us posted on the results! By the way when you shipped it out, did you ship the entire gun or just the upper with barrel? Ok. So Tom got it done and shipped it today. I'll probably get it tomorrow/Monday. I can hardly wait. It looks great in the pic he sent and I got the rail set coming tomorrow. As far as how I shipped it.... Completely disassembled the upper. It's easy if you know the basics of how the gun is held together. You just need to take the innards out. -remove the roll pin thing that holds the barrel -remove barrel out the rear -remove the roll pin in the the cocking handle assembly -and the remove the cocking handle assembly That last assembly more or less falls apart after the roll pin is gone. There's resources online with pics. Once I have everything back together I'll take pics for all y'all. |
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Ok. I finally got everything delivered.
Everything looks great. Sorry for the massive pics again. 
All my parts laid out. 
Everything together. Too bad the screw for the handstop was stripped. Oh well, guess I'll have to hunt around for a replacement screw. 
I really like how everything turned out. I love the USC/UMP hybrid look. |
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Glad it worked out OP.
Lesson to be learned from this thread, HK carbines are NOT the project to take on with budgetary concerns in mind! These are investment pieces, like a '69 Camaro SS, corners are not to be cut. If you do cut corners not only will HK hate you (they will anyway), so will all of us. 
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Can someone explain to me what the 3 vent holes on the UMP are for? I assume its truly intended as a heat vent for the shortened UMP barrel?
Follow up question: if I'm not doing the full UMP conversion yet but putting on the 8" ump barrel and suppressor, is it safe to assume I should get those vent holes cut??!! |
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Can someone explain to me what the 3 vent holes on the UMP are for? I assume its truly intended as a heat vent for the shortened UMP barrel? Follow up question: if I'm not doing the full UMP conversion yet but putting on the 8" ump barrel and suppressor, is it safe to assume I should get those vent holes cut??!! The vent holes are for full auto use. The real UMP is full auto, so when doing the conversion the vent holes are more or less for looks. Now, the way I like to shoot mine makes the barrel heat up a good bit under the fore end. So, the vent holes come in handy if you like to shoot rapid strings. With the shorter barrel AND a suppressor I would recommend the vent holes as some gas does get sent back through the barrel from the suppressor making the barrel heat up slightly faster. But, it's still up to you. |
[ARCHIVED THREAD] - USC/UMP Conversion (Page 1 of 2)
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