Anyone built an MG42 kit in SA?

[jeremyro]

Its all in the title. I have an M53 kit and looking to start building. Just wanted to see if anyone local had done one. I am in norcal.

[81turbota]

Look at BRP guns, they have the receiver dimensions, semi bolt body, AR15 FCG grip stick and denial pin (easy to make yourself). I’m sitting on a 3 cut WW2 German kit and need to get off my butt.

[jeremyro]

Yeah I have all that already, I am just looking to see if anyone local has done one. What area are you in? It would be nice to have some different receiver sections to do measurements on.

[81turbota]

I’m in SoCal but I can help you with as many dimensions as I can considering my cuts. I also have a friend with a Wiselite M53 I could get my hands on as well.

[jeremyro]

That would be awesome. Thank you so much. I will PM you

[GunKraut]

Whether or not the various schematics and build sheets will be of any good depends on what you're starting out with. If you have an original cut receiver, all you need to do is reweld it in a jig and modify for S/A (and California) compliance. There's one hand drawn sheet online with pretty good dimensions, although some dimensions have been taken against wonky reference points and are outright worthless.

If you start out with an M53 kit and new receiver halves, you may end up with luck of the draw. Truth is, receiver stampings come in awesome varieties and some of them are simply garbage. The stamped halves sold by Coldsteel are only marginally better than making your own by backing a pick up truck over a pair of U-channels.

The quality of the build depends on the stamped halves. If the welding gaps are too wide, shrinkage and warpage will drive you crazy. Before doing anything, you need to fully understand how all the parts inside an MG42 go together. Everything inside the receiver is crammed and finding the correct centerline for the rails is the single most important step. You need to understand that in the front, the centerline of the rails have to line up with the centerline of the barrel and the camming pieces, otherwise the bolt wont go into battery. On the rear end, the rails need to line up with the center of the recoil buffer because the recoil buffer slides into the semi-auto extension of the bolt. Get it wrong and you can't cock the rifle or the buffer will beat the snot out of the bolt.

Study, study, study. There's a pretty good tutorial here on Calguns, google it. Also sign up for Weaponsguild.com and Weaponeer.net. They have a lot of build examples and plans. Most don't work for reasons I mentioned above. Also, those boards are brimming with know it alls who don't know squat. For the most part you're on your own. Until I reached the point of no return, every other day I was ready to give up and walk away from it. After passing the point of no return, I was ready to give up about every two hours.

Good luck.

http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showpost.php?p=22783841&postcount=6

[jeremyro]

Thank you, I think this is going to be a real headache, but I am ready for a build that will really mess with me. This kit came with a coldsteel receiver so we will see what it looks like when I get it.

Whether or not the various schematics and build sheets will be of any good depends on what you're starting out with. If you have an original cut receiver, all you need to do is reweld it in a jig and modify for S/A (and California) compliance. There's one hand drawn sheet online with pretty good dimensions, although some dimensions have been taken against wonky reference points and are outright worthless.

If you start out with an M53 kit and new receiver halves, you may end up with luck of the draw. Truth is, receiver stampings come in awesome varieties and some of them are simply garbage. The stamped halves sold by Coldsteel are only marginally better than making your own by backing a pick up truck over a pair of U-channels.

The quality of the build depends on the stamped halves. If the welding gaps are too wide, shrinkage and warpage will drive you crazy. Before doing anything, you need to fully understand how all the parts inside an MG42 go together. Everything inside the receiver is crammed and finding the correct centerline for the rails is the single most important step. You need to understand that in the front, the centerline of the rails have to line up with the centerline of the barrel and the camming pieces, otherwise the bolt wont go into battery. On the rear end, the rails need to line up with the center of the recoil buffer because the recoil buffer slides into the semi-auto extension of the bolt. Get it wrong and you can't cock the rifle or the buffer will beat the snot out of the bolt.

Study, study, study. There's a pretty good tutorial here on Calguns, google it. Also sign up for Weaponsguild.com and Weaponeer.net. They have a lot of build examples and plans. Most don't work for reasons I mentioned above. Also, those boards are brimming with know it alls who don't know squat. For the most part you're on your own. Until I reached the point of no return, every other day I was ready to give up and walk away from it. After passing the point of no return, I was ready to give up about every two hours.

Good luck.

http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/s...41&postcount=6

[jeremyro]

This has occurred to me as well. My thought is that legally the receiver once it gets to 81% is a firearm per ATF so I can laser engrave it with the info and send pictures of just the receiver in whatever condition it is in.

Before building you would need to apply for a serial number, but what if you are unable to complete the build before the deadline for sending in pictures?

[GunKraut]

These are by no means complete and reliable but they will help guiding you in the right direction. Keep in mind, dimensions are for BRP stampings and may be different for other manufacturers.

https://www.brpguns.com/content/42saprints.pdf

Look at picture #12, they are taking reference measurements from a curved surface. This is NOT how it's supposed to be done. Especially the charging handle bar and the charging handle slot require a lot of attention and numerous measurements, both for shaping the charging bar and milling its respective guide into the receiver. The charging bar will later rest between the bottom of the RHS bolt rail and the bottom surface inside the receiver, therefore the gap between rail and receiver bottom should equal the thickness of the charging bar plus the height of the cone at its end. The depth of the guide slot milled into the receiver depends on the width of the charging bar. The location of the guide slot is easy, its bottom should be in line with the inside bottom of the receiver. If this is too confusing, you've still got some reading to do.

https://www.brpguns.com/content/SemiMG42Build.pdf

The trigger group needs AR15 guts. I recommend gutting out the original grip stick, get an AR15 drop-in trigger group and use the trigger group housing as a drill jig for the grip stick before chucking it. Then implant the AR15 guts into the original grip stick. Sounds easy, huh? It's NOT, don't fool yourself. Alternatively, you can grind cheap AR15 trigger parts narrower to fit them into the original grip stick. Make sure it's Made in 'merica since you need a certain number of domestic parts to make the build legal. Apex has brand new chrome lined 8mm barrels, Made in the US of A. With some hammers you'll have to weld and shape a ramp near the bolt's guide pin so the hammer doesn't hang up on the bolt. Every operation is an uphill battle.

Good luck.

[jeremyro]

I am getting a brp grip with the AR trigger already installed so I can at least skip that

[GunKraut]

I am getting a brp grip with the AR trigger already installed so I can at least skip that

Puts you ahead of the game. You should consider getting their newly made S/A bolt as well, if budget permits. Saves a lot of time.

[jeremyro]

I did that too. I also bought a MG3 front shroud cut piece to weld onto the cut section I have in the kit. I am hopeful that these parts will make it go smoother.

Puts you ahead of the game. You should consider getting their newly made S/A bolt as well, if budget permits. Saves a lot of time.

[Yetiultimate]

Stay out of the Dumping Brass and Politics threads and you'll be ok

http://www.akfiles.com/forums/showthread.php?t=372151&highlight=Mg42

[jeremyro]

Stay out of the Dumping Brass and Politics threads and you'll be ok

http://www.akfiles.com/forums/showth...highlight=Mg42

Awesome thread! thanks for linking that. It had not come up in my searches