Mujahadeen AR-15

Page One Title

Building an 80% AR-15 Receiver
With Only Hand Tools.
(Originally posted on AR15.com by Blakely Noble)

This is a long post that may

not interest the average
viewer. It is posted to give an
insight into finishing 80%
castings by a complete
novice using only HAND
TOOLS.
There have been some great
postings on this subject from
engineers, machinists and
metallurgy scientists. Most of
this information was great, Tools minus hacksaw

helpful and thoughtful DATA.

Don't get me wrong, when
these guys are talking about
Rockwell testing and their
new Hobart milling machine I
wish that I had that kind of
knowledge and equipment.
But I don't. What I do have is
a desire to gain knowledge
and share it with others.
If some foreign power
invaded the United States the
way the Soviets invaded
Afghanistan and we were
forced to build our arms the
way the Muhajadeen did,
could it be done with the tools
and resources that I have on
hand.
I'm not a machinist, tool
maker or mechanic. I was a
tank mechanic in the Army,
but most Army mechanics are
only parts changers. I was a
good parts changer. I am now
a human resources manager
for a computer hardware
manufacturer. I am also a
patriot and a pretty good jury
rigger. (Someday I'll with a
book called "Doing the Job
Right With the Wrong Tool!")
Before I started this project, I
set limits on the tools, power,
equipment, supplies and
outside help. I have less than
the average amount of tools;
a 3/8" drill, a set of bits up to
1/2", a set of files, sandpaper,
a hacksaw, a Handy Clamp
clamp (my vise), a package of
JB Weld (good stuff), a
DPMS lower, a Model 1 parts
kit, a pack of Red Man and a
box of Band-Aids.
What I wanted to make was
not beauty but function. I
wanted the weapon to fire a
minimum 400 rounds.
Although I expect this
weapon to last a very long
time. In an insurgent action
this is enough to allow me to
find or steal another weapon.
So I ordered a grade 3 cast
80%completed receiver from
Tannery Shop.

TANNERY_SHOP@HOTMAI
L.COM
William was very helpful and
gave me some hints that I will
pass on in this post. The cost
was $40.00 plus $4.00 for
shipping although the box
only had $3.85 in postage on
it. Hey Will, where is my
$.15?
Never mind, I ordered the
receiver on Tuesday and it
was delivered on Saturday!
Great customer service! I
ordered the grade 3 receiver
because I was not sure what
the end result would look like
and because I'm cheap. I
was expecting some horrid,
malformed piece of
aluminum. WhatI got was a
fully serviceable receiver that
will soon be a fully
functioning weapon.
Comparing the quality of the
grade 3 to my DPMS was like
comparing a Chinese SKS to
a Russian SKS. The fit and
finish are not there but you
know that you can count on
the Chinese SKS EVERY
TIME you pull the trigger.
There were two some
blemishes on the outside and
two more on the inside. The
outer blemishes can be
sanded out and I didn't care
about the inner ones. The
only real issue with the inner
dimensions of the trigger well
that I will address later.
The most important thing to
remember about working with
the grade 3 is, don't be afraid
to make a mistake with it. If
you completely destroy it
(which I seriously doubt you
could do) you would only be
out $43.85. I made several
mistakes while drilling. I
simply filled the holes with JB
Weld and re-drilled the next
day. Eventually, I plan to
finish my receiver with
Brownells Molly Coat and no
one but you and I will ever
know. As they say in the
Army, "Paint hides a
multitude of sins."
I'll list the steps in the order
that I did them.

Step 1. Hide the receipt from

your wife. I suggest that you
open a checking accountwith
a debit card in your name
only so that your gun
purchases will not be on your
jointaccount. (Have the
statements sent to your
worthless brother in law.)
Step 2. Drill out the forward
pivot pin hole. This is soooo
easy. The hole is already
there. I didn't even mount the
receiver in my vise (My wife's
kitchen table and a 8" "C"
Clamp).The holes that are
there will guide the 1/4" bit.

Step 3. Mark the rear take down pin hole. There are several
ways to mark this. You could use a ruler, calipers or some
other measuring device to mark the spot. www.ar15.com has
a good set of blueprints. You could make a pencil rubbing
with a piece of paper on a finished receiver. You could guess
and hope for the best. I put a spare 1/4" drill bit through the
front pivot pin holes in BOTH my DPMS and the 80%. This
lines up one end the receiver. To line up the rear end I laid
both receivers upside down on a flat level surface (Let's see.
maybe my wife's table again) so that the flat spot on top of the
buffer tubes lined up the rear ends perfectly then clamped
them together! This is really an eyeball/ guess procedure but I
got a really good alignment this way.
 Jig

Step 4. Drill the receiver. Once you have the alignment

correct it is simple to drill the
holes the trigger pin, hammer pin, and rear take down pin. If
you are using a finished
receiver as a jig be careful not to put any pressure on the pin
holes of the finished
receiver. Work slowly. William suggested that you drill out
each side separately by
moving the finished receiver to each side. I felt that my
alignment was very good so I
drilled through both sides at one time. This worked well.
Step 5. Mill the top of the lower receiver. The receiver comes
with A LOT of extra material where the top and lower
receivers meet. This stops you from being able to close the
receiver. It would be great to use a mill or belt sander to
remove this but in keeping with the spirit of this project I used
a file and sandpaper. I don't know how much I
removed; I don't have a micrometer. I simply put the front pin
in and worked the top of the lower receiver with a file until the
rear take down hole lined up with the hole in the rear tang of
the upper. You may have to "mill" out the lower receiver
where the rear tang of the upper fits. (See Step 6) The most
challenging part of this process was the radius cut where the
lower turns up. I had to use a rat-tail file. This is a file and fit
process. This took about 4 hours of filing and sanding but if
you use a belt sander it should only take about 1 hour and
should give a very even finish.
Step 6. Fit the rear tang into the lower. The area in the lower
receiver where the rear take down pin hole goes is too narrow
for the upper receiver rear tang (where the pin goes). Simply
file this out until the tang will fit. Be careful to take material
evenly off both insides so that the upper receiver will be
centered to the lower. If you us a Dremmel
this would take about 30 minutes but by hand it was about 1.5
hours.

Step 7. Drill the bolt hold open spring hole. This was a very
simply step. I tested drill bits on the finished receiver to find
the right size, then marked the correct depth on the bit with a
piece of masking tape. This tape was my depth mark. When
the tape was at the same depth on the 80% as I had marked
on the finished receiver I stopped. I marked the location for
this hole by using my calibrated eye (the left one). This is
easy because the hole is in such a small limited area.
Step 7. Install the bolt hold open lever. The correct way to drill
this hole is to get a 3/32x 6" bit from William at
TANNERY_SHOP@HOTMAIL.COM
I think they are less than $5. This is how I did it. In keeping
with the spirit of this project and since I didn't have this tool, I
had to figure how to make this work. It took me several hour
of thinking (When I play - I plays hard, when I work - I works
hard, when I think - I falls to sleep!) to come up with a
solution. I considered leaving it off. I would still have a
completely serviceable weapon- the AK doesn't have a bolt
hold open and no one would argue with the success of that
weapon. But I wanted to have a fully functioning AR-15 so I
had to come up with something and there is NO WAY to drill
that hole without the right tool. What I will say next will get a
lot of insulting flames from the techno-elite on this site but
remember this is an insurgent weapon. I took a hacksaw
blade and cut into the bolt hold open mounts on the same
axis as the hole should be. I cut down to the depth where the
bolt hold open pin would lay at the correct depth. This left two
"cradles" for the pin to lay in. I then put the pin into the hold
open lever, mounted the spring and clamped these into place
with my 8" "C" clamp. A little JB Weld replaced the metal that
had been removed with hacksaw blade. The next morning I
filed/sanded down the JB Weld and had a functional hold
open device! I know that this is jury rigging at its highest level
but it works very well.
Step 8. Install the
magazine release. This
was a pretty
straightforward
installation. There was
a small amount of finish
filing but the release fit
as normal.
Step 9. Install the pistol
grip. This was the most
fun part of the project. I
did not have the correct tap to cut the threads. I thought about
JB Welding the handle on or JB Welding the bolt into place.
Then I remembered a trick I saw my Dad do. I found a hex
head bolt with the same thread as the size and pitch as the
grip bolt. I placed this in my "C" clamp vise then cut a
hacksaw cut across the threads, along the
length of the bolt on 4 sides. I then tapered the end of the bolt
with a file then cleaned up what was left of the threads on the
end of the bolt. I had created a tip! My Daddy would have
tempered this with a torch to harden it, but since I was
working with aluminum, this was more than hard enough. I
drilled a hole one bit size smaller than the
bolt. I slowly worked the "tap" into this hole turning only 1/4 of
a turn then backing out to clear the cuttings. At first it tried to
go in crooked but I remembered that I was smarter that at
least 75% of the metal on that receiver so I kept it straight and
it cut a clean set of threads. There is room on the receiver
where the handle fits to make a test
hole. The handle will cover this.
Step 10. Ream out the buffer tube hole. With the upper and
lower receiver pinned together, put your finger in the buffer
tube hole. This is the path the bolt carrier musttravel during
recoil. You have to remove enough material from the inside of
the buffer tube hole to allow the carrier to come out of the
receivers and into the buffer tube that will be there. Then you
have to remove enough material so the tube can be installed.
This hole MUST be centered with the upper receiver or the
bolt will rub /bind in the buffer tube. This is another file and fit
operation. Since I don't have the tap for this (you can rent it
from William for $10) I plan to JB Weld the tube into place. At
first I was bothered about this but the buffer tube is only $12
so what the heck. Keep filing and checking that the hole is
centered until you can fit the BACK END of the buffer tube
into the hole. I did this because the back end is the same size
as the front end of the buffer tube without the threads. I
removed the threads from the tube because this is easier than
enlarging the hole to accept the threads.To test the alignment
of the tube, assemble both receivers with the bolt carrier and
charging handle. Hold the tube in place and slowly pull the
carrier into the tube by using the charging handle. Listen/feel
for the carrier rubbing against the inside of the tube. If it gets
bound just remove the tube. If it rubs, adjust the hole with a
file to align the tube.This took about 3 hours but it could be
done in about 30 minutes with a Dremmel.
Step 11. Drill the buffer retaining pin hole. Put the buffer tube
in the receiver hole as far as the buffer tube shoulder will
allow. This shoulder is behind the treads on the buffer tube.
The buffer tube retaining pin has a tit on it. This tit needs to be
forward of the tube with the shoulder of the retaining pin
under the tube. I used the tit on this pin to mark the hole by
dipping the tit into ink and marking a point on the bottom
inside of the buffer tube hole as close to the buffer as
possible. Use the correct size of bit and measure the depth of
the hole on the finished receiver and mark the depth with
masking tape. The hole should be tilted toward the front of
receiver by 6 degrees. You will have to tilt the bit to clear the
buffer tube ring. This is about 6 degrees.
Step 12. Drill the hole for the retaining pins for the safety, rear
pin and front pin. This was scary. If you use a drill press it
would be easy. But I used my hand drill and was surprised
how easy it was to eye ball them. I drew a line on the outside
of the reciever as a guide. I'm so good! If I had made a
mistake, I would have repaired it with JB Weld tried again.
Step 13. Drill out the alignment hole for the butt stock. Simple
operation.
Step 14. Correcting the
fire control well. I left
this for last because I'm
not sure why this
happened. With the
receiver of or opened
and the hammer is
froward and resting on
the front of the fire
control will, it is too far
forward. It goes past
Top Dead Center. This
may be because the hammer pin hole is too far forward or
because the divider between the fire control well and the bolt
hold open well is slightly narrower than My DPMS. This
causes the top of the hammer to hit the bottom of the firing
pin if you try to close the receiver with the hammer forward. I
put some JB Weld in the well where the hammer rests and
the problem was corrected. You should never drop the
hammer with the receiver open on and AR-15. I have seen
several damaged in the Army this way.
I fired a few rounds behind a friend's barn and it works
perfectly. I'll be putting a lot of ammo through it next weekend.
Conclusion. This was a fun project, well worth the $44. I will
be firing Betsy next weekend to test durability. I am a retired
soldier and I would not be afraid to use the rifle any time in
the defense of my home and country.

Blakely Noble and the Mujahadeen AR-15

I had a request to post my parkerizing solution mixture so

here it is:
I use a mixture of 1/2 gallon technical grade Phosphoric acid
to 8 ounces manganese dioxide . The Phosphoric acid is
mixed with 9 gallons water in a stainless trough and brought
to a rolling boil. The Manganese Dioxide is then slowly mixed
in the solution and boiled for 10 minutes. When the parts are
ready to parkerize after blasting with coarse ground glass I
reheat the solution to 190 degrees F and immerse the part in
the solution until foaming stops.
Then I remove the part from the solution, rinse with cold
water, oil with a mixture of 1 gallon WD40 and 1 quart
chainsaw oil, dry and re-oil. I have built over 300 guns this
year alone using this method. The finished guns are near
black and retain oil very well.