FIRST SD Studios Metal Shroud Pulse Rifles

[rkpetersen]

This all started with two HCG Pulse Rifles. When I ordered them, I thought they'd be the coolest thing ever, but by the time they shipped, my PR expectations had risen and they were fairly disappointing. The metal shrouds were awesome, but let's face it, any noticeable barrel droop is too much, and it wasn't cool when the bolt on one snapped off while showing the prop to a friend.

So I talked to Steve, and managed to entice him into building twin Ultra SD Pulse Rifles, one for me and one for him, from the metal shrouds on my two HCGs, and the best available parts we could find. The project came together surprisingly fast, less than 4 months start to finish, and I just received mine the other day. Now this is what I call a pulse rifle! Here's what went into each of these beauties:

HCG metal shrouds.
SD Thompson aluminum upper.
Real Thompson M1A1 lower, bolt, and magazine.
Real deactivated Remington 870 - supplied by Matsuo.
Real SPAS-12 cage and pump.
SD aluminum barrel and 8-hole barrel shroud.
SD steel collapsible stock.
SD custom aluminum magazine buttplate - you can slam this baby in hard.
Custom Lightbenders counter - more compact design to fit the tighter space constraints.
Matsuo resin grips.

This is just an awe-inspiring pulse rifle in so many ways. Kudos Steve, great work as usual!

 

[JasonCash]

Beauties....

 

[Stefan Jones]

My warmest congratulations to these two wonderful Pulse Rifles

 

[C0mmand3rC0dy]

Damn that is one of the best pulse rifles I have ever seen, if I only had the money.

 

[gyoung2993]

Yeah ,Steve with SD studios ,is definitely one bad dude ,now he can make a hero version pulse rifle ,he made alot of parts for me that made my hero version ,build come to life ,the man is a genius......Congrats ,you must be jumpin up and down,best prop I ever had and extremely heavy too....Guy Young

 

[Brucelee42]

very nice work! I like seeing this kind of detail!

 

[Xhiwar]

:cry
It's so beautiful!

Still waiting for my HCG shrouds, it's a mess, can't import the HCG gun myself (stupid gun laws) and then the local dealer went belly-up... Thank god I didn't pay in advance.

But Matsuo came to the rescue and I ordered a set of HCG shrouds from him. Still waiting for them though, but I hear he's got a lot going on right now.

Anyways, FANTASTIC Pulse Rifle. I might have to contact SD regarding the mag base.

 

[darkchylde80]

*dribbles* ................. damn sexy pulse rifles!!

 

[Raven]

fantastic - what would one of these cost if you dont mind - would be very interested

Steve

 

[LDR]

Very nice!

Dont suppose you could make some more metal mag bases? I'd definately be interested in buying one.

I'm doing a PR build at the moment with PFC (cap) guns, and HGC shrouds. Last thing i need to sort out is a metal mag base.

Please say you'll make more! lol


Lewis

 

[SD Studios]

Thanks for the nice feedback!

I hadn't heard anything from RK, so I was wondering if he had received the rifle in ok, and if he liked it.

I guess he DID. :lol

Upon detailed examination, the HCG shrouds were pretty rough. I had to plane a lot of the surfaces and the mag wells on these two were not 90 degrees, so I had to do a lot of milling and grinding to get everything exactly square and fitting perfectly. I also gave them to the machine shop to do the larger-scale milling, as they didn't fit well on the real weapons. That alone cost $150.

There were also a lot of odd gaps around the shroud where it meets the Thompson and SPAS components. I filled a lot of these in with plastic strip and epoxy to make it look more "finished". I also tossed and replaced all of the HCG hardware, plates, connectors, and screws and used my own (heavier) parts. I noticed that they GLUED the screws into over-sized holes in some places. :confused

I relocated the screws and TAPPED them in properly.

Other that that, the shrouds are amazing. They are cast aluminum, machine very well, and are very strong. they are METAL baby!

I am not planning to make any more metal mag bases right now, sorry. They were a bit expensive and the shop only machined the rough shape. I had to spend a couple of hours on the belt-sander and scotchbrite wheels to get the correct shape blended in.

Thanks to the folks who said they would like to have one of these rifles. But the cost for one is VERY high. If you can't afford $4k to $5K, don't even think about it.

They are definitely not for everyone. There are a lot of very nice, much-cheaper alternatives out there.

I know that *I* couldn't afford one. :lol

 

[LDR]

Nice build.

Shame about the mags....anyone else thinking of making a metal version?

 

[gyoung2993]

I havent heard ,but if they do ,count me in ,I definitely want one for mine.......

 

[LDR]

Steve, Would you consider it if there was some interest? Even if people had to sand the mag themselves to fit their own PRs?

 

[SD Studios]

I GUESS I could ask the shop to machine them a bit closer. They could use one of my modified ones as a pattern.

But you would have to do the final rounding-off yourself. The biggest problem is that the front two radii, change considerably as they go from top to bottom.

I dunno. lemme check....

 

[Brucelee42]

If you would like a CAD model generated, be glad to help out! (then you could just CNC them...)

 

[LDR]

Steve, I think with all the different internals and slight variations in the HGC shrouds, people would HAVE to finish the mags themselves for a perfect fit.

 

[MooMooEgg]

*DROOOLS* thumbsup:thumbsup

 

[C0mmand3rC0dy]

Ok, time to rob some banks.... kidding, I promise :lol

 

[kurtyboy]

Awww... for a minute there I thought you were saying SD Studios were making metal shrouds

Nice PR though!

*DROOOLS* thumbsup:thumbsup