Repairing and modding a P.712 mauser spring gun (ANH DL44)

[Timmythekid]

Being in Canada, I've now gone through a roundabout way and got a P.712 Mauser spring gun (yes, without realizing it was the wrong model) as a base for a Solo ANH gun. Problem is, my kids managed to get their hands on it for about 15 seconds and somehow broke whatever springs the hammer back to un-****** when you pull the trigger. Since it was pretty quickly diabled, I'm guessing this can't be too rare. There`s some kind of linkage still there, becuase where you pull the trigger it releases something and the hammer flops down. if it`s not ******. Before opening the thing up, and risking making it completely non-functional, I was wondering if anyone has any experience poking around inside and might have some tips or thoughts on fixing it.
Also, I had stumbled on an old old thread where there was a dead link to modding this gun to more closely resemble the C96 which the Solo ANH Hero and GK was built on. Anyone have either ideas on that or a working link? Thanks, guys!!!!

 

[Gatekeeper]

Basically, you need to modify the right side of the lower receiver by removing the selector knob and building up the machined "edges" above the trigger and handle.
Come to think of it, there's an excellent tutorial over here.

 

[Timmythekid]

GREAT tutorial, thanks for linking that - it's exactly what I was looking for!!!!!....may have to be a little more...strenous...as the p.712 is all metal rather than the plastic double eagle in the tutorial. The only dilema with it is that that walk-through is so good it makes me want to tackle the ESB version instead, but I REALY need to do of of the ANH guns for my costume....

 

[Gatekeeper]

No worries... you can always make more blasters later! For an ANH, you could basically go with the base work on the Mauser as shown in the tutorial. As the right side of the lower receiver will be greeblie-free (unless you opt for the mystery disc), you'll want that side to look good. The left side is more or less covered by the scope mount.

I gather your gun is made of some other (softer) metal than steel, so grinding and sanding won't be too much harder. And you won't have to worry about breaking a plastic gun...
As for the "panel" work, plasticard or sheet styrene would work, though if you want to keep the blaster all metal, I guess sheet metal would be fine too.

Also, you'll need to come up with a solution for the bull barrel. There are blaster builds where a larger diameter pipe has been jammed in top of the existing barrel, but that won't really give you the ANH look. For my Solo ANH, I used an aluminum piece which I shaped accordingly and attached to the upper receiver (after cutting the barrel). Not 100%, but pretty close.

 

[Timmythekid]

Not too worried about mixing materials, and that's my plan at the moment (some dollarstore plastic signs for the details) - I mean, it's a $12 airsoft, not a Denix or anything. In fact, I'm hoping to find some resin pieces to complete (I mean, jeeze why is it so hard to find resin GK pieces?), or possibly slice and dice an extra Rubies DL44 I've got laying around. As a last resort, I might try to find some way of using my drill press and a chunk of plastic to lathe the muzzle. The gun just isn't worth $200 for a conversion kit in metal. It looks like there used to be a couple of supliers for resin conversion kits, but can't seem to find any of them now. I've heard the term 'bull-barrel', usually when people are complementing a build for including it, but have NO idea what it's reffering to; care to enlighten me?

 

[Gatekeeper]

Basically, a bull barrel is a reinforced barrel that doesn't taper towards the muzzle. The thickness of the material adds strength and heat buildup.
The ANH blaster was put together by UK prophouse Bapty, and it is generally believed that the gun was used in the 1967 movie The Naked Runner, in which Frank Sinatra plays a former spy who wields a sniper version of the Broomhandle. In this Parts of Star Wars photo gallery you can see shape of the heavier barrel pretty well.

As for the front grill, this place came up in a recent ANH blaster thread.

 

[Gatekeeper]

Sorry about the crappy pic... here's my blasters/Broomhandles. You can see the bull barrel on the ANH one.

 

[Timmythekid]

Thanks again, and nice blasters! Was the GK the same in terms of the heavier barrel? Yeah, I'd checked in on the thread introducing the Shapeways file...haven't seen anyone other than the author post on what the final result looks like. If going that route, I'm also interested in seeing if anyone has tried to do the flash hider the same way, or the GK scope/mount, since it seems that's the hardest stuff to find. I don't have a file suitable to run a print from, and haven't seen one. Started cutting into the 712 today-not impossible, but definitely a chore, and I'm chewing through cutting wheels pretty fast on it.

 

[Gatekeeper]

Thanks! They're a bit of "works in progress", all except the MR Luke LE... the Denixes will get wood grips and the MGC needs... all of the addons.
The Greedo Killer has a standard barrel, adorned with an M9 flash hider. Haven't seen the Shapeways thing live either, but it looks interesting, seems more accurate than the Blast-Tech.

Check with Vince (Correllian Exports) on GK mount availability.

Go with the high-tensile fiberglass Dremel discs - I use them for Denix work and swear by them. They're quite a bit of a hazard when they do break though... use safety goggles!

 

[Timmythekid]

Hey, guys! I found this replica flash hider which is claimed to be a reproduction of the M3. I don't know the parts as well some of you guys, is this a reasonable piece? It says it's a version for the M1 carbine, but I don't know if there's more than one version.

Oops, may want to post the link...
http://www.keepshooting.com/m1-carbine-flash-hider.html