Originally posted by Darth Lars@Nov 18 2005, 08:20 PM
Gabe:
When Boba Dept was planning a run, we also discussed a run of bull barrels that would thread into the muffler. Such a bull barrel would need the muffler portion to be threaded more deeply along its length than the real muffler is.
Perhaps this deeper depth of the internal thread could be the 'tell', if only it does not interfere with the function when used on a machine gun.
Because Boba Dept stepped down for you, I think it would be nice to let him get the chance of making the bull barrels he envisioned if he still wants to do them.
Johan, I would love to work with David on this since he's had plenty of experience with the bull barrel, and if he wants to take the lead, I'd be more than happy to stand aside. We've already spoken at length on the phone about the suppressor, and he's as eager as I am to see this come out as perfect as can be, regardless of who offers what. The only problem I forsee is that owners of Denixes, MGCs, and real Mausers will require different diameter barrels and methods of attachment given the scale differences, types of metal and the internal geometry of the attachment area. It's not a "one barrel fits all" proposition. Since the suppressor replicas are functional, I can't mess with the thread depth, unfortunately. The booster cone has a very tight slip fit inside the booster, and deeper threading may also affect how the gas is compressed and dispersed. I would simply recommend any bull barrel to have a stepped front spacer (sized to the ID of the booster) that is either concentric or off-center, depending on how the customer wants his suppressor mounted, just as MR did with their ANH blaster replica. While there are skilled members who could alter their Mauser or Mauser replica and make their own bull barrels, I believe that David, Alex (Wakal), John (Gavidoc) or someone equally qualified would have to do the conversion for most customers or offer a detailed tutorial. I know I couldn't do it with the limited tools and resources I have...
David - please jump in here any time if you'd like to address this issue, or we can talk later and coordinate it privately in order to be on the same page when the suppressors are offered.
I also think that you could make one of the vent holes drilled slightly smaller and threaded for a M5 bolt, which is bolt type I think is the one most likely used on the real prop.
Having this hole threaded would simplify attachment of the bolt for most of us and it would also be possible for the accuracy freaks to widen the hole if they would want to.
This would be a tell, but because it is so easily removed, the first one would still be needed.
I think that's a good idea too, and I've considered it, but have some reservations. Primarily, drilling the threads out would erase the tell and restore the 5 mm diameter hole, and an unscrupulous seller could still pass the replica off as an original. Only an M6 screw would work, since then drilling out the thread would leave a 6 mm diameter hole, producing a tell anyway. Here are an M5 and M6 screws for comparison, with the shortest lengths in the McMaster-Carr catalog:
Based on the head height and diameter, I don't believe that either were used with the screen-used suppressor. From my hi-res photo analysis, I pegged the head diameter at 7.5 mm - 1 mm smaller than the M5 screw, which could not "grab" the 5 mm diameter hole in the booster anyway. The closest head diameter to 7.5 mm belongs to either an M4 screw (but at 7 mm is too small), or a 10-24 screw (but at 7.9 mm is too large). In order to use a smaller thread diameter socket cap screw, the 5mm hole would have required a threaded insert like this press-fit type:
The vent hole could have been opened up by the required amount to allow a press-fit. I invite everybody to comment on and discuss this issue.
Back to the finish:
The real Mausers were blued. Could you post of a pic of the accurate flash hider and a few blued guns in the same picture so that we could compare the relative difference in finish between the two to the difference in finish between the prop parts?
Well, I know how awesome your hero blaster photos are, so I'm happy to let you do the honor. I'm at my girlfriend this weekend so I won't have access to my photos until Monday anyway.
(Gabe: btw. If you need them, I could mail you a few metric bolts. I live in the metric world, so they are real easy to find here)
I appreciate the gesture, but in the interest of time, I might as well order a bag of 100 screws from McMaster-Carr for $6 once we can agree on the screw head diameter, and I'd just throw them in with the suppressor replicas. It's possible that European metric socket cap screws have slightly different head diameters, so if you could check what they are, I'd be grateful. Let's say you can find an M5.5 or M6 screw with a 7.5 mm diameter head, I think we could be in business.
- Gabe
