www.MG42.us

This is a repost of a build Im doing on the weaponsguild site. I figured it would fit in well here too.

Well my welding is getting better (at least for me) so I thought Id start on my M53 project. Ive already posted pictures of the front and rear BRP stampings so Ill not post em here.
This is also likely going to be a long term project as I do it when I feel like it and sometimes its just irritating . I just wanted to start posting as things were fresh in my mind.
The first thing I did was to square up my cut 53 shroud. Nothing special there just hit it with a dremel and cut the least amount off to make it square.
Then I had to measure out the front stamping section to see how much I needed to use as filler. I cut the shroud just behind the camming piece "stops" (the little ramp looking things in the middle of the cut sections). I also cut at the same area on the stampings and used the rear 1 1/2" for the filler.


After that I had to measure out the difference in the top to bottom area of the stamping sections. Mine came out to needing a total of .497 so I cut .248 from each section your measurements may vary on that.


Here they are before trimming


After they were sized it all came down to tacking them on.


First I tacked the top then lower section next I welded it up. Im paranoid about warping so I welded about a dime to quarter size section at a time, let it cool then did the same on the reverse side. It came out pretty good. You can see where one is a tad longer than the other this is because one stamping was a little longer than the other. The ramps and stops came out even.


You'll notice that I have sides labeled "A" that is to make sure I have the top one on the top area and the bottom one on the bottom area. Basically I idiot proofed it.

The front stampings were dead on side to side and after test fitting the rear stampings it looks like they will be dead on top to bottom. So Im pretty happy with the results so far. Next Ill start on the rear stampings.

So I hit the rear part of the stampings and got that done heres what I did. First I measured it and cut the appropriate areas to make the rear stampings correct width wise. I didnt take any pix but had to remove about a 1/8" on both sides. Next I cut some wood the exact width of the INSIDE of the receiver and placed one in front and one in the rear.
Its already welded here but you can see how I did the spacers


I used 3 rubber bands to hold the shell together while I determined what I needed to remove to make the buffer fit. Basically it went "dremel some, put together, try to fit buffer". I did this for about 2 days.... I can tell you it sucked.....alot. In the end I got a really good fit though.



After the buffer was taken care of I did the cutouts for the charging handle. I found the easiest way to mark it was to lay it out on the table, mark the table and transfer that to the shell.


You will notice the binder there. I do one for all my builds (well both of them so far). It has all info that Ive found helpful off the net as well as some pictures to give me a good reference of what the final part should look like. It makes things real easy.
After all the dremeling was done the welding started


I spot welded on all the corners first with my spacers still installed, then welded it up. I took this painfully slow but Im not that good a welder so I didnt want to screw this up. It turned out pretty well.


After that it was just grinding down the weld and grinding out the weld from the buffer area (you can see that in the spacer picture).
Now its starting to look like something

Nice work Flemgunner!

Thanks for sharing the step by step and the very clear illustrations for each step.

It is encouraging to us guys on the sideline wishing we could do a build on our own.

Nice clear examples like that help to see the work that needs to be accomplished.

Just one question...was this build sponsored by Coca-Cola??

Interesting product placements :P

I agree with noonxnoon, this is a nice build to have as I do not know of any other BRP-stamping builds chronicled here.

Also good idea with the binder, my work space always looks like Hitler's East Prussian HQ AFTER the suitcase device exploded, I can never find anything, which is a good excuse for never finishing anything

Well I went and hit it somemore. I got the ejection slot almost all done (just need to fine tune the lower width)


I also cut the slot for the charging handle. this was done using 5 of the #402 dremel cut off discs stacked up together on the holding "rod" It turns out that this is the perfect size for the charging handle slot! I basically went alittle at a time till I got the handle to fit and slide well.


I had to take a small amount off the outside of the charging handle to make it fit completely but it worked out real well

Next I hit the front shroud again. I had welded on my extensions but still needed to do my camming piece windows. I used these to get my measurements correct (I have them if ya need em)


First I cut the LH window and test fit the camming peice, I had to remove a little it of material but got a real good fit. Next was the RH one. This one is way bigger and only has three sides due to the barrel ejection door.
Here is the initial cut

and here it is completed


I popped in the other section of the camming piece to check the fit and make sure that the barrel door locked up and again all worked out fine.

The next day this happened in south Louisiana. Gentlemen I give you global warming


I then went back to the rear section. I fit the top cover and feed tray to the rear section. It wasnt to hard, I only had to remove a little bit of material from the front of the feed area to make the tray sit flat. Only took my dremel with a grinding disc


Now we come to what I think is the hardest part so far putting in the bolt rails.
First I put in the recuperator.
I found that the measurements that I had fro the rivet holes wouldnt work as there was a big gap between the rail and the camming piece. So I lined up the LH rail (its the one over the recuperator) with the camming piece.
Now keep in mind I dont have any holes on the side of the receiver, including the "D" shaped one so I couldnt sit the rail flat when I marked the hole.
I then took measurements of the holes on the rails and the section where the "D" cutout is. I measured this about 14 times to make sure I got it right and transferred it to the side of the receiver.
I first drilled the front hole then did the "D" cut out, I used a drill to get the rounded part and dremeled out the rest. At this point I could set the rail against the outside of the receiver and check my marks for the other holes. They looked good so I drilled em.............and found out that they were all a little less than an 8th of an inch off.
SO after throwing some curses at the thing I filled the holes (I needed some welding practice anyway) and tried again. The second time I got it right and mounted the rail.
I then took he correct measurements and transferred em to the RH side................ and did it again, 1/8th inch off.
The next day, I filled the holes redrilled and mounted the RH rail.
Thats the explanation about the heated areas around the rail rivet holes.

You'll notice in this pic I also tested the bolt to travel down the rails and to engage the camming piece. I had to file a little bit but it works like it should now.
And thats where Im at now

With several folks doing these builds I thought that I would bring this up again for everyone to check out.

Later 42rocker

Thanks Flem and Rocker

Steve

Reading and looking through this post makes me feel better about my summer project. Was flipping out on what i am going to get myself into. Looks easy enough as long as you follow the steps and take your time. My friend knows how to TIG weld and a Drimmel is going to be my tool of choice for everything else. Also where did you get the diagrams from? luckily the kit I am getting appears to have a lot of material on the shroud you had to reattach so I might get lucky with that.

Well, welcome to this site... There are a lot of great folks on this site with lots of info as you can see. First thing to do is go through the site using the search button and also review the stickies section. As far as the drawings for the brp parts the best place to go (after this site) is the brp website.
http://www.brpguns.com/
LOOK hard and you will find his drawings.
GREAT summer project that you are starting and I hope that before summers end you will have it done and working.

Later 42rocker