www.MG42.us

I know there are plenty of 1910 maxim blank sideplates out there, does anyone have an idea of who would make a blank 1908 sideplate that could be used for a semi build?

I have never inspected an 08 Left plate, and the last time I picked up an 08 Right plate, I did not really know what to look for, does anyone think these would be very difficult to make blanks for???

Do you have a left Plate? & are they a mirror of each other ? if so thicker steel plate copied from left & milled down with Islands for semi Block.

I have not seen the guts on these but the Semi Maxim conversion should work with these as well if your looking to make it a shooter

rocco,

I can show-off the knowledge I have learned fro the great guys here, okay on the Mg08 (for the most part) the left plate is the part that is regulated under the NFA. There is where my knowledge ends

I do not have a left one, neither do I have a right, so I am hoping to pitch your question back to the peanut gallery, maybe someone could tell me where to get CAD drawings. I would like to make mine a semi if my budget permits.

Rocco did you go with Lonnie's maxim kit?

Well I don't have any info on where to get parts or pieces but I can tell you that the right and left plates are pretty much mirror image other than the scope mounting holes on the left side. The internals are very similar to the 1910 other than using the 1899 style lock instead of the 1900 (what the hell were those silly germans thinking??). If you have an approved setup for the 1910 it should be applicable to the 1908 as well. It may even be possible to use a set of 1910 plates to build up the 08 since the 08 plate is slightly smaller in height and the feedblock is slightly longer front to back. That means nothing needs be added to the 1910 for the 08, just cut away. The spades on the 08 are pinned to the plates and swivel downwards for disassembly where the russian spades are attached by the dovetails but leaving out the dovetails and cutting the plates is simpler.

The hard part of this one is finding the 08 kit to start with and in my opinion, if you are going to build a semi out of the kit you should make both the left and right plates for it. The reasons for that are numerous but first and foremost its easier to build 2 of them that match up from the start than it is to match a new to an old. Second is that the semi plates are different and really should be milled from thicker stock to leave behind the semi blocking islands, bars or whatever you are using. There can always be questions about welded in pieces in a sideplate. . .

Just my opinion there so do as you see fit.


Frank

Frank, that is great advice and vastly lowers the potential cost of my build. Now where should a guy buy CAD or scale drawings of a 1908 receiver?

Furthermoe for you 1910 builders, is one maker's sideplates favored over another?

Unless you plan on milling the internals yourself, you probably want to get the plate from the same person that does your internals so you are sure they will work together.

When you get your right side plate, you can use it to get dimensions for the left side plate. The only real problem will be the scope rail holes. I don't think anyone has CAD drawings that they will be willing to send you.

I presume the options for a semi-08 are:

1) Dennis at Midwest offering a semi-left plate late this spring, but that leaves the internals to be done eithr by him later or whatever???
2) Buy 1910 blanks and buy Lonnie’s Maxim semi-conversion package, Lonnie said that his package will work with the 1908.
So I am just not sure which is better, Lonnie’s would be about half the cost, and he has an excellent design.

All opinions are welcome.

www.Prussia.us wrote:I presume the options for a semi-08 are:

1) Dennis at Midwest offering a semi-left plate late this spring, but that leaves the internals to be done eithr by him later or whatever???
2) Buy 1910 blanks and buy Lonnie’s Maxim semi-conversion package, Lonnie said that his package will work with the 1908.
So I am just not sure which is better, Lonnie’s would be about half the cost, and he has an excellent design.

All opinions are welcome.

You can get left side plate from stenparts.com as well as the thicker right plate for the 1910 if you chose to scale it down to match a 08 gun as mentioned then machine away the plate leaving the blocking Islands.

As for the Maxim kit yes Lonnie is the way to go there is a member named Tbseod from the weaponsguild site that will do a wonderful job of converting lonnies parts to working order as the semi parts kits he lonnie sells are basicly just plans/prints & raw materials to make the semi conversion parts from a skilled knowledable machinest is needed to get the parts to a usable state.

From there on its just a matter of fitting riveting & minor welding & your up & shooting that wonderful piece of history ......Have @ it

Well I know its sometimes hurts feelings but here are my opinions...

1. Dennis has an ATF approved design for a 1910. Very good start as this is very important for me considering I live in MD and run into ATF officers at my range. Looks like an overall good design. Two points that I really don't like. I don't like having to mod the feedblock just so you can not use FA parts. This is done in the vickers design with a shelf thats welded between the two plates. I would rather do something like that. Second is the little box that sticks out the bottom. I would rather see a design where this can be done internally. Now I am not saying that there is an easy way around them... I am just saying I don't like those parts of it. I wish he would do a build tutorial so I could look at it more...

2. Lonnie is another great builder and did a great job on the Vickers using an already approved ATF design. I also think he has a good design but its not ATF approved. Now for home builds it is not needed but you would be better off to have it (ESP in MD). I also have to question if it would pass the ATF... I tend to think not as the removable plate from the bottom is not good enough IMHO to be a FA bolt block.

So I am waiting to see how these designs work out... usually the second round of designs are better! Look at the 1919a4... So for now I will build the Vickers!

www.Prussia.us wrote:I presume the options for a semi-08 are:
All opinions are welcome.

THANKs for the unput guys,

Does anyone have a picture, drawing, sketch, cartoon , video done with sock puppets , to show where the bolt blocking islands would have to be machined to make a semi-maxim sideplate?

www.Prussia.us

Dennis' (MIDWEST METAL) design uses a sideplate that is thicker, rather than denial islands. You have to open up the slots for the feedblock, and machine down the lock and action arms on the right side to get them to fit.

I too didn't like the idea of the small box sticking out of the bottom, but it is really hard to see.

I think Lonnies' design is a lot cleaner, but is not ATF approved, that is why I went with Dennis' version.

Since Bob Ness used a large number of registered 08 plates to make transferable 1910 Maxims MGs, I can see no reason why you couldn't use a semi 1910 design for a German Maxim.

www.Prussia.us wrote:THANKs for the unput guys,

Does anyone have a picture, drawing, sketch, cartoon , video done with sock puppets , to show where the bolt blocking islands would have to be machined to make a semi-maxim sideplate?

Thats the part ya have to pay for its copy rite protected ya know ya dont have to have an approved design to build your own..

And as for the approved designs that only applies to the person that applied for that approval If you build it your self it in no way guarantees your completed gun is approved its still a home built gun no matter how ya slice it

Yes mr officer/agent sir this here semi auto I built myself & here is a copy of an approval letter from joe blow he build one & this is a copy of his approval letter.......
Yeah right I can hear them laughing now....

If ya want to build your own gun have @ it dont let anyone discourage you just build it with the accepted features that would be reguired you still have that right for the time being

If you are rich & can afford to ship it off & have some FFL do it for you more power to you but for me I'm a home builder always have been always will be I love the satisfaction of building it myself your oppinion may vary

Dennis (midwest) is really cool and he posted on 1919 that he has a 1908 kit he plans on re-working into a semi, if he offers a plate I would not mind buying it. He told a guy I know that maybe early summer he will do a run. However being paranoid like I am regarding gun rights, since both parties love to screw us over, I just have a fear that if stuff starts getting slid into bigger bills in Washington, we may slowly lose the-for lack of a better term, homebuild opportunity. I do not want to be stuck with nothing.

That is why I wanted to just get an idea if the lathe work on a blank is something I could handle or if I would have to farm it out depending on the complexity. But I get your point Rocco about the copyright, I did not realize that, I thought Lonnie patented the design.

Well in that case I will keep crunching numbers and weighing options.

Thanks again.

Well the best way to see what the maxim build would be like is to take a look at the Vickers build and the Maxim build on projectguns.com. I have been pushing Dennis for something like this but no luck yet. You don't machine the lock blocks into the sideplate... the islands on the sideplates are for keeping FA recoil plates from going in.

A thicker sideplate is the same as denial islands except less work... most areas on the plate do not matter. When you machine islands, you remove this material. Dennis just leaves these areas thick... cheaper and quicker to do.

That box is not to bad on the 1910 because the Sokolov mount hides it well. Now on the sled... I think it will stick out pretty good...

Well like any homebuild no ATF letter is needed. So yeah for what we are doing, we are good with a semi 1910 design. Now if Dennis wants to sell semi plates... he will have to resubmit.

Rocco, you are not required to have ATF approval for a home build. So if you produce a letter that shows where someone else has an approved design and you followed the same design, you should be completely fine. Its certainly extra protection. Now if you want to sell semi plates... well then maybe. This is the idea behind the whole semi auto homebuild world, as you know. You are correct its not a blank check but it should be more then enough for us small time homebuilders. Ofcourse with the ATF even a letter with your name on it is not worth that much after they change their minds 10 seconds after its written or causing trouble!

I personally think we are safe from gun bills for a while. Unless the Dems are even more retarded then I think they are, I am sure they will not want a repeat of the 94 lose of congress over an already tried and failed gun bill, no matter what Eric Holder says. I just don't see the support for these bills anymore... Plus the Dems already have plenty on their plate. I could be wrong... but I am not that scared...

I see three real ways to go and this is how I would choose.
Do you like and feel that Lonnie's design would hold up to the ATF as a semi gun (I personal have my questions after long review of the design and the ATF specs). If so do that design. If not, can you live with Dennis mods (I just can not get over that little box and feedblock mods yet...)? If so do that? If like me you still want just a little better, and can hold out without Obama fears (or you are broke like me, which is your fault by the way ) then wait it out a little while.

One thing for all you homebuilders and even commercial ventures to remember....there is no requirement for any of you to submit a design for approval by tech branch. You can sell whatever you want or build it if you think its ok. The other side of the coin is that if your design is not approved and is found to be a machinegun you could have a lot of hot water to navigate.
If you're unlicensed and making sideplates for sale you are breaking the law as the manufacture of firearms which the sideplates constitute requires a license if you are selling them for profit. Sure you can say you aren't making any money at it but you still need to explain why there are more than a few of your pieces out there. If the ruling goes against you it will be your responsibility to fight any civil suits filed by the guys who paid you a good deal of money to build them an illegal gun, gun part or design. You'll have to deal with the criminal side of things too and as a manufacturer licensed or otherwise you will be treated much differently than an individual. Manufacturers are equated to drug dealers in the popular press and politically as well.
They don't like us.
As a simple homebuilder doing just one gun you probably won't run into that issue but if you have built a design that won't pass muster there may still be issues. There are no exceptions in the laws that allow you any leeway just because your toy is not built for sale or is just personal use.
All in all the chances are that you will never have a visit from ATF or have to prove your toy is legal. However, there is always the chance that when the ambulance crew comes to help you or a family member because of a heart attack, stroke, intruder or whatever that they will let the police know about the arsenal they've seen in your home. At that point the ball starts rolling and you start having to explain yourself even though the constitution says you're considered innocent until proven guilty. You could have a neighbor that thinks you're a terrorist, a shooter at the range that thinks you're doing something illegal, an auto accident on the way to a shoot or any number of ways to get the ball rolling. If that happens and your design is an approved one, for someone, even if not you personally, than you have a good leg to stand on because most reasonable judges will look at the approval paperwork, see your design is the same and say it must be ok ATF- approved an identical design. If your design has no paperwork to show its ok than you have to prove it is not an MG and if it is there could be hell to pay.
All of this is just to point out that you are playing a lottery game here. If you don't have any approval paperwork the odds are stacked higher against you. If you can avoid any conflict you may never have an issue. If you do have approval paperwork you may still have an issue but it is less likely. It has been seen that the ATF has overturned some of its approvals but in both cases the guns were machineguns in reality despite the efforts to ride that fine line in the regs. I don't agree with their rulings but I'm not the boss....As long as your build won't fire full auto you should be fine and any new laws that cover firearms will probably be your biggest worry. Do as you see fit for yourself but remember that all the online posturing and puffing by people who don't believe or don't want to believe in the regs won't help you when you're talking to the real law enforcement types.

Good luck
Frank