I'm starting my MG53 semi weld up (not reweld or course ). This is the start of my welding jig. I've been doing a lot of reading and taking notes and there's a few specific questions that I can't find.
1. How are you guys jigging the rearmost piece? In the picture you can see I have two bars screwed to the receiver through the rivet holes for the rails. I clamped the rearmost piece to the bars with vice-grips. Is that enough?
2. The cut through the front bushing is pretty bad. My two thoughts on approaching it were: 1. Drill out and save what i can of the barrel shroud and get a new BRP bushing and carefully rebuild it. Or 2. Find someone with a front bushing cut off another rifle that's still usable and weld it on further down the barrel shroud. What seams more practical? I know getting a good bushing off another rifle is probably a lot easier, but what are my chances of finding one?
Greetings Haupt. Fritsch. Might I make a couple suggestions before you begin welding? First, unless you're building a banana, ditch the stop-sign post. The most critical alignment is the axis through the barrel, out the back. The shroud isn't important right now. Second, begin at the front. The most critical dimension is from the barrel stop, at the door, to the front barrel bushing sleeve. You need to add a couple thou for clearance so that the barrel "floats" in the bushing. Add a couple more thou for weld shrinkage. Begin with the front bushing you have now. Align everything, weld it perfectly. Allow for float. Later, go back, saw out a "window" in the front and change the bushing.
Buy a 4' length of 3/8" fine un-plated threaded rod from Mcmaster. This fits all the way through the barrel and out the back. It's very stiff. Each time you make a weld, make sure the rod stays straight. The rear half of the receiver is easy, but it comes last. The dimensions aren't as critical. Good luck, keep us up-dated....Phil
Now this is some meat and taters. It literally flips my approach on..... wait for it....it's nose. Only problem is I don't have a barrel for it. I got one of the AA kits without a barrel. At the moment I can get a demilled barrel from apex for $15 +shipping. I don't have the scratch to get a real barrel (I spent it all on the kit ). However, I do have plenty of all-thread, washers and nuts. Oh well, I have plenty of sandblasting and cleaning to do in the meantime.
Oh god, I'm sorry, I forgot to post the results on this thread. I started another thread here viewtopic.php?f=10&t=11853 Yeah, she's done and works. I only have 40 rounds through her, but they were all in the same outing, with only two shells not going off. I don't know if it was the ammo or the gun. Also, it had a killer trigger slap, but i trimmed the "hook" part (or whater its called) on the back of the hammer and I'm pretty confident that alleaved it, but I still need to run another test. I'm kind of sad it's over for the time being, but pretty soon tax returns will be here
Not to be a butthead but the MG53 is actually a colt aircraft machinegun in .50 cal. The M53 is the yugo version of the MG42. It appears you've been working on a semi-auto variant of the M53.......I realize that other uninformed individuals use the term MG53 to refer to the yugo gun but it sounds as bad as the guys who refer to bullets as bullet heads. Just a bit tacky in my opinion.
On the other hand its a tough task to do any build and I commend you on your work.
Not to be a butthead but the MG53 is actually a colt aircraft machinegun in .50 cal. The M53 is the yugo version of the MG42. It appears you've been working on a semi-auto variant of the M53.......I realize that other uninformed individuals use the term MG53 to refer to the yugo gun but it sounds as bad as the guys who refer to bullets as bullet heads. Just a bit tacky in my opinion.
On the other hand its a tough task to do any build and I commend you on your work.
Holy crap, I've been doing research this long and never noticed that? Now that you said it, I looked back through a lot of references of this gun and sure as !@#$%, there it was, M53. Oh well, I refer to it as "the 42" most of the time to laypeople anyhow. I need to think of a hot german girl's name to give her and engrave it on the topcover (I'm a hand engraver). My wife's name is Jennifer, so does anyone know what the german spelling of jennifer would be if it is any different than english?
I'm going to take it out for it's second range test tommorow. Lightning can't strike twice. If she performs well tommorow, I'll concider her bona fide. The only ammo I can find at the local stores is remington for $30 for 20, which makes for an expensive test. Does anyone know if that cheap Iranian 8mm all over the net is any good?
Ammo is always a problem. Several folks on this site use that good stuff and then put rubber on the trigger guard so the hull don't get bent and then reload, reload. Glad to hear that it's hungry for ammo. Way to go.
I took her for another test and she worked perfectly. She still has a little trigger slap, but it's acceptable. On a side note, I sold my 1919a4 today to fund more 42 building, and on my way there the buyer called and said " You mentioned you like 42s, I have a H&K lafette mount if you want it." Needless to say, it's in my trunk now and I feel more pressure now to take care of the ammo issue than ever before, cuz I have a feeling I'm going to go through a lot more!
Thats great, she's running good. Those HK tripods look really nice. I have an AA tripod but cant decide if I want old or new school lafette. Of course the new ones are cheaper and improved but.....The old ones are sweet. What to do?
I dont know much about the old ones, but the new ones are friggin sweet! This is a state of the art tripod. The t&e, scope, and trigger are built right in! The m2 mount is nothing to this thing.
The new mount is sweet. I have a couple of old and new. Best of both worlds.
One nice thing about the new is it normally comes with a scope. Where as the old ones the scope normally costs an extra arm and leg.
Ok, I'm convinced after some more research. Ordered mg3 tripod from Numrich Arms. $391.00. Only charged $15.00 shipping to Alaska. Hope that holds up. We'll see. Seems like a bargain. Described as very good cond. RR
Unwrapped my mg3 tripod today and it was a pretty clean hk model. Optics are clear and in good shape. Scratches on paint can be expected. Overall I'm quite pleased. The thing that amazes me is the 15 dollar shipping charge from New York to Alaska. Numrich must have a special deal because I ran the size and weight, destination and origin on UPS website and all methods of shipment exceeded my total cost. Tripod included. Merry Christmas everyone. RR
). This is the start of my welding jig. I've been doing a lot of reading and taking notes and there's a few specific questions that I can't find. 
). However, I do have plenty of all-thread, washers and nuts. Oh well, I have plenty of sandblasting and cleaning to do in the meantime.
come on man, we're rooting for ya!
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What to do?
Merry Christmas everyone. RR