Buying receiver castings/forgings?

[CrystalPepzi]

Been awhile since I've visited here, but I just couldn't stop thinking about this question.

Would it be possible for someone to buy completely blank receiver castings from manufacturers? example, would PSA be able to just sell blank 0% receivers straight out of the forge to customers who request them? I'm asking this because one of the my old college classmates has recently gotten into parts kit building and wants to complete a semi-only AUG he just ordered from gunbroker, dude already finished two ARs and a semi auto Uzi in a day. I was able to find a CAD file online that had all the dimensions and everything, so we knew where to drill and mill (he's got a mill, lathe, and EDM in his basement, so tooling isn't a issue for us)

Thing is, we have no clue where to get a receiver that isn't already completed. He already got the kit, and we've been thinking we might have to just mill one from a block of aluminum. But lately I thought if it would be possible to email/call Steyr about buying a casting straight from the forge? Is there some kind of law or company policy that would not let me or Steyr do that? I know there will be nothing milled out or anything, but it would save A LOT of trouble and time compared to just making one from a block of aluminum.

Seems like its a stupid question, but I don't really care, I'm not an expert on everything I learn somehow

 

[slimshady]

I have seen raw forgings for AR15s for sale before, and back in the day FAL castings were available. However, I doubt if Steyr would be interested. First, they would rather sell you an AUG. Second, pulling one from their production and selling it to you as a one-off would make it pretty expensive to be worth the trouble. And finally the trademarks and such may already be on it, if you were Steyr would you want something out there with your name on it of unknown quality/specs? Someone blows up your creation, who is the victim gonna sue? The name on the shrapnel or the unknown guy that actually made it? IIRC, several AR makers refuse to sell bare receivers or if they do they have special serial numbers so a buyer can easily tell the difference between a factory assembled piece and one made in someone's shed.

Another issue with the AUG kits is the lack of bbls. The ones you find for sale are wayyy up there.

That said, if enough AUG kits show up someone somewhere will start cranking out receivers and bbls. The kits are very tempting, but so far the lack of completion supplies has allowed me to resist!

 

[CrystalPepzi]

I have seen raw forgings for AR15s for sale before, and back in the day FAL castings were available. However, I doubt if Steyr would be interested. First, they would rather sell you an AUG. Second, pulling one from their production and selling it to you as a one-off would make it pretty expensive to be worth the trouble. And finally the trademarks and such may already be on it, if you were Steyr would you want something out there with your name on it of unknown quality/specs? Someone blows up your creation, who is the victim gonna sue? The name on the shrapnel or the unknown guy that actually made it? IIRC, several AR makers refuse to sell bare receivers or if they do they have special serial numbers so a buyer can easily tell the difference between a factory assembled piece and one made in someone's shed.

Another issue with the AUG kits is the lack of bbls. The ones you find for sale are wayyy up there.

That said, if enough AUG kits show up someone somewhere will start cranking out receivers and bbls. The kits are very tempting, but so far the lack of completion supplies has allowed me to resist!

Hmm, that would make sense. I figured if there was some kind of overproduction of castings, or a incomplete receiver that has to be scrapped, they wouldn't mind if someone sent over a couple hundred bucks for that scrap. I don't recall Steyr markings being present on the castings, proof marks yeah, but no logos or anything. Still though, that is a good point.

I guess we'll have to just go the "milling from a giant block of aluminum" route haha

 

[A&S Conversions]

To me it would be so hard to find someone that worked at the foundry that produced the receiver forgings and get them to send you a good one. I would be concerned that most forgings that would be available would be forgings that where not of first quality. I would think that the forgings available would be those that were rejected and sold as scrap. I would think that billet made would at least be of quality aluminum. You would have no idea what the quality of a forging would be.

I would think that it would be even harder to find someone from Streyr that could sell you a forging. Streyr could have some kind of liability. I doubt if their legal department would even allow such a sale. Something else to think about is the difference between a semi automatic receiver and a fully automatic one. As I recall there is a difference in the stocks because of a difference in mechanisms between full auto and semi automatic. Have you checked into the differences? You could end up with more expense than buying new trying to build a semi from the parts sets that you have. Good luck with your project.

Scott

 

[ccw1911]

Can't help with your original question but OP posted he has CAD files and possibly knew where to buy a already completed AUG receiver? I am looking for a receiver and if you could share the CAD file that would be a great help.

 

[CrystalPepzi]

Can't help with your original question but OP posted he has CAD files and possibly knew where to buy a already completed AUG receiver? I am looking for a receiver and if you could share the CAD file that would be a great help.

Sorry for the late reply, but here's the CAD file, not sure how well the file dimensions are, I have never seen anyone build one from scratch with this yet. But hey its something lol, there's also a couple files for other part of the gun too.

https://grabcad.com/library/msar-aug-receiver-2

 

[CrystalPepzi]

To me it would be so hard to find someone that worked at the foundry that produced the receiver forgings and get them to send you a good one. I would be concerned that most forgings that would be available would be forgings that where not of first quality. I would think that the forgings available would be those that were rejected and sold as scrap. I would think that billet made would at least be of quality aluminum. You would have no idea what the quality of a forging would be.

I would think that it would be even harder to find someone from Streyr that could sell you a forging. Streyr could have some kind of liability. I doubt if their legal department would even allow such a sale. Something else to think about is the difference between a semi automatic receiver and a fully automatic one. As I recall there is a difference in the stocks because of a difference in mechanisms between full auto and semi automatic. Have you checked into the differences? You could end up with more expense than buying new trying to build a semi from the parts sets that you have. Good luck with your project.

Scott

Thanks for the insight, that would make sense from a business standpoint. I guess my best option is either buy a mill and lathe and make a new receiver from scratch, or buy one already made, but have to register it.

And yes, I have also researched the differences between the two (semi vs select fire), it seems the stocks themselves are made entirely different so the semis won't accept a full auto fire control group. Though I have seen some people on other forums to have claimed they swapped the two receivers with each other without any fitting and function issues, so I'm not sure 100% what the answer is on that. Regardless, there must be some kind of differences, I know Steyr went all out on making sure the two cannot be compatible with each other.

 

[root]

Steyr AUG has been blowing out AUG receivers for 600 to 850 for the blems.

https://gunprime.com/products/blem-steyr-aug-a3-m1-black-receiver-1252020046

Looks like the 600 ones are gone.

Not a great deal unless you already have a tone of parts around that are GTG semi or say a 9mm kit