Project Dog Turd

[Hey...]

Buddy of mine (Bruce, your rifle is about to be known) lives in New York and they can’t own NFA stuff but he wanted something unique compared to the typical garbage they have.

I thought of making his Mini-14 into an AC556 clone and have the barrel 16.5” to keep it well within title1 legality.


He sent me this dog turd made 1st year of production.
“Pre-ban”

This is the goal visually:

Marking a rod to check length. The marker is 16” and where the tape starts is 16.5”. That’s where I want the end of the new flash hider to end up, in line with the tape.

Now put the rod down the bore resting against the breech face of the bolt and mark the current setup to get an idea how much we are going to cut.

So now we have a picture of the layout and how much needs to be cut to end up with the new flashhider at 16.5”

At first I want to cut longer than it will end up to test fit the flash hider and make some final measurements so for right now we’re cutting anywhere long leaving some room.

CHOP! in a heartbeat

No turning back now!

After measuring the outside of the barrel diameter we put a factory flash hider in the lathe to turn down the inside to be a snug fit that will slip over the barrel.

Here you can see the result. Fits like a glove.

Now with the flash hider slipped on, you see the 16.5” tape line pointed out with the pencil. Need to mark the current end of the flash hider and measure how much needs to be the final saw cut.

Need to cut .850” off the barrel

Final Cut

Tool cutting a target crown to clean things up.

Perfect!!! The end of the flash hider is at 16.5”

Tig weld a solid bead on the bottom to keep it in place (and legal).

I wanted to make it an obvious weld so leaving it just like this. Will rust blue it later for looks and protection.

Got a reproduction ac556 front sight off GB. I will cerakote it to match later.


It doesn’t sit flat to the gas block so will need some file fitting…

Good.

 

[Hey...]

Added a new Samson stock

Ran a cleaning patch down the barrel and time to test fire. Notice the face shield.

If you want one of these shirts they can be found here at 3rd pin threads:
https://thirdpinthreads.com/shirts/


Runs good!!! Not shooting for target, just function.

The rear sight aperture needs to go a bit higher but this rifle will get a custom micro red dot mount over the receiver so not too worried about the irons at the moment. The proper correction will be to make a new rear leaf with the peep slightly higher than current as it’s out of travel as it is. If I have the gun long enough I’ll make that but right now I’m only planing a compact RMR mount.





So to recap we went from this

To this (front sight color pending)

*Special thanks to my friend Dan helping this along with his equipment and time.

 

[Mackjack]

Couldn’t you just grind the new front blade sight shorter?

 

[Hey...]

Yes you could grind down the front sight but it wouldn’t be pretty. There are pics online of the top flattened off (substantially) to make the aim work but it would take away from the form.

The RMR mount I’m planning will be very minimal, trying for a clean profile. With the envisioned optic, the iron sights are blocked. I mentioned if I had the rifle long enough I’d make a new sight aperture, but that’s not priority as a Dot is faster on target anyways.

 

[KickStand]

I’ve got to say this is an awesome project and well done.
That old dog turd looked like it had some stories and looked cool too.

You could always drill out the rear sight peep hole to make it larger.

My mini-14 sbr project took years. Mainly because I kept waiting for a (factory) really nice gas block sight to come along.

 

[2manytoys]

That gun came out very nice.............but....
If you are going to try and make it legal, you need to finish the job so you or your buddy do not get in trouble. One tack weld on the bottom is not enough.

The BATFE letter I go by offers four options for permanent attachment.
1. Blind pin with weld over the top of the pin.
2. Four (equally spaced around the barrel) welds between the muzzle device and the barrel.
3. One single weld between the muzzle device and barrel that covers no less than half way around the barrel.
4. Silver solder with a minimum 1100 degree melt temperature.
I don't agree with SBRs needing registration, but that's how it is.

 

[pjm204]

That gun came out very nice.............but....
If you are going to try and make it legal, you need to finish the job so you or your buddy do not get in trouble. One tack weld on the bottom is not enough.

The BATFE letter I go by offers four options for permanent attachment.
1. Blind pin with weld over the top of the pin.
2. Four (equally spaced around the barrel) welds between the muzzle device and the barrel.
3. One single weld between the muzzle device and barrel that covers no less than half way around the barrel.
4. Silver solder with a minimum 1100 degree melt temperature.
I don't agree with SBRs needing registration, but that's how it is.

I was thinking the same thing.

 

[BuffDragon]

I see you ran in to the same problem I had when I made a "ac556 clone" aka a SBR'ed mini14 in a sidefolder. "reproduction" front sights arent the right size.
it took me years to track down a real one.
ETA: this pic is old, but interesting
also, in order to be "clone correct" you'll need a side sling swivel gas block

 

[Hey...]

Thanks everyone for the info and comments.

I guess on the barrel we’ll pin and weld. There’s plenty of meat for a pin.

If this was my personal rifle I’d look into the front swivel (I’m contemplating an AC556 actually) but Bruce isn’t that picky on this build.

The RMR mount I’m planning will be based off this but mine will take up much less real estate. I want to have it lower than this one and also make the sight perch just big enough for the RMR body without excess rail sticking out front or back. Going to 3D print and if it doesn’t block ejection I’ll have it printed in steel or aluminum from Shapeways.