Poor Man's M14 Exteded Bolt Release

T

theDuck

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After seeing the AR folks use the bolt release on their rifles at the CQB matches I looked at the commercial extended bolt releases for my M14. I figured why not just weld a tab on the existing release. The little ledge on the bottom lends itself to placing a piece of sheet steel and welding it on. I wittled out a piece of 0.092" sheet and tacked it in place with the MIG welder. Yes it looks rough. TIG would lend itself better to the job.
One thing to note. DO NOT weld any where near the pivot pin hole or along its length. The hole wall is THIN and the weld WILL blow through. Then you have to try and drill it out. The blow through causes the drill bit to stray as it doesn't go right across the hole so it is a pain to get a straight hole drilled. Just weld along the bottom and just up the side a tiny bit and stay away from the pivot pin hole.
You could try and bend the extended tab towards the reciever so that when it is holding the bolt open, you might be able to lay the gun on that side without the bolt release being pressed and the bolt closing. If you want serrations on the release, just file them in.
I used this in the last ORA CQB match and it does work. Now to come up with a way to operate the mag release with the trigger finger. I already have a plan ;).

Boltstop1.jpg
 
I like it. I plan on trying the same thing as soon I get a hold of a tig welder, hopefully around xmas. Hurry up and sort out that trigger finger mag release too.
 
You just saved yourself a pile of money! I bought the SEI (Smith Enterprises Inc) version from Brownells. It ended up costing me over $ 100 because of the mailing (1 cubic foot box or so) and the taxes/duty. Serves me right for being an idiot. I shoulda bought one from Armtac, but he did not have them in his inventory a year and a half ago. :(

Good on ya for doing the welfare approach. Need a spare Norc bolt stop for your next project? PM me if you could use a spare to play with. Seems to me that you are now on a manufacturing roll, so to speak.

Cheers and thanks for sharing!

Barney
 
Hmmm. This has me thinking. The rifle wasn't designed to be left hand operated(Right hand remains on grip). If the modification doesn't work well it would cost an extra half second. I don't agree that one should run an electrical current through a receiver as it would change the metallurgical properties creating room for failure. You would need to heat treat after welding(On critical components). I suppose you removed the release and then welded the tab on?
I'm going to design something as i see this might be a good mod.
I have a TIG welder.
 
I don't think you have to weld on the reciever at all. It wasn't welded on for the bolt release. And I think you could weld some form of extended lever onto the current mag release to have it come down near the trigger guard. Push it forward with your trigger finger or something to operate. Atleast thats what I had though of in the past. But using your new mag to flick (smash) the old mag off is pretty entertaining for me.
 
I took the bolt stop off the rifle prior to welding it so no evil electricity violated the purity of the chinese receiver:). After the weld I dipped it in my water dish to try and avoid loosing hardness. Getting the pin out was a pain.
For those who are welderless, I'm sure a weld shop with a TIG may do this while you wait for very little $$. Have them water dip it when done.
I looked at my M14 and my first mag release idea needs to be modified as my first thought would interfer with the use of the safety. I do have another idea to try. I was going to rivet the modification on. I like rivets:).
First I plan on taking the band saw to my Chu wood stock and then add a wood pistol grip of the same profile as my 1911. Because I can....I think.
 
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I must have freakishly long fingers as I just push the lever whilst holding the grip and out she pops without releasing grip. However it is an interestin situation and we are all robably gonna come up with the same idea. After all a wheel is a wheel is a wheel eh
Keep it simple keep it cheap and a simple diy fix and it will work....................off to the chicken shed again :)
 
theDuck said:
...After the weld I dipped it in my water dish to try and avoid loosing hardness.
For those who are welderless, I'm sure a weld shop with a TIG may do this while you wait for very little $$. Have them water dip it when done.
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Please don't do this. This is false. I don't mean to poop on anyone's party but it's true. I'd like to add that I'm all for "farmered" or "ghettoed" or "welfare" inginuity and a "git 'er done" kind of attitude, as I see far too much bureaucracy and 'don't do today what you can put off 'til tomorrow' kind of crap anymore.

I speak as a machinist, welder and certified weld inspector here; there are some tool steels that, when quenched in water, harden quite nicely. However, these tool steels are used for machine punches / dies and the like. I don't know what kind of steel is used for the bolt stop on the Norcs but I'm sure it is some sort of higher-carbon alloy so that they can get effective hardness out of it through heat treatment.

The problem with hardened steels when welded without a controlled process, is that the locallized heat input area ('heat affected zone' for those of you who are familiar with this) becomes brittle and at the very least, the area in that zone will crack and your tab will likely break off at some point. The temperature of the steel is rapidly taken from ambient to several hundred degrees, then back down again way too quickly. This changes the grain structure in the steel. Without proper heat treatment, the "grains" do not have a chance to re-align, resulting in a crystallized structure. This type of grain structure contains a lot of stress and the stress eventually (sometimes immediately) reveals itself as a crack. Cracks are bad, especially in a dynamic application where there is movement and impact (you slapping the tab). Cracks almost never get smaller!;)

Now, all this said, the situation I've described will not likely happen in a catastrophic way, as you are not likely to increase metal temperature to a significant depth, into the carborizing phase of the steel. Translated, the intermittent & brief heat inputs from "spot" welding on the stop is not likely to go too deep into the material but I am confident that you would experience cracking at least at the surface if welding and quenching is done as theDuck describes. What I would suggest if guys want to do this is pre-heat to somewhere around 300 degrees F, TIG weld it relatively sparingly, and allow it to cool slowly. This can be done with a fiberglass blanket or even with a couple old bath towels that mamma has thrown in the rag bin for your Red Green projects. And yes, remove the stop from your rifle first!

Duck; it is not my intention to scold or display my inner Mr. Knowitall - just think that everyone can use some information from somebody else every once in a while if it's valuable. I've actually been thinking about doing this myself lately but haven't gotten off by azz yet to do it. When I saw your post, I said, "Hey! That's my idea!" Good on ya for actually doing it and telling us all about it.

Rooster
 
358Rooster said:
Please don't do this. This is false. I don't mean to poop on anyone's party but it's true. I'd like to add that I'm all for "farmered" or "ghettoed" or "welfare" inginuity and a "git 'er done" kind of attitude, as I see far too much bureaucracy and 'don't do today what you can put off 'til tomorrow' kind of crap anymore.

I speak as a machinist, welder and certified weld inspector here; there are some tool steels that, when quenched in water, harden quite nicely. However, these tool steels are used for machine punches / dies and the like. I don't know what kind of steel is used for the bolt stop on the Norcs but I'm sure it is some sort of higher-carbon alloy so that they can get effective hardness out of it through heat treatment.

The problem with hardened steels when welded without a controlled process, is that the locallized heat input area ('heat affected zone' for those of you who are familiar with this) becomes brittle and at the very least, the area in that zone will crack and your tab will likely break off at some point. The temperature of the steel is rapidly taken from ambient to several hundred degrees, then back down again way too quickly. This changes the grain structure in the steel. Without proper heat treatment, the "grains" do not have a chance to re-align, resulting in a crystallized structure. This type of grain structure contains a lot of stress and the stress eventually (sometimes immediately) reveals itself as a crack. Cracks are bad, especially in a dynamic application where there is movement and impact (you slapping the tab). Cracks almost never get smaller!;)

Now, all this said, the situation I've described will not likely happen in a catastrophic way, as you are not likely to increase metal temperature to a significant depth, into the carborizing phase of the steel. Translated, the intermittent & brief heat inputs from "spot" welding on the stop is not likely to go too deep into the material but I am confident that you would experience cracking at least at the surface if welding and quenching is done as theDuck describes. What I would suggest if guys want to do this is pre-heat to somewhere around 300 degrees F, TIG weld it relatively sparingly, and allow it to cool slowly. This can be done with a fiberglass blanket or even with a couple old bath towels that mamma has thrown in the rag bin for your Red Green projects. And yes, remove the stop from your rifle first!

Duck; it is not my intention to scold or display my inner Mr. Knowitall - just think that everyone can use some information from somebody else every once in a while if it's valuable. I've actually been thinking about doing this myself lately but haven't gotten off by azz yet to do it. When I saw your post, I said, "Hey! That's my idea!" Good on ya for actually doing it and telling us all about it.

Rooster
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True that...
I also would just wrap it and let it cool normaly.
Or better yet buy that new one that caugh... caugh... a retired old machinist/welder's newly manufactored nitron dipped bolt release.
And if I could I would say to that certain some one...
Well done and thank-you for making them again ;)
 
Crack Feather said:
Or better yet buy that new one that caugh... caugh... a retired old machinist/welder's newly manufactored nitron dipped bolt release.
And if I could I would say to that certain some one...
Well done and thank-you for making them again ;)
Click to expand...

Uuuuuh, whut? Please share... This guy's first in line for supporting home grown cool shyte - 'specially now that I no longer have access to machine tools:ang
 
Lately I've been wondering, the m305 is rather front heavy, is it really better to retain "firing grip" than keeping the left hand on the rifle, so that you can keep it shouldered and muzzle on target?
 
I'm no CQB guy but I think the idea is to keep your trigger finger 'at the ready' while you're making your mag change so that you can get the most important part on target first, once mag change is completed. If your site remains on target, it does little good if the trigger finger isn't in position to engage what's in the sight picture. Maybe someone with more "drill" experience can comment.
 
a###el said:
Lately I've been wondering, the m305 is rather front heavy, is it really better to retain "firing grip" than keeping the left hand on the rifle, so that you can keep it shouldered and muzzle on target?
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It's called a sling.
Get a good one and practice with dummy rounds looking like a nutter standing there putting in and taking out mag's plus racking pulling the trigger. Over time and starting off slowley and speeding up over time you will learn how to use your sling and body position as a rest while using your off hand to load and make ready your rifle while still aiming at the target. Easiest to show in person rahter than typing on the computer.
As for mr 358 I was tring to publicly say thanx to the inventor and also the new sales person of this product. In the begining I was a sceptic but now I dig it more than my SEI one that I sold the SEI one.
 
Crack Feather said:
As for mr 358 I was tring to publicly say thanx to the inventor and also the new sales person of this product. In the begining I was a sceptic but now I dig it more than my SEI one that I sold the SEI one.
Click to expand...

I'm fully aware of that and was trying to express interest. I'd like to know what it is and where it is. There's lots of cool stuff on the market but most of it comes from out of country. Whenever I hear of stuff manufactured in Canada, I'm always interested. I'll always buy domestically unless the item is grossly overpriced. Save a few bucks to make myself feel a little more "savvy" and support someone else's economy? Not if I can help it.

Rooster
 
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