some home job modifications to my N14

[Fenix.NZ]

hey guys,
im wanting to do a couple of things to my N14 and wondering if you guys can provide any advise as alternate ways to do what i want to do, or pitfalls you may have encountered doing the same mods ..
one of the mods involve a suppressor ( i know i know, its not my fault ok ! )

mod-1
high vis bead in the front sight post.
im wanting to either channell out the top of the post, or drill a small hole just below the top and insert a high vis stick, similar to what you see on shotguns.
probably in red or orange. as i will be using irons mainly and they get hard to see in low light.
- any advice?!

mod-2
filling in the hole at the front of the stock ( underneath side )
.. this looks like a breather hole for the gas system.. i want to fill it in and put a swivel stud for my bipod pretty much exactly where the hole is, although i could also make something up to fit in the hole which attaches from the inside and has a swivel stud on the outside..
either way... is filling this hole in going to adversely effect my rifle ???

mod-3
cutting the barrell to 18.5"
i want to half do Misanthropists shorty flashhider idea.
but i want to thread the barrell more so that i can get the flash hider back nearly to the gaslock ring, cut the front of the flashhider off so i basically just have the front sight post, and then have the rest of the barrell threaded for a suppressor, which will have a long female section to accept the threaded barrell ...
my worry here is that threading that much of the barrell will weaken it ? the suppressors generally have quite a sturdy female thread section, so im hoping if anything it will strengthen the end of the barrell.. but, i still have my reservations..
can any of the more experienced members help me on this one ?

regards
Fenix

 

[can14]

I use different color nail polish on the front sight....white works good in low light. The big hole in the bottom of the forend is to let the water out when you cross a river or land from the ocean!

 

[Fenix.NZ]

ah ha.. i knew the hole had some practical use.. time to fill it in ! haha

 

[Northman999]

I modified the front sight on my M14 by doing the following,

-Thinned the front blade carefully using a file, to about half as wide as normal. I always found norc front sights to be way too wide.

-Painted the thinned blade with four coats of fleurescent orange spray paint.

-Painted it again with three coats of clear glow paint from ebay.

Now, it's not super bright like a top of the line glow insert, but it works for me, and it's still thinner than any glow insert I've seen.

 

[t-star]

you're better off leaving the drain hole alone and drilling one of the rivets that the front swivel uses , then using a t-nut and putting in your swivel head for your bi-pod that way- the stock gets awfully thin around that drain hole- more meat further back

 

[Fenix.NZ]

i was going to glass the stock up a bit at the front where the drain hole is. plus ive got a versapod to go on it, so it may not like attaching over the plate, then again it may be fine, ill see once my stock arrives

 

[Zeb]

XS Sight Systems (xssight dot com) makes Tactical sights for M1A rifles. They look like they will fit the dovetail on a flash hidder. Not sure if this helps.

 

[Fenix.NZ]

thanks for the suggestion zeb, but im doing it on the cheap .. trying to spend very little money