The SL8 Mods, Info and FAQ Thread

Still working with the dealer to get it sorted. He's sent a replacement upper that I had been hoping would arrive tomorrow but Canada Post just updated their tracker and it's now scheduled for a Monday delivery. If his upper doesn't work I'll try sanding 1/16" off of my lower. Not looking forward to trying it as I don't really have the workspace or equipment to do it properly.
 
if you do end up sanding it, the easiest way is to probably staple sandpaper to the top of a piece of 2x4 to make a sanding block. Unfortunately you do need to take the trigger group partially down so that the hammer doesn't interfere. Best of luck, hope you get it working right.
 
Well the Post Office's estimates were incorrect and the dealer's upper arrived today. The dealer said that with his upper and lower, the rifle functions as intended and the bolt locks back on an empty magazine after the final round is fired.

I tried all combinations of his upper and lower with my upper and lower and the bolt would never lock back in any combination. I tested 6 different magazines; 3 Spear mags, 1 original SL8 mag, a PMAG, and a G36 mag but the result was the same every time. The bolt wouldn't lock back after the mag was emptied.

If I manually charge the bolt with an empty mag, it will lock back every time and hold. The bolt catch was definitely tighter when I used the dealer's upper as opposed to mine but mine was still able to hold the bolt back in place.

I'm wondering if it might be the bolt recoil spring or rod. The dealer kept his bolt assembly so I used mine in both rifles which leads me to suspect that this might be where the problem lies. Does anyone know what the tension on the recoil spring is supposed to be?

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Hi guys.... I have a pretty simple question. I need to get my barrel threaded 1/2x28tpi for a flash hider, and for use with a custom fake suppressor/flash hider system so when I use my Zeiss/Faro Z51 NV scope, I dont get the huge flash, and blooming effect. Im wondering, Do I need to remove my barrel to have it threaded, or can a competent gunsmith/machinist do the job without removing it? Actually, im imagining it would have to be removed as the barrel is rather heavy profile, and im sure it would have to be turned down a bit to thread it.. ? I dont want my crown effected. Whats your guys take on this?

thanks for now.

ginnz
 
I see.... I guess Ill tear mine down again and see how the bbl attaches. I would suppose if i remove the barrel it must be headspaced upon re-installing? I guess ill have to find a 'smith to do it. I have a buddy who has a commercial machine shop, he's done alot of stuff for me. but he's not a gunsmith.
 
My gunsmith has a lathe that the barrel can pass straight through the chuck and out the back of the lathe. This allows him to do barrel work without removing the barrel from the receiver.

Moe
 
I took mine in to a local gunsmith to have a flash suppressor put on but he said he was unable to get the barrel out as it'd been sealed in there with red thread-locker and he didn't think he'd be able to get it out without damaging it.

And I still can't get the bolt to lock back on an empty mag. SUCKS!
 
From what I've read HK started using the thread locker to prevent people from taking the barrels out for gunsmith work (Started after all the SL8/G36 mods in the USA), the worst part is you need a special tool to "heat" the gun properly otherwise you'll melt the plastic.

Looks like a .223 headspace gauge or dummy round on the end of a soldering iron.... Someone with the tenacity could build one up pretty quickly I s'pose.
 
Well that sucks. Not that I was going to take my barrel off but down the road if the 293/243 fall through I was going to get another SL8 and convert it to a light weight G36. Was anyway until I read this. Well I guess I will keep hoping for that 243.

Moe
 
Never handled one before, picked one up today, felt real good.... not really a bull pup guy but was leaning towards a tavor. I do believe I would get one instead of tavor. Not keen about thumb hole stock couldn't get thumb on safety. But other than that it just felt right.
Interesting upgrades magwell and pistol grip/ butt kit.
 
I have Pistol grip folding stock for sale. Comes with 2 sizes of rear folding stocks. Fits right in with no mods, just the trigger group swapped over. Easy to do. I get let it go for a very reasonable price
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I have put a ton of time into load development using 69gn smk. Best I ever really got to was around 1MOA but mostly 1.25 moa consistently. Then I tried a couple random loads using 80 vlds. These broke into the under 1moa category but Had to be single fed and were slow as spit in February, like 2200fps. Which brings me to a couple weeks ago when I was reading here about people having good luck with 55gn. So the local gun shop had some old stock hornady Zmax on sale. I zeroed then I shot 2, 3 round groups and one 5 round groups. First 3 rnd group was .600 center to center. and the second was .435 ctc. Then I got cocky went to shoot the five and opened it up to 1.800.

So Id say forget about the heavies in the sl8, regardless of twist rate.
 
Bogaty, read my post from earlier in the thread (and linked to in the first post):Click here. The top of the G36 trigger housing need to be sanded down as the bottom rails that it sits against in the SL8 are lower than what they are in the G36. Be careful, my gun was extremely unsafe until I did this, and the bolt hold open on the last round would seldom function properly. I am guessing that your retaining pins fit much tighter with the G36 trigger housing than they did with the factory one?

EDIT: I see that CNADNSL8-5 linked to my post in his first reply, so if that didn't work, I am not sure what the problem is. I notice from your pictures though that the top of it looks untouched, have you sanded it down 1/16"? I ask because, as I said in the linked post, my bolt hold open would rarely function properly until I did that (it would do it on an empty mag when I racked it, but seldom when I was actually shooting).


I broke down and filed down the top bits of my trigger assembly on my lower in the hopes that doing so would make it fit more snugly and allow the bolt catch to latch on to more of the bolt (right now, it just barely grabs the bottom of it by about 2-3mm). I sanded off about 1/16" as recommended but it didn't make any difference. The bolt catch still just barely grabs the lower edge of the bolt head by about 2-3mm. I note that your trigger assembly and mine are slightly different in that you seem to be able to fully detach the stock from your via a screw or pin system. On mine, it's all one piece of plastic (same as the one the guy's selling in the photo above.) so sanding down the rearmost portion isn't really an option. The screw holes for the hex nuts and the pin hole for the mag-well retaining pin already line up perfectly so I'm not sure what else I can do at this point. I thought about maybe throwing in the AR-15 mag adapter but I fear that I'll just end up with the same problem and that bolt catch won't properly engage either.

Any ideas?
 
Does anyone have a lead on who might have a Hera Arms BCK for my SL8?
I tried Wolverine and the guy I talked to said they wont be getting any more in. I tried a few other guys back east and no one has it.

According to what I have found, Anderson Consulting is the official distributor for Canada. Being a distributor they wont sell to the public.

I don't have the slightest clue one where to go next. It seems that no one even wants to try and find this for me.

I'm in Vancouver B.C. I've tried most of my local shops. PM me if you have some info for me

Thanx

Also sorry if this doesn't belong here but I'm new to the forums.
 
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