Type 81 SR - Modification ideas

[Dmitri]

So first evening with this beauty and I already have some progress. The biggest concern everyone is having with these rifles is the stock, the two pins that secure the stock in place are so close to the edge that the wood keeps breaking at the weakest point.
Here is my solution to this issue. But I have to warn you, this is NOT a quick fix, and it requires a certain fabricating skills .
So, I decided to reinforce the area around the stock pins with some metal side plates. In this case I just used a random wrench I found in a spare parts bin, since it was just the right thickness (1/16").

I cut and bent it into shape..

Then scribed the outline on the stock, and removed the nessesary material.

Then I used two screws on each side to secure the plates, I used 1" screw for the lower hole and 3/4" for the other one since there isn't that much meat there..
Once I screwed one plate on, I drilled the metal through the existing holes, and then screwed the other plate, and drill pin holes through the other side. The screws are positioned slightly different from side to side to avoid screws interfere with each other.

I didn't like the single tone finish on the stock so at that point I stripped the lacquer from the furniture and restained it in desired color. Then used "super blue" to blue the plates and the screws.

It worked out great, I tested it by applying the weight sideways and from the top and bottom, also racked the bolt violently for few minutes it feels rock solid. Looking forward to testing it out at the range. I have a strong feeling that this will last.

Let's see what other cool mods you guys are doing to your SRs.

 

[medvedqc]

wow love the color of the stock and of course what you ended to reinforce the stock. seems a pretty solid solution. did you add the middle screw as well or no need?

yours work may be an idea for the factory or ti.

thank you so much.

 

[Murray 3-D]

My planned mods:

-Create laminate PSL styled buttstock, with more wood left in front of the pins.... combined with bfiles screw mod.

-Removing the redundant trigger over travel stop. It doesnt provide much improvement AND if it walks forward un noticed it can break ur fire control group.

-May possibly carve out fresh upper and lower handguard from laminate, and make the upper handguard shorter to look more PSL like.

Then give her the Romanian name.... întări to screw, reinforce, fortify lol to keep with the Type 81sa tradition i have going...

 

[medvedqc]

My planned mods:

-Create laminate PSL styled buttstock, with more wood left in front of the pins.... combined with bfiles screw mod.

-Removing the redundant trigger over travel stop. It doesnt provide much improvement AND if it walks forward un noticed it can break ur fire control group.

-May possibly carve out fresh upper and lower handguard from laminate, and make the upper handguard shorter to look more PSL like.

Then give her the Romanian name.... întări to screw, reinforce, fortify lol to keep with the Type 81sa tradition i have going...

start a serie of this you may have some people interested in ...

 

[Dmitri]

This furniture has some decent grain once refinished.

But as far as the size of the stock goes, I agree it's a bit small. Grip feels a bit tight. As if they replicated it from an airsoft model . I will be making my own stock soon. How about LOP, do you guys find that a little short too ? I would be comfortable with 3/4" increase in length, and probably 1/2" in height.

 

[medvedqc]

This furniture has some decent grain once refinished.

But as far as the size of the stock goes, I agree it's a bit small. Grip feels a bit tight. As if they replicated it from an airsoft model . I will be making my own stock soon. How about LOP, do you guys find that a little short too ? I would be comfortable with 3/4" increase in length, and probably 1/2" in height.

in increasing the lop you may not be able to use properly the scope. again for the height it s the same but i will say it is more depending on individual.
the grip will be better a little wider like in the svd/ndm/psl/m91. but im interested to follow your project.

 

[Murray 3-D]

To the contrary airsoft grip patterns are usually larger then their real world counterparts because they often have to fit an electric motor in the grip. I plan to lower my stock by 1/2".

 

[TFunfer]

Great job! I definitely find the LOP a bit short.

 

[Dmitri]

I am trying out some alternative optic solutions. Found this side mound with picattini rail, and installed a spare Leupold Fredom 1-4×20 on low rings. Now this is probably the lowest option available. And what's great is that it is only about 1/8" off center, the original PSO scope is about 3/8" off center.
I noticed that Huron Arms side mount plate is unnecessary thick, there is at least an 1/8" to remove untill the screws are flush with the outside.. It will bring the PSO to 1/4 " off, and the other aftermarket mount, to dead center.
Also, comparing two options side by side, I had hard time to decide which glass offered better view. PSO glass is really good and on par with the Leupold I was using.

Accuracy was more than acceptable for x4 scope at a 100m.
Here is a group that was made with PSO using Barnaul ammo. One flyer, and the other 4 holes grouping at 2.5" .

Shot 140 rounds today, rifle performed exceptionally well, no malfunctions of any kind, very smooth recoil, absolute pleasure.
The only two thing that I want to change are the height of the cheek raiser (I wish it was 1/4" lower) I was thinking to use less padding and maybe cow hide instead of fake leather..
And machine the side plate thinner to bring optics to closer to center.

 

[Murray 3-D]

Bringing the PO closer to center may not allow u to fully extend the sunshade if it hits the rear sight. And it may make the cheek weld seem even higher.

 

[medvedqc]

interesting on your finding about clear lens as i was as well surprised by the quality of the russian scope.

 

[hollowedpoint]

My planned mods:

-Create laminate PSL styled buttstock, with more wood left in front of the pins.... combined with bfiles screw mod.

-Removing the redundant trigger over travel stop. It doesnt provide much improvement AND if it walks forward un noticed it can break ur fire control group.

-May possibly carve out fresh upper and lower handguard from laminate, and make the upper handguard shorter to look more PSL like.

Then give her the Romanian name.... întări to screw, reinforce, fortify lol to keep with the Type 81sa tradition i have going...

Of course Murray, the dudes been up and coming champ with the red rifles!! Keep up the great work!

 

[Dmitri]

So with all this ban nonsense i had to keep my self busy last few days, stress level is very high and thats not healthy. So i figured id get busy with my prototype replacement stock. I have done few SVD stocks in the past, mostly on CZ 858 platform, so i know the stock will need several points of attachment, normally i would have one bolt going through the pistol grip and the other through the thumbhole in to the back of the receiver (cz858 had room for that). But the type 81 SR is pretty limited as far as options go. so i did the only thing that seemed logical, i drilled and threaded a hole in that metal block that's riveted at the back of the receiver. i drilled it in the center of the groove to avoid any interference with the rivets. It is one tough piece of steel, took me a while to go through it and even longer to thread it. Normally i would give it a bit of an angle for the grip bolt so it pulls the stock forward as well as upward. But in this case i had to keep it straight at 90 degrees, since it was already too close to the back of the grip. As for the wooden part that inserts in to the opening at the back of the receiver, i extended it to provide more meat around the two receiver pins. it also kind of helps as a second point of attachment by hooking on to the receiver.
For the stock material i used birch plywood, and once it was finished i had few imperfections that surfaced in few areas of exposed layers. So i had to use wood filler to fill few effected areas. Although this stock does not have such nice grain like the original wood stock does, it still looks good in person, and will look even better once all the staining and polyurethane coating is done. Here is what i have so far...

Also, i have shot another 200 rounds with the improved original stock and it is holding up great, no cracking of any kind.

 

[Curtton]

another great idea but not many are as skillful as you.

 

[Dmitri]

Has anyone tried to install M-lock rail segment on the side of the handguard? I figured why not try it, for occasional accessories, like light or laser. I had to do a little carving and fitting, there is barely any room around the barrel, installing a back plate was tricky..
I also picked up a drum mag this morning at a gun show and tried out some interesting configurations. The new improved stock received few more coats of poly and lots of buffing, looks great and feels very solid. Here are some pics:

 

[Murray 3-D]

Ill probably put a small rail for a bipod on the bottom. Was also thinking it be cool to build a SVD styled receiver clamp to bipod adapter. But i got other stuff to tend to first.

 

[Dmitri]

Ill probably put a small rail for a bipod on the bottom. Was also thinking it be cool to build a SVD styled receiver clamp to bipod adapter. But i got other stuff to tend to first.

I am debating if I should just install a sling stud and use Harris bipod, or mount a rail on the bottom for picattini type bipod. the thing is with every additional rail, it's becoming bulkier, and I like the simplicity and comfort of that wooden handguard.

 

[Eugene L]

Awsume ! I will be stealing some of your ideas ,lol just waiting for the replacement to arrive , the replacement will have to be pretty darn good to be better than your design !