New bench... under construction

[Clunkmeister]

Not a conversion, but close enough. Still 7.62mm.

[HubertB]

Not very Ernieesque ... but it is starting to look like a modeller's bench

(Says the man who cannot pretend to be a modeller, given its output)

Hubert

[Clunkmeister]

Hubert, what you lack in quantity you easily make up for in quality. 

I still remember some of your epic racer builds and conversions. That Mystery Ship shook me to my core.

[HubertB]

Well that Mystery Ship is still in limbo as I procrastinate on how to modify some of the 3D-CAD work, with my existing software, or a new one I need to choose and learn ... Typical of my current mood

Hubert

[Bomber_County]

Looking good Ernie........far to tidy and yes I agree photoshop is a wonderful tool these days..........what does the gizmo do?

[Clunkmeister]

Toot finir!  My French is worse than my Russian. 

[Martinnfb]

That I-pad holder is priceless

[harv]

Cupcake your English is worst than your English lol...harv

[Clunkmeister]

1 hour ago, Martinnfb said:

That I-pad holder is priceless

LOL, yeah, I had to get it. I build a lot of HPH stuff and having the color instructions, plus reference material right there is gonna be nice.

Plus, I can stay on LSM while I build and torment you beggars.

[Clunkmeister]

22 hours ago, Bomber_County said:

Looking good Ernie........far to tidy and yes I agree photoshop is a wonderful tool these days..........what does the gizmo do?

Phil, the Gizmo is the upper receiver for a British L1A1 SLR. The SLR is a variation of the FN FAL that was redesigned from metric to inch measurements by Longbranch Arsenal (CAL) in Canada and was then adopted in some form by almost all Commonwealth Nations.  Nations who used the Metric system used the original metric pattern FAL, while Canada, N.Z., Australia, and the UK adopted the Inch Pattern. The USA came real close to doing so as well, but instead opted for an redesigned and improved Garand known as the M14. 

[Bill_S]

I dunno, Ernie.

I see another layer in your future.

[Clunkmeister]

Bill, your swami is correct!

[1to1scale]

Nice bench, how long until its buried in debris? 

Sigh, mine is back to a 8" x 12" work area....I really need to clean my bench again. 

[Ivan Ivanovich]

On 3/4/2019 at 4:40 AM, Clunkmeister said:

Toot finir!  My French is worse than my Russian. 

Oy! Comme c'est beau! Si rangé. Si propre.  
 

[Jackster]

Have serviced many L1A1 in my time, fantastic rifle, a bit unwieldy but what stopping power.

Workbench looking great Ernie 

Cheers

Kev

[Clunkmeister]

On 3/9/2019 at 11:56 AM, Ivan Ivanovich said:

Oy! Comme c'est beau! Si rangé. Si propre.  

Speaking of Stupidly Long Rifles...
I'd give someone else's right arm and kidney for a decent SLR. Or an ex-Bundeswehr/BGS G1.



One of those mythical baby-poop green Rhodesian ones would be a dream come true...

 

The Rhodies are the absolute Holy Grail to us FAL collectors.  Or, I should say, genuine Rhodies. Baby poop green with that odd, almost homemade camo job.  Because all FALs, including the inch pattern, had a safety sear, they’re classified as “machine guns” by the ATF here in the USA, meaning the upper receiver needs to be deactivated before entering the USA. Usually that means a hacksaw cutting the upper in half, rendering it useless. That means you get what’s called a “kit”here in the USA. You buy the rifle with a cut upper, then replace it with a locally produced upper without the safety sear cutout on the pivot hinge. 

There are plenty of G1 kits in the USA, but you usually build them with approved Imbel uppers, Imbel being an FN subsidiary, it’s still all FN, but you lose the capability of the “happy switch”.  Not that it matters, I’ve yet to see anyone hit something with a shoulder fired FAL on full auto.  A 10 lb noisemaker is all you get.

The Commonweath had it right: semi-auto fire only. One pull, one round. Make your rounds count, none of this M16 spray and pray garbage. 

[Clunkmeister]

I have two. Not many, but two very special rifles.

A 1963 C1A1, and a 1957 US Military T48 trials rifle.

C1A1 is inch pattern, T48 is metric, very similar to a Belgian.

Plus enough goodies to make a Brit L1A1

[Bomber_County]

Ernie, how’s that new bench doing. Can you still see any of it.......

[Jeff]

4 hours ago, Bomber_County said:

Ernie, how’s that new bench doing. Can you still see any of it.......

[Clunkmeister]

So far, at least a little corner of it.

[ScottsGT]

Ernie, that bench is wayyyy tooo small of a bench for the big 1/32  kits.  Need to start over with a 4X8 sheet of 3/4 Baltic Birch ply and make something that will hold a B-17/24 Lancaster!  I'm actually thinking about doing this myself.  Currently using one of the generic cafeteria tables with the fold down legs.

When I wanted to get into the mag fed .308 world, my local 'smith wanted to build me a FAL as you described.  Only reason I resisted was because the M1a I was looking at had a much better trigger than his worked over FAL.   M1a was the 9222 "Fully Loaded" with the NM trigger and other parts. I wound up going with the M1a.  But like all my other guns these days, all safe queens now.  I just never have time to go shooting anymore.