Custom M16 A2 Box Mag. ~1652K (SAW update)
 

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http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j1.../boxmag1-1.jpg

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j1.../boxmag2-1.jpg

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j1.../boxmag3-1.jpg

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j1.../boxmag4-1.jpg

http://www.airsoftcanada.com/gallery...0/m16a2saw.jpg





If you have any questions, please feel free to post/PM me and I will do up additional picture tutorials of the question asked.

Special thanks to MadMax for pointing out THIS LINK.

I am looking at doing a SAW conversion. Stay tune for more info.

-Daes-

very nice man!

Im in for sure, how much did this cost you?

Too cool. Blueprints and details please. I'd love to try to build one or at least know how to.

That, along with anything hicap style, ruins Airsoft's realism.

I'd be ashamed to use that.

i do agree that it ruins the realism, but you cant ignore the fact thats its just plain cool
good job man

Wicked
 

:tup: yeah i really wana see the blueprints it would be very much apreciated, I want to make a machine gun conversion to my g36c but then box mags cost soo much!.. this might be the solution ive been looking for! :mrgreen:

Just whipping together the next little info. jpg.

As a response to Rumpel Felt, you don't have to put in 4000 rounds, if you are going for realism, count out 90-120 rounds and stuff that in. With some lead weights, this will come close to accurately and realistically representing a high capacity box magazine for a real M16 regarding weight and capacity.

-Daes-

I think a realistic weight drum mag (Approx. 3 Ilb?) would fall right outa your aeg, or break some shit inside the mag well when it wobbles around. The G36 has a better clipping mechanism than the armalites, and i find 3 mags MAX is putting enough stress in there.

Also, if its "copyrighted" why are you giving out plans? LOL!

That thing looks sweet though! What electric motor did ya slap in that badboy?

im sorry to say, the idea is good. But the mag is just ugly on the outside.. .WAY to freaking huge for an armalite. It just doesnt look like a good combo.

Ha ha ha, good point Dozer_01, the jpg is copyrighted but not the plans. As porry stated, the box is huge, so if you modify my plans, then... :-D

These plans are mearly a stepping stone for people to learn from, I am sure that many people are much better craftpeople than I am.

-Daes-

Come on come back from work, Im so anxious to build this thing, going shopping tommorrow for the materials!

I'm surprised the gun didn't explode when you let 2000 rounds through it in under 5 minutes..

Hmmm, should it? This is a near new stock M16 A2. There is very little spring and piston resistance. The pistol grip, "where the heat sink for the engine is for those who haven't seen the m16 :nod: ", was barely even warm. I would be very disappointed if my TM airsoft gun could not handle this kind of use. Mind you, point taken, doing this every game I play would really strain the mech. box but I was only testing it...

The test was into a target box from ~12 feet, 2500 cheapo .12 gram BB's. Shot through nearly all of them before the carboard box began to fall apart. Kinda neat cutting shapes into the cardboard box. Maybe if this was with .25 gram BB's it would be a different story, but it is a neat idea for someone to test the differences.

For those of you who don't believe that a TM gun can shoot for a sustained time, goto HERE and check out the 1991 promotional video. The gun completely chews apart an apple with a TON of BB's for over 20 seconds straight. I did mine in ~10-15 second burst with a short break between each. It took about 5 minutes to go through the 2000. Quick math, at a slow ROF at 600, I would go through 3000 rounds in 5 minutes, realisiticaly I am firing at, according to HERE, at ~750-850 per minute with a max of 4200+ in 5 minutes. That means I can fire for 15, take 15, and empty 2000 in 5 minutes with less strain to the mech. box. I heard that the V1 mechbox is strong, I am sure that a V2 mechbox can also take it.

Well now, back to work I go... Going to redo the handle tonight to an underside straight one with a trigger type system... going to do some more modular trigger system :-D

-Daes-

What about part 3? Me want now! Joking, post it up any time if your not busy.

Thanks
Ernest

Thanks for the motivation on getting this done. You have to show me when you're finished :cheers:

-Daes-

kick ass dude

anyone who brings more ammo on the field is cool with me.

Didnt know it was wood! Thats cool though. If i left that inside my house, my dog would eat it. He has a thing for thin slices of arbre :lol:

Aww man, circuit city(radio shack) doesn't have anything. All I got was leds, rocker switch, small switch and battery pack. Could I use a small motor for those tamiya mini racers? I went Rona and ask if they had Door panel wood, and they said they don't know what I am talking about.. I try to improvise with other materials.

Thanks
Ernest

Yeah, Circuit City is Lame-o compared to the old school Radio Shack. Go back to Rona and tell them they are clueless idiots, then say you would like some Mahogany Door Skins/Panels, they will know what a door skin is, if they still give you a hard time, I will go down to my local Rona and ask for a product code. They are about 3-6mm thick and are 4x8 feet. They are used in making inside house doors, so if anything, find an old door and cut off the skin.

As for the servo, go to a hobby store that sells model rockets, crafts, and stuff and ask if they have a model airplane servo. Servo's are used to move the flaps on the wings. Any other motor does not have the correct gear ratio and will not be strong enough to turn the hi-cap.

Another place to look for pressure switches in on old computer equipment. Find an old CD-Rom and on the front ejection button, behind it is a very effective tiny pressure switch.

The below pictures show, a door, that has mahogany sheeting construction and looted pressure switches from an old cdrom and the power cable from a computer that I used for my modular switches. Just go to a computer store and ask if they have any broken CD-rom readers and any old power extension cables, I paid $5 for a ton of cables and junk...

heh, yeah, ditto with my dog. My shop is outside and if he gets in, he will eat all the spray paint can lids, any mouth size wood, and tear any bags apart... gotta love dogs...

-Daes-

Thanks Deas, I built a prototype so when I get the wood and the rest of the parts, Im am good to go. My prototype is taking shape and is (please don't flame me for doing this) made of cardboard, JUST FOR THE MEASUREMENTS. I'll post up a pic later.

Thanks again Deas for the help.
Ernest

Done the PROTOTYPE, here are the pics:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...8/PICT0523.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...8/PICT0521.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...8/PICT0520.jpg

Thats all, this actually help alot, because I had to ajust and tinker with it so all my measurements match so I wont mess up when I get the wood.

WOW, hummermaniac88 that is awesome! I like the dimensions of it, tight! Looks more like an ammo box then a .. box... Great idea of doing it up in cardboard first, measure twice, cut once, saves you hassle in the end. I am really looking forward to seeing the final project. Looks tight on your Armalite, hate to run into that in a CQB :-D

-Daes-

Slight change of plan, I'll be using plexy glass, hot glued first then silicone shut to weather proof it. Wood could rot if water gets in(rain, snow..etc.). And the shape is going to change a little on the left side, the "bb hatch" is going to be the whole slanted left coner, and the slanted left corner is going to be bigger. The whole thing should be slimmer but same width. Thanks for the encouragement Deas, by the way, this is my first project, its small but easy for me so I hope I'll do ok!

Ernest

Just out of warning, I started with plexy glass, then steel sheeting, and I settled for wood. I admit that I was skeptical of wood at first, I be more into metal working myself, but here is how the different materials turned out.

Plexy Glass Plastic - Unless you buy the strongest polycarbonate stuff around, it shatters, easily, especially when you are working with it. Drop in and bang, it has cracked or shattered, boooo... Just like diamonds are the hardest thing around, until it cracks...

Metal - regarding the picture it looks great. Light, strong, dentable, scratchy, dentable, bad structural support... just like door panels, it gets dented if hit... Not what I wanted...

Wood - this is why I fibreglass it, eliminates rot and makes it water proof. But a good paint job goes along way. Also per weight is stronger than metal and doesn't shatter like plastic.

For those of you who make or use kayaks, metal kayaks are a joke, plastic kayaks are strong but heavy and the lighter ones crack, bad strength to weight ratio compared to .... wood. Fibreglass the wood and it is great.

Now with this all being said, Kevlar and carbon fibre would make the best Kayak and ammo box but is really REALLY hard to use. Making molds are a pain in the arse... Maybe I will retry this box in composites but I would like to find the right dimensions that are pleasing to the eye and most easy to maneovere with. As you can see from Ernest's dimensions, much cleaner looking... let the envy ensue :twisted:

So the moral is, I suck at working with plastic and if Ernest can pull it off, then please please report what specific plastic material you are using, cause it really crumbled apart on me :(

-Daes-

Well, that is the final section finished now. A 4 part mini-series. If anyone would like additional inclusions, just let me know. I would love to include/feature any boxes that anyone else finishes.

-Daes-

I would think that if you applied your quite considerable skill to drummags for say, RPK's, (or any other machine gun as opposed to assault rifles) you could stand to make quite the tidy profit.

But I have to ask the question, what do you need 4000rnds for anyway?

Next project, drum mag. for the thompson... Heh heh, tommy gun, drool :twisted:

And yeah, there is NO point to having 4000 rounds, if it takes you that many to kill someone then you have issues :confused: . Mind you, for day long games, this is more convienent than lugging a BB bottle around, or at least cooler looking. I agree about the machine gun point, I did this as a poor man's machine gun not wanting to shell out $2000 for a gun. My M16 assualt rifle has now became more of a M16 SAW. I am support and cover fire but serve no purpose as a sniper and marksman... That would be lame...

Finally... I am not that skilled, the hard part is figuring out how it all fits together. This tutorial is in hopes that other people try something creative instead of just going and buying the pre-made thing. It might be an idea for airsoft gun stores to start carrying things like servos... But you are right, if I can perfect nice metal box/drum magazines and make them in a realistic time frame, then yes, I would sell them or do custom orders. Just right now they are not "quality" enough for me to feel comfortable selling them...

-Daes-

I finally got home and shaped my first peice out of plexy glass, and the results are better than I thought... It was hard to cut at first with the hand saw, but once I got a rectangular shape out of it, I quickly cut the corners with other power tools(I don't know the names but I know how to use it :wink: ) Then finally smooth all edges out by fine sanding it with the sanding machine(I know the sanding machine!). Here are the pictures:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...8/PICT0525.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...8/PICT0524.jpg

Hey Ernest, that is some mighty fine looking plexyglass. Does it come pre-colored black? I have only found crappy transparent stuff that looks much weaker than what you are working with. How much does that stuff cost a square foot and where do you get it? How does it stand up to cracking, can you take a piece that has been scratched and bend it without it breaking?

It says in the back that theses are acrylic plexy glass. I honestly do not know how much the peice is, its the peices from the table tops of my dads restaurant, he changed it and has a dozen of these laying around. Its actually "transparent black" I still have the protective tape in back of it. Sure you could bent these, all it take is alot of patients(so you wont break it) and slowly heating it, torche is a good heat source just don't put it too close or it'll bubble up. When I cut it I make sure nothing is hanging loses while its being cut, so it cannot crack.

***Updated first page with SAW conversion images***

Well, the box magazine has been performing quite well. I have ran into the occasional jam with crappy BB's, but shaking the box solves the jam.

The only other problem was with the batteries. I have had battery corrosion which was solved by wiping them off. Same batteries since I started.

Other than that, the box serves very well for cover fire and completly eating through brush cover. Lesson, hiding behind plants is unrealistic and now, ineffective. :)

-Daes-

Long time no hear. Pictures are not working. Show me, show me, show me... The plexiglass should be awesome.

-Daes-

Well, it has been ten months and the box magazine is still chugging along. Things are beginning to loosen around the mag attachment but it still works like a charm. Though low-caps are preferable, this box is still quieter than a high-cap and provides many hours of SAW amusement. A smaller, dual mag box was also made but it did not function as well. I am going to try to make a full aluminum box, smaller, and more space efficient. Perhaps with a different feeding mechanism too.

-Daes-

***Updated***

Fix the photo links since ASC changed their galleries.