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Posted: 1/13/2017 10:21:20 AM EDT
Well. I was going to try and hold off on building anything for a bit. That didn't last long. So I decided I need a belt fed in my life.
This build is a ways off, but I am going to use this thread to document the process along the way. I am also going to chop this thing to the shortest minimum length without going NFA. Think SOG RPD and that's what Im going for Lets build a RPD 
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Posted: 1/13/2017 10:22:33 AM EDT
[#1]
I'll be back
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Posted: 1/13/2017 10:22:41 AM EDT
[#2]
In!
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Posted: 1/13/2017 10:23:10 AM EDT
[#3]
Let's see where this goes.
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Posted: 1/13/2017 10:37:07 AM EDT
[#4]
Here are some drawings I found for the semi auto conversion
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Posted: 1/13/2017 10:40:05 AM EDT
[#5]
My God that's sexy
Godspeed man |
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Posted: 1/13/2017 10:57:12 AM EDT
[#6]
A few inspiration photos of what im going for with this build
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Posted: 1/13/2017 11:03:45 AM EDT
[#7]
In for the safe thread.
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Posted: 1/13/2017 11:06:53 AM EDT
[#8]
Good luck!
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Posted: 1/13/2017 11:10:06 AM EDT
[#9]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
In for the safe thread. 
No faith |
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Posted: 1/13/2017 11:11:26 AM EDT
[#10]
Tag for success or hair loss...
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Posted: 1/13/2017 11:13:37 AM EDT
[#11]
In for build photos.
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Posted: 1/13/2017 11:17:24 AM EDT
[#12]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
No faith None at all. 
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Posted: 1/13/2017 11:22:05 AM EDT
[#13]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
None at all. Quote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted:
No faith None at all. Don't let his dating threads throw you, his gun skills are much better than his relationship skills. Sorry, Chase
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Posted: 1/13/2017 11:25:01 AM EDT
[#14]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Don't let his dating threads throw you, his gun skills are much better than his relationship skills. Sorry, Chase
Im just in a little rough patch right now.... but gals dig belt feds right?
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Posted: 1/13/2017 11:31:37 AM EDT
[#15]
sorry for the derail but did you ever get that little fal running chase?
can't wait to see how the RPD built turns out. |
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Posted: 1/13/2017 11:32:16 AM EDT
[#16]
Is this a bet thread? I bet you wont be able to finish this.
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Posted: 1/13/2017 11:34:23 AM EDT
[#17]
IN!
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Posted: 1/13/2017 11:36:05 AM EDT
[#18]
What the hell, tags are free.
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Posted: 1/13/2017 11:38:47 AM EDT
[#19]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
sorry for the derail but did you ever get that little fal running chase? can't wait to see how the RPD built turns out. Yup Runs like a champ now. Even the regulator works when it did not use to. Any setting slung brass to the moon. It now recoils less and I can make brass land at my feet I think getting this thing going may have given me false amateur gunsmithing confidence
 Got the FAL going |
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Posted: 1/13/2017 11:40:52 AM EDT
[#20]
I have a semi that I had project arms finish and test for me.
I am also partners (I provided the kit and receiver) in a dealer sample. You'll have fun! |
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Posted: 1/13/2017 11:46:51 AM EDT
[#21]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I have a semi that I had project arms finish and test for me. I am also partners (I provided the kit and receiver) in a dealer sample. You'll have fun! Do you mean project guns? Ive been in touch with them about doing the mill work for the semi auto conversion They told me Id be better off just letting them build it.....
I don't feel in over my head just yet, but it maybe coming |
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Posted: 1/13/2017 11:51:19 AM EDT
[#22]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Is this a bet thread? I bet you wont be able to finish this. Well see 
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Posted: 1/13/2017 11:54:07 AM EDT
[#23]
It's a fun build. The mill work is not that hard. Are you buying a receiver?
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Posted: 1/13/2017 12:03:45 PM EDT
[#24]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
It's a fun build. The mill work is not that hard. Are you buying a receiver? I was hoping to reweld this one in the kit and do what needed to be done to convert it legally. That said after actually getting it, no fuckin way I can do that. The receiver is toast. Id love to do the mill work myself, but I am without a mill and shop class on running one was a decade ago
So Ill probably roll with a DSA RPD receiver. Have ADCO chop down a new barrel, perhaps maybe turn down the receiver end of the barrel if it needs it to mate with the receiver Im going to buy. Im not sure if Im being naïve or overly confident, but I don't see this being THAT bad of a build. Hardest part in my mind is pressing the barrel, which honestly wont be too hard. I have a press. The rest of it will be simply assembling it. Sure the barrel will need to be hit with a drill press to install the barrel parts. Like I said, perhaps Im being overly confident
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Posted: 1/13/2017 12:25:27 PM EDT
[#25]
In on one
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Posted: 1/13/2017 12:59:58 PM EDT
[#26]
Quoted: I am also going to chop this thing to the shortest minimum length without going NFA. You're making a belt fed pistol? Can't wait to see you in the CC threads. "I just wrap my spare ammo around my chest..." |
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Posted: 1/13/2017 1:05:55 PM EDT
[#27]
RPD's are cool but just can't justify one that is semi auto.
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Posted: 1/13/2017 1:08:18 PM EDT
[#28]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I was hoping to reweld this one in the kit and do what needed to be done to convert it legally. That said after actually getting it, no fuckin way I can do that. The receiver is toast. Id love to do the mill work myself, but I am without a mill and shop class on running one was a decade ago
So Ill probably roll with a DSA RPD receiver. Have ADCO chop down a new barrel, perhaps maybe turn down the receiver end of the barrel if it needs it to mate with the receiver Im going to buy. Im not sure if Im being naïve or overly confident, but I don't see this being THAT bad of a build. Hardest part in my mind is pressing the barrel, which honestly wont be too hard. I have a press. The rest of it will be simply assembling it. Sure the barrel will need to be hit with a drill press to install the barrel parts. Like I said, perhaps Im being overly confident There is more milling than what would have been required to reweld a receiver. The bolt carrier needs fairly significant milling modifications to work both with the striker system and with the available receivers, there's milling in the trigger group to accept the striker FCG, but there is very little that can be simply assembled on a machined receiver on an RPD. |
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Posted: 1/13/2017 1:10:35 PM EDT
[#29]
hell yea
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Posted: 1/13/2017 1:11:12 PM EDT
[#30]
I want to see how this goes, I have the parts and receivers, but my build probably wont happen for another year.
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Posted: 1/13/2017 1:12:56 PM EDT
[#31]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
It's a fun build. The mill work is not that hard. Are you buying a receiver? What mill work is required if you are buying a receiver? I wonder if this is CA legal since it feeds from a belt? |
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Posted: 1/13/2017 1:18:36 PM EDT
[#32]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
There is more milling than what would have been required to reweld a receiver. The bolt carrier needs fairly significant milling modifications to work both with the striker system and with the available receivers, there's milling in the trigger group to accept the striker FCG, but there is very little that can be simply assembled on a machined receiver on an RPD. OK, so you basically answer my question right before I asked it . . . I assume from what you say, that the new semi receivers are built that way to avoid NFA issues, hence other OEM parts in the kit need mods, like the bolt carrier and trigger group. It would be possible for some vendor to produce those parts new, assuming sufficient economic incentive, so they are basically drop in. Or am I being dense? |
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Posted: 1/13/2017 1:27:37 PM EDT
[#33]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
OK, so you basically answer my question right before I asked it . . . I assume from what you say, that the new semi receivers are built that way to avoid NFA issues, hence other OEM parts in the kit need mods, like the bolt carrier and trigger group. It would be possible for some vendor to produce those parts new, assuming sufficient economic incentive, so they are basically drop in. Or am I being dense? The carrier and bolt need to be milled to fit into the new, narrower semi receiver. The grip/trigger assembly need to be adjusted to fit the receiver and to take the semi FCG. there is a ton of shit to do on an RPD. I paid to have it done and then paid someone else to have it fixed. Then I ended up just selling it off to buy a M11/9 cause semi belt fed is no fun |
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Posted: 1/13/2017 1:28:45 PM EDT
[#34]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
OK, so you basically answer my question right before I asked it . . . I assume from what you say, that the new semi receivers are built that way to avoid NFA issues, hence other OEM parts in the kit need mods, like the bolt carrier and trigger group. It would be possible for some vendor to produce those parts new, assuming sufficient economic incentive, so they are basically drop in. Or am I being dense? No you're not being dense that's almost exactly it. The receivers being manufactured by Project Arms and DSA have carrier slots that are smaller than the full auto carrier rails. The intent being that only modified (semi) carriers fit new production receivers. Someone could produce carriers to fit available receivers, but they would be incredibly expensive. These modifications are arguably not necessary (legally) but have become the standard due to the initial back and forth between one of the first SOTs trying to build semi-RPDs and the ATF, and were the ATF's requests to essentially do everything they could think of to make a modified RPD impossible to covert back to full auto or to eliminate the possibility of new production receivers being assembled with standard full auto parts. (which is stupid because anyone capable of making these modifications would be capable of modifying it back into an open bolt full auto, just not with completely original parts) Carrier modifications include milling of the rails to fit semi receivers, removing the sear hook (so it cannot operate as an open bolt with a standard FCG) modifying the locking wedge by removing the face that impacts the firing pin, boring a hole for a transfer pin (to work with closed bolt striker system). In the lower, some milling needs to be done for the fitment of the Project Arms FCG, and 3 holes drilled to pin it in place. Pressing the barrel and drilling it for a pin is the least intensive machining on these. I built mine start to finish in roughly a day of free time in the machine shop, with a little woopsie pressing the barrel past the stop shoulder. Once that was diagnosed and rectified it was pretty smooth sailing getting the striker system tuned to work 100%. |
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Posted: 1/13/2017 2:10:20 PM EDT
[#35]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
No you're not being dense that's almost exactly it. The receivers being manufactured by Project Arms and DSA have carrier slots that are smaller than the full auto carrier rails. The intent being that only modified (semi) carriers fit new production receivers. Someone could produce carriers to fit available receivers, but they would be incredibly expensive. These modifications are arguably not necessary (legally) but have become the standard due to the initial back and forth between one of the first SOTs trying to build semi-RPDs and the ATF, and were the ATF's requests to essentially do everything they could think of to make a modified RPD impossible to covert back to full auto or to eliminate the possibility of new production receivers being assembled with standard full auto parts. (which is stupid because anyone capable of making these modifications would be capable of modifying it back into an open bolt full auto, just not with completely original parts) Carrier modifications include milling of the rails to fit semi receivers, removing the sear hook (so it cannot operate as an open bolt with a standard FCG) modifying the locking wedge by removing the face that impacts the firing pin, boring a hole for a transfer pin (to work with closed bolt striker system). In the lower, some milling needs to be done for the fitment of the Project Arms FCG, and 3 holes drilled to pin it in place. Pressing the barrel and drilling it for a pin is the least intensive machining on these. I built mine start to finish in roughly a day of free time in the machine shop, with a little woopsie pressing the barrel past the stop shoulder. Once that was diagnosed and rectified it was pretty smooth sailing getting the striker system tuned to work 100%. Im likely going to have project guns modify the components and install their semi auto kit into the lower. They offer it as a service. Id love to try my hand at it, but I simply don't have access to the machines necessary. After that it "seems" to be smooth sailing. However most endeavors always seem easier in my mind than reality So what did you do to get the barrel back out after you pressed it in too far? |
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Posted: 1/13/2017 2:22:20 PM EDT
[#36]
There's something wrong with your camera.
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Posted: 1/13/2017 2:33:48 PM EDT
[#37]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
There's something wrong with your camera. If you click on em they look better. ARFCOM compresses some of my imgur pics for some reason and makes em look funny |
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Posted: 1/13/2017 2:34:44 PM EDT
[#38]
Following!
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Posted: 1/13/2017 2:38:02 PM EDT
[#39]
In
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Posted: 1/13/2017 2:40:50 PM EDT
[#40]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
If you click on em they look better. ARFCOM compresses some of my imgur pics for some reason and makes em look funny They still look like you used some weird oversaturation filter. |
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Posted: 1/13/2017 2:41:15 PM EDT
[#41]
Tag
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Posted: 1/13/2017 2:59:42 PM EDT
[#42]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
You're making a belt fed pistol? Can't wait to see you in the CC threads. "I just wrap my spare ammo around my chest..." No itll legally be a rifle. Im planning on keeping it at 16" The photos above show some SOG modified RPDs. Looks like one is actually around 16". The others are probably 14" or 15" but lack a front sight. Anything shorter would require a decent bit of modification to the gas system |
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Posted: 1/13/2017 3:26:05 PM EDT
[#43]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Anything shorter would require a decent bit of modification to the gas system But you're so good @ that.
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Posted: 1/13/2017 3:32:17 PM EDT
[#44]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
But you're so good @ that. Youre not the first to ask if it would be a pistol. If I could figure out how the fuck this thing works Id think about it. Only thing I can imagine is they relocated the spring to the piston, but I have zero idea 
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Posted: 1/13/2017 5:26:45 PM EDT
[#45]
Tagged. Good luck. I would love to have a shorty RPD.
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Posted: 1/13/2017 5:39:13 PM EDT
[#46]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Im likely going to have project guns modify the components and install their semi auto kit into the lower. They offer it as a service. Id love to try my hand at it, but I simply don't have access to the machines necessary. After that it "seems" to be smooth sailing. However most endeavors always seem easier in my mind than reality So what did you do to get the barrel back out after you pressed it in too far? Pushed it back out
There is a slight shoulder in the receiver meant to serve as a stop. I rolled over it about .010. Bolt wouldn't close and I couldn't believe my locking wings were that oversize so I pushed it back out, realized what happened, pushed it back in to the right depth and pinned it. I still had to regrind my wings to set the headspacing, but only a couple thousandths IIRC. That's the other part of a build you need to understand. Three main jobs in an RPD build: 1 machining the carrier to fit the receiver and semi-auto 2 machining the lower/installing FCG 3 installing/pinning barrel and setting headspacing. I pushed my barrel in to the shoulder and shortened my wings however an experienced AK builder would likely be able to press the barrel to the correct headspacing with the wings as supplied in the kit. After that a bit of tuning. |
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Posted: 1/13/2017 5:40:40 PM EDT
[#47]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Youre not the first to ask if it would be a pistol. If I could figure out how the fuck this thing works Id think about it. Only thing I can imagine is they relocated the spring to the piston, but I have zero idea http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/Rhodesia_RPD.jpg I've thought about that extensively and I actually believe the thing you see under his left hand is an external op rod with a spring around it. |
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Posted: 1/13/2017 5:55:09 PM EDT
[#48]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Pushed it back out
There is a slight shoulder in the receiver meant to serve as a stop. I rolled over it about .010. Bolt wouldn't close and I couldn't believe my locking wings were that oversize so I pushed it back out, realized what happened, pushed it back in to the right depth and pinned it. I still had to regrind my wings to set the headspacing, but only a couple thousandths IIRC. That's the other part of a build you need to understand. Three main jobs in an RPD build: 1 machining the carrier to fit the receiver and semi-auto 2 machining the lower/installing FCG 3 installing/pinning barrel and setting headspacing. I pushed my barrel in to the shoulder and shortened my wings however an experienced AK builder would likely be able to press the barrel to the correct headspacing with the wings as supplied in the kit. After that a bit of tuning. I cant wait to get a non screwed receiver so I can see how everything works together. I really kind of just dove in without researching too much 
Im glad you have been there done that though, I will likely be touching base with you at some point during this build. Unless I can find someone that has a mill and willing to hold my hand and watch over my shoulder Im just going to send the parts off for 1 and 2. Id love to do it all the way through, but I don't think that's realistic in my position. |
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Posted: 1/13/2017 5:58:52 PM EDT
[#49]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I've thought about that extensively and I actually believe the thing you see under his left hand is an external op rod with a spring around it. Its too bad the picture is so low quality. You maybe right about that. I wasn't sure what that was. In my head you could use a spring to force pressure forward on the piston to get it going. Much like a few short stroke designs do to return the piston to its resting state. But Im not sure how the spring would handle the heat, and as this thread shows I have zero experience with a RPD
Its a super interesting gun. I wish I could find out some more about it. |
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Posted: 1/13/2017 6:01:00 PM EDT
[#50]
The machining itself isn't too challenging. The blueprints available make it a little more challenging than it needs to be, they leave a lot to be desired. So it's figuring out exactly what needs to be done that makes it more complicated than say an AK.
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