Aqualung
Blackhawk
Well, two years ago, the thought of an AP pistol intrigued me...admittedly influenced by some "Stormtrooper" pistols I've seen on the net...as I'm a Star Wars nerd.
But, I always thought .223/5.56 was waaaay too much for a pistol, so thought about alternatives. I thought of .300 Blackout, because I built a rifle in that caliber, but also thought I'd expand my horizons a bit. I then thought "how about 9mm?". I'd been accumulating other pistols in 9mm and was getting pretty sold on the caliber, so looked into what I needed to do to make my own "Stormtrooper" pistol.
I picked up a Ruger stripped AR556 lower and started building on that.
I got all the parts purchased, going for a two-tone gray look (which actually resulted in multi-tone, since all the grays don't exactly match...oh well). So I got the upper and lower assembled and then tried putting them together...They didn't fit.
Between the Sylvan Arms Colt-Style mag adapter block and the Bear Creek Arsenal Bolt, the upper and lower would not go together.
So, I started working on the "ears" of the feed ramp of the adapter block with hand files to where I could get everything together and give the bolt enough clearance to work. Once done that, I tried feeding some dummy rounds and they consistently jammed. At this point, I was pretty frustrated.
So, I placed a call to Sylvan Arms, based in Myrtle Beach, NC (this is relevant, though I did not know their location at the time) and spoke to some folks down there. They were very accommodating and told me that they'd be willing to send me another block at no charge. Meanwhile, in the course of the discussion, they informed me that it may be delayed because they were preparing for Hurricane Florence, which was due to hit them dead-on in a few hours. At this point, I was amazed that they had even answered the phone, let alone discussed my issues when they were going to get slammed by a darn hurricane...I told them to forget about sending anything at this point, or even worrying about anything but their own safety, wished them luck and hung up with them.
I then shelved the project for two years...until working at home due to COVID-19 had me in my reloading room/office with the build "calling" to me...so I started tinkering with it again.
I did some more research and send some emails and in the meantime, did a little more filing on the feed ramp to the block and got it to feed a bit better...it fed well from the left side of the magazine, but not the right (Colts are double-stack, double-feed).
Sylvan Arms was great...even after two years and with full knowledge that a hack gunsmith (me) was hammer-handing around at their product with files, they sent me another mag block for nothing. We all were sort of believing that there was something wrong with the tolerances of the original block.
The replacement block arrived and I installed it with the same results as the original...it didn't fit...now, that left the bolt as the "problem child".
I'd written to Bear Creek Arsenal, telling them my challenge and asked for their input. It was about three weeks after my initial email when they responded. they informed me that the bolt was not compatible with Colt-style magazines...it was a Glock-style bolt...How I missed that when I bought it, I don't know.
So, I purchased a correct-style bolt and surprise...everything went together like a champ. It hand-cycles and feeds dummy rounds perfectly. Now, I just need to get to the range or up to camp to try it out...
I freely admit that I didn't go top of the line, name-brand parts, as I wanted to keep the cost low. It's not going to get shot a lot, I imagine. If the novelty wears off, it may get switched into a carbine...
Aqualung
But, I always thought .223/5.56 was waaaay too much for a pistol, so thought about alternatives. I thought of .300 Blackout, because I built a rifle in that caliber, but also thought I'd expand my horizons a bit. I then thought "how about 9mm?". I'd been accumulating other pistols in 9mm and was getting pretty sold on the caliber, so looked into what I needed to do to make my own "Stormtrooper" pistol.
I picked up a Ruger stripped AR556 lower and started building on that.
I got all the parts purchased, going for a two-tone gray look (which actually resulted in multi-tone, since all the grays don't exactly match...oh well). So I got the upper and lower assembled and then tried putting them together...They didn't fit.
Between the Sylvan Arms Colt-Style mag adapter block and the Bear Creek Arsenal Bolt, the upper and lower would not go together.
So, I started working on the "ears" of the feed ramp of the adapter block with hand files to where I could get everything together and give the bolt enough clearance to work. Once done that, I tried feeding some dummy rounds and they consistently jammed. At this point, I was pretty frustrated.
So, I placed a call to Sylvan Arms, based in Myrtle Beach, NC (this is relevant, though I did not know their location at the time) and spoke to some folks down there. They were very accommodating and told me that they'd be willing to send me another block at no charge. Meanwhile, in the course of the discussion, they informed me that it may be delayed because they were preparing for Hurricane Florence, which was due to hit them dead-on in a few hours. At this point, I was amazed that they had even answered the phone, let alone discussed my issues when they were going to get slammed by a darn hurricane...I told them to forget about sending anything at this point, or even worrying about anything but their own safety, wished them luck and hung up with them.
I then shelved the project for two years...until working at home due to COVID-19 had me in my reloading room/office with the build "calling" to me...so I started tinkering with it again.
I did some more research and send some emails and in the meantime, did a little more filing on the feed ramp to the block and got it to feed a bit better...it fed well from the left side of the magazine, but not the right (Colts are double-stack, double-feed).
Sylvan Arms was great...even after two years and with full knowledge that a hack gunsmith (me) was hammer-handing around at their product with files, they sent me another mag block for nothing. We all were sort of believing that there was something wrong with the tolerances of the original block.
The replacement block arrived and I installed it with the same results as the original...it didn't fit...now, that left the bolt as the "problem child".
I'd written to Bear Creek Arsenal, telling them my challenge and asked for their input. It was about three weeks after my initial email when they responded. they informed me that the bolt was not compatible with Colt-style magazines...it was a Glock-style bolt...How I missed that when I bought it, I don't know.
So, I purchased a correct-style bolt and surprise...everything went together like a champ. It hand-cycles and feeds dummy rounds perfectly. Now, I just need to get to the range or up to camp to try it out...
I freely admit that I didn't go top of the line, name-brand parts, as I wanted to keep the cost low. It's not going to get shot a lot, I imagine. If the novelty wears off, it may get switched into a carbine...
Aqualung