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2XTM 9mm Build Progress

11K views 65 replies 13 participants last post by  2ndAmendican 
#1 · (Edited)
Thanks to all who offered advice, and especially to Zoom6Zoom who sent me the original PDF files from Lichtenberg Research. They helped a ton!!!!!!!

Here is the progress so far:

Bent up a piece of .050 mild steel that I cut out the rough opening for the 2XTM magwell prior to bending. (I use a Tapco flat as a template, and scribe onto the plain sheet metal.) Trimmed to rough size, bent the top rails in a hydraulic knife edged type bender at work. drilled pilot holes everywhere I needed them, cut out for magwell, pistol grip nut, and trigger so I could put it in my poor mans jig. Set the outer die spacing for the .050 flat, and bent it up, nice and square, with great corners. I was worried about how well it would turn out with the large magwell cutout and not being able to use the forward most bolt through the inner clamping die on the bending jig. It turned out great!!!!!! Temp installed the magwell with 2 8-32 screws in the aft holes for the front trunnion. In general it fits good. It will still need lots of trimming and fitting once I have a couple of Suomi drum mags to start fit checking. I went ahead and finished drilling up the receiver, temp installed the center support, double checked the FCG fit, selector lever, top cover, etc.... It all looks great.

I mocked up a few parts on it just to get an idea of what it will look like. This is by no means the furniture that will go on it. I haven't decided on that yet. It's just there because it was the closest items at hand.

Crap tried to load a pic and it's too big!! Will post a pic as soon as I can resize it.
 
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#38 ·
looking good chris, when my buddy showed me his kit he picked up cheap that was a former weld build he thought ruined trunnion i right away thought blowback trunnion lol anyway i knew that would come in handy for someone.

by the way chris i hope you can get those bolts made soon i'm going nuts and looking to finish mine finally, all i need is my bolt and to assemble it on a receiver.

here's my mock up if i were to build it as an sbr (would start with a perm pinned extension) just so everyone knows it is not riveted or welded or anything so nothing is actually installed on the receiver in fact it's not functional at all

 
#39 ·
That looks great Justin!!! I like that combination of parts. Works good together.

I hope to know something today about the per piece price from the machine shop. As soon as I find out, I'm gonna start a new stand alone thread.
 
#41 ·
Hey Johnny, why don't you pick it up and build it! All the hard to find parts are there, the rest is reasonably easy.

All, I am still waiting on the machine shop, dangit! He's kinda slow, but their work is absolutely outstanding. They do a lot of work for Lockheed Martin, and Michelin Tire.

Still awaiting some parts. Here's where I'm at right now:
 

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#43 ·
Hey Johnny, why don't you pick it up and build it! All the hard to find parts are there, the rest is reasonably easy.

All, I am still waiting on the machine shop, dangit! He's kinda slow, but their work is absolutely outstanding. They do a lot of work for Lockheed Martin, and Michelin Tire.

Still awaiting some parts. Here's where I'm at right now:

I wish I could. I have no mechanical skills at all and my free time is spent on my side business of refinishing AK furniture, so I'll have to wait until one becomes commercially available. :frown: I want one badly! Your rifle looks AWESOME! I admire your work. :)
 
#44 ·
Thanks Smart!!!! LOL. Yeah, I can just about finish her up once I get the parts from you. I think I am going to set it up to use my EOD bolt, and just swap back n forth as needed until I can get the machine shop deal going.

Johnny, hopefully there will be an American made 9mm AK before too long. I hear from a LOT of people who are interested in buying one if/when someone makes them available commercially.

Thanks for the compliments, but I have to admit that I got the front end and magwell from another Gunco member, so I can't take all the credit. Lots of it, but not all of it, LOL!!
BTW, the work you do with the stocks,etc.. looks great. If I didn't enjoy refinishing my own so much, I would have bought from you. Very nice work.
 
#45 ·
Thanks Smart!!!! LOL. Yeah, I can just about finish her up once I get the parts from you. I think I am going to set it up to use my EOD bolt, and just swap back n forth as needed until I can get the machine shop deal going.

Johnny, hopefully there will be an American made 9mm AK before too long. I hear from a LOT of people who are interested in buying one if/when someone makes them available commercially.

Thanks for the compliments, but I have to admit that I got the front end and magwell from another Gunco member, so I can't take all the credit. Lots of it, but not all of it, LOL!!
BTW, the work you do with the stocks,etc.. looks great. If I didn't enjoy refinishing my own so much, I would have bought from you. Very nice work.
Why thank you sir! Perhaps some day I'll be able to get into building AK's. It sure looks like a lot of fun. You're not too far from Charlotte, so if I ever get around to it I'll have to look you up. ;)
 
#46 ·
I'm only 90 minutes from downtown Charlotte, so if you find yourself headed to ATL or something, give me a heads up, and we can try to hook up. Building is addictive by the way. Once you do the first one, and get to fire this cool weapon that only days or weeks before was just a pile of scrap parts, you're hooked. LOL.
 
#49 ·
I'm only 90 minutes from downtown Charlotte, so if you find yourself headed to ATL or something, give me a heads up, and we can try to hook up. Building is addictive by the way. Once you do the first one, and get to fire this cool weapon that only days or weeks before was just a pile of scrap parts, you're hooked. LOL.

I'll definitely let you know if I can. Thanks!
 
#48 ·
Thanks Scott!!! I really appreciate it. Might be able to shoot this thing next weekend!!!!!
 
#50 ·
Got some parts in from Smartbomb, and was able to get it almost finished. Installed rear trunnion and recoil spring. I wasn't sure how I was going to hold the gas tube in place. It doesn't have the slots/tabs to install like a Galil, so I figured I would rather put a metal strap over it, than to weld it to the trunnion. Strap seems to work just fine, and it's removeable with 3 screws. Temp installed the TG so I could measure for the mag release addition that I will have to weld on to properly hold the mags. With the mag held in place by hand it cycled a couple rounds perfect. I can't wait to finish this thing up and test it. I'm also attempting to make my own muzzle break for it, so we'll see how that goes.
 

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#51 ·
looks great chris! hey ive been thinking if it's a blowback then why do you "need" to have the "gas tube" removable? it's not like you'd have to clean it much other than residue that gets in there but it's not like gas is blowing in
 
#52 ·
Probably will wind up welding it, but for the moment I went with a screw down strap. Got some more done last night. She's almost ready to test fire. Should be ready to test this weekend, if I can get any time off of work.
 
#53 ·
More pics:
 

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#55 ·
Thanks Johnny. It really feels good now that I have the mag release sorted out. Locks nice and tight, but still releases reasonably easy. Hand cycling using the EOD bolt from my 7.62x25 blowback pistol build works nice and smooth. strips, feeds, seats, and ejects fine. Just a couple of small things to finish up, then test. Once she is running good, then I'll go ahead and finish the metal. Not sure if I'm gonna repair the cosmetic part of the cracked front handguard, or just replace it. I dropped it when I was swapping the furniture on one of my Bulgy 74's, and it snapped right off when it hit the floor. I recently drilled/pinned/Gorilla glued it, and it seems to be solid as a rock. I just need to sand it back down, then re-poly it with the Minnwax satin poly. Not sure whether I'm gonna Cold Blue it, or go with the flat black Alumahyde.
 
#58 ·
Been following this build from the beginning.
I really like the TOK drum feeders and your turned out great.

Aluma Hyde II is a great finish for the cost and is good at hiding small blems.


Shooter

Yeah, I think I'm gonna go with the Aluma Hyde then. Thanks!!
 
#59 ·
OK, I finished most of the mechanicals last night. Only thing left before a hopeful Sunday test fire, is to weld on the bolt stop extension, and set headspace. Will do that this evening when I get home from work. I have to do a little weld and file on one of my drum mags also. The mag lock area on the mag itself is worn and the mag won't sit tight enough to feed without pushing it up by hand. The other drum is nice and tight, and feeds great.

I can't wait to try it!!!!! Finger crossed that all goes well tomorrow. (Weather and the rifle.)Also gonna test my Yugo M76, and re-test my 7.62x25 Gas Op AK pistol. (It had some feeding issues that I'm pretty sure I have straightened out.)
 

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#60 ·
I actually had an idea for the bolt stop. Instead of welding a block on, drill and tap the factory bolt stop on the trunnion for a stop bolt with a jamb nut. Maybe even tack weld it after getting the headspace set. I can't remember how much material is there, so I don't know if it would support a 10-32 hole, or if I would have to do an 8-32. I'm pretty sure that a 10-32 bolt, correctly chosen of course, could handle the the linear compression, (especially if I washer it up to help support the shank) but I'm not sure that an 8-32 could handle the repeated pounding. I'm gonna check it out after I get home. May not need to be in much of a rush to get it ready to test tomorrow, as its supposed to rain. That sucks! The guy I was going with was bringing a 1919a4!!!!!!!!
 
#62 ·
Well, I wound up just welding in a block of keystock. I was being lazy that night, and figured even though I feel my adjustable bolt/jamb nut idea is a good one, it would have taken longer to do. I had to hurry and get it ready to test on Sunday, so I welded in the key stock.

Didn't get to test it due to the weather, but I found a problem when hand cycling. I trimmed the ejector too short/narrow. It was only hitting the shell base, if you pulled the bolt towards the left as you pulled backwards. If you pulled straight back, it would just barely hit the casing, enough to strip it off the bolt, but not enough to actually kick it out of the receiver. Then of course the casing would hang up the action. I need to add weld material to the ejector this evening. Glad I found it now, rather than at the range. I hate the weather wasn't co-operating, not to mention that I've got the start of a sinus/upper respiratory infection going on. Felt like crap all day yesterday. Maybe next weekend.
 
#63 ·
While trying to keep busy in the shop this week, I decided to make my own muzzle brake for this build. Started with a scrapped aircraft jet engine part that was going to be thrown away. I liked the look and shape of it, and saved it. It's been languishing in my tool box for years. Not even totally sure what it is/was. Some kind of a fuel nozzle adaptor I think.

Any rate, it had a standard 1-1/4" "nut" cast into the original part. I cut that off and ground it down, then chucked it up in the ******* lathe, my drill press. Kept grinding until it was smooth and somewhat even. Center drilled the hole up to .4xx. Don't remember the exact dimension, but it's what the tap and die chart calls for for a 1/2-20. The barrel on my build is threaded 1/2-28 like an AR, so obviously thats what I tapped the muzzle brake to. Then I drilled a hole pattern that is part AK74, and part Magna-Port style. Not sure if it will do anything but it looks interesting. It even clocked correctly when I installed it. Well, here she is:
 

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#66 ·
Awesome job on the brake, the amount, type and location of the ports looks professional. Shooter
Thanks Shooter. Yeah it has 4 straight ports and 4 ports that are angled back and radiused. 5 ports in front, and 3 on the second row. This is the second one that I've made. The first I did in 14 x 1mm LH for the AKM's. It looked great, but I wound up getting the tap just a hair crooked, and it threads on wonky. Sucked because I put several hours or work into that first one. At least I learned from my mistake though, and this one came out nice. I can't wait to try it with and without.

Thanks Mule. Will post range report soon I hope.
 
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