Howdy, all.
I'm going to show the final outcome, first, then provide the overall details of this build.
Years ago, I saw some kook (Defcon) dropping various rimfire rifles into Airsoft stocks. Rimfirecentral had no interest and he caught flack but, really, he wasn't doing anything different than what Mossberg does with their 715t AR.
That thing is absolute garbage in design, but it's still selling to the general public. Why utilizing a similar process for something that is, arguably, more stable than a semi-auto is beyond me. I've always been intrigued by the idea and love the look of the old AICS L96 rifles. Though I've seen several attempts at rimfire swaps into these, the actions never looked right to my eyes. People cut away the stock to access the mag release and magazine, in general, and I see too much of the real action to meet my goal. Savages have their magazines so far forward, there was this weird, double magazine situation going on. It just wasn't what I was after, but I kept revisiting this idea and started really diving in around 2019. I considered the Tikka T1X, but I wanted this to be 17 HMR and I saw mixed reviews on their 17 HMR accuracy. When I saw the CZ 457, though, the search was over.
I chose this rifle because of several reasons, the first being the proximity of the magazine to the trigger. The second, major reason, was the safety being on the receiver, rather than the mag well, allowing me to bed the stock without worrying about the safety. Finally, the removable trigger guard and mag well give the greatest versatility in this type of build. I intended to utilize the airsoft magazine as a shroud, again, similar to Mossberg's setup with the 715t AR, but I would use the stock's magazine release so that I wouldn't have to access one on the actual firearm. I went with the AT-One Varmint model because, if I screwed up, I'd still have a good 17 HMR in a stock that I like the aesthetics of. But, I'd try my hand at something that I think is cooler, first...
I bought the side folder L96 springer Airsoft rifle from evike. Their gas versions (most commonly used for these builds) are few and far between and, though I would have preferred a fixed stock, I didn't trust that the basic model would have the aluminum chassis I was after. As it turns out, the side folder has the chassis to bed the airsoft receiver to, but forward of that is plastic, then a small aluminum bit for the sling mounts. But, I digress. First, I had to size everything up to make sure my vision would work. You can see that the trigger is a little further forward in this stock than in the actual CZ trigger guard, but I had to align the bolt relief.
After prying the stock apart (it's held together with tension pins), I took note of everything. The stock has a receiver attachment bolt in the trigger guard and a second bolt within the mag well. I had to relocate the rear bushing to align with the CZ receiver and I drilled a new hole for the second bolt to marry the action to the chassis. I barely had the tolerances for both and was super lucky everything aligned like it did. I mentioned the internals being an aluminum cast chassis, plastic, and fore-end for the sling points and spigot attachment point. I filled in the section with square tubing from Grainger, JB Weld and some thin aluminum shims to ensure everything stayed attached. There should be no real load in this area, save for the bipod attached out front, and I did stress test this attachment method without issue, though I would have preferred a full cast or weld, but that wasn't in the cards. Adapt and overcome and, so far, so good...
I probably could've done a better job with the tab alignment cuts on this square tubing, but only you're seeing this and a little slop here just helps with assembly. The through bolts hold everything tight and keep the skins well attached. Once I had the rifle chassis fully adapted for my purposes, I had to figure out what to do with the cylinder. I don't presently have anything on my phone, but the magazine is comprised of a metal outer case and a plastic two part BB reservoir/guide system. Basically, I figured out where the magazine needed to be and cut out a relief within the magazine. Once I had everything aligned well, JB Weld came to the rescue, again, ensuring the magazine is securely held through bedding. It is still removable, though, because I maintained the split features within the magazine. You can see the CZ Magazine aligns perfectly.
I can't show it in photos, but I also shored up a lot of slop in various areas. I "milled" a new pin (drill + file + stainless bolt) and resurfaced the faces for the folding stock to take up slop. Similar for the spigot attachment, using JB weld (again!) to reduce the gaps and permanently attach the rail to the spigot. I bedded the action and filled in any voids with L-channel that I filed to follow the contours of the action, then painted everything black. No point sharing the photos, since you won't see the details, but they were steps I took. In between that, I did take it to the range a few times just to ensure everything functioned and didn't fall apart. I didn't have "proper" optics, at this point, so I used the airsoft scope that came with the rifle. I had a friend's son visiting from Europe and I took him to the range. Everything went pretty well and the rifle functioned as intended and he thought it was pretty cool. But, he's a teenager from the Netherlands who had never shot anything before...
The scope, to nobody's surprise, did not do great. 1 to 2 inch groups at 75 yards, if memory serves. Better optics tightened that significantly, but I'm going by memory.
Up until now, this has largely been a mission for aesthetics and functionality. I just wanted something cool and unique. I couldn't justify a real AICS stock (and I don't like the looks of the newer setup AICS offers) and a Bergara or Vudoo, though I'm sure they're amazing. I'm in South Florida, with nowhere to shoot nearby that has any real distances, so there's little point for me to spend big money on a novelty. This was also just something to keep my mind occupied and to offer myself a mild challenge. This was all hand tools (files, drills, sanders, etc.) and Nothing I've done should hurt accuracy, except being cheap on optics, but that wouldn't matter which stock this thing is in. If I get time to head out to the range this week, I'll actually take the time to gather meaningful data.
I've been sitting on this build awhile, but have been too busy with work and life to do anything. I took vacation, finally, and am closing out as many projects as I can while I ignore work. I don't have targets, but this is the most accurate rimfire I own, now. That isn't saying much, since this is my first 17 HMR and they're supposed to be superior to 22 LR, but it's still fun times.
Hope you all enjoy the story.
I'm going to show the final outcome, first, then provide the overall details of this build.
Years ago, I saw some kook (Defcon) dropping various rimfire rifles into Airsoft stocks. Rimfirecentral had no interest and he caught flack but, really, he wasn't doing anything different than what Mossberg does with their 715t AR.
That thing is absolute garbage in design, but it's still selling to the general public. Why utilizing a similar process for something that is, arguably, more stable than a semi-auto is beyond me. I've always been intrigued by the idea and love the look of the old AICS L96 rifles. Though I've seen several attempts at rimfire swaps into these, the actions never looked right to my eyes. People cut away the stock to access the mag release and magazine, in general, and I see too much of the real action to meet my goal. Savages have their magazines so far forward, there was this weird, double magazine situation going on. It just wasn't what I was after, but I kept revisiting this idea and started really diving in around 2019. I considered the Tikka T1X, but I wanted this to be 17 HMR and I saw mixed reviews on their 17 HMR accuracy. When I saw the CZ 457, though, the search was over.
I chose this rifle because of several reasons, the first being the proximity of the magazine to the trigger. The second, major reason, was the safety being on the receiver, rather than the mag well, allowing me to bed the stock without worrying about the safety. Finally, the removable trigger guard and mag well give the greatest versatility in this type of build. I intended to utilize the airsoft magazine as a shroud, again, similar to Mossberg's setup with the 715t AR, but I would use the stock's magazine release so that I wouldn't have to access one on the actual firearm. I went with the AT-One Varmint model because, if I screwed up, I'd still have a good 17 HMR in a stock that I like the aesthetics of. But, I'd try my hand at something that I think is cooler, first...
I bought the side folder L96 springer Airsoft rifle from evike. Their gas versions (most commonly used for these builds) are few and far between and, though I would have preferred a fixed stock, I didn't trust that the basic model would have the aluminum chassis I was after. As it turns out, the side folder has the chassis to bed the airsoft receiver to, but forward of that is plastic, then a small aluminum bit for the sling mounts. But, I digress. First, I had to size everything up to make sure my vision would work. You can see that the trigger is a little further forward in this stock than in the actual CZ trigger guard, but I had to align the bolt relief.
After prying the stock apart (it's held together with tension pins), I took note of everything. The stock has a receiver attachment bolt in the trigger guard and a second bolt within the mag well. I had to relocate the rear bushing to align with the CZ receiver and I drilled a new hole for the second bolt to marry the action to the chassis. I barely had the tolerances for both and was super lucky everything aligned like it did. I mentioned the internals being an aluminum cast chassis, plastic, and fore-end for the sling points and spigot attachment point. I filled in the section with square tubing from Grainger, JB Weld and some thin aluminum shims to ensure everything stayed attached. There should be no real load in this area, save for the bipod attached out front, and I did stress test this attachment method without issue, though I would have preferred a full cast or weld, but that wasn't in the cards. Adapt and overcome and, so far, so good...
I probably could've done a better job with the tab alignment cuts on this square tubing, but only you're seeing this and a little slop here just helps with assembly. The through bolts hold everything tight and keep the skins well attached. Once I had the rifle chassis fully adapted for my purposes, I had to figure out what to do with the cylinder. I don't presently have anything on my phone, but the magazine is comprised of a metal outer case and a plastic two part BB reservoir/guide system. Basically, I figured out where the magazine needed to be and cut out a relief within the magazine. Once I had everything aligned well, JB Weld came to the rescue, again, ensuring the magazine is securely held through bedding. It is still removable, though, because I maintained the split features within the magazine. You can see the CZ Magazine aligns perfectly.
I can't show it in photos, but I also shored up a lot of slop in various areas. I "milled" a new pin (drill + file + stainless bolt) and resurfaced the faces for the folding stock to take up slop. Similar for the spigot attachment, using JB weld (again!) to reduce the gaps and permanently attach the rail to the spigot. I bedded the action and filled in any voids with L-channel that I filed to follow the contours of the action, then painted everything black. No point sharing the photos, since you won't see the details, but they were steps I took. In between that, I did take it to the range a few times just to ensure everything functioned and didn't fall apart. I didn't have "proper" optics, at this point, so I used the airsoft scope that came with the rifle. I had a friend's son visiting from Europe and I took him to the range. Everything went pretty well and the rifle functioned as intended and he thought it was pretty cool. But, he's a teenager from the Netherlands who had never shot anything before...
The scope, to nobody's surprise, did not do great. 1 to 2 inch groups at 75 yards, if memory serves. Better optics tightened that significantly, but I'm going by memory.
Up until now, this has largely been a mission for aesthetics and functionality. I just wanted something cool and unique. I couldn't justify a real AICS stock (and I don't like the looks of the newer setup AICS offers) and a Bergara or Vudoo, though I'm sure they're amazing. I'm in South Florida, with nowhere to shoot nearby that has any real distances, so there's little point for me to spend big money on a novelty. This was also just something to keep my mind occupied and to offer myself a mild challenge. This was all hand tools (files, drills, sanders, etc.) and Nothing I've done should hurt accuracy, except being cheap on optics, but that wouldn't matter which stock this thing is in. If I get time to head out to the range this week, I'll actually take the time to gather meaningful data.
I've been sitting on this build awhile, but have been too busy with work and life to do anything. I took vacation, finally, and am closing out as many projects as I can while I ignore work. I don't have targets, but this is the most accurate rimfire I own, now. That isn't saying much, since this is my first 17 HMR and they're supposed to be superior to 22 LR, but it's still fun times.
Hope you all enjoy the story.
