Hoplite Arms

[LeftyJason]

Hi,

Why you cannot get them?

I personally like the DMG Mori's with pallet changer but not for this project....once full blown production it will be nice to run lights out.

Sincerely,
Theis

Owner decided it. From what I understand mazak wants only their people to move one. We rearrange every now and then. Happens when you have 250,000sqft and adding 100,000k.

My old integex was just retired after getting crashed really bad. 90's machine and dark green in color. Replaced by a puma.

Lathes these days we mostly have puma with a few okuma and a big mori. Mills we have a mori, 7 grob 750's and ycm's. Not a fan of the ycm's but a bigger fan of them than our retarded tongtai lathes. Grinders we are standardized on studer. Edms are fanuc and makino.

 

[brianf]

What’s that bit for, inside of the action?

 

[THEIS]

Hi,

@LeftyJason I do not even want the headache of facility that large, lolol. That is when it is time to sell, haha.

@brianf, exactly...The specifications, tolerances from back to front and finish for internal of the receiver body is pretty critical since the breech cylinder slides in on the front side along with the fact that we have no "raceways" so did not need to deal with slow EDM process.

Sincerely,
Theis

 

[brianf]

Sounds good, with tolerances that tight when it’s time for a barrel does it have to go to a smith or we can call hoplite and get a “prefit”.

 

[THEIS]

Sounds good, with tolerances that tight when it’s time for a barrel does it have to go to a smith or we can call hoplite and get a “prefit”.

Hi,

Just call us up, email us, etc etc. Since we will have all your receivers measurements it is as simple as just spinning up barrel for you. But "prefits" could come from whomever wanted to make them.

Also, we are working on an advanced notice system for those that will be shooting the Hoplite Arms ammunition.
We will actually send you a message for various things such as:
Reminders of expected barrel life left
Reminders of expected firing pin spring, plunger springs, etc life left
Reminders of when we can schedule a RMA sent to you so we can go over the entire rifle here at the shop.

We are also seeing if the alert system will allow customers to notify us with how many rounds through the rifle that month so we can update the serial number in the system and be able to provide same reminders for those that do not use Hoplite Arms ammunition.

Just one of those things that several other industries utilize but not very common in ours.

Sincerely,
Theis

 

[brianf]

Does that apply for guys who only clean when their rifles “tell them” lol

 

[THEIS]

Does that apply for guys who only clean when their rifles “tell them” lol

Hi,

You tell me the rounds and I will instruct the rifle to "tell you" to clean it.
Now to decide if the announcement displays on the right or left side the barrel.......Sorta like invisible ink and lemon juice, lolol

Sincerely,
Theis

 

[Samuel Whittemore]

Hi,

Just call us up, email us, etc etc. Since we will have all your receivers measurements it is as simple as just spinning up barrel for you. But "prefits" could come from whomever wanted to make them.

Also, we are working on an advanced notice system for those that will be shooting the Hoplite Arms ammunition.
We will actually send you a message for various things such as:
Reminders of expected barrel life left
Reminders of expected firing pin spring, plunger springs, etc life left
Reminders of when we can schedule a RMA sent to you so we can go over the entire rifle here at the shop.

We are also seeing if the alert system will allow customers to notify us with how many rounds through the rifle that month so we can update the serial number in the system and be able to provide same reminders for those that do not use Hoplite Arms ammunition.

Just one of those things that several other industries utilize but not very common in ours.

Sincerely,
Theis

Didnt know you're producing your own ammo too? Wow. Cool beans. Roughly how many calibers? That'll be sold on the website? Casting the brasss too?

 

[_Windrider_]

Hi,

You tell me the rounds and I will instruct the rifle to "tell you" to clean it.
Now to decide if the announcement displays on the right or left side the barrel.......Sorta like invisible ink and lemon juice, lolol

Sincerely,
Theis

I want mine to whisper in a naughty FEMALE voice “I’m a dirty girl”

 

[THEIS]

I want mine to whisper in a naughty FEMALE voice “I’m a dirty girl”

Hi,

And just like that....I would InstagraFamous, lol

Sincerely,
Theis

 

[brianf]

Should put a QR code on each box of ammo with instructions to scan after finished.

Each box has its own sexy sounding “clean me”

 

[THEIS]

Didnt know you're producing your own ammo too? Wow. Cool beans. Roughly how many calibers? That'll be sold on the website? Casting the brasss too?

Hi,

O yea, I think I might have forgotten to mention that to you, lol.
Better allocate about 18 or so "blocks" for the ammunition placement in the new website store, haha.

We are looking at 3 grades of ammunition:
One will have other manufacturers "normal" brass and jacketed projectiles. These will be traditional cartridges only.
One will have lathe turned brass and monolithic projectiles. These will be traditional and Hoplite Arms cartridges.
One will have 2 piece case design and monolithic projectiles. These will be the Hoplite Arms cartridges.

Sincerely,
Theis

 

[THEIS]

Should put a QR code on each box of ammo with instructions to scan after finished.

Each box has its own sexy sounding “clean me”

Hi,

Testing QR Code abilities....

Sincerely,
Theis

 

[W54/XM-388]

Tim Strikes Again

 

[Samuel Whittemore]

O yea, I think I might have forgotten to mention that to you, lol.

Ok, 18 huh?

But "Blocks?" I haven't ever heard that vernacular before used in the web dev world though. Whatsa "block"? Is that a page? Seems like each will (should?) have it's own page so as to offer the specifications, load data and whatever other info of each?

"2 piece case design and monolithic projectiles"... Sounds like the elite of the elite ammo. The advertising: "Hopelite Ammo - for when you really reeeeeeally want that target to meet its' maker."

 

[goosed]

"2 piece case design and monolithic projectiles"... Sounds like the elite of the elite ammo. The advertising: "Hopelite Ammo - for when you really reeeeeeally want that target to meet its' maker."

Yes and no.

2 piece case design, I assume, is simply Hoplite's version of the next foolish idea (high pressure cartridges) the army is unofficially kicking the tires on.

Maybe some ELR applications, but won't have much benefit for most shooters.

 

[W54/XM-388]

Yes and no.

2 piece case design, I assume, is simply Hoplite's version of the next foolish idea (high pressure cartridges) the army is unofficially kicking the tires on.

Maybe some ELR applications, but won't have much benefit for most shooters.

It might be a lot more practical then you anticipate, if all the details are worked out and bulk production runs become common.

The SIG .277 Fury is an example of this. IF it comes to the commercial market in workable form as they hope, it would offer a significant improvement in hunting capabilities from a short barreled, short action, light rifle.

In the ELR world, it would offer significant benefits for those willing to spend the money.

 

[THEIS]

Hi,

Whether someone likes, agrees, accepts, wants, does not want, etc etc "high pressure" cartridge advancements are coming either way.

It does not take much research to see the reasoning and push for such advancements; from both the civilian consumer and the .gov (domestic and international) end user.

I totally understand why some people view it as "foolish" but I also have enough first hand experience with it and the end users request to understand it is coming, like it or not.

I personally equate it to the below similarities/questions:
1. How many of us are driving vehicles older than 20 years old?
2. How many of us are using AOL dial up internet service?
3. How many of us are still using Nextel "Beep, Beep" phones?

But yet we are still using a "pressure" rating set in place over 60 years ago, lolol.....That is like spending 10k on your vehicles off-road tires for MOAB but yet keeping factory driveshafts.

Sincerely,
Theis

 

[brianf]

Just think with high enough pressure you can really say,

“I held the nose on a running deer at 400 with my savage 270 and took him down last year.”

 

[_Windrider_]

Hi,

Whether someone likes, agrees, accepts, wants, does not want, etc etc "high pressure" cartridge advancements are coming either way.

It does not take much research to see the reasoning and push for such advancements; from both the civilian consumer and the .gov (domestic and international) end user.

I totally understand why some people view it as "foolish" but I also have enough first hand experience with it and the end users request to understand it is coming, like it or not.

I personally equate it to the below similarities/questions:
1. How many of us are driving vehicles older than 20 years old?
2. How many of us are using AOL dial up internet service?
3. How many of us are still using Nextel "Beep, Beep" phones?

But yet we are still using a "pressure" rating set in place over 60 years ago, lolol.....That is like spending 10k on your vehicles off-road tires for MOAB but yet keeping factory driveshafts.

Sincerely,
Theis

What if I spent 10k on a new drive shaft and kept the factory tires?

 

[THEIS]

What if I spent 10k on a new drive shaft and kept the factory tires?

Hi,

Results = Same
Upgrading 1 component is an act of futility. There is only so much advancements we can do with projectiles alone when we keep pushing them the same old method.
We have already seen the point of diminishing returns in regards to monolithics becoming so long that they are not stable nor magazine capable because we keep going for weight to get better BC instead of increasing speed to increase the down range ballistics.

Sincerely,
Theis

 

[Steel head]

I want mine to whisper in a naughty FEMALE voice “I’m a dirty girl”

With a sultry British accent’

Hi,

Whether someone likes, agrees, accepts, wants, does not want, etc etc "high pressure" cartridge advancements are coming either way.

It does not take much research to see the reasoning and push for such advancements; from both the civilian consumer and the .gov (domestic and international) end user.

I totally understand why some people view it as "foolish" but I also have enough first hand experience with it and the end users request to understand it is coming, like it or not.

I personally equate it to the below similarities/questions:
1. How many of us are driving vehicles older than 20 years old?
2. How many of us are using AOL dial up internet service?
3. How many of us are still using Nextel "Beep, Beep" phones?

But yet we are still using a "pressure" rating set in place over 60 years ago, lolol.....That is like spending 10k on your vehicles off-road tires for MOAB but yet keeping factory driveshafts.

Sincerely,
Theis

Lol
How many here are already running 70K or more so they can brag about the speed.

With properly designed stuff I’m looking forward to higher pressures especially with the new barrel alloys and other secret squirrel stuff I know people are working on.

 

[Terry Cross]

Like it or not, it is the next step in Internal Ballistics. Exactly right in that we have squeezed about all of the available juice out of BC so the only thing left is to increase speed and reduce flight time.

Same evolution happened when we made the jump from black powder cartridges to smokeless. Acceptable working pressures jumped DRAMATICALLY but only with advances in alloy material and heat treat used to build the host firearms.

To this day cartridges like 45 Long Colt are factory loaded to original black powder pressure specs because they may be loaded and shot in original Colt (and other makes) revolvers that were pre-smokeless while the same cartridge can be safely loaded and fired at 44 Magnum pressures in modern Ruger Blackhawks, etc.

I would imagine, we may be witnessing some of the last evolution in cartridge cased ammo. Burning chemicals to move projectiles fast enough for kinetic kills is very inefficient. Totally see hand held rail gun technology or focused beam energy technology coming on line in another decade or so*

*That is if we do not take ourselves back to living in caves and surviving on rotten rat carcasses that we killed with clubs before then.


./

 

[THEIS]

With a sultry British accent’

Hi,

British???? Go drink your tea with milk and eat your crumpets in the corner until I come get you.

Sincerely,
Theis

 

[_Windrider_]

Well I for one can’t wait. Someone has to be the first at everything.

 

[b6graham]

Well I for one can’t wait. Someone has to be the first at everything.

get in line haha

 

[E. Bryant]

I would imagine, we may be witnessing some of the last evolution in cartridge cased ammo. Burning chemicals to move projectiles fast enough for kinetic kills is very inefficient. Totally see hand held rail gun technology or focused beam energy technology coming on line in another decade or so*

As an electrical engineer with a bit of experience in designing electromagnetic systems, I wouldn't be holding my breath for rail guns any time soon (particularly hand-held devices). By the time we consider real-world aspects, smokeless powder is reasonably efficient. If we assume somewhere in the neighborhood of 175-225 ft-lb/grn (that's a weird unit to type out...) for smokeless power, a 6.5 CM load might be around ~33%. Ain't bad, considering the age of the base technology.

 

[spife7980]

As an electrical engineer with a bit of experience in designing electromagnetic systems, I wouldn't be holding my breath for rail guns any time soon (particularly hand-held devices). By the time we consider real-world aspects, smokeless powder is reasonably efficient. If we assume somewhere in the neighborhood of 175-225 ft-lb/grn (that's a weird unit to type out...) for smokeless power, a 6.5 CM load might be around ~33%. Ain't bad, considering the age of the base technology.

Bullshit, they had it in the documentaries from the 60s

 

[THEIS]

Hi,

Successful Monday....

New breech cylinder design completed. The clover leaf shape actually provides a good amount more surface space to handle pressures and still be able to keep the entire receiver footprint as narrow as possible. Aermet 100 with 47HRC, all machining done after heat treatment.

New receiver body design (Only the action screw hole spacing in order for easier machining of the chassis section).
Doesn't look too bad right off machine with it being 4140 with 45HRC..all machining done after heat treatment to eliminate any issues with cutting then treating. It sure changes the machine cycle times though, lol

Heading to deburring then engraving...

Sincerely,
Theis

 

[_Windrider_]

 

[SkyScrapin]

You got any of them OG Texas serialized guns fo sale yet or what? Points if you’ll rig it up with a short forend so I can SBR that mofo.

 

[THEIS]

You got any of them OG Texas serialized guns fo sale yet or what? Points if you’ll rig it up with a short forend so I can SBR that mofo.

Hi,

Sadly as of right now; due to the action screw spacing changes for the new chassis we are putting those OG Texas ones on the back burner and focusing everything to the production models.

But if you keep selling NV and Thermal stuff without talking with me first, lol....You may have to get a Cali serial number scheme haha

Sincerely,
Theis

 

[SkyScrapin]

Hi,

Sadly as of right now; due to the action screw spacing changes for the new chassis we are putting those OG Texas ones on the back burner and focusing everything to the production models.

But if you keep selling NV and Thermal stuff without talking with me first, lol....You may have to get a Cali serial number scheme haha

Sincerely,
Theis

Bahaha! I'm rarely selling my kit, but three sets of binos had me scratching my head as to why I owned the other stuff LOL.

I'll patiently wait as numero UNO in line for a big ole Lone Star branded Hoplite, even if that's a couple years down the road.

Mean while, you need to setup a SnipersHide shop tour once you get production all spun up. Good excuse for an exclusive for a bunch of belligerents to stroke a few checks on some new kit.

 

[THEIS]

Hi,

With Shot Show cancelled we are setting up a demonstration/exhibition tour up in different regions of USA.
We are slowly working on a project that will be a continual type demonstration, training, customer experience type event(s).
This venue will be in Northern area of Texas with capabilities of beyond 2 miles.

Sincerely,
Theis

 

[Terry Cross]

This venue will be in Northern area of Texas with capabilities of beyond 2 miles.

Eddie's place that T.H. uses for training?

./

 

[THEIS]

Eddie's place that T.H. uses for training?

./

Hi,

No Sir,
New private ranch. 18k acres of immersion experience goodness

Sincerely,
Theis

 

[SkyScrapin]

Hi,

No Sir,
New private ranch. 18k acres of immersion experience goodness

Sincerely,
Theis

Sold! .. I'll take a ELR magnum too LOL.

You should consider helo pig hunts.

 

[Tokay444]

Hi,

Proofing out the programs in aluminum for the few revisions we have done on the receiver body.
View attachment 7447630

And who would have ever thought it would take almost 5 weeks to get this bit?? That is crazy, lol.
View attachment 7447631

But is sure cuts clean deep'ish holes.
View attachment 7447632

Sincerely,
Theis

That’s a VCU!

 

[Tokay444]

Owner decided it. From what I understand mazak wants only their people to move one. We rearrange every now and then. Happens when you have 250,000sqft and adding 100,000k.

My old integex was just retired after getting crashed really bad. 90's machine and dark green in color. Replaced by a puma.

Lathes these days we mostly have puma with a few okuma and a big mori. Mills we have a mori, 7 grob 750's and ycm's. Not a fan of the ycm's but a bigger fan of them than our retarded tongtai lathes. Grinders we are standardized on studer. Edms are fanuc and makino.

Just a comment on moving machines.
It’s not that they only want their people moving the machines. They are bound by law, as are all machine tool vendors to track their machines globally. For obvious WMD manufacturing restrictions. If the machine tilts less than 5 degrees, you can move it until your heart is content. I have done many times. Over 5 degrees and the mercury switch gets triggered and you need a new relocation devise password which only a tech can apply. It’s a shame so many people get confused by this policy.

 

[Steel head]

Just a comment on moving machines.
It’s not that they only wants their people moving the machines. They are bound by law, as are all machine tool vendors to track their machines globally. For obvious WMD manufacturing restrictions. If the machine tilts less than 5 degrees, you can move it until your heart is content. I have done many times. Over 5 degrees and the mercury switch gets triggered and you need a new relocation devise password which only a tech can apply. It’s a shame so many people get confused by this policy.

Interesting and makes sense.

We have to fill out paperwork for our carbon prepreg here at work as it’s controlled for the same reasons.

 

[W54/XM-388]

Hi,

No Sir,
New private ranch. 18k acres of immersion experience goodness

Sincerely,
Theis

Any clues yet as to exactly where and when you'll be open?
Oh and will they have a SOT there that can handle suppressor transfers so we can shoot them on the property while they are still in "jail"?

 

[THEIS]

Hi,

New firing pin completed.

New bolt is at EDM right now for the bolt handle dovetail due to the Aermet 100 properties and we do not want to break tools while cutting the dovetail angles/corners.

Sincerely,
Theis

Any clues yet as to exactly where and when you'll be open?
Oh and will they have a SOT there that can handle suppressor transfers so we can shoot them on the property while they are still in "jail"?

Hi,

Not really looking to setup licenses and business entities there since land is privately owned by someone else.

Q2 of 2021 is realistic timeframe.

Sincerely,
Theis

 

[THEIS]

Hi,

End of week joys.
.25" tool with 4.5" of reach arrives Monday to get deep angles in here.

Sincerely,
Theis

 

[gnochi]

Hi,

End of week joys.
.25" tool with 4.5" of reach arrives Monday to get deep angles in here.
View attachment 7465275View attachment 7465276View attachment 7465277

Sincerely,
Theis

Is there a reason you’re machining 0.25 instead of hogging it out and then broaching the corners?

 

[THEIS]

Is there a reason you’re machining 0.25 instead of hogging it out and then broaching the corners?

Hi,

My honest (Non Engineer, Non Programmer, haha) Saturday sitting at home answer is because that is what the programmer/operator told me how he was doing it, lol.

I will get real answer from him Monday morning when he comes in.

Sincerely,
Theis

 

[gnochi]

Hi,

My honest (Non Engineer, Non Programmer, haha) Saturday sitting at home answer is because that is what the programmer/operator told me how he was doing it, lol.

I will get real answer from him Monday morning when he comes in.

Sincerely,
Theis

That’s a good enough reason lol

 

[THEIS]

That’s a good enough reason lol

Hi,

You not going to get me into a debate with you engineering/programming guys that definitely know more about machining than myself.
For most time I know what I do not know, which at times can be more important than knowing what I do know. lol

Sincerely,
Theis

 

[Lapuapalooza]

That sounds like a pretty long tool without a lot of side thrust support. I look forward to hearing what he says. Planning on small cuts, for sure!

 

[THEIS]

Hi,

Just interior angle in corners for smooth magazine "feel".
Attention to the small things matter, no pun intended, lolol

Will get completed pictures up when done.

Sincerely,
Theis

 

[1moaoff]

Hi,

British???? Go drink your tea with milk and eat your crumpets in the corner until I come get you.

Sincerely,
Theis

How about a female south African accent...