Hello!
I’m pretty excited for this project. I have a barreled Howa 1500 in .300 win mag that I’m making a chassis for. I spent a few days designing it; stole pretty much all of my ideas from the M2010/RACS, but it’s not nearly at that level.
This thread is me showing off the CAD pics looking for feedback. If you want to say, “well that’s a stupid idea,” that’s ok, and to any extent. My normal business dried up, and now I’m working full time on someone else’s dime. Essentially, I’m out of business but got to keep my mill. This is both fun and possible for me, regardless of there being other commercial options available.
Here’s the low-down from front to back: I “Just barely” modeled the Howa 1500 action. On the end is an MBM brake; that’s not a true part, I just made a butt load of assumptions and went with it. Can’t stand SS work anyways. The fore-end is a quick sketch of the cheapest hand guard I could find, I think it’s Ohhunt. There’s a bushing which acts as a free-floating barrel nut, though I’m going to need to change this. The idea was to be able to use after-market AR fore ends, but the raised top used for the gas tube necessitates excessive sight height. The actual mount needs a redesign as well: there’s no good way to ensure it doesn’t end up touching the barrel, and I feel like if this is too weak, it will bend when preloading on a bipod. Probably make the adaptor from one piece of steel, or possibly TIG weld a tube to a block.
The meat and potatoes is the mid-chassis. Lower receiver? Not really sure what to call it. 7071 T6 aluminum. While I sketched it referencing M2010 pictures, there’s very little which ties this to the original. I’m still playing with how to bed it: about the only thing I’ve come up with is I don’t want to have material in front of the recoil lug. The trigger well is much like an AR: just slots into the bottom. The trigger guard is an AR, though I guess I could just leave this solid. The grip is... I think you get it by now. I don’t actually like ARs, but the parts are cheap and everyone makes them. I’ve got my own little box of extras, and I only own one. One big note is that the trigger is a good bit shorter than the RACS. Something while looking at the grip geometry helped me see this, which played in to some of the big differences.
The magazine is a bit of a bear. I’ve made my own in the past, and I’m too stubborn to pay $60 to reverse engineer one. The magazine catch... not really sure about that yet. I’m open to ideas. Getting in there to machine or broach clearance for said catch could be interesting.
The stock swivel is similar to the M2010, but not having prints or an original to play with I eyeballed it. The locking pin is a spring plunger with a ring to deactivate it. This will be centerline to the hinge pin. At this point, I’m thinking it will protrude to the right as I have more material to mount the plunger body in the chassis lower itself.
The stock is fun. Another aluminum billet, possibly integral to the swivel bit. The cheekrest and buttpad adjustments are identical. The slot for flex when locking is going to be made with a hacksaw and a bench vise. I have a feeling Remington does this with EDM. More power to them. Wire EDM with aluminum clogs the filters real nasty. The cheekrest I’m thinking of will be a piece of PVC pipe, heated and shaped to my liking with something solid to glue it to. Sounds silly, but I’ve used bits of PVC in industrial and military applications for other than plumbing purposes. The stock shape is impossible to match the RACS because of the shape of the bolt handle. Remington made theirs specifically to fit into that spot; I don’t have a such a luxury.
I’ll probably finish it off with a layer of cerakote or something.
I’ll end by saying I’m not a gunsmith. I shoot CMP high power and even then not often. Let me know what you think: Better to get the good suggestions now than later in the week when I start making chips.
I’m pretty excited for this project. I have a barreled Howa 1500 in .300 win mag that I’m making a chassis for. I spent a few days designing it; stole pretty much all of my ideas from the M2010/RACS, but it’s not nearly at that level.
This thread is me showing off the CAD pics looking for feedback. If you want to say, “well that’s a stupid idea,” that’s ok, and to any extent. My normal business dried up, and now I’m working full time on someone else’s dime. Essentially, I’m out of business but got to keep my mill. This is both fun and possible for me, regardless of there being other commercial options available.
Here’s the low-down from front to back: I “Just barely” modeled the Howa 1500 action. On the end is an MBM brake; that’s not a true part, I just made a butt load of assumptions and went with it. Can’t stand SS work anyways. The fore-end is a quick sketch of the cheapest hand guard I could find, I think it’s Ohhunt. There’s a bushing which acts as a free-floating barrel nut, though I’m going to need to change this. The idea was to be able to use after-market AR fore ends, but the raised top used for the gas tube necessitates excessive sight height. The actual mount needs a redesign as well: there’s no good way to ensure it doesn’t end up touching the barrel, and I feel like if this is too weak, it will bend when preloading on a bipod. Probably make the adaptor from one piece of steel, or possibly TIG weld a tube to a block.
The meat and potatoes is the mid-chassis. Lower receiver? Not really sure what to call it. 7071 T6 aluminum. While I sketched it referencing M2010 pictures, there’s very little which ties this to the original. I’m still playing with how to bed it: about the only thing I’ve come up with is I don’t want to have material in front of the recoil lug. The trigger well is much like an AR: just slots into the bottom. The trigger guard is an AR, though I guess I could just leave this solid. The grip is... I think you get it by now. I don’t actually like ARs, but the parts are cheap and everyone makes them. I’ve got my own little box of extras, and I only own one. One big note is that the trigger is a good bit shorter than the RACS. Something while looking at the grip geometry helped me see this, which played in to some of the big differences.
The magazine is a bit of a bear. I’ve made my own in the past, and I’m too stubborn to pay $60 to reverse engineer one. The magazine catch... not really sure about that yet. I’m open to ideas. Getting in there to machine or broach clearance for said catch could be interesting.
The stock swivel is similar to the M2010, but not having prints or an original to play with I eyeballed it. The locking pin is a spring plunger with a ring to deactivate it. This will be centerline to the hinge pin. At this point, I’m thinking it will protrude to the right as I have more material to mount the plunger body in the chassis lower itself.
The stock is fun. Another aluminum billet, possibly integral to the swivel bit. The cheekrest and buttpad adjustments are identical. The slot for flex when locking is going to be made with a hacksaw and a bench vise. I have a feeling Remington does this with EDM. More power to them. Wire EDM with aluminum clogs the filters real nasty. The cheekrest I’m thinking of will be a piece of PVC pipe, heated and shaped to my liking with something solid to glue it to. Sounds silly, but I’ve used bits of PVC in industrial and military applications for other than plumbing purposes. The stock shape is impossible to match the RACS because of the shape of the bolt handle. Remington made theirs specifically to fit into that spot; I don’t have a such a luxury.
I’ll probably finish it off with a layer of cerakote or something.
I’ll end by saying I’m not a gunsmith. I shoot CMP high power and even then not often. Let me know what you think: Better to get the good suggestions now than later in the week when I start making chips.
