M40 scope base project by LRI

[LRI]

Base programming II. This should wrap up Op1. Were running a bucket full of our M700 lugs right now. Soon as I wrap that up, we'll be onto this bugger.

Programming the ring set is next.

 

[USMCsean]

That's awesome!

 

[Jrb572]

Get a chance to run anything on these yet?

 

[srt1302]

Very nice!!!

 

[deltawiskey]

Any updates?
DW

 

[AccuSol-ERN]

I get it man. Still there’s guys out here than don’t have that kind of money and a single unertl is a huge investment for them and what they need to complete their build but they can’t get into one because some guy with money wants 100 of them to look at.

I’m sure he’s a good guy based on your experience with him but that still rubs me wrong. This is American though and 100% his right to do it.

Don't get too hung up on it. Some people spend BIG money to imagine what others stood on footprints for.

Does the collector have pants on when he is admiring his 100 scopes?......haha.

Ern

 

[sirhrmechanic]

Great watching the progress on this project.

One of the great things about the SH community is that the future is being made... and the past preserved... all at once.

Fantastic project LRI! Keep at it! Always enjoy your posts!

Sirhr

 

[deltawiskey]

Bringing this thread back to life, it's been too quiet... any updates?
DW

 

[corsairpilot62]

Another good repro idea would be the mccann mirs rail.

 

[OddBall]

That MST-150 on GB apparently sold for $4999.99 on sep 15 with 1 bid.

 

[RemCustom6]

I spoke with Chad at LRI today, he informed me that material for these mounts should be here by Thursday. Hopefully soon we will see some chips flying in his 5 axis!!

 

[deltawiskey]

I spoke with Chad at LRI today, he informed me that material for these mounts should be here by Thursday. Hopefully soon we will see some chips flying in his 5 axis!!

Thanks for the update!
DW

 

[OddBall]

This week has been devoted to wrapping up these buggers, 1st article samples of a billet P90 variant upper receiver. They shipped yesterday so I have that box checked.

I am hoping to start on the bases over the weekend. -It's in the air as of yet. My daughter's car (Infinity SUV) is on the fritz and Denver is the nearest dealership. I've been "volentold" to get it down there for service.

I am hot to trot to get these bases moving. I hope that works for you all.








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That looks expensive. Was it too much depth and too little available clearance to have machined it completely one piece? That would be wild with a Ringsight MC-10-80 built into it, one piece.

 

[OddBall]

I have no idea what his plans are for them, but he told me he bought them because he enjoys the history. Seeing his other purchases, I know he's telling the truth. He has them all spread out on display on 2 tables in his warehouse, he loves being able to see them, handle them and study the individual characteristics. He already has a handful of M40A1's built, but I know he's got a few other A1 parts he can build with if he chooses to do so. I have photos of all these Unertls on display, it's quite impressive and it covers ever single variation/change/reticle/paint/etc. that you can possibly think of.

This is a guy who owns a dozen+ original prototype MSR/PSR rifles, all in different configurations (including one with an aluminum receiver, instead of titanium). I don't know how many original AAC Honeybadger AR15's he has, a good amount (all semi-auto, all AAC marked receivers). I'm not going to mention anything else about his collection, I just wanted to give an idea of what kind of collector this guy is.

He's a good guy with a hell of a collection that blows away everything I've ever seen before. He loves the stuff and has no plans for any of it. He bought it all because he's like us, he enjoys the hell out of it. He has absolutely no plans on selling the Unertl scopes, I'm not even able to buy one. Maybe he'll keep them for decades, maybe he'll trickle a few out there in the future. My main point is that he didn't buy them to control the market and pricing, he bought them because he has the funds to do so and he enjoys them.

I'm only commenting here because I don't want anyone to accidentally confuse him with any other CMP bidders who have actually done what @USMCsean stated in his post. There are guys like that, but this guy isn't one of them. Reputation really matters and I don't want to see a friend get a bad rap because he acquires a ton of stuff for his collection. If he bids on something, it's because he wants it for his collection, nothing more.

Sounds like Beanie Baby collectors. The tie-dye and camo ones were each unique. My mother was a collector. It was her second childhood. She grew up dirt poor so even her few toys as a child were second hand. She got so much joy from hunting them down and admiring the uniqueness you can only notice when you have 2 or more to compare.

 

[LRI]

Material for the rings landed today, gents.

 

[LRI]

A little update folks. Ryan has been fussing at me to get off my arse on this.

I've started here. This is Op1 on the rings. Looks more like a doorknob presently, but that'll change once I slab it in the mill.

I just threw it on the comparator for a quick inspection. All of the arcs are within .0025" of the model sketch/print that I cooked up for writing the lathe program. Not too chitteh for the 1st round "draft pick."

The whole thing has been modeled and programming for Op1 of the base is done too. Not too much longer.

 

[pmclaine]

Ummmm, buttplug……..just sayin.

You sure you put the right program in the 5 axis?

 

[LRI]

Ummmm, buttplug……..just sayin.

You sure you put the right program in the 5 axis?

 

[navynambu]

I'll take 2 if anyone is counting. If Ryan says you are slow, ask him where his book on the original M40 is that he promised us like 6 years ago!

 

[LRI]

That went well. So far so good.

 

[corsairpilot62]

I’ll take two lefty versions please!

 

[USMCSGT0331]

I'll take 2 if anyone is counting. If Ryan says you are slow, ask him where his book on the original M40 is that he promised us like 6 years ago!

Just got these photos this week, it's very slow going:

 

[Jrb572]

Any more progress Chad?

 

[LRI]

Good morning, animals.

I had the evening to think about how to attack this. This morning I moved the collet work holding to my big 4axis. This will allow the ring to be faced on each side and poke the hole where the scope gets the "smoosh,-smoosh." The best part is the hole won't have any exterior influence from a vise jaw or whatever. That'll keep the distortion demons at bay since the wall thickness is so thin.

Of course this rabbit hole revealed some details that I'd not thought of. That resulted in a complete reprogram of the lathe op at 5am this morning. It's much better now.

I just ran the Op2 mill portion. Looking good. Holes are nice and round and the finish is spot on.

I ordered the saw to part these off today. -They do not give that bugger away. .028" thick carbide skip tooth saw and arbor.

It'll be here in a few days. It'll give me time to make the work holding and to run the base.

 

[Jrb572]

Good morning, animals.

I had the evening to think about how to attack this. This morning I moved the collet work holding to my big 4axis. This will allow the ring to be faced on each side and poke the hole where the scope gets the "smoosh,-smoosh." The best part is the hole won't have any exterior influence from a vise jaw or whatever. That'll keep the distortion demons at bay since the wall thickness is so thin.

Of course this rabbit hole revealed some details that I'd not thought of. That resulted in a complete reprogram of the lathe op at 5am this morning. It's much better now.

I just ran the Op2 mill portion. Looking good. Holes are nice and round and the finish is spot on.

I ordered the saw to part these off today. -They do not give that bugger away. .028" thick carbide skip tooth saw and arbor.

It'll be here in a few days. It'll give me time to make the work holding and to run the base.

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Can not wait to get one for my M40A1

 

[USMCSGT0331]

Well, so much for getting an exact reproduction Unertl mount. I guess we'll all just have to settle for a reproduction mount that is much much better made than the originals! Chad is killing it with this project! Perfect timing with the smear stocks being released as well!

 

[OddBall]

A work of art in progress.

 

[OddBall]

Are those toys a 5 finger dismount?

Thinks of Beavis and Butthead Do America.
"Agent Hurley, I want you to give this scumbag a cavity search. I'm talking Roto-Rooter. Don't stop till you reach the back of his teeth." - Agent Flemming (Robert Stack)

 

[OddBall]

Ummmm, buttplug……..just sayin.

You sure you put the right program in the 5 axis?

He'll need the colored jewels for the other side. Or maybe a Milldot? For the truly anal attentive collector. lol

 

[LRI]

These are running like a scalded dog now.

 

[DstRflMn645]

Where does one sign up to get one of these mount/ring combinations?

 

[USMCSGT0331]

Where does one sign up to get one of these mount/ring combinations?

LRI put their reproduction XM3 parts up on their website, so I'm sure they'll do the same or similar with the reproduction Unertl scope mounts. I don't know if they kept a list for the XM3 parts, but it would be very easy to put them on their site and just post an update here in this thread. LRI could give the collectors here a heads-up before posting updates on their social media accounts, that way the people participating in this thread will pretty much be assured to get one before they sell out. Just think out loud, I don't know what LRI will actually do, but there should be more than enough scope mounts to go around. Everyone who wants one should be able to get one or more. If demand is high enough, more batches can always be made. Just keep an eye on this thread for updates.

 

[LRI]

One of my cardinal rules as a business owner is adhering to the "you rig it, you ride it" rule. If I bring something to market, I absorb the startup costs to put it on the shelf. I've never nor will I ever take a deposit for stuff like this. Anyone who has loitered on this forum for a decade or more has seen more than one vendor find out what his own dick tastes like as a result of a bright idea turning into a Ponzi scheme.

I bring this up because of the phone calls we've received from folks wanting to place deposits on this piece. LRI has the bandwidth to ensure that everyone wanting to have one of these will be able to purchase it. When they are ready, I will make the formal announcement along with a store link to make the process seamless. I'll include the machine work on receivers, too.

Right now, the focus for me, is making sure the parts are made well and that the final appearance stays in line with the artifact samples Ryan has been nice enough to lend me.

All the best,

C.

 

[LRI]

Some progress. I have the Op3 portion of the rings vetted now.

I took a break to whittle out the threaded pocket they attach to on the base. The bar in the photo is just a saw drop from an earlier job. I've just silver soldered it.

It's locked in place. I think I'm going to poke a hole in this bar and chain it up between the forklift and my pickup to see how rowdy the joint is via some parking lot tug-oh-war action.

Feeling pretty good about this so far.

 

[LRI]

After a quick blast.

 

[Jrb572]

Looks great.

 

[LRI]

Some bright and early stuff:

The boss on the bottom of the ring is threaded to 1/2"-32tpi. By some kind of cosmic force I lucked out and got the thread timing right on the first try. The ring screws into the base and just starts to shoulder up contact at the correct clock position.

-I'll take luck over skill any day of the week.

Because of the shoulder and lack of room, I'm using a .120" dia thread mill on the boss threads. It did take a little messing around to get the pitch diameter right, but they are good to go now.

Next is the threads for the screws.
6-32 threads are one of my least favorites as the root dia of the pitch is pretty small in comparison to the OD. It's super easy to break tools and ruin parts. My solution is to thread mill those holes too. I have some .09" threadmills just for this. It takes a little longer, but it's time/money saved vs a pile of killed taps and parts.

I already have 4 different setups invested in these buggers.

Progress!

 

[USMCsean]

That's a tiny little guy!!!

 

[ScharfshutzeK98]

This is exciting, thanks for doing this! Looking forward to when these are finished.

 

[LRI]

A few to run yet, then its time to sort out the bases.

Hoping my new "razor blade" parting saw arrives today so I can have a first article.

 

[Jrb572]

A few to run yet, then its time to sort out the bases.

Hoping my new "razor blade" parting saw arrives today so I can have a first article.




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Do they get cut in half then rebored?

 

[LRI]

Wellzz..... the arbors arrived.

Hoping the blades show up on the brown truck.

 

[LRI]

Do they get cut in half then rebored?

Parted off, yes. Rebored? No reason to.

 

[OddBall]

Parted off, yes. Rebored? No reason to.

You could have said you crack them in two like GM connecting rods. Maybe a laser borrowed from Dr Evil? The shark is in the moat around your shop.

 

[LRI]

Progress.

These are first articles of the base. I'm playing around with options regarding the screw holes. I'll finalize how I am going to do that this morning.

 

[Jrb572]

looks great

 

[cplnorton]

Wow that looks amazing!

 

[LRI]

Here's a finished base.

3 steps left:

Split the rings.
Solder the rings to the base.
Finish with parkerize solution.


Hopefully my dern saw blades arrive today.

Talking with Ryan awhile back, I made the decision to engrave our logo on the bottom of the rear bridge pad. This is an attempt to thwart any of the nefarious types who might be tempted to try and pass these off as legit pieces.

I put it in a place that won't be seen once assembled.

 

[LRI]

Alignment mandrel for clocking the rings for soldering.

 

[Jrb572]

That thing is going to look awesome on my rifle when you get to selling them.