Gunsmithing Need M-Lok slots on my MRAD

[roncar2008]

Hello Hide. So I just pick up a Gen 1 Barrett MRAD. The Gen 1 upper is solid @ 3 , 6 and 9 o'clock except for the screw holes to mount rail sections. I need a Smith who can cut M-lok slots on the upper. Any suggestions?

 

[LANCER]

Hello Hide. So I just pick up a Gen 1 Barrett MRAD. The Gen 1 upper is solid @ 3 , 6 and 9 o'clock except for the screw holes to mount rail sections. I need a Smith who can cut M-lok slots on the upper. Any suggestions?

I would like to know also. I have a Gen 1 as well. Will lurk your thread hoping someone chimes in. (I'd like some of the scallop cuts they have on the new ones, too...)

 

[roncar2008]

If I remember correctly I believe Chad (LRI) said he could do it, no problem

 

[Strykervet]

I was wondering about this and if it'd cost more than a new rifle... I guess mine is whatever the military got --no Mlok but does have the upgraded bolt assy. In black. Mlok in brown would be nice.

It's more or less a cosmetic thing but it will take some weight off, though the chassis of this weapon doesn't weigh much to begin with. I'm thinking the money will be better spent on other shit and if camo is an issue, always got spray paint.

I'd look into the bolt kit if you got a true gen1 and plan on swapping barrels. There goes $450.

I would like to know who and how much and see the work though. Wonder if Barrett will do it? I mean, for them it's just a matter of throwing your shit back in the line.

 

[LANCER]

I was wondering about this and if it'd cost more than a new rifle... I guess mine is whatever the military got --no Mlok but does have the upgraded bolt assy. In black. Mlok in brown would be nice.

It's more or less a cosmetic thing but it will take some weight off, though the chassis of this weapon doesn't weigh much to begin with. I'm thinking the money will be better spent on other shit and if camo is an issue, always got spray paint.

I'd look into the bolt kit if you got a true gen1 and plan on swapping barrels. There goes $450.

I would like to know who and how much and see the work though. Wonder if Barrett will do it? I mean, for them it's just a matter of throwing your shit back in the line.

I have a Gen 1 but with the small diameter bolt so don't need the upgrade.

I'm sure Barrett are busy cranking out mk22's. Not really a huge deal, but I figured if it's not too terribly costly I would do it. (Have someone do it)

 

[Terry Cross]

Finding someone to machine MLOK pattern slots might be easy but you need to make sure your Gen I can even accommodate the parameters of the MLOK pattern without your existing slots causing conflict.

You may have issues trying to lay in an MLOK profile on your existing handguard.
MLOK slot lengths are 1.2XX" long.
MLOK slots need to be 1.5XX" from start to start.
MLOK slots need to be 0.2XX" wide (top to bottom).
The allowable wall thickness of your host part needs to be no thicker than 0.150" and not less than 0.080".

Your Gen I would need to allow new MLOK slots to be cut with no remnants of the existing slots. Complete clean up.


./

 

[Strykervet]

Finding someone to machine MLOK pattern slots might be easy but you need to make sure your Gen I can even accommodate the parameters of the MLOK pattern without your existing slots causing conflict.

You may have issues trying to lay in an MLOK profile on your existing handguard.
MLOK slot lengths are 1.2XX" long.
MLOK slots need to be 1.5XX" from start to start.
MLOK slots need to be 0.2XX" wide (top to bottom).
The allowable wall thickness of your host part needs to be no thicker than 0.150" and not less than 0.080".

Your Gen I would need to allow new MLOK slots to be cut with no remnants of the existing slots. Complete clean up.


./

Well supposedly Chad at LRI does it per the first response on here and I have an email off to him, if it's not too expensive and since they'd have to refinish it and I wouldn't mind it being brown, I may be interested. I'll try and remember to get back on here with the info.

Since there's a few people interested, wonder if we can get a bulk deal on it if we send him a few? Can't hurt to ask. They're cool with the 'Hide so that's good. Can't be a shit operation and have the 'Hide logo on your work on your site, pretty sure Frank wouldn't tolerate that.

I looked at their prices and most of 'em seemed reasonable.

As for the measurements, it looks like it's got plenty of meat but I didn't get out the calipers either.

There's nothing to clean up. The only thing there are screw holes and I'm sure those can be incorporated, it'd be a geometric anomaly if they couldn't.

However, the pictures of the factory ones look different to me than just slots cut into the handguard, but that could just be the picture and how I'm seeing it. May just be slots cut through. If that's the case, plenty of meat I think 6, 9 and 3 o'clock and it would strip a little weight off and allow for those plastic grip inserts if you wanted 'em.

But in the end it's mostly cosmetic --I can screw down a rail section and bust out a can of Krylon and get the same functionality. So this is totally cost dependent for me. I understand it's not exactly free for someone to machine it and refinish it, I get that, but at the same time it's not worth $800 to me either --I'd rather put that into glass or finishing off another rifle.

Oh, somebody buy my HTI now...

Off topic, but Euro sent me an ad for $10,000 M107's, US Army unissued (I think, it looked it anyway) M107's w/4 mags and a Pelican case! Those will only go up in value, name one sniper rifle that didn't, especially a rare one and one this unique. Army isn't buying anymore, MRAD replaced it too. Keeping what they have but not buying new ones so I guess Barrett got stuck sitting on a few.

I reckon I'd let my suppressed DTA HTI rig go if it'd yield enough to get one of those M107's, and I could probably make that happen. HTI is a better, far more accurate rifle, and I'm happy with it, I just want the M107 to fondle and look at now and again and sit in my safe (I'm being perfectly honest here --if I planned on shooting BMG at range, I'd keep the HTI!). But I plan on using the MRAD a lot like the army too --I won't be taking the .50 out for anything short of a mile. And if it's just for giggles or I really need the firepower, it'll be the M2HB. So MRAD sorta took my need for a .50 repeater.

 

[Strykervet]

Well, I think the Cerakote job through them will be $250-$350 so if the machine work ain't too bad, this may be doable...

Looks like when it's done, at least the factory slots, the screw holes are still accessible so you can still use the screw on rail sections or Mlok sections. And from the pictures, it seems the same amount of material is there, just no slots.

 

[LANCER]

Well supposedly Chad at LRI does it per the first response on here and I have an email off to him, if it's not too expensive and since they'd have to refinish it and I wouldn't mind it being brown, I may be interested. I'll try and remember to get back on here with the info.

Since there's a few people interested, wonder if we can get a bulk deal on it if we send him a few? Can't hurt to ask. They're cool with the 'Hide so that's good. Can't be a shit operation and have the 'Hide logo on your work on your site, pretty sure Frank wouldn't tolerate that.

I looked at their prices and most of 'em seemed reasonable.

As for the measurements, it looks like it's got plenty of meat but I didn't get out the calipers either.

There's nothing to clean up. The only thing there are screw holes and I'm sure those can be incorporated, it'd be a geometric anomaly if they couldn't.

However, the pictures of the factory ones look different to me than just slots cut into the handguard, but that could just be the picture and how I'm seeing it. May just be slots cut through. If that's the case, plenty of meat I think 6, 9 and 3 o'clock and it would strip a little weight off and allow for those plastic grip inserts if you wanted 'em.

But in the end it's mostly cosmetic --I can screw down a rail section and bust out a can of Krylon and get the same functionality. So this is totally cost dependent for me. I understand it's not exactly free for someone to machine it and refinish it, I get that, but at the same time it's not worth $800 to me either --I'd rather put that into glass or finishing off another rifle.

Oh, somebody buy my HTI now...

Off topic, but Euro sent me an ad for $10,000 M107's, US Army unissued (I think, it looked it anyway) M107's w/4 mags and a Pelican case! Those will only go up in value, name one sniper rifle that didn't, especially a rare one and one this unique. Army isn't buying anymore, MRAD replaced it too. Keeping what they have but not buying new ones so I guess Barrett got stuck sitting on a few.

I reckon I'd let my suppressed DTA HTI rig go if it'd yield enough to get one of those M107's, and I could probably make that happen. HTI is a better, far more accurate rifle, and I'm happy with it, I just want the M107 to fondle and look at now and again and sit in my safe (I'm being perfectly honest here --if I planned on shooting BMG at range, I'd keep the HTI!). But I plan on using the MRAD a lot like the army too --I won't be taking the .50 out for anything short of a mile. And if it's just for giggles or I really need the firepower, it'll be the M2HB. So MRAD sorta took my need for a .50 repeater.

I saw that ad also, but I can't swing it. Want one, but also know those are 2-3 MOA rifles and in the end, will cost a lot of money to feed accurately. I'm also not set up to reload .50 BMG, requires an entirely new press set up and dies. It's sweet AF though. If you can swing it, get it....you only live once.

Regarding LRI, they're awesome to work with. I sent in a Tikka bolt to get fluted and I had a 6 day turnaround from the day I put it in my mailbox and when I got it back.
My interest is peaked on the MRAD work, please let us know what you hear back from them on the cuts. I do my own Cerakote and there is a matching color for Barrett Multi-role Brown I believe. Failing that, it would be cool for Barrett to offer stripped upper receiver "shells" that we can stick barrels in (barrel/bolt assemblies are the expensive parts) and we could have multiple calibers set up. If they offered something like that under 800 bucks I would buy it.

 

[LRI]

We can do them. Early on I got with MagPul and after signing the documentation they require, they were kind enough to provide the relevant prints for this job.

Not much to it and were happy to help. Just know that we are busy and while we try like hell to keep our shop times competitive, we are in a spurt right now.

 

[Strykervet]

We can do them. Early on I got with MagPul and after signing the documentation they require, they were kind enough to provide the relevant prints for this job.

Not much to it and were happy to help. Just know that we are busy and while we try like hell to keep our shop times competitive, we are in a spurt right now.

Thanks again.

I called LRI around this time so I'm guessing they got this after I called? So they told me it'd be ~$350-$450 for the Cerakote and ~$250 for the machine work --less if it's easier for them to do, higher quote was because they weren't sure yet about the MRAD. Discount for mil/vet. So ~$700 on the high end, $600 or maybe less on the low end.

I guess I'd go ahead and send mine in but I'm waiting on Elite to fit my suppressor to the MRAD barrel and then Cerakote both.

I do my own Cerakote and there is a matching color for Barrett Multi-role Brown I believe. Failing that, it would be cool for Barrett to offer stripped upper receiver "shells" that we can stick barrels in (barrel/bolt assemblies are the expensive parts) and we could have multiple calibers set up. If they offered something like that under 800 bucks I would buy it.

So the color I went with is Cerakote part number C-190, "20150 Coyote" and it's the milspec NSN color I think the Mk22 is in. That's what's mentioned anyway. It looks like a darker RAL8000 to me. I *almost* got the Barrett Brown and Elite told me they could make it happen but that it didn't come in a heat resistant formula, only "H", and couldn't withstand the heat well enough to not darken (and maybe weaken) over time. So I did more research and got back to them with the C-190. It doesn't have to be baked either.

The color for the chassis that I'll need from LRI (which isn't offered but I'm sure they can get it or at least a tester) is Cerakote part number E-190, "20150", same color as C-190 but in "Elite" formula that bakes on --same thing as "H series" but better and appears to cost the same.

20150 is the federal standard for coyote so I'm going with that, the Eurooptic Mk22 ad says "exclusive SOCOM coyote brown" whatever that means. 20150 is described as "warm brown with an orange hue" and that's what it looks like in the pictures.

 

[Strykervet]

Finding someone to machine MLOK pattern slots might be easy but you need to make sure your Gen I can even accommodate the parameters of the MLOK pattern without your existing slots causing conflict.

You may have issues trying to lay in an MLOK profile on your existing handguard.
MLOK slot lengths are 1.2XX" long.
MLOK slots need to be 1.5XX" from start to start.
MLOK slots need to be 0.2XX" wide (top to bottom).
The allowable wall thickness of your host part needs to be no thicker than 0.150" and not less than 0.080".

Your Gen I would need to allow new MLOK slots to be cut with no remnants of the existing slots. Complete clean up.


./

Well, Chad at LRI is making it happen... There was some discussion about how many slots and the size (they can be made longer but geometry still has to be accounted for, ie, making one twice as long is an option). I got seven standard slots on the sides, same as a Mk22, and the threaded holes were obliterated in the process, I wanna say there are six on the bottom due to the barrel clamp?

I trust Chad and he also made sure to call me before doing any work. Measure twice, cut once and all. I also appreciate him not even taking the job until he was sure he could do it justice and had certain information with respect to mlok and MRAD geometry.

Can't wait to show it off and NF should have the scope here in another month so I might even be able to shoot the damn thing!

Between LRI and Elite Iron, it's gonna be one bad bitch!

 

[candyx]

This was posted in the MRAD thread

 

[LANCER]

That looks great! I think I'll be sending mine in for this also.