Cutting a reciever

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PopRocket123

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I'm planning on doing a custom TAC 41 build and I'm considering cutting off the top rail and replacing it with a higher 3d printed one. I have a 3 axis vertical mill at work that I could use but I'm still teaching myself how to use it and don't want to fuck it up when it's £110 for a replacement receiver. Has anyone done this or something similar? Any tips or advice? 1000007022.webp
 
I think the best option would be to mill the existing rail to just be narrower to act as an inner stub. That way you can use the existing flat top and grooves to index and mount the new printed rail over the top without worrying about ruining the structure of the receiver underneath.

As for learning to use a mill, airsoft metals tend to be pretty soft so it's not terrible to learn on, but if you have someone qualified who can explain what they're doing as they do it then I'd opt for that to avoid pricey mistakes.
 
Tommikka said:
Do you really need to cut it down and make a taller one?

Risers are available in many lengths and heights, and Airsoft metal bodies are made of special magic metal that will do the exact opposite of what you expect
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That was my first thought but a riser would be bulky and ugly and probably end up being too tall
 
Corkie121 said:
I think the best option would be to mill the existing rail to just be narrower to act as an inner stub. That way you can use the existing flat top and grooves to index and mount the new printed rail over the top without worrying about ruining the structure of the receiver underneath.

As for learning to use a mill, airsoft metals tend to be pretty soft so it's not terrible to learn on, but if you have someone qualified who can explain what they're doing as they do it then I'd opt for that to avoid pricey mistakes.
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Thanks. That's a pretty good idea. A little more complex than my original plan to just cut the whole thing down but I'm pretty confident I can mount it square enough to achieve that. I also have access to wire eroders which might be the more accurate option
 
PopRocket123 said:
I'm planning on doing a custom TAC 41 build and I'm considering cutting off the top rail and replacing it with a higher 3d printed one. I have a 3 axis vertical mill at work that I could use but I'm still teaching myself how to use it.
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I wouldn't recommend using the mill on something you care about or something expensive to learn on. (I learned this the hard way.)

I would suggest stripping the receiver bare and inspecting it thoroughly. You may well find that that part of the casting is hollow, and if you mill it down you'll only be left with a hole and nothing to attach the new rail to.

Is the pic you posted what you want to end up with?
 
The casting is solid so that's luckily not an issue. There is a stainless steel pin that locates the barrel that I would need to press out first. The picture is illustrative of the sort of look I'm going for but not exact. At this point I've worked on the mill enough to be confident cutting a flat face down to a set height which is what this would entail. Which is why I'm asking. It seems like a relatively simple job so I want someone to tell me if there's some detail I've missed, you know? Often it's the simple jobs that have the biggest opportunity to make a mistake
 
I guess it all boils down to whether the change you're looking for is worth the potential £110 replacement cost if it goes bad. (I would also check that said replacements are in stock lol)

Personally, I would just get a higher scope mounting, but I am also curious to see the results if you are successful, so please do update if you go ahead with it :)
 
I should have a spare rail somewhere. I'll have a go at using that as a practice piece. That's probably the safest option
 
That's not the problem I'm trying to solve. Basically I'm printing a rail to go on the front of the tac 41. But because of the large hop up dial on top of the barrel a rail that lines up with the existing rail would make it too low and interfere with the hop when you try to take the barrel off. So something as simple as taking the barrel off requires removing the rail first. So if I can raise the rail on the receiver then I can raise the top rail on the hand guard and there's no interference between the handguard and the hop up dial. It's a major modification to fix a minor annoyance but it's also a challenge and a fun project
 
PopRocket123 said:
That's not the problem I'm trying to solve. Basically I'm printing a rail to go on the front of the tac 41. But because of the large hop up dial on top of the barrel a rail that lines up with the existing rail would make it too low and interfere with the hop when you try to take the barrel off. So something as simple as taking the barrel off requires removing the rail first. So if I can raise the rail on the receiver then I can raise the top rail on the hand guard and there's no interference between the handguard and the hop up dial. It's a major modification to fix a minor annoyance but it's also a challenge and a fun project
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Tried one of these?


The Medusa slim hop unit for Tac41 is made specifically to not interfere with any front rails. It also works perfectly with SBAs long front rail extension.
 
That's not a bad shout. I figured someone would have made something like that by now. Annoyingly I just made an order from socom last week. That would have been a good thing to add to that then. Oh well
 
Its arguably a better hop adjustment too much finer clicks for a more precise dial on it. So even it it doesn't work its still an upgrade worth having. Win win
 
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