M14 to a Gewehr 43?

Looks great Neil, you can't tell thats its resin from the photos

If you end up getting them done in metal I would be very interested in a set. Even in resin the receiver would be excellent.

at the moment theyre all one piece..... i started out trying to make an easy m14 conversion.....

When it comes to a G43 I don't think there is such a thing as an easy conversion...

almost done! front band ,butt stock cover and sight to do - re-assembled and shoots beautifully.... i did cut the barrel a bit short though

anti gravity version

Looking good Neill

great work neil, coming together nicely.

jay

progress report.

Reluctantly i have decided to put this project to bed, The sheer amount of work and cost involved has meant that in fact i would have been better off getting a g43 stock and building it into that - (watch this space)..... This hasnt been a failure at all I have learned some valuable lessons and it has produced a skirmishable lookalike G43. The main problems are that the M14 stock is a little shorter than the actual g43 stock by about 2" - so this is like a 'socom' G43! The castings i took had to be made shorter because of this and the upper handguard had to be cut shorter. I would have had to manufacture a front band from scratch and it took ages to get the moulds to fit over the motor assembly. There is also a serious amount of woodwork to do to the m14 stock. There comes a point at which you have to say that this is as far as i am prepared to take it.... Investing any more effort in what will only ever be a good lookalike seems pointless so........ my G43 stock should be arriving this week........

watch this space

Hurrah and huzzah! G43 stock arrived today... cant wait to get home and start fiddling......

Looking forward to your next set of up dates Neill

starting again.../. my instincts were correct... as the proud owner of 2 g43 stocks (its a long story) I have discovered that its actually much easier to get the motor to fit in some ways than trying to convert the m14 at least it starts to look right rather quckly, whereas the m14 never looked right and it would never have.

the main problem is that the motor on the m14 gearbox is at a slight angle..... this means that the barrel and hop is still a bit high which makes it exit the stock at a strange angle. the solution is really to change the piston and nozzle so that it exits the gearbox in the middle rather than the top and /or to re-engineer the gearbox so that the motor is parallel to the cylinder. OR make a new stock thats hollow so that the motor from the m14 can be used in its entirety......(long term this is definitely the way to go) - the handgrip of the existing wood is too thin for this.

The G&g gearbox aint much better but the motor can be 'bodged' to be paralell to the cylinder although its deeper than the marui style. I am trying to keep the m14 mag well and i suspect this is part of my problem. because the motor is so low in the stock the nubs that locate the guard into the wood have to be ground down. Getting this all to bolt together so that it can withstand skirmishing is another issue..... any hints help and criticism welcome...
any one know how to bend my free real steel trigger guard straight again..... ?

hi neil
looking good mate, thats about how far i got with mine.
any ideas on how you will do the trigger?

jay

ive had some thoughts
i'll probably use some kind of mosfet with the option of a 3-round burst. also if i use the G&G motor with the tm gearbox it gives me a little more room
then i can wrap the mechanics of the trigger around the motor housing with the switch sitting on top, my problem is which hop unit to use to get the barrel lower.......and fixing it into the stock so that it will withstand the rigours of skirmishing. To that end i am building a custom receiver which will utilise the hole in the trigger guard....... the other way is to make the trigger part of the trigger guard housing....

sounds like a plan mate.
it gave me a right headache thinking what to do about the trigger as there is next to no room at all in there where the motor is.
good luck and keep us updated.

jay

any updates on this one neil? and hows the ol war wound doing, better I hope!?

Hi thanks for asking! still a long way to go, the trouble is different options keep presenting themselves to different problems, and its taking a lot of time to lock down the best way of doing things. the main problem with this is where to put the trigger mechanism, and the barrel is about 5mm too high which means that it comes out of the gun at a slightly odd angle. it seems every time i solve a problem i create 2 more!
still im at home convalescing this week and so should have something solid to report soon!

Here's my contribution so far .......................

-- attachment is not available --

Few finishing touches to sort (casing for mag to be cut down, scope mounts to sort etc) but all essentially there - not a replica by any means but hopefully at least recognisable

Has anyone got any further with their conversions,or iformation about anyone who makes them?
Roy.

Nobody makes them - apart from privateers. I have seen a few attempts but no finished article yet - the problem is getting the internals into the stock.

progress at last......
this has taken an absolute age....... but its slowly coming together. I managed to hollow out the stock to take the motor and got the gearbox low enough so that the barrel isnt at too much of a strange angle. Using a VERY HEAVILY MODIFIED m14 magwell i now have the problem of the feed tube being slap in the middle of the magwell, hop adjustment works from u/neath - mag retaining catch to fit and then i have to make the mouldings for the rear part of the receiver as well as make some moulded mags to fit my strange feed tube. then have to make sure that the whole assembly screws into the gun firmly.

I dont even want to think how much this has cost. Hopefully soon I'll get a cast of a real receiver soon which will change the design AGAIN..... oh the joys, but at least i know its going to work..... G43 anyone? will that be with one lump or two?
heres a pic of work so far.....