Been thinking about an old idea again…

I might have finally solved my dilemma. Ever since Remington came out with their MSR prototype, which eventually turned into the Army’s XM2010 rifle, I’ve been trying to figure out how to incorporate the overall design of the MSR into an AF rifle… Obviously this rifle won’t be a 1:1, just an approximation taking the best bits from the MSR design. Minus the folding stock- I’m not going to even attempt that w/the rear bottle! I’m hoping this idea of mine will help alleviate the frame flex. Anyhoo, onto the idea- Here’s a pic of the MSR, for those that don’t know what I’m talking about:

Since I’ve been reading about how people are sleeving their barrels in CF (Thanks Ced, and a slew of others!!), I got to thinking- why not sleeve the frame too? I mean, it could work, right? Of course, I won’t be using CF, but eventually a plastic up to the task. The idea is the same- The epoxy and the sleeve material combined should help stiffen the frame. Very basically, my idea is to make 2 body halves- a left and right side, which combined make the MSR-type clone body; with an AF frame sandwiched in between the 2 halves. The trigger pins would need to be longer, and I haven’t figured out what I’m going to do for the bottom plate for the trigger area yet. There will be cut-outs for the power wheel, loading port, an access hole for the spin-loc ring locking grub screw, and the bolt knob, which will be a side-cocker (naturally). I’m also going to incorporate a “filler” piece on the left half, and scope rail area, so that the rifle will be a right feed only, and have no empty space. Once all epoxied up, and finally cured, the frame should have reduced flex, and look really cool to boot.

Thoughts? Ideas about the process? This wouldn’t be for a huge run, for now just me. But If this works out to plan, I’ll make copies until the mold goes bad, for those willing to pay (if anyone would even be interested 🙄 ). Don’t ask about prices, I’m not even there yet!! Here’s the basic plan:

Design the parts
3d print prototype parts
test fit
modify prototype halves
test fit
“final” prototype halves
make mold of “final” prototype halves
cast body halves in suitable plastic
test fit
epoxy to AF frame
enjoy

This won’t be a short project by any means. Would anyone even be interested in something like this?!