Flash Hider / Powder Burner
I have been practicing with my new lathe/mill and was racking my brain for a small project to undertake today. It came to me! How about cut down a 9mm barrel and install a flash hider. 😀
I cut the barrel, threaded it on the lathe, and installed the flash hider (I still need to remove it and cut the crown). Also… 1/2-28, who picked that thread!
If you cut the shoulder just right you do not need the crush washer to index the flash hider. I hate the look of the washer!
Thought I would share these photos with you guys. I know it is a small project but a guy has to start somewhere.
Practice make perfect!
Rob
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Viewing 12 replies - 1 through 12 (of 12 total)
Thats funny they look crooked to me. 😆
Now thems is some sexy threads!!! 😯 😆
Nice work!!!
Walt, thanks for helping me get a handle on this. I know you have seen it but for others, here is a photo of the redo.
Walt, I think I got it!
I looked at my Starett book for reference and it appears I was 29 1/2 deg off of 90… The markings on my tool post are odd.
I just sent you an e-mail with the photos.
Rob
OK, don’t mean to hijack your thread, but here are some pics. same thread pitch I think. I took a pic every 3 or 4 cuts.
Edit: you’ll notice that for 1/2″ threads I like a finish diam a tad under the published major diam. this provides a bit of leeway for sloppy or old dies that may cut a female thread that I’ll have to fit mine to. also notice my tool holder is the wrong side. It’s a left handed holder and I should be using a RIGHT handed one to do this cut. but at the time it was all i had. I now have a couple right handed holders, bought an extra one just in case.
R60, your compound should be at 29.5 (for Imperial threads). BUT depends on your lathe. some lathes measure from the axis of the chuck, others measure from the compound axis which is 90 degrees off. Mine has both, one scribed on the side and one directly above the cross. If in doubt, just align the compound straight in and out, then rotate counter clockwise about 30 degrees.
Hard to see in your pic but the threads look very rounded and shallow. If you are taking only 4 cuts to achieve this, you are removing way too much on each pass. This is also why you are breaking the carbide inserts. Most schools teach advancing 1 thousandth at a time. I get impatient and will run 10 thousands first cut, then 5 thou each successive. As I get closer to the end, it’s about 1 thou or .5 thou at a pass. Last pass, you take 2 or 3 passes without touching anything just to ‘clean up’ the threads and get them absolutely uniform.
I may have a pic of the same thread you just cut, let me see if I can find it.
walt
No problem dude…
the guy that went KABOOM! was a pretty good bud of mine, LEO that loved his toys and in fact I had supplied the post ban Colt carbine upper, mag block for the department M16 lower and other related 9mm 635 bits and did the initial assembly for the guys. Anyways they had a local machine shop cut the threads and screwed a M16 FS on the muzzle
Poor fucker flipped the selector to FA and the front of the barrel literally exploded sending chunks of shrapnel into his face and forehead as well as his left hand.
He recovered okay but has a few real nasty scars from the incident
his wife still somehow assigns a portion of the blame on me as the facilitator…damn wimmin!
another point to be aware of is that the 9mm bird cage FS was of a slightly larger diameter as I recall, I know the Oly units were. Reason being is that once you ream out the FS to 10mm or larger it becomes structurally weak at the base of the legs and has a tendency to crack, particularly on FA so keep your eyes on it. Usually not a problem but can happen. Knew another character I sold a Smith Vortex to that reamed it to 10mm and ended up losing a leg off the FS that ended up in his daughters thigh. Bad deal but she was a real trooper and pulled it out…shes supposedly headed back stateside in a week after leaving the sandbox
anyways I never could remain silent if there was a chance of someone doing themselves dirty over a mental faux pas on a install
seen a few folks grenade guns over the years
don’t feel bad, Elmer Kieth once claimed to me at a Gunshow in Montana that he had grenaded dozens of pistols working up his magnums! Years ago had three of his junked frames I got off him, a pair of Colt SAAs and a S&W triple lock. Elmer could really destroy shit 😉
R60, I can’t tell from the photo but your threads look a bit strange. Might be the pic, though. How many passes did you take to cut the threads? How deep was the total cut, either on the compound or cross slide?
aloha,
walt
I went a bit fast… I only took 4 passes and stopped when it fit. The first try looked better but it was undercut and the FS fit loose. I also broke the cutter. I had to cut it off and start again.
I wonder if the threads look odd because I did it with a new indexable threading tool that I broke /chipped on the first try. I broke the leading edge under the 60 deg point.
The threads kind of rolled to the trailing edge of the cutter? My compound was at 29 1/2 or very close.
What are your thoughts?
Rob
if its a 1/2×28 thread its most likely a .223 FS which means it has a very constricted bore just in front of the female threads, much smaller than 9mm and will need to be reamed in the 10mm range otherwise KABOOM!
knew a guy who did the same thing with a 9mm, nearly killed himself.
there are some 9mm FS out there in 1/2×28 however most such as Colt, Oly and others use a much larger diameter thread with of course a large bore.
otherwise and if you already fixed that or have a true 9mm FS, lookin’ good! 😉
Good catch Riverside! It is a FS from an AR. It was an extra I had sitting around and do not know the origin of it. I was looking at it prior to installing. It appears that is had been reamed out somewhere down the line and appears to have enough clearance. This is only play time and I will surly redo it many times for practice and will recheck the bore of the FS.
Thanks again for catching that and looking out for my well being. Pretty cool!
my 9mm has 9/16 threads, I think. Have to go check
R60, I can’t tell from the photo but your threads look a bit strange. Might be the pic, though. How many passes did you take to cut the threads? How deep was the total cut, either on the compound or cross slide?
aloha,
walt
Danger Will Robinson!
if its a 1/2×28 thread its most likely a .223 FS which means it has a very constricted bore just in front of the female threads, much smaller than 9mm and will need to be reamed in the 10mm range otherwise KABOOM!
knew a guy who did the same thing with a 9mm, nearly killed himself.
there are some 9mm FS out there in 1/2×28 however most such as Colt, Oly and others use a much larger diameter thread with of course a large bore.
otherwise and if you already fixed that or have a true 9mm FS, lookin’ good! 😉
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Thats funny they look crooked to me. 😆
Kill me now… 🙄