Comments on: Part 2: VG1-5 Receiver Pressings

By: matzat

matzat — Wed, 08 Jan 2014 06:27:19 +0000

Hello first I would like that it is a very good working her delivers! ! So I’m from Germany we collect deco weapons now I have the following problem I have a vg3 which I in the forest Found, therefore, the condition of not stamping sheet metal parts so beautiful, it is possible that they could I replace these parts deliver it? ? Greeting from Germany My email mMatzatxx@gmail.com

By: Chuck

Chuck — Mon, 02 Sep 2013 04:26:20 +0000

At the time the MP-44 and MG-42 were being made it was in the infancy of weapons pressing.A lot has changed since then. The MP-44 was made with a combination of hydraulic and fly presses. In the book “Sturmgewehr” by Collector Grade Publication on pages 351 through 372 it talks about the manufacturing process. A very interesting read.

By: MG

MG — Mon, 02 Sep 2013 02:22:32 +0000

A small hydraulic press like that is OK for trying out dies even though its rather slow. I’ve never seen one used in production though. I would imagine the Germans would have used high speed mechanical presses for production. I’ve been in press shops that were still using flywheel presses from the 1920s! Definitely though you could run this part many times faster if you were using a press that was meant for production.

It’s interesting that the Germans had so many problems with cracking or splitting of parts. I can’t imagine anyone running a press operation today with such high defect rates, and I’ve also never heard of anyone repairing stampings rather than just scrapping them. Perhaps die and stamping design knowledge wasn’t as advanced in those days as it is today, or perhaps the types of steel that they had wasn’t as suited to the stamping process.

By: Fascinating project at GunLab and Weaponeer | WeaponsMan

Fascinating project at GunLab and Weaponeer | WeaponsMan — Sat, 31 Aug 2013 19:41:26 +0000

[…] 2 examines how the receiver pressings are made, with Ian hosting a video. This really combines well with the Weaponeer thread (linked below) to […]

By: Ian

Ian — Fri, 30 Aug 2013 20:05:00 +0000

No idea yet when they will be available. The first prototypes are still in the works, and then Chuck can do a “real” production run of them.

By: Ian

Ian — Fri, 30 Aug 2013 20:03:08 +0000

Heat treat is just as important on this as any other design, but there are different parts that need to be treated. There are no locking lugs, for example, but areas like the face of the hammer will need to be hardened.

Regarding the receiver, the initial stamping is only the first step. There is a lot of trimming, fitting, welding, and machining that needs to be done before you actually have a finished receiver.

By: ecox

ecox — Fri, 30 Aug 2013 19:52:57 +0000

great post, I am very impressed with the work that has gone in to the stampings and redesigned trigger group work. What a difficult project. It turned out well. I would sure like to purchase one of these for my collection. When will it be available?

Thanks

By: Martin

Martin — Fri, 30 Aug 2013 16:34:39 +0000

Interesting. Casting and machining is what I’m familiar with, so this is very interesting. Seeing how it’s done removes a lot of the ‘mystery’ to me. The pictures make the receiver look simpler than what I imagined.

A question a little of topic. For a design like this, is the heat treatment of the the parts less critical than for a design like say an AK or AR? I’m thinking like the bolt of an AK or AR vs the breech block/bolt of this design.

Thanks for the write up and pictures.