Gun Forums -Best one for home machinists?

Holescreek · Jul 22, 2009

I recently finished an AR15 project in which I machined a lot of it myself. I have really tried to get into reading the "build it yourself" forum on AR15.com but quite frankly, aside from one other individual in the last couple of weeks, everyone there is just an assembler of purchased parts.

Is there a forum out there that caters to the "home gunsmiths" for lack of a better term? I am not a gunsmith but I do make gun parts, more lately than ever before, and it's definately not a business for me. -Mike

precision tools · Jul 22, 2009

The Homegunsmith forum is a good place to start. It has some assemblers as well as a couple of innovative builders. There was recently a thread on a Volcanic pistol build that was a work of art when done. The builder did the complete build including developing a specific round & building a rifling machine to rifle the barrel.

http://www.homegunsmith.com/cgi-bin/ib3/ikonboard.cgi

There are separate dedicated forums to the more common guns, including the AR15.

MrM4 · Jul 22, 2009

CNCguns might be worth a look lots of info.

Holescreek · Jul 22, 2009

I have been on CNC guns more than a few times since I started looking into machining my own lowers Lots of cool pictures but the 3D prints there are about useless except to rotate and impress the shop dog.

I will give the homegunsmith site a look see. Thanks for the lead. -Mike

Holescreek · Jul 22, 2009

I went over to the homegunsmithing forum and checked it out. Seemed to be just the type of forum I was looking for so I signed up. Immediately 75% of the topics went away and clicking on the stuff that was left garnered a message that "You do not have access to this option" or similar. Is this just their way to get you to sign up for "complete access to everything on the site" for only $49.99/year? -Mike

J. Randall · Jul 22, 2009

Holescreek, I have been a free member there for quite a while, I can read or post to about every forum except the library, and I think one other, that paid membership get you them. I think a read a post from a mod over there complaining about the problem you are having. He has been getting messages from new members and then has to contact the owner of the site to fix it. Don't give up, there is a lot of good info in the free part.
James

Caspian · Jul 23, 2009

The only thing you miss with the paid membership is the library on the home gunsmith. The library is a bunch of pdfs of homebuild books (holmes) and other copyrighted stuff that tyeh stole and are selling. There was a thread on this topic earlier. I don't know how they have gotten away with it, but if my shit were on there and they were making $50/pop, i'd own that site. Hell, you can even download an illegal copy of The Machinists Handbook there.

I digress. Anyway, here's a site that doesn't sell copyrighted material and has some really good ideas, plans, and innovations.
http://www.prexis.com/sten/homebuilder/index.php?referredby=1

you can also peruse: http://www.gunco.net/forums/f241/

precision tools · Jul 23, 2009

It might take a couple of tries to get signed up. I recall having to go through it more than once. You will receive notification when accepted then all the forums will open.

I am not a paying member either and I am not aware of the copyright infringement. Are you sure it is the same site, there have been some complaints there regarding another site that does do that and has used some of their information. Membership is $35.00/yr.

Caspian · Jul 23, 2009

the one you linked is the one i was talking about. the copyrighted stuff is in the members library area.

having had to initiate legal action over illegally distributed copyrighted material, this is a sore point with me. i have worked very hard and invested a considerable amount of personal money to make some products that i sell. having them uploaded for all to download isn't fair to the author. it's akin to expecting a mechanic to come over to your house and rebuild your engine for free.

delloro · Jul 23, 2009

gunco, I think that's the one, is a true American Khyber Pass site. they cobble together some very interesting stuff, the theme being fun, cheap, low-tech. it's AK-centric, though.

Holescreek · Jul 23, 2009

Can one of you that are able to get on the Homegunsmith forum get an email address for one of their admins for me?

I am caught in the neverland of automated server programs. If i click on the site but do not log in, I can see everything but am not allowed to post or email. If I log in, I only see a few forum lists and don't have permission to email or post.

I would like to email a "person" to see if it can be corrected. Thanks! -Mike

recoilless · Jul 24, 2009

I'll second the prexis site recommendation. I've perused gunco.net and weaponeer. I used to go to 1919A4.com a lot but haven't in a while

Alpacca Fortyfive · Jul 25, 2009

This forum takes some beating!

Because of my location, I'm not in a position to build legally (and I'm not going down Philip Luty's path of 5 years prison food by doing it illegally), but I am interested in how to do it from scratch (IE starting witha lathe and scrap metal).

I've probably seen more good stuff posted here and less shallow repeats of old myths and meaningless controversies than I have elsewhere. This forum also seems remarkably free from the personal belligerance I've seen some other places.

If anyone has found a site where the tribesmen of Pakistan's north west frontier tribal lands post, I'd love to see it.

HeavyB · Jul 25, 2009

Holescreek said:
I went over to the homegunsmithing forum and checked it out. Seemed to be just the type of forum I was looking for so I signed up. Immediately 75% of the topics went away and clicking on the stuff that was left garnered a message that "You do not have access to this option" or similar. Is this just their way to get you to sign up for "complete access to everything on the site" for only $49.99/year? -Mike

Sounds familiar.

(sigh)

Ive signed up over there a couple times , paid $25 (IIRC) quite awhile ago , and then paid $50 not too long ago ,so that I might have access to the entire forum and library. I repeatedly run into different issues with different parts of the site and have a heck of time trying to get an answer from the staff.

I hadnt been in there in some time , and hopefully the problems have been ironed out.

Holescreek · Jul 25, 2009

This forum takes some beating!
Because of my location, I'm not in a position to build legally (and I'm not going down Philip Luty's path of 5 years prison food by doing it illegally), but I am interested in how to do it from scratch (IE starting witha lathe and scrap metal).

Being a machinist, not a retailer, I don't feel very comfortable on the "me too" gun sites where people post questions like "what color of grip should I buy". I just deleted the homegunsmith site from my favorites yesterday when I read a new post from someone in a similar situation and the admin response was "Boss says you have to join if you want to post". I've spent an hour and a half on the Prexis site so far trying to figure it out. Some of those guys are either extremely competant or totaly reckless. Either way, it is very interesting if not intimidating to follow. I'm not sure there's much AR stuff going on there but If you made a belt fed Glock, you're in!

I guess the hunt is still on. I'm not sure what my next project will be but be but it will involve a lot of machining to make somthing I could've bought for less money. -Mike

Caspian · Jul 25, 2009

mike,

i think you need to figure out what firearm you want to try next, then find the forum. forums have gotten pretty specific. 1919, FAL, 1911, etc all have forums that are dedicated to the nuances (sp?) associated with those models.

if you are looking to do a scratch build combining a variety of parts, Prexis is the way to go. Figure out what you want to do, then search from there would be the way i would go.

I'll e-mail you an idea i have.

caspian

DennisNYS · Jul 25, 2009

Hey Mike,

Nothing "illegal" going on with HomeGunsmithing Forum.
I know Frank since '01.
Hang out there for a while, judge for yourself.
Members are very willing to share, and offer even the most basic help.

There was a topic regarding someone selling copies of 'something'.
Do a search if you have some time to waste, and make the connection.

Good Luck.

bbemory · Jul 26, 2009

Hey Mike, I suspect your problem with gaining full access to the site may be due to using one of the free e-mail addys, like yahoo, gmail, etc. As it says in one of the opening threads, these e-mails can not be used. Something to do with spam problems I think. I was singed up there for may years using gmail, until I re-formated my hard drive, and had to re-up. I was then locked out exactly as you describe. I changed my profile to my ISP e-mail, contacted redgervic and he straightened it out in a day. If you are really into building stuff from scratch, that is the best I have found. Search through past threads and you will be amazed at the stuff you will find. I have tried them all and find they are the best.
mac10

gadget · Jul 26, 2009

After being a member of a number of gun-forums over 5 years I've come to this conclusion - there is no such website. There's usually 1 or 2 guys on each site that do, and post, original builds. The rest are either looking for 'what color grip' advise or are general-discussion neocon whack jobs or both (I'm a libertarian myself). Maybe it's because of the barrel ban, or who knows what else, but fact remains that building activity, as judged by what is being posted, has dropped several fold (if not orders of magnitude).

stevestanfill · Jul 26, 2009

one for home machinists?

I went there to ask for directions to a site that offered free plans on a pictular and I got flamed. Some of the people are helpful some are not I got flamed for not being a paying member. But, I doubt I will ever join because of one foul mouthed member.

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