Beckerhead firearms

I'm thinking about buying an AR15 pistol.
Seems that a lot of folks have cycling issues with these.
They seem finicky.
For example: having to run a certain spring, buffer, mag, ammo, or bcg.

Does anybody have any experience and/or advice if I end up moving forward?
I really don't want to dump a few hundo if it's not going to be reliable.
 
Ethan's 300 blackout is a fine shooter. Fun too. He'd be a good source of information. :thumbup:
 
Jonny1280 said:
I'm thinking about buying an AR15 pistol.
Seems that a lot of folks have cycling issues with these.
They seem finicky.
For example: having to run a certain spring, buffer, mag, ammo, or bcg.

Does anybody have any experience and/or advice if I end up moving forward?
I really don't want to dump a few hundo if it's not going to be reliable.
Click to expand...

Does it have to be 5.56? I haven't done an AR pistol yet but from my reading you want an 11.5" barrel for reliability with a 5.56 gun. Beyond that, the buffer weight and spring will determine your "dwell time" or how long the case stays in the chamber before extraction starts. You need enough dwell time for the chamber pressure to drop but not so much that the pressure in the gas tube drops and can't give enough velocity to the bolt carrier. Palmetto state and del-ton are probably the best bet but as far as completed guns go they only have 7.5" barrels which will probably make the gun more finicky. A complete kit from either of them would probably be fine and then all you have to do is put it together but all the parts selection is done for you. Basically, if you have poor ejection or the bolt isn't picking up a fresh round from the mag, you probably need a lighter buffer. If the cases are whipping out of there really hard, failing to extract or you have excessive recoil, you probably need a heavier buffer.

Alternatively, .300blk can go shorter and still be reliable with good ballistics or a 9mm AR. Also, the Zastava M85 AK pistol is chambered in 5.56 and takes AR15 mags
 
Thinking about getting an archangel stock for my Mauser k98. I think it would be a pretty sweet upgrade. Anyone know anything about their stocks or have experience with them?
 
So this is an idea I've had kicking around in my head for a while now. I've been wanting to build a "politically correct" travel shotgun that takes down. My idea is to take an old Mossberg 12 gauge and shorten the barrel and reinstall the bead and thread for choke tubes so the gun can still be used for some hunting without carrying a spare barrel, though I am going to end up with one. My reasoning for this is that the more it looks like a hunting gun the less likely I'll be viewed as some bloodthirsty wackjob with an itchy trigger finger if I ever have to use it, particularly if I travel into restrictive states. The reason for choosing a Mossberg is because the mag tube is removable so the gun can be dissembled easily and made very compact. Also I just prefer the control placement on the Mossbergs. I'm mainly undertaking this project as a lark and because I can and I think it's neat, I'm not overly concerned of being wrongfully prosecuted for defending myself in the off chance it could ever come to that. But I do have friends in L.A. and I take long roadtrips every year or two so who knows what could happen.

So a while back I came across this beauty for a little over two bills if I recall.
13434730_10154032739375219_3874921436015068281_n.jpg


That is a Mossberg 835 with quite a bit of character already on it. I feel like that adds to the legitimacy of it being a plain ol' hunting shotgun. I was hesitant at first to chop the barrel on this thing because 835 barrels are kinda spendy, being chambered for 3.5" magnum shells but I was browsing for barrels today and found a 28" vent rib ported 835 barrel for only $20 more than a 500 barrel so I went for it, even though the new barrel cost as much as the gun did and I could have gone out and found a used 500 for the same price. Kinda maybe shoulda thought that one through a little more but whatever, it's already on the way. BTW if anyone has any tips for ageing a blued shotgun barrel to match the rest of the gun I'd love to hear it. I'm thinking maybe a few light passes with a green scotchguard pad for starters.

Once the barrel arrives I'll take it to a gunsmith who will shorten it to 18.5-20" depending on the supports for the rib and then reinstall the bead and thread it for choke tubes. I'll also have them reduce the LOP to 13" overall with a recoil pad to make the gun a little easier to bring up in a hurry and a little more maneuverable.

I'll also be ordering a spare magazine cap. The threading on the ends of the Mossberg mag tubes is all the same so a cap can be threaded onto the end that came out of the receiver. When you want to stow the gun, you take the barrel off, take the tube off push the spring and follower into the tube and thread the spare cap on the end and it keeps everything contained nice and neat.

Finally I'd like to get a leather shell holder for the buttstock eventually. I'll probably use a cheap-o elastic one for starters.
 
Sounds handy, though I'm not sure how much fun 3.5 inchers would be through a short-stocked 20" barrel!

Scotch brite, steel wool, and "mild" acid (vinegar, mustard, lemon, etc) or light application of naval jelly should help make it look "antiqued." Sounds like giving you 1095CV a patina!
Strong acid (muriatic, etc) will strip the blue right quick.

Or, if you haven't dropped it off already, just have 'em mod the original tube, and keep the new one for actual hunting.

From the one pic, the receiver doesn't look nearly as worn as the slide, or the barrel right above there. So maybe not much need be done anyway.

Post progress. Sounds like a great project.
I've got a 30" full-choke 2 3/4" Winny semi-auto (model 1400 I think) I'll probably never shoot in its current configuration. If yours works out, it may inspire me to do something with that.
 
I wasn't planning on shooting 3.5" shells through it much. I was looking for a 500 and I found an 835 is just what I came across for a good price. Mossberg makes 20" threaded vent rib 12 ga barrels for the 500 so if someone wanted to do this to a 500/88 half the work is already done.
 
So I've already hit my first snag. Turns out 835 barrels are the overbored so the inside diameter is larger than 12ga which means if I cut it back I probably won't be able to thread it for chokes. I'm either going to get a 500 barrel and mag tube or find a used 500 and see if I can cancel the 835 barrel.
 
Jonny1280 said:
I'm thinking about buying an AR15 pistol.
Seems that a lot of folks have cycling issues with these.
They seem finicky.
For example: having to run a certain spring, buffer, mag, ammo, or bcg.

Does anybody have any experience and/or advice if I end up moving forward?
I really don't want to dump a few hundo if it's not going to be reliable.
Click to expand...

tradewater said:
Ethan's 300 blackout is a fine shooter. Fun too. He'd be a good source of information. :thumbup:
Click to expand...

I only have experience with 300BLK and 9mm AR pistols, not 5.56mm. With 300BLK, the key to reliability is gas port size. That is what allows you to shoot suppressed, unsuppressed, sub-sonic and super-sonic with no changes to springs or buffers. I believe all the major manufacturers are doing it correctly now.

For the 9mm, I've used both PSA and CMMG pistol uppers and both worked great with the PSA 9mm lower built with one of their pistol lower kits.

I do need to try out a 5.56mm pistol upper, although I'll pop it on one of my registered SBR lowers rather than a pistol lower... Just what I need, another project... :D
 
Found a used 20" Mossberg 500 barrel on ebay that will be perfect for my project. Also found out Mossberg makes a turkey shotgun with a 20" barrel so I'm trying to locate just a barrel. Problem is it's got a cammo finish that might not come off easily.
 
I've heard of them but haven't looked there yet. Found out about the 20" barrels right before leaving for work.
 
While I'm deciding on what direction to go with this project I'm going to get started on another project. I also have a Mossberg 500 youth 20 gauge, a bantam I think. It originally came with a 22" vent rib barrel and wood stock. I bought the gun about 8 years ago brand new when they were only $200 at Walmart. At the time I only wanted a pistol grip shotgun range toy that wouldn't beat me up like to my 12 gauge did so I tossed the stock and sloppily lopped off the barrel at 18.5". I had my fun but eventually decided I could have as much fun with a gun that was also practical so now it's time to un-f**k the little 20.

So I plan on turning this into a training gun that won't beat me up as much as a 12 as well as an alternate defensive shotgun, possibly a camp/woods gun. I'm not sure if I want a plain 18.5" cylinder bore barrel or a 22" threaded vent rib barrel. The 22" would give me some ability to hunt with it also but they can be hard to find, but they pop up from time to time. Alternatively I could get a used 26" vent rib and shorten it and thread it, probably to 20" because that would make it compact and handy but line up with a support for the rib.

Because its a youth model it has an oddball action tube and its really hard to find fore ends for it. Fortunetly a standard 6 3/4" tube will swap in and accept standard fore ends so I'll grab one of those and then I can run a Magpul SGA fore end and a light. I'll also be getting either an SGA stock or a cheaper Houge short stock.

So that's pretty much it. Looking at parts right now. I like the idea of the threaded barrel for versatility but I have a bunch of shotguns so that's really not needed. I might go for quick and easy and get the 18.5" barrel right now and I can always get another barrel later if I want. I've even thought about buying a 20ga combo and stealing the 18" barrel for this and leaving the longer barrel on the other gun instead of having one gun that I have to reconfigure. A barrel alone is $150-200 and a combo set is like $300 last I checked.
 
bigghoss said:
So I've already hit my first snag. Turns out 835 barrels are the overbored so the inside diameter is larger than 12ga which means if I cut it back I probably won't be able to thread it for chokes. I'm either going to get a 500 barrel and mag tube or find a used 500 and see if I can cancel the 835 barrel.
Click to expand...

what about using a maverick 88? available and inexpensive, plus you can still use 500 parts
 
The Mavrick shotguns have a cross bolt safety and I like the tang safety a lot more. That's my only reason for not wanting one.
 
If the Shotty has a pistol grip I like the safety like the Remington. If its a standard stock then I really like the Mossberg style.
 
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