Making AR-15 wood grips, mauser broomhandle style

[joegrizzy]

I really like the concept, and the complexity of your project is pretty darn amazing. Looking forward to the finished product!

looool you timed your "complexity" remark before you saw my setup

 

[DavidMcmillan]

Hey, you had to figure out how to configure that “setup” without all the usual OSA expertise!

 

[joegrizzy]

i was very close to asking for any advice from all ya'll. but i figured i would cut my teeth first.

you'd be surprised how hard it is to find answer to the question of "how to route an angled groove" is.

pretty sure....a ramp...is all you need lol. the tricky part is the 90° box or skirt required for clamping. thankfully i have good work surfaces. that guy in the video i linked went thru a lot of machinations and i think he was overthinking. lord knows i'm very guilty of that, but most of the time before we head to the store thinking the only way we can do something is with a fancy new tool that makes it "easy" (that takes time to setup, learn how to use correctly, etc etc), but if we just rethink our approach (either tool to piece or piece to tool, that's it, always start simple) we can usually get it done with what we have.

they make adjustable angled bases for trim routers that would have worked most likely. although starting the cut is always tricky with just the base and no other support.....and i didn't want to buy something else lol.

i had cut some 30° ramps for my router thinking if i put the piece at a certain position i could just run the router up the ramps.

that's when i realized ANY piece of straight could be merely CLAMPED at a 30° if i carefully measured one. that was a much simpler solution lol.

 

[dennishoddy]

Great job figuring all of that out. You apparently know what you're doing around the wood shop.

 

[Perplexed]

Is that zebra wood in most of the pics?

 

[joegrizzy]

Is that zebra wood in most of the pics?

i think so. i buy a bunch then forget what half of it is lol

 

[avtomatkalashnikov47]

if i would have seen this post sooner i would have volunteered to take a look at that 3-d grips file, modify it to your liking and print it for you. i just made a pair of brass knuckle ar-15 grips with my 3-d printer the other day and they are the bees knees cool.
right now im printing a frakenstein though.
ill have to talk about this project when its done. will be a new gun made from parts of a mac, a glock and a ar15.

 

[Snattlerake]

okay so i'm making one (maybe two) of the han solo inspired dl-44 blasters. there are plenty of people making parts for them now, including muzzle devices and dedicated .22lr barrels for ar's that make it a breeze.

buuuuuut, i have found that the few companies that sell a mauser style ar grip don't......really sell them? i saw this link on reddit's gundeals and thought "well that's just what i need!" but like all things....after a bit more research....

https://blackwoodtrading.co/shop/ols/products/solo

soooooo basically those aren't wood. they are 3d printed with some saw dust thrown into the mix. plus, you can't really get them. the website says lead times are 6-8 weeks (which means never in my world), and when you do they aren't what you are expecting. SO, i decided to make my own using those rough plans.

i was able to find a few 3d models that i could pull dimensions from, plus grabbing a few a2 style grips for cheap from the local pawn shop (thanks sooner state) for reference. so with a few spares grips, a few blocks of olive wood, some calipers, and some tools i set out.

i like to build by relative dimensioning. if i can maintain parallel, perpendicular, square, etc etc i will. if i can just lay something out and trace it, or using a template bit on a router i will. especially for repeated builds which i am now considering (i cut myself 4 blanks to test in case i messed up along the way, if taking the time to make one i might as well make a few).

SO, once i got to measuring and comparing the dimensions of the linked grip with an a2 grip, i noticed the thing IS ALL SORTS OF RETARDED. there's a reason why they don't show a picture of that mauser style grip from behind. and lo and behold, i found it:

https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/tool/c96-mauser-ar-grip
this is the model the company above likely purchased and is using to print their "wood" ar grips. you don't have to download the model (since it's not free) but there is a faux 3d model you can move around with mouse on that page. Notice that long elongated hole in the back of the grip?! THAT'S the screw hole. Why is sticking out the back of the grip?!

because 3d printers can't into making so they design things retarded (sorry, not sorry).


SO: all ar grips, and i mean ALL, are based off the magical angle of 30°. why? because if you look at ANY ar lower receiver, you will notice this 30° comes from the angle of pistol grip protrusion BUT ALSO is the angle of the THREADED pistol grip screw hole. see pic

View attachment 280047
you will ALSO find this angle inside the pistol grip, that is the angle of the routed groove in the pistol grip which fits into the pistol grip recess on the lower receiver. there is a 90° rounded angle here on the "ears" of the pistol grip. this is where the 3d model and the subsequent "wood" grips the site above is selling are painfully, PAINFULLY wrong.

first, they don't get the size correct to fit into the recess of the lower. i don't have one in my hands because i'm not buying one, but i promise you it's wrong. i know it's wrong because i can obviously see it's wrong.

BUT

even worse than this, THEY COMPLETELY IGNORE THE 30° ANGLE OF THE GRIP ITSELF. THIS IS THE GRIP ANGLE OF THE AR; BASED AROUND THE FACT THE LOWER BUILDS THIS ANGLE INTO THE GRIP; SO IT SITS AT THE PROPER ANGLE.

but these 'tards must have just made that model to an actual mauser grip or something, and said "well hmmm, it's fine the GRIP SCREW JUST RANDOMLY JUTS OUT THE BACK OF THE GRIP".

long story short, i took a reference pic of their piss poorly designed version and altered it to the correct dimensions AND angle. now the hole from the grip screw is drilled straight thru at 30°, coming out the bottom of the grip like it should. there's NO WAY i would drill a hole at an angle like that, hell i don't even know how i would support the piece on the drill press to drill a hole COMING OUT THE BACK OF THE GRIPS AT A HORRIBLE ANGLE LOOK HOW TERRIBLE THAT LOOKS YOU KNOW IT LOOKS LIKE CRAP THAT'S WHY THEY DON'T SHOW IT IN THE PICTURES.

here's their crappy version next to my revision that shows the angle of the grip screw:
View attachment 280055
View attachment 280056

This is the only picture I could find of the build you want to make. Is this correct?

All the other pics show the broomhandle grips on the Mauser, not the AR.

It does not have the more angled grip.

 

[joegrizzy]

This is the only picture I could find of the build you want to make. Is this correct?

All the other pics show the broomhandle grips on the Mauser, not the AR.

It does not have the more angled grip.
View attachment 280135

yeah that's one with the 3d printed not wood "wood" grips. you still can't seen the nasty hole for the grip screw, but it has to be coming out of the back.

also if you look close you can tell that thing doesn't really fit at all. it's not flush.....anywhere.
when i sized their model from that file and placed it next to an a2 model i found; it was clear the mauser style grip was just too small. it needs to be scaled a tiiiiiny bit higher. i'm not sure which dimension they used to reference, but you can tell it's just too small in just about all of them.

 

[NikatKimber]

I suppose one could do an internal post then use the through bolt at the bottom like the originals thus eliminating the hole through the bottom or back, and would allow if not the original angle, at least much closer to it than the 30* like the AR lower mating surface.