Ak receiver flats

[dhg6]

How are people forming these? Are they thin and soft enough to be cold bent in a vise without cracking? Please post a "how to do this correctly" and thanks in advance.

[Rhino_66]

They are not soft. They are not thin. You cannot bend one in a vise. You cannot bend one with a hand brake. You cannot bend one with a large metal brake. The only way to bend these correctly is with a set of factory dies and a large hydraulic press. No one knows what the factory dies look like, except commercial manufacturers (Ohio Ordnance Works, Hesse/Vulcan, Global Trades, Bulgarian Arsenal and other European manufacturers).

People are trying to form these with homemade jigs that clamp onto the flat and force it through a rectangular form. Then you still have to form the top rails. The homemade jigs require you to pound the rails over onto the center slug with a hammer. I have never seen a functional rifle built from a flat on ANY of the rifle boards. There may be a jig that works, but I have yet to see a working jig or results.

You would be better off to use one of the bent blanks. They require some drilling and cutting, but you easily finish one if you take your time and work carefully. The bent blank and receiver flat cost about the same, and you can easily finish the blank. If you are even slightly off on bending the flat, you have scrapped it.

[thud]

Bending one of the flats is not easy. I've built up some dies to do the bending, and for two to three receivers, they are not worth the effort. It can be done, but it ain't easy. The pre-formed blanks are a good way to go. You will need a good machine shop with a welders (MIG and stick) and a mill to make a decent set of dies. Check back in a couple of weeks; I hope to have pics of mine posted by then.

[dhg6]

Ok thanks for the input guys! Sounds like the pre formed blank is the way to go. :wink_smal

[justashooter]

" I have never seen a functional rifle built from a flat on ANY of the rifle boards. "-

well damn, i knew i'd be first at something.

http://www.falfiles.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=99843

gonna finish the assembly of the first one this weekend. having built several from comercial receivers, i see no difficulty with these. come shoot it with me.

[Rhino_66]

That is literally the first finished (folded) receiver I have ever seen from a flat. This might actually require an attempt at die construction. If nothing else, it's an excuse to spend some quality time with the mill and mig welder. A successful result like the one in the link is good enough excuse to at least try it.

The multi-layer plate for supporting the sides while forming the top rails looks like a winner. Wayne made comment about multiple pieces in his design to allow for removing the jig from around the dimples.

Does bucking the sides individually work better than doing both at the same time in the rectangular form like Wayne's?

There's a couple of additional holes in the flat. A couple pieces of music wire or drill rod through those holes and the base plates might help keep the flat from slipping.

Now that I've seen someone with successful results, I'm going to have to try this.

[oldjarheadfart]

I have made 7 receivers now from flats with my OSI jig, and they came out looking factory made. I am having problems though with the upper rail bend. I'm not good enough to bend by hand and eyesight alignment. Does anyone have a lead on an upper rail jig? Please let me know.
I can't say how well the Wayne Morgan jig does at bending flats, but the OSI jig does an excellent job. Corners are sharp, and no deformation around the magwell. I don't have a digital camera to show you the results however. Sorry.
OJF

[Jaeger]

There are several folks that have nice rifles made from flats. To say it can't be done with a large metal brake is also incorrect. gough1 (on another board) did a beautiful job on a tapco flat and you would swear it was factory bent receiver. See thread (http://www.gunsnet.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=158261) It helps that he works in a paint and body shop but I believe the results can be duplicated. Now wether it is worth the time and expense when compared to a Bent Metal build is another question.