Siege
Jun 3 2004, 12:20 PM
This kid
built, from scratch, an AR-15 assault rifle. For his Senior Science Project.
-Siege
Not really from scratch, more like from parts he selected. No where in the story does it mention that he machined any of the parts.
Still certainly an achivement for anyone let alone a senior project. The number of parts by various manufacture for the AR-15 design is staggering and selecting the best parts for the trigger group, upper and lower receiver , and barrel is a large endevore. If he did mount the barrel in the upper receiver then I am truely impressed mounting a barrel requires a larger degree if percision so the the bolt locks up correctly with proper head spacing.
Interesting story.
mcb
Luke Hardison
Jun 3 2004, 02:13 PM
In the picture, is he using an asp baton as a pointer? The kid's got style written all over him.
Raygun
Jun 4 2004, 01:32 AM
I can't see the story, unfortunately. (The story cannot be found.)
QUOTE (mcb) |
If he did mount the barrel in the upper receiver then I am truely impressed mounting a barrel requires a larger degree if percision so the the bolt locks up correctly with proper head spacing. |
I doubt he did all of that. With the proliferation of AR-15 kits these days, you can put an AR-15 together pretty easily with regular tools and about a half hour of time with a pre-assembled upper. I've built three to date. But if he did install the barrel himself, the only specialized equipment he'd need is an AR15 armorer's tool (@ $30), a set of go/nogo headspace gauges (@ $60), and if he really wanted to do it right, a torque wrench (@ $30). Takes a bit more time, but it's not that tough if you're mechanically inclined.
Number 6
Jun 4 2004, 01:37 AM
Don't you need permits to buy certain bits?
I, also, cannot find the story. Wonder why they took it down
Raygun
Jun 4 2004, 01:54 AM
Not in the US (unless you live in California, in which case AR15s are banned). You do have to order the lower receiver (the part with the serial number on it) through a federally licensed firearm dealer, and he'll run a NICS background check on you when you pick the part up. All other parts can be bought over the counter.
BitBasher
Jun 4 2004, 01:55 AM
The trigger assembly if it's more than SA, otherwise it's legal to own AFAIK. all the parts should therefore be legal.
Raygun
Jun 4 2004, 01:59 AM
You can't purchase AR15 full-auto trigger groups or the lower receivers that can house them unless you have a BATF Tax Stamp (in which case said parts must have been manufactured before 1986) or an FFL (military/law enforcement sales only if manufactured after 1986). Standard AR15 lowers cannot accept full-auto trigger groups without significant (and very illegal) modification.
Entropy Kid
Jun 4 2004, 02:55 AM
What kind of house rules do people have for gunsmithing? (I did search first)
The way it works by canon a character would need to either sink a lot of points into B/R skills, only work with one (maybe 2) type of firearm, or get skillwires. I don't think anyone building-by-wire can be considered a real gunsmith (or any sort of real artisan).
How many different B/R skills is reasonable? I'm almost tempted to have just one active skill (biotech style), but would prefer a more accurate representation if there is one.
Luke Hardison
Jun 4 2004, 03:14 AM
QUOTE (Entropy Kid) |
What kind of house rules do people have for gunsmithing? (I did search first) The way it works by canon a character would need to either sink a lot of points into B/R skills, only work with one (maybe 2) type of firearm, or get skillwires. I don't think anyone building-by-wire can be considered a real gunsmith (or any sort of real artisan).
How many different B/R skills is reasonable? I'm almost tempted to have just one active skill (biotech style), but would prefer a more accurate representation if there is one. |
We have Small Arms B/R, which covers holdouts to LMG's. I'm a fan of broad skills.
Moonstone Spider
Jun 4 2004, 04:45 AM
What would be a reasonable complimentary skill for weapons B/R tests?
Austere Emancipator
Jun 4 2004, 06:34 AM
QUOTE (Luke Hardison) |
We have Small Arms B/R, which covers holdouts to LMG's. I'm a fan of broad skills. |
Likewise, except it covers everything up to and including MMGs. Might as well be HMGs, but those were always alien enough for me to draw the line there.
Panzergeist
Jun 4 2004, 06:41 AM
That's nothing. One kid actually got together some commercially available radioactive elements and started a nuclear reaction in his garage, synthesizing uranium through neutron bombardment. The department of energy had to quarantine the whole place and send in people in hazmat suits to clean it up. The kid is in the navy now.
Fresno Bob
Jun 4 2004, 07:02 AM
Pshaw, that's all nothing. I can kill birds just by thinking about it. Yeah, I do it all the time.
JaronK
Jun 4 2004, 07:24 AM
I believe that the complimentary skill to any B/R skill is the active skill, so the complimentary to Pistols B/R is Pistols. However, I think Knowledge: Gunsmithing might also work.
JaronK
KillaJ
Jun 4 2004, 07:45 AM
QUOTE |
That's nothing. One kid actually got together some commercially available radioactive elements and started a nuclear reaction in his garage, synthesizing uranium through neutron bombardment. The department of energy had to quarantine the whole place and send in people in hazmat suits to clean it up. The kid is in the navy now. |
Are you serious? I'm not very well versed in nuclear physics but that seems pretty damn impressive to me. You wouldnt happen to have a link would you? I would love to see that. Makes you wonder what the hell his parents were doing.
Drunk Lu
Jun 4 2004, 09:29 AM
QUOTE (KillaJ) |
QUOTE | That's nothing. One kid actually got together some commercially available radioactive elements and started a nuclear reaction in his garage, synthesizing uranium through neutron bombardment. The department of energy had to quarantine the whole place and send in people in hazmat suits to clean it up. The kid is in the navy now. |
Are you serious? I'm not very well versed in nuclear physics but that seems pretty damn impressive to me. You wouldnt happen to have a link would you? I would love to see that. Makes you wonder what the hell his parents were doing.
|
In all honesty (and, given the current political climate, unfortunately), it's not that difficult to create a fission reaction, albeit a small one, with readily available materials. I'm not talking citybusters or anything (for that, you need weapons-grade plutonium, uranium, or deuterium - tough stuff to come across), but a fission reaction all the same. I suppose it's only a matter of time before someone raids deuterium off a shipment to Yucca Mountain or some such.
Moon-Hawk
Jun 4 2004, 12:29 PM
Deuterium, really? I thought that was used in fusion, not fission.
Siege
Jun 4 2004, 01:02 PM
Unfortunately, it's a news website and I've found the local pages tend not to archive their stories for easy reference.
Sorry all.
-Siege
Solstice
Jun 4 2004, 04:49 PM
This story cannot be found.
BitBasher
Jun 4 2004, 05:00 PM
Drunk Lu
Jun 4 2004, 07:24 PM
QUOTE (Moon-Hawk) |
Deuterium, really? I thought that was used in fusion, not fission. |
I checked on it, and you are absolutely correct, sir. Uranium and plutonium are used in fission, deuterium and tritium are used in fusion.
I will now wander off in search of my dunce cap.
theartthief
Jun 4 2004, 08:42 PM
Maybe all the fiction that I read has some merit to it. People actually can pull stuff off without the authorities noticing. I guess the bad guy in the old abandoned whatever really could build that droid, mutant dog, robot, super rodent etc...
- theartthief
KillaJ
Jun 4 2004, 08:54 PM
Wow. That was the most interesting thing I have read in a long time, thanks for the link. I especially like how they explain his method step by step, apparently so anyone can follow in his footsteps.
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