Need contacts with high speed lathes (to make a firing pin)

Hi All

I hope someone can steer me in the right direction, as I have tried numerous engineering firms and been turned down by all of them.

I have a firing pin that I need duplicated (from a sample). It is something that can be made on a high speed lathe, from tool steel.

I am attaching a picture of the pin, it's dimensions are roughly 54mm x 5.5mm cylindrical.

Small side note: this firing pin is not a pressure bearing component and is therefore not a restricted item in terms of firearms components manufacture. However the firearm from which the firing pin originates is held on a UK firearms certificate and I will provide the contact number for the police firearms enquiry team in London, if anyone has any questions about the legality of manufacturing such a component from a sample. (I think the term "firing pin" needlessly scared all the engineering firms off and that is why I am turning to the hobbyists for help).

Thanks for your help in advance!

Brandon

Edited By JasonB on 04/04/2014 07:23:01

Hello Brandon,

I'm sure it would be a job of simplicity for any of us so minded to take it on, but like the engineering firms you have approached already I'm sure I speak for all in that we would need to be reassured that we would not be contributing to or enabling an illegal weapon to be brought to life.

You say you will provide a contact number for the police in London; I imagine just entering that area would be absolutely fraught with complications " I see Sir, how did you get this request and where do you live? " being just the start of it. The SWAT teams would be upon you in a crack.

So, a bit more work on your part please to increase the transparency is needed I think before you are likely to get a volunteer.

Kind regards

Brian

Hi Brandon,

Have you contacted any gunsmiths to source a suitable manufacture - some have machine shops and would be very capable of manufacturing such an item - and to add to it they would be in a better position to maintain the legal aspects in the correct order. I believe Hollow farm guns in Northern Ireland have done work of this nature in the past. Even if your local gun shop does not have a machine shop of their own they may be able to have a pin manufactured very ligitimately with less queries?

Many thanks,

Neil.

It is a sad reflection on our society when we automatically assume that someone seeking help with a gun part is making an illegal gun. All we have to do is have sight of his firearms or shotgun certificate (whichever is appropriate) to see the gun listed and be assured that it is legally held. However, I do recommend Brandon to go to a registered firearms dealer, if only to be assured that the pin will be properly hardened and tempered.

It Looks like the firing pin from a sidearm or automatic weapon.

I would want to know if the law of the land where you live allows a third party lo legally produce a part for a firearm, I suspect the answer will be no, it would make the producer a manufacturer. In Australia where I come from I believe it would be illegal.

Regards
John

Edited By John McNamara on 04/04/2014 15:53:13

Brandon has assured us that it would be legal to make the part in the UK, and as he has made it clear he can put the person making it in touch with the firearms team at the Met. I would suggest that anyone considering assisting takes up that offer.

Nonetheless, I think the advice to contact a gunsmith is probably the best route for Brandon to take.

Neil

"You say you will provide a contact number for the police in London; I imagine just entering that area would be absolutely fraught with complications " I see Sir, how did you get this request and where do you live? " being just the start of it. The SWAT teams would be upon you in a crack."

Not really. This component does not require any special paperwork or permits. I have an RFD certificate (if anyone knows what that is) and there is no way I would jepordise it, for any reason, but taking this job on would not expose you to any liability and I would be quite comfortable with it.

I often receive - at home - packages from America labelled "Gun Parts" and although opened much of the time they just arrive in due course. But then my name is on a list down at the firearms and explosives department. Not every Police Officer knows that and there have been one or two occasions where I have needed to explain the facts.

Not had the ARU yet, but then I do shoot with a number of them so can't see that being much trauma either.

graham.

Perhaps just to explain my reasons a little further from earlier on in this thread. I would think it appropriate for Brandon to make the running with the London firearms people since he is the certificate holder rather than whichever of us is prepared to help him out and then stumble through the inevitable questions that are sure to arise.

I agree with Mike that this is a sad reflection on the times we live in now when a man's word is under examination in a sensitive area like this.

The very last thing I would want is a visit to my workshop to see what I am doing there and then find I have to register my activity because I've made a gun part. I agree with the others, rather reluctantly, that he would be better off altogether in going to a registered professional for the work. Technically it is a doddle, politically for the novice a minefield

Regards

Brian

I used to make triggers for the Heckler and Kosh MP5 and let me assure you that when you have made in excess of 10,000 of these buggers you don't want to see another firearm again.

And just to explain making one part does not make it a firearm. Although the job was subbed out from the RoF Nottingham, no one was interested in any paperwork.

Well then Graham, away you go, I have plenty to do and no wish to get in anyone else's way.

Regards Brian

Hi Brandon,

I think you may have realised your mistake in mentioning the word "firearm", just take that word out of the conversation and you should have no problem getting it made.

Tony

Many thanks, all, for the replies!

I did originally approach three gunsmiths to make this for me. The first one has a lathe that isn't fast enough, he could not make the pin and recommended I find someone with a high speed lathe (more than 4000 rpm in his opinion).

The second one can make the pin, but he wants the whole rifle sent in (which is an unnecessary expense to me because I have to pay £15 for Parcelforce to mail it out and then I have to pay an RFD a small fee to receive the rifle back, as it cannot be mailed back to me directly. On top of that, I don't want my red dot sight and magazines being mucked around with in transit or at the gunsmith. It is faster just to have the pin duplicated.

The third guy will make it on a CNC unit, but at unacceptable expense.

Now the question about the part itself.

It is from a semi-automatic .22 rifle, specifically a SIG-SAUER 522. SIG Arms in the USA will not send out parts to me here in the UK, and they won't send parts to the UK distributor either. So I'm pretty much stuck unless I have it made here in the UK or try to source one from a gunsmith in the US.

As many have said already, manufacturing or possessing the firing pin for this rifle is not the same as manufacturing or possessing pressure-bearing components or whole barrels and receivers for firearms. It is an unrestricted part entirely, the same as the hammer and the trigger.

Here is the gun:

[URL=http://s55.photobucket.com/user/Odd_Job/media/522-2014_zps3b0f2e18.jpg.html][IMG]http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g154/Odd_Job/522-2014_zps3b0f2e18.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

It's on my Firearms Certificate (along with two other rifles).

The Firearms Enquiry Team can verify that my FAC is valid:

As a matter of fact Brandon, you can have the gun posted directly back to you if you sent it in the first place. The firearms laws are a bit barmy. I cannot for instance sell a barrel for a specific gun to anyone unless it is via an RFD. I can however sell a barrel blank. With which you can make a barrell for (almost) anything, as long as it is the caliber of that blank. Bonkers.

Anyway, there is a private message facility on here. You may want to check your inbox.

graham.

(and for what it's worth, Tony is on the right track. Take out the word "firearm" and it becomes less emotive)

Edited By Oompa Lumpa on 04/04/2014 19:18:40

Just some comments from a man who has done a little bit of machining, you do not need a lathe that can go to 4000 rpm to make this part, you do not need a CNC lathe to make it and you do not need to send the whole rifle to any one just to make the pin.

You just need a decent engineer who can turn to fairly tight limits and I would imagine the pin would need heat treating?

Tony

The pin would certainly require heat treating.

Hi Brandon. If its any help I would gladly make it for you if my lather would spin that fast - but it wont! I make fireworks also known as explosives, but that doesnt make me a bad person! Besides, if you were a terrorist you would have a near endless supply of firearms available to you......

Machinabilty ratings for various tool steel classes are listed below.

Thanks, all, I will be sending the pin to Graham to duplicate.