Owen Gun

[Marlowe]

I'm sick of the trolling occuring in the project session at the moment. Go47: have a week off to consider the old adage 'If you can't think of anything nice to say...'

[fingertwister]

Matt,

 

I think it looks pretty good considering what you had to work with.

 

Nice job.

[RC-1138]

I think it looks great. I'd agree with a few others that the AK grip is a bit goofy, perhaps try the forward grip of M1928 thompson? Other than that though it looks more or less exactly right. Is it an UZI mag or MP40? I can't tell tbh.

[spetsnazdave87]

Ahh man sorry it didn't work in the end, considering you made that just out of bits from your parts box that's still bloody impressive!

 

Very nicely done

[X Lupin]

He set a goal with a straight-line plan, and followed it. I admire the simplicity of the plan, as well as your consistency. What people seem to be ignoring is that the Owen is an ugly gun, I don't think your project is too far-off from the mark. If you're trying to reproduce an ugly gun with a straight-line plan on a budget, you're going to get an ugly gun; period. If any custom guns maker, me, you, typewriter, candyman, whoever, set off to make this gun, it would end up ugly.

 

Good building, now make it work

[mikoyan99]

Good building, now make it work

 

That's the plan.

Cheers for the support guys; for now the externals are on hold while I fix the inside, so I won't be changing the grip anytime soon but I probably will at some point. One think I have to point out though is that the owen gun grips on the production models weren't always made of wood - "A brown, plastic substance" (which I can only assume was bakelite) was also qouted as having been used. The stock though, was wood.

Now, i'm fairly useless when it comes to internals, so what I need is a brave volunteer to help (in exchange for kit, parts or cash, of course). I have the spare parts available, which should prove strong enough if a 6v mini is used, or if available i'd like to use upgrade parts in order to use the 7.2v I have.

In summary, I need someone too:

1) Dismantle the gun

2) repair the gearbox

3) Re-assemble the gun and check reliabilty, feeding etc, and adjust my parts where required.

I'll take care of re-finishing etc so there's no need to worry about paint etc.

regards,

-Matt

 

Edit: It's pictured with a springer uzi mag - I didn't want too spray up an mp40 mag until the gun was working, as I use them in my type-100 as well.

[X Lupin]

I'm very inclined when it comes to airsoft gun repair & modification, in fact, I do it professionally for my local field. I would be more than glad to work on your gun if you're willing to send it to the US.

 

Honestly I don't see too much wrong with the externals. It doesn't look very far off from the real business. I think it's in need of better paint more than any real external changes, save for a smaller front grip.

[mikoyan99]

Cheers for the offer, but sadly with things being what they with import/export ATM I don't think it'll be worth the hassle for either of us.

On the painting side of things, that will of course be improved later on - the colours are off, and the yellow poorly applied by hand.

The paint was quite gaudy for a military weapon - I guess the colours were very strong as it was intended for jungle use:

regards, and cheers again for the offer,

-Matt

[Skarclaw]

Its a pretty good effort - and I know you didn't want to do loads of work, but I think with a bit more work to the grips etc you could have a pretty good replica for not a whole lot more work. I dunno about the rear grip but deffo the foregrip just requires a bit of woodwork.

[Matty1713]

I reckon it looks pretty good, great work!

 

You should try and put the effort in to get it working, it would be a very unique addition to anyones armoury.

[khan]

I'm glad you decided to pick this up ,again.

It's hard to relate ,home mentally draining ,a project ,can be sometimes, to those who don't know which end of a soldering iron ,to grasp.

[my_plague_666]

hmm, i wouldnt call it pretty

 

then again its probably better than anything i could throw together and the RS owen looks pretty thrown together anyway.

 

i think the main problem is the glock grip IMO, the thing is i doubt theres much you can do about this. the AK grip could easily be replaced, just get a bit of ply or MDF and cut it to shape (shouldnt be hard, as i said, the real owen isnt a great example of visual perfection)

 

to be honest i dont think the MP40 mag well works too well. might be better getting some aluminium box section and fabricating your own mag catch (wouldnt need to be a perfect solution, its not like the mag can fall out of the gun during use )

[gopeder111]

First the T100 and now this? You are on a roll Keep us the good work The only thing I would possibly change is the vertical foregrip. It shouldn't be too hard to make one out of wood.

[Typewriter]

Looks awesome, even if it is unfinished. I like the looks on the owen gun, reminds me of some apocalyptic build-from-scratch -style of weapon. Keep going!

[mikoyan99]

Cheers again guys, your support is appreciated

I took the gun apart to day, to see if I could fix it, and I think I have - the problem as it turned out wasn't a stripped gear, it was that the gear on the motor wasn't meshing with it's nearest counterpart in the box. There was a small piece that pushed this gear into the motor gear, but the spring had worn out and wasn't doing its job any more. I replaced the spring with a small bit of balsa, which I superglued into place, and the gearbox is now working, and the gun is firing (fairly reliable, with the odd missfeed).

Interestingly, the gears are steel so it should prove more reliable

It does look even more worse for wear though, as a lot of paint and epoxy was lost in the process.

 

Having sorted that, i'm going to take another look at the externals:

Forward pistol grip - not top priority atm, although I do intend to replace it in the long term. For now, I will probably neaten it up with yet more epoxy. The problem is, on the owen both grips were at the same angle, and I wish to retain that look. If I did make a new grip, i'd probably use the same rake on that as the current grip

Main pistol grip - not much I can here, save neaten it up. The problem is, the glock reciver and gearbox are integral to each other - one won't work without the other, so I have little choice but to keep it as is.

Mag well - again, not much I can do. The problems with using a bit of box section are finding a piece the right size, and attaching the section to the reciver. Araldite won't be strong enough, and I can't weld it as I don't have the equipment. Again, in the long term, I think the best bet is too modify the existing well - cut the back of it off, cut the top down, file down the ribs if possible and make a new mechanism. Sadly, the mag does have to be locked in, to make sure the top of the hop locks into the feed on the magazine. Otherwise, it misfeeds badly.

Overall appearence - i'll try and put some work in this weak to neatening the whole thing up, repainting etc.

Cheers again,

-Matt

[X Lupin]

Actually, can't you whack off the front of the glock's grip, where the magazine usually went? I think you could chop that off, and then build up finger grooves there out of most anything, even bondo.

[mikoyan99]

Yes, I believe I could. Good thinking batman!

I can do something similair on the front grip then as well - at the very least add grooves to the front.

cheers,

-Matt

[mikoyan99]

Stopped firing again, most likely due to the spring that holds the trigger contact down becoming loose again (it's happaned a few times before, easily fixable), but i've run out of patience, and as I have other projects in mind i'm selling up:

http://www.arniesairsoft.co.uk/forums/inde...howtopic=180667

if you contributed parts, and you're after it, I will of course sort a discount.

cheers,

-Matt

[Gooberz]

Kind of ironic that in your sale thread you note they were famed for reliability, when the model keeps breaking.

 

You did a good job. I don't see paintjobs like that often, but I like it, so kudos. Aesthetically, the AEP is out of place, but it is what it is. Overall I'm very impressed, and I like the stock.

[mikoyan99]

I'm a big fan of irony

I thought i'd better be clear about it - although if someone has a real go at sorting it it should be absolutely fine. I may even have a go myself, but it'll have to wait until i've taken my last exam (for now)

Cheers for the compliment,

this won't be my last scratch build,

-Matt

 

Edit: the stock is part of an AK-74 stock BTW. Did anyone realise?