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Rimfire Firearms .22, .17 and other Rimfire Handguns and Rifles |
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F2000 Conversion - Defcon Inspired
After seeing Defcons conversions (and being tired of building expensive AR-15s) I decided to have a little fun of my own. So I took a Marlin Model 60 and a G&G F2000 Airsoft body and made a 7.5 pound bullpup.
I bought the G&G body for $150 and sold the guts for $40 on ebay. The Marlin has a 19" barrel and the final product is 27" long. The build took eight evenings, couple hours each evening, to complete. Last edited by mshill; 07-12-2013 at 5:48 PM.. |
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Build Process
The G&G F2000 Airsoft body is sturdily built and weighs hefty 4 lbs and is made of thick plastic and held together by no fewer than 18 hex bolts/nuts. The barrel cover (with attached all metal picatiny rail) slide off (see Rail.jpg) afterwhich the handguard drops off the bottom.
Because of the tube magazine of the Marlin 60, I decided that the each half of the handguarf and barrel cover would have to be attached to the respictive half the body (see Handguard.jpg) The original trigger linkage was too short and way to high to adapt for the Marlin 60 trigger location. So it got removed and relocated to the opposite side of the body. If a Marlin 795 were used, the barrel covers would not need to be modified and could have remained removable (although I don't know why it would be needed). A 1/2" diamater channel needed to be routed in the very bottom edge of the barrel covers to accomodate the tube magazine. For this I used my brother-in-laws routing table. It actually went perfect on the first one. The second one needed a 1/4" z-axis offset because it is not syntetrical in the front where the metal rail attaches. Before bedding the action/barrel the opening at the rear of the barrel guards had to be opened up from 1/2" diameter to 3/4" and the top of it slotted to accomodate the stock rear sight of the Marlin 60. The bedding in that area actually provided a good indexing point in the horizontal plane. I initially bedded (see Bedding.jpg) the barrel and action with JB Weld Plastic Putty, which I like because it lets you work for 15-20 minutes before it starts setting up. I bedded the front of the barrel, back of the barrel, and three spots around the action (two bottom, one top). I was at Home Depot and saw the stack of orange 5 gallon buckets with a nice 1/8" metal handle (I have like a dozen at home) so I thought I would expirement with them. Well, with a vice, some channel pliers, and a few solid pops with a hammer I was able to straighten one out and then form it appropriately. Not liking the round about routing of the original airsoft linkage, I rerouted it on the opposite side of the body (see Rerouted.jpg). The rerouting consisted of cutting about five channels in ribs on the body. Before finalizing the linkage I had to stabilize the Marlin trigger guard assembly. At Home Depot I got a 1/2" spacer for the rear trigger guard bolt that fit perfectly. but left the trigger guard assembly a little loose. I dropped down a blob of JB weld on either side of the rear of the trigger guard (see Action.jpg). After the trigger guard was stabilized I made the final bend in the linkage rod and covered it with some cloth tape. I had to solve a couple of issues: First, my model 60 has the bolt hold open function. I didn't want to cut a hole in the body to get to it so I disabled it by reforming a spring (AR15 dust cover spring) and connecting it to the action holding the bolt release back so it could not engage. Worked perfectly. Second, because I rerouted the trigger linkage more directly, I could not push the magazine all the way in because the trigger linkage rod was in the way. So I just cut a 1/4" wide, 1/4" deep channel off the side of the airsoft magazine (not the mag catch side). Problem solved. I cut the ejection port and finished it off with a dremmel drum sanding bit (fit perfectly and made it very easy). The only issue I have is that I need to extend the charge handle to make charging more comfortable. Last edited by mshill; 07-12-2013 at 9:22 PM.. |
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Took it to my dads today for a test drive. No video cause I forgot my camera and my daughter left her phone at home.
I zeroed the BSA Red Dot at 25 yds in nine shots. I can shoot half dollar size groups off hand without a problem. It ran perfectly, no movement, held zero through about 200 rounds. I had two minor issues... Had to really pay attention when loading the model 60 to make sure I didn't put more than 14 in the tube, and I had a couple spent shells end up inside the air soft body through the gap between the ejection port and the airsoft body. Some quotes: My daughter': "That was the funniest thing to shoot.". My wife: "That's really cool." My nephew: "That is now my favorite gun." My dad: "You need to take it to hunt rabbits in Utah, that would be a blast" I loved it. Lots of fun. But there is still something to be said about the power of an AR or AK. Last edited by mshill; 07-19-2013 at 10:10 PM.. |
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interdasting. great job man!
pics of trigger linkage and bedding please i have the FN tri rail for this. ill need to pick up teh G&G version and do another one with the Marlin 60 Last edited by defcon; 07-12-2013 at 7:35 PM.. |
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See post #2.
I went and picked up a cheap Red Dot for it. I now have $280 into this project (including the Marlin 60). My daughter thinks its totally cool. It certainly isn't my dad's .22. |
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it gets pretty easier when after doing 1-2 conversions. usually it takes 8-10 hours and then you reduce that time down to 3-5 hours after doing a couple |
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ill tell you what .22 will work with what stock it first starts by picking out a centerfire clone you want to work with. then go on your local craigslist and look around for broken/used one for under $100-$150 then buy a $25 dremel, JB Weld and Devcon epoxy putty at home depot/lowes. then start cutting it up until your .22 action/barrel fits comfortably again it takes 8-10 hours total. 1-2 hours a day until you finish your 1st conversion |
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My next project will likely be a Tavor or an L85/SA80. I built 4 ARs for my kids, now it looks like I'll be doing some fun guns for them as well. |
#16
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I like the Marlin 60 because you don't have to deal with figuring out how to do the magazine release. The flip side is that you have to make a channel for the tube magazine. You could start with a cheap P90 for less than $50. If it doesn't work out , you won't be out much. |
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wow thanks for the tips and help when i needed. i def will be pm you guys if i ever decide to take on a project like this. the F2000 conversion didnt look to hard. still waiting for this whole gun stuff to settle down. its still a buying frenzy out there with overpriced everything. just been shooting what i have till than haha
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I have to say the two marlin 60s that I have shot have been really accurate rifles.. My dad's is older with a 22" barrel and wood stock, very solid for an old beater rifle. The one I bought for this conversion was incredible out of the box. My wife was complaining that I took a perfectly good, light, accurate rifle and made it heavy and weird looking.(went from 4.5 lbs to 7.5 lbs bullpup).
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#22
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How is something like this cleaned?
Is the action and barrel still easy to take out? I guess what I'm asking is if the JB Weld and epoxy are holding the parts or just holding them into position? How's trigger? I've wanted a F2000 since I first saw one, something tells me I'll be looking for a used Marlin 60 soon! Thanks mshill and defcon
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Never follow the advice of Calguns Addicts, They clearly don't know what they are talking about. |
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action/barrel is easy to take out JB Weld and epoxy putty are used to help create a skeleton around the action/barrel to prevent movement. i typically use an extended screw that goes through the buffer as an added measure trigger isnt typically crisp because of the linking steel rod. thats the sacrifice we'd have to make when making something like this. you can always add thicker nylon spacers to the rod to get it closer to the trigger |
#24
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nice job! mishill!
giving the teacher Defcon some mad competition for these 22 master piece's
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I mainly shoot .22lr, 9mm,45 acp, 357 & 38, 12G, 7.62x39, .308, .223/556, 7.62x54r, 300 win mag, 8x57 God Bless USA |
#25
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The epoxy putty just holds everything in place to keep it from moving. I got my trigger to be very tight and any take up is only from the Marlin 60 trigger. The straighter the linkage the crisper it will be. |
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Looking forward to doing Famas, Tavor, APS UAR, and maybe a cheap P90 (not necessarily in that order). |
#31
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Still one of my favorite and most accurate guns.
26 inches.
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#32
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Looks like a lot of fun.
Ever thought of doing a 2.0 and frankensteining something like a 1911 trigger in place of the existing trigger group? Just by the picture it looks like there's room for a perfectly straight shot from trigger to firing group. |
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