Post by Mark MGC made a beautiful MP40 modelgun from 1968~1977 which is a highly sought after collectors item and re-enactment tool today it looks the part and it feels just right with the weight etc. They are hard to find and they cost far more today than when they where produced.
The MGC "68" was constructed using stamped steel parts just like the original MP40. However, while MGC did a superb job on the "MGC 68" MP40, they still didn't get all of the details correct. Details like the muzzle nut (pressed-on not threaded-on) muzzle, Fake thin easilly lost/broken snap-on resting bar,too large front sight blade etc.
In the 1980's, Marushin released their excellent MP40 that had all sorts of great details that the MGC version unfortunately lacked. Marushin had made up for their earlier badly detailed, cast zinc MP40 with this version with the sole exception of casting it out of ABS. I noticed, while toying with my old factory assembled Marushin, that the front sight housing was removable from the barrel assy, as well as that the other parts where well made.
So, I decided to take the Marushin barrel components off, machine my spare MGC barrel down to accept the very-close to original Marushin parts. Using the spare MGC barrel was important as the chance of destroying the barrel was great by mis-machining. The MGC
I then started with the late MGC (spare) semi-stripped, un-serial numbered, zinc alloy barrel that had been abused by a person that was obliously trying to remove the plastic resting bar by drilling out the fake cast-in "pin"!
Starting my MGC/Marushin barrel project, I cut/ground/lathed off the oversized front sight base and proceeded to machine the barrel to accept the excellent Marushin MP40 parts.
Anyway, I will try to caption each picture with the details of the conversion process. With out further adoo
Here are the pictures!
The first picture is the late abused barrel as I received it with the badly offset drilled hole in the lower part of the front sight base.
The oversized front sight, cut off of the incorrect front sight base.
The front sight base was ground down to help the lathe out a bit.
Then, I turned down the old cast-in MGC front sight base to the ABS Marushin barrels dimensions in the front sight base area.
Here is a trial fit of the "new" Marushin front sight assy. As you can see, the old cast-in resting bar is still there.
Removing the cast-in resting bar was a chore as the barrel is tapered and posed a problem of how to remove it.
Even though the picture is a bit "fuzzy" you can see that the cast-in resting bar is disappearing fast!
Here, a comparison of the machined-down MGC with the Marushin barrel/front sight housing a long way to go!
Machining the resting bars rear clearance cut fun!
The resting bar clearance cut comparison MGC/Marushin.,
Milling the front sight base flat to clear the bottom of the sight.
There progress!
Now that the main part of the barrel is cleaned up, I need to thread the muzzle. After that, I had to press the front sight housing on. Just like the original MP40.
A glimpse of the Marushin barrel at the top, here are all three of the barrels.
Ah, incorrect details GONE! and my original MGC barrel at the bottom. For later use? Hmm...
It was a "fun" experiance and the MGC looks far better and is by far more detailed that it was originally.. I have also changed other details on my "project' MGC other than the barrel. I will post pictures of it when I am done with it.
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Wanted to buy: MGC Sten MK3....trades?(still)
MGC MP40 Marushin MP40 Nakata MP40 TRC MP40
Modelgun manufacturers, past and present:CMC,CAW,Hudson,HWS,LS,MGC(R.I.P. 1960's~2007) Marushin,Marui,Kokusai,Shoei,Tanaka and Western Arms
Last edited by mark on Mon Sep 18, 2006 6:39 pm; edited 3 times in total
Thu Aug 21, 2008 6:50 pm
