Substituting An AR-15 Firing Pin With A Modified Duplex Nail

This is awesome:

BAN NAILS!  Or at least require a background check and serial number registration system.

Handy to know that if i’m ever short a nail I can always head over to my AR-15. :P

Thoughts?

Hat tip: Scott


Comments

32 responses to “Substituting An AR-15 Firing Pin With A Modified Duplex Nail”

  1. "Dr." Dave Avatar
    “Dr.” Dave

    Oh man thats a bad idea.

    1. NikonMikon Avatar
      NikonMikon

      Why is it a bad idea?

  2. thebronze Avatar
    thebronze

    This video just took 2 mins and 48 seconds to show how completely retarded Kalifornia gun laws are.

    1. +10

  3. Komodo Saurian Avatar
    Komodo Saurian

    Well, it’s hardly surprising that this guy could make a substitute. Guns aren’t exactly that complex. With proper tools any idiot can make his own home-made gun and in fact many do.

    Here are some links. This is a zip-gun that fires Peas: http://goo.gl/nWbxi

    This is a scene from the movie “Brother 2”, this one fires nails: http://goo.gl/ZNj1I

  4. huh… and they say “we don’t make anything here in America anymore.”

  5. It would probably be easier just to buff off the micro-stamping from the original. But machining your own gun parts is so awesome, I don’t care why they did it.

  6. Actually they were talking about this in New York as well. What a joke.

  7. If microstamping goes into effect, you have to police your brass so bad guys don’t take it at the range, then toss it on the ground at their next crime scene. Also, it’s technology that’ll never work.

  8. BBJones Avatar

    A nail won’t last long as a firing pin and could be dangerous, but an interesting video.

    1. The box of nails probably cost about $4. Then toss in that if you’re doing one, you can probably do a personal assembly line to do 10 or 15 at a time.

      Add in that someone could change out the original pin for home made one for the crime and then back to the original for range time.

      And as jpcmt noted your brass from the range could be used against you.

  9. USSMunkfish Avatar
    USSMunkfish

    “That is dangerous because, something… I don’t know why but it is rabble rabble!”

    –As long as you don’t let the pin protrude too far I don’t see a problem with this.

    1. paul kimble Avatar
      paul kimble

      on the contrary it would be quite exciting if the pin protruded too far.

      1. USSMunkfish Avatar
        USSMunkfish

        Hah! I’m curious though, would it be catastrophic to puncture the primer? Would it just let some gasses out to erode the bolt face, or it it actually blow something up?

        1. paul kimble Avatar
          paul kimble

          i dont claim to be an expert but i suspect you’d be ok as long as the bolt made it into battery.

        2. no different from a loose primer popping out i would suspect. Besides, all ar weapons blow some combustion gas back into the bolt area anyway.

          a protruding pin would change it into an automatic weapon though, ala uzi. Everytime the bolt closed it would fire until it emptied the magazine.i supposed one could make a three round burst by loading unprimed brass every 4th round, then cycle the bolt manually…

  10. That was interesting. And I totally don’t understand all of the California gun law comments…

    1. California passed a law that would require micro-stamping on all weapons sold after 1/1/10. It was pretty much DOA because it was so easy to defeat.. New York also considered it, but the big gun manufacturers basically told Albany “Pass it and we’re going to move — lock, stock and barrel — to a gun friendly state.” The idea was tabled.

      http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com/2010/01/california-microstamping-law-status-doa-for-now/

      1. dave w Avatar

        And the guy running around telling everyone that this is the way to cure all gun related ills, is the guy who has the patent on the technology and would have to get very rich if they passed it.

      2. thebronze Avatar
        thebronze

        Not exactly.

        From June in the NYT:

        In California, legislation signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2007 has been held up while the attorney general’s office makes sure the technology is unencumbered by patents, as the microstamping law requires. A gun rights group, the Calguns Foundation, went so far as to pay a $555 fee to extend a lapsing patent held by the developer to further delay the law from taking effect.

        “It was a lot cheaper to keep the patent in force than to litigate over the issues,” said Gene Hoffman, the chairman of the foundation, adding that he believed the law amounted to a gun ban in California.

        Todd Lizotte, an engineer who developed the method in the 1990s, said he wanted the patents to lapse and the technology to be in the public domain.

  11. Jayson Avatar

    Time to start microstamping nails…..

  12. EnfieldEM2 Avatar
    EnfieldEM2

    My downstairs neighbor goes on and on about this little trick, good to know that he wasn’t just blowing smoke, but I think I will pass.

  13. Michael Avatar

    I actually came across one of these nails on the side of the road while walking home one day and said to my friend “Dude that totally looks like an AR firing pin”. Never thought about actually using one as a firing pin.

    I’m sure with a little hardening these can be just as good so long as you’re using quality nails.

    1. NikonMikon Avatar
      NikonMikon

      You encounter these nails in situations where you’ll have to remove them (temporary useage). The place I encountered them was building houses. They were used to nail the form boards together. Once the slab is poured, you have to break the forms down and the duplex head made it a lot easier to do.

  14. Lol, I just pictured Eugene Stoner designing the AR-15:
    “Hmmm, firing pin, firing pin……” *looks at nail in his tool shed*
    “This’ll do”

    1. HA HA HA, I REALLY wish it happened this way, I picture him just like Homer Simpson now…

  15. Mike, no comment about wearing his safety glasses on top of his head???

  16. So does anyone know the Rockwell hardness of a duplex nail as compared to your typical factory firing pin?

  17. BrowningBottoms Avatar
    BrowningBottoms

    Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

  18. Damn I’m old. I still call ’em scaffold nails.

    I haven’t done a Rockwell test on them, but I can verify that they are harder than my fingers.

  19. confused Avatar
    confused

    Why does he use a bench grinder when he has a lathe?

  20. Paul Lepordo Avatar
    Paul Lepordo

    100% American made wow amagine that (don’t tell Feinstein she will outlaw nails or impose a nail tax on them) they will cost as much as a carton of marlboro’s.
    Beleave it or not we truly have some very competent gunsmiths and or rifle builders out there, these guys I mean the retired ones and the old school guys who still do things the right way, that know more about building guns than most builders these days have forgot, for instance Tim Mc Whorter, Kenny Jerrett, Mc Millian to say a few.
    The knowledge and skills of these people should be put to use in advising and supporting the military on schooling these young guns out there building wepons for the goverment (if they would consider it for this administration)
    But….I don’t really think the goverment wants to be told how to do anything ,infact they are most likely scared of these people because of the knowledge they possess
    what a shame.
    p