Drilling a hole for a paddle magazine release

[leibstandarte10]

It is. The gun is going to have to be reheated and bent back to shape, hopefully without destroying the integrity of the metal in the process. The mag release shaft has to be pushed right. The shelf itself is intact. So what do you think guys... is it a total loss or is this a fixable problem for someone like Ghilliebear or a local smith?

[HART1]

Well, I managed to get through the shelf, but I have a much, much bigger problem now. Look what happened to the magazine well:



The heat transfer to the magazine well must've been so great that it made it flexible and it bent like a piece of paper. Now I've got to hope that the local gunsmith can get it back to its proper shape. :(

You used a bit that wasn't sharp enough and applied too much downward force on the receiver. Straighten the magwell and use an old metal lower that has been clipped, but still has the front ears in tact. Mount the lower to the receiver, clamp in a table vice and drill with your press. This will give the receiver more support while it's being drilled.

[1NavyChief-Ret]

You really should contact Ghilliebear. I don't know if I would want just any gunsmith to try to fix that. It should be a gunsmith that knows the HK type firearms inside & out.
Just my .02 cents.

Chief

[Chopstix Kid]

I have fixed worse, much worse. It is indeed fixable. Unless you are planning on taking the gun into battle or abusing the heck out of it. The loss of strength won't be an issue. There are also heating techniques that can be done to easily restore some of the strength back but I would not be overly concerned about it.

Jeff should be able to straighten it. You could probably even do it yourself. Remove the mag-catch assy, stick a long punch through the catch holes and just bend it back. It's actually that easy.

[HART1]

I have fixed worse, much worse. It is indeed fixable. Unless you are planning on taking the gun into battle or abusing the heck out of it. The loss of strength won't be an issue. There are also heating techniques that can be done to easily restore some of the strength back but I would not be overly concerned about it.

Jeff should be able to straighten it. You could probably even do it yourself. Remove the mag-catch assy, stick a long punch through the catch holes and just bend it back. It's actually that easy.

+1
Fix it yourself. You F'ed it up now learn how to fix it.

[Obiefox]

+1
Fix it yourself. You F'ed it up now learn how to fix it.

LOL! If I had a dollar for every time my father told me that, I'd have a couple more sears... He is a retired Millwright (42 yrs with Timken's) and taught me most everything I know. :)

[leibstandarte10]

That's a good idea. I'll try that before taking it to the smith. EDIT: I got it about halfway back, but the metal around the catch hole began to crack. I'm taking it to a gunsmith before I really mess it up. Thanks for all the advice guys!

[RogueHK]

chopchop or ghilliebear!!!

[MikeDeltaFoxtrot]

I agree. Send it to an HK specialist unless you are willing to junk the receiver. A run of the mill gunsmith who spends most of his time re-crowning barrels, doing trigger jobs, and mounting scopes is not who you want for this.

[leibstandarte10]

I ended up sending it to Ghilliebear and plan on having him completely rebuild it on an LSC receiver and with a new barrel.