I started my 20" flattop build

[Big Frank]

I finally started my 20" flattop build yesterday. I don't know what time I got up, but I worked on it the rest of the day and night until around 4 am. I guess I spent 12 hours or more on it, but it doesn't look like much for all that effort. First I sprayed it down with non-chlorinated brake cleaner to de-grease the outside of it. I used plastic grocery bags as gloves so I didn't get my greasy finger all over it, and I didn't get the fat sucked out of my skin by the brake cleaner. That's some really wicked stuff. Then I covered the whole thing with Realtree EDGE Duck Tape. Realtree EDGE is the first camo pattern that allows you to blend into your hunting environment at close range, with natural elements arranged in a way to disrupt the human form at a distance. And EDGE is the pattern that Realtree recommends for most game species, most of the year, in this part of the country. I have two 10' rolls of this camo tape, and the 1.88" width goes 3/8 of the way around the 1.5" wide handguard. I planned on covering my A2 stock with camo tape too, but I won't be using the fixed stock. I tore off a piece of tape longer than the handguard and taped one side from the bottom of the Picatinny rail on down. Then I did the same with the other side. That only left the bottom 1/8 uncovered, so the third piece of tape overlaps the 2 adjacent sides. When I tore the 3rd piece of tape off, it tore down the middle a couple of inches. I cut it off straight with a pair of scissors and applied it starting at the back. Then I put a piece a few inches long on the front, overlapping it a little bit, on the solid part in between 2 slots.

It was easy to trim off both ends off the tape and cut out all 56 slots with an X-ACTO knife, but it took awhile. As I finished cutting out a row of slots I put ERGO or Magpul M-LOK covers on it. And mounted an 8-slot Picatinny rail that came with the handguard on the bottom, and the backup front sight and sling swivel when I did those sides. I ended up moving the sling mount back 2 slots when I put my bottle opener on.   And I took the Picatinny rail back off and replaced it with a Magpul M-LOK Bipod Mount. The ATI (Advanced Technology International) Universal Featherweight Bipod has a mounting column with a round hole to fit over a round QD swivel stud, and the stud on the M-LOK Bipod Mount has a rectangular cross-section. If you think putting a square peg in a round hole is hard to do, try putting a rectangular peg in a round hole! I dug through 4 boxes in the basement before I found my padded vise jaws to hold the bipod mount. I filed the corners off to make an irregular octagon out of the rectangle. Then I cut off a short piece of copper tubing, chucked in a drill, and filed some notches in the end. I used it like a hole saw, except it was cutting to the size of the inside diameter instead of making a hole the size of the outside diameter. Since the copper tubing is just a bit harder than the aluminum it worked. Not very well, but good enough. I was able to get the mounting column over the stud far enough to put the pin through. There's a set-screw in the middle of the column tightened down against the steel cross-pin and I used blue Loctite on it. Then I was able to mount the bipod on the handguard. The sling swivel isn't doing anything but filling the hole. I have a plastic washer that came with the bipod attached to the handguard with an M-LOK screw and T-nut. It's under the front of the yoke where there was a big space between it and the handguard. I used some GOOP to hold a sheet rubber piece to the top of the yoke. There's a thick rubber washer and knurled nut holding the bipod on. I just read the instructions online that say don't over-tighten it. Too late. I used a Crescent wrench to get it REALLY tight. I suppose I out to set that right.

I have Troy Squid Grips in the top 2 rows of slots next to the Pic rail. They have 2 holes in each slot section and I used those so when heat rises from the barrel it will have somewhere to go. I had one heck of a time getting them seated all the way around. If I didn't have the handguard off so I could shine a light inside and see everything, it would have been nearly impossible to get it right. I had alternating rows of black ERGO and Magpul M-LOK slot covers on the other 5 sides, but I took the Magpul slot covers off, and replaced them with O.D. Green ERGO covers. They have a good, easy to grip texture to them, and the M-LOK brand are flat. Both kinds are a lot easier to use than the Squid Grips. You just push down and wiggle them and they go right in. Now I have 5 alternating rows of black and green ERGO covers.

https://www.atioutdoors.com/product/universal-bipod/

[Big Frank]

More pics. I can't do much more work until I get the basement situation sorted. I noticed in the pics that the legs were't parallel to the handguard so I gave them a little twist to straighten them out. The bipod can be set up to swivel or not swivel depending on how you assemble various bits and pieces. I have it set up to not swivel, but there must be a little play in the system.

[Big Frank]

The Parkerized finish on my Fabian Bros. Muzzle Stabilizer was light gray and looked thin, like it was wearing off. I plan on painting it flat black with barbecue paint, but if I have any cold blue in my basement, I might cold blue it first. I sanded it down yesterday, stuck something in the rear end and chucked it in a drill so I could sand it all the way around. I also sanded it circumferentially and lengthwise by hand. It's really smooth for only having been sanded with a piece of 120 grit sandpaper. The wrench flats don't look as good, but I don't care about that. It's in the white and looks like polished stainless steel, but I think it's carbon steel. The pictures came out really dark. I think it's so shiny the flash bouncing off it told my camera it was too bright, it needs to be darker. I took pics all the way around so everyone can see it.

 The only makings are Fabian Bros underlined with a target shaped logo, MUZZLE STABILIZER, CAL. 5.56. It has 5 slots and a closed bottom, exactly like an A2 bird cage flash hider. It also has an  expansion chamber behind that, 1.5" long and nearly 1/2" in diameter. That gives it a volume almost equal to a teaspoon, which isn't bad for .22 caliber. The rear end of a 25/54" drill bit drops right in and a 15/32" doesn't quite fit through the threads. The threads look smaller than inside wall, so I think it was machined 15/32" before the 1/2"-28 threads were tapped. After all the sanding yesterday I wiped it off and soaked it overnight in my Dunk-Kit. I just wiped out the inside with paper towel and a bunch off black stuff came out. Anyway the expansion chamber has 12 holes ~1/16" in diameter, arranged in 3 rows of 4. That makes it a compensator plus a very effective flash hider.

For the pics, I screwed the brake on as far as it would go and backed it off until it was at the 12 o'clock position. It runs out of threads before it get close enough to use a crush washer. It came with a jam nut instead of a peel washer or anything like that. Instead of using the original hex nut (far left) that came with it, I'm going to try a jam nut I bought that's round with 2 wrench flats (near left). I think the flash hider cutout on an M16 barrel wrench will fit it but haven't tried it yet. I'll be able to nearly bottom out the jam nut and flash hider. I have a JP Enterprises double crush washer (near right) that's too thin to work alone, but would probably work well if combined with a standard crush washer. The double crush washer Provides consistent torque level through entire rotation, Greater than one full turn after contact to time any muzzle device, Expand when crushing which prevents binding on threads for easy removal, Tight fit to outer diameter of threads which helps center on the barrel, Superior cosmetics due to symmetry and flat profile after crushing. On the far right is a Strike Industries Muzzle Condom AKA Baby Rubber. DON'T BE A FOOL & WRAP YOUR TOOL. They're tacticool black color, 2.72" long, .562" diameter, and weigh 0.1 ounce. They're a better option than duct tape to keep your muzzle clean and dry, and will fit over shotgun barrels too.

https://cylinder-slide.com/Item/CS0110

https://www.wingtactical.com/firearm-parts/ar-15/muzzle-devices/jp-enterprises-double-crush-washer-1-2-28-tpi/

https://www.strikeindustries.com/si-muzzle-condom.html

[Big Frank]

I still haven't put the new flash hider on my 16" barrel, but will be able to now that what's left of my broken vise is bolted down. I really wanted a Rainier Arms FHV2 Flash Hider - Black Nitride, but I think they were out of stock when I was ready to buy one. So I got a Next Level Armament NLX-5 Hi Helix Flash Suppressor instead. It doesn't need to be timed but came with a crush washer. I'll try to get the logo straight up or straight down. The Rainier arms flash hider is $60, which is still $5 less than the Next Level Armament one that's $10 off. The Rainer Arms has 13 five star reviews, and the other one has no reviews so far. The good news is it's only 2" long and .83" diameter, and I wanted to keep my 16" barrel short. And the ring of my M7 bayonet fits right over it. The Rainier Arms flash hider is 2.26" long and .89" diameter. A bayonet won't fit over it if the ring diameter is .880" like I read it is a few places. Maybe that's actually why I didn't buy one.

https://www.rainierarms.com/rainier-arms-fhv2-flash-hider-black-nitride/

https://nextlevelarms.com/product/hi-helix-flash-suppressor/

[Big Frank]

Here's a pic of the flash suppressors for my 16" and 20" barrels. A short one for the short barrel, and a long one for the long barrel. NOW you can see what color the big one is.

[Sponsor]

[Big Frank]

The Barrel Nut and Locking Ring (parts #2 and #3) for my Super Slim Free Float Handguard had some really sticky grease on it. Nasty stuff. So a couple days ago I soaked them overnight in my Dunk-Kit, brushed them clean with an old toothbrush, and wiped them down with an old towel. The barrel nut had a lot of crud on one part of the threads when it was done soaking. It must have collected there as it soaked. The handguard came with a QD sling swivel adaptor, 8-slot M-LOK Picatinny rail, and a really solid feeling, well made wrench. I also bought a 5-slot Pic rail and probably won't use either one of them. They handguard attaches to the barrel nut with 3 pairs of screws, at the 3, 6, and 9 o'clock positions. It comes with 7 screws just in case, which I thought was nice. And nice to come with the QD sling adaptor and Pic rail too. It's 15" long, not counting the .3" long anti-rotation tabs. I probably won't need any of the spacer rings, but it came with 4 of them, just in case the screw holes in the barrel nut don't line up with the holes in the handguard. It's a Mil-Spec forged upper so there shouldn't be any problems, and no need for the shims. Like all UTG PRO parts it was made in the USA. About a 45 minute drive away IIRC.

https://www.leapers.com/products-utgpro-mtu019ssm.html

[Big Frank]

I spent most of the previuos 2 days working on my paintball marker instead of my real guns. And I also took the crossbolt safety off my 1994 Winchester 94 Trapper model. I went to a couple of stores looking for plugs to put in the holes but couldn't find any. I might have to order some 1/4" black Nylon hole plugs.

[Majer]

Frank, check here for the Marlin safety delete
https://beartoothmercantile.com/basic-safety-delete-for-marlin-rifle/

[Big Frank]

Thanks, Majer, but they don't have any for Winchesters. That's the same problem I had elsewhere. I could swear I saw one for Winchester once, maybe a few years ago, but when I searched online other people are having the same problem. The only options seem to be nylon hole plugs, or a Chicago screw that goes all the way through the receiver. Ideally, a safety delete part would have a flared head to fill the indent on the right side. I thought someone made that but I'm still looking. The only safety the rifle needs is for the operator to not have the rebounding hammer cocked and their finger on the trigger. The hammer is blocked until you pull the trigger. That may be even better than the old rifles that had a half-cock notch on the hammer.

[Majer]

Just checked and nobody makes then for a Win 94, Not a popular rifle for CAS. The few I've seen that had the safety removed left the hole open, put a plastic plug in it or epoxied the head of the proper marked caliber onto the hole.Sorry I couldn't be of more help.
This it the plug used,1/4 inch nylon hole cover