Impressive My only concern though is that the length of the cylinders might restrict the arm's ability to collapse in fully, limiting its upward movement range.

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CPL Sean Maio A01/TQ2.0.72156E1
Public Relations Division (Temporary Cross-Assignment)
M-56 Smartgun Operator, A/3Btn, II CMEF, USS Sephora

An intrigueing question !!
So I have done some measuring - - -
If we use "dead level" as the reference point,
I am getting Four inches of Down travel ( 10cm )
and Twelve inches of Up travel ( 30.5cm )
for a grand total of Sixteen inches ( 41cm )

Interesting... Just from looking at them I would never guess those cylinders have that much travel! If this works you might really be on to something, here.

_________________

CPL Sean Maio A01/TQ2.0.72156E1
Public Relations Division (Temporary Cross-Assignment)
M-56 Smartgun Operator, A/3Btn, II CMEF, USS Sephora

Post bump for smart gunner armor plans on previous. Page in beginning. Of this thread

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Cpl Matthew Rendar. M56 smart gun operator. 2nd bat 7th colonial marines "Rendars Raiders "

oorah, that is motivation right there.

such a pretty gun im using your gun to help put my kit together right now. where did u find the grips for urs.

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SGT Chris Kraemer "BIRD"
S/N: A07/TQ0.0.82154G1 Sgt Kraemer

amazing

News update! I got motivated yesterday and spend the entire day in my shop working on a storage/shipping crate for the M56
I had a pair of BIG wooden ammunition boxes to begin with, but both were too short for the smartie.
So I did some magic with power tools, and lumber, and hardware !
Tomorrow I will hopefully get time to upload the photos, so you can all see how it turned out !
Cheers,
David

Awesome can't wait to see! Its been a while Dave. Good thing your back to update. Your m56 awesome

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Cpl Matthew Rendar. M56 smart gun operator. 2nd bat 7th colonial marines "Rendars Raiders "

Okay, here is the two photos showing the first ammo crate after I had used skillsaw to slice it off at 27 1/2 inches from left end.
The second crate , underneath, is still in one piece to give you an idea of what they were like before being cut.
The haze is smoke from my plywood blade. I wanted a nice smooth cut, but the side effect is some smoke. :O

The original crates were about 45 inches long, and my smartie is 55 inches long ( allowing for padding at both ends ! )
So the plan called for chopping both boxes off at 27.5 inches from the left end of one box, and the right end of the second.
And then splicing the two longer bits back together to create a 55 inch long shipping & storage crate.
In these photos you can see the wood I used to splice the bits back together.
The fasteners are galvanised wood screws ( MUCH better than nails )
Obviously the new wood strips on the outside of the box will need to be painted olive drab to match !!!

Then the next step was cutting the two bulkheads, and slotting them to fit the smartie.
The cut edges of the slots are lined with soft black felt, so the wood won't scratch the finish of the gun.
So here are some pix of the smartie settling into its new home.
My next step will be to cut and install some textured foam padding to give the crate a more space age look inside
and also to protect the smartie if it was to get loose inside the crate and slam into one end or the other -
[ ie. rough handling by the airlines if I was to fly to DragonCon with the smartie going as cargo ] :O

Excellent, really looks the part. Are you going to put USCM stencils on the outside or leave it plain so you don't upset the baggage handlers !

Great wooden case. Close to the MG42 wooden case.
Do you plan to add any data plates/Letters?

-Frank

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Sgt. Frank Peters 'reload' Smartgun Operator
A03/TQ3.0.12136E1 "It will be no picknick!"
AL Colonial Admin. - Sergeant at Arms (SgtA) -- 2020-2022
GERCM - Executive Officer (XO)
UKCM Foreign Legion: The Deviant Dragoons

Yes, I plan to do some USCM stencil type decorations on the outside,
and hopefully some data plates and instructions plates on the inside !
also want to add a couple of hasps for padlocks !

your going to pad the cradles in there right? perhaps cut a second piece from the same bulkhead wood for filling the cradles in flush with the lid of the case and making it a tight fit.

nice work, be VERY careful with tagging the outside of the case. TSA can be crazy as can baggage handlers, esp if they think its military in origin. back when i was in we were told in very clear (loud and curse filled) language to NOT tag any part of the case with US Army. as handlers would either drop kick the cases or intentionally loose/forget its sticking out of the trailer and break the rifle/radio/etc. happened several times in my unit.

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the kilted smartgunner

Give me absenth I turn British.

Yes, the slots will be lined with sticky-back felt to protect the finish of the gun.
I also like your idea of making a part to fill in the unused portion of the slot, thereby trapping the gun in position,
so it cant move around if crate was inverted !!

As for the markings, the only good solution I see is to have one nice crate with proper markings and so forth.
and a second, totally Bland, 'generic' crate, for use only when using bus, train, or air travel.

Hooray! my internet works again !

So now I am able to present - - -

shipping crate with eurethane textured foam padding / insulation

winning. THATS IT IM MAKING ONE TOO.

_________________
the kilted smartgunner

Give me absenth I turn British.

Great! See you at DCon.
I decided to go for a Soft Case (less transport cost) and have to say that your wooden case is MUCH better!

_________________
Sgt. Frank Peters 'reload' Smartgun Operator
A03/TQ3.0.12136E1 "It will be no picknick!"
AL Colonial Admin. - Sergeant at Arms (SgtA) -- 2020-2022
GERCM - Executive Officer (XO)
UKCM Foreign Legion: The Deviant Dragoons

very nice case. smart idea i need to make one for the wifes kit. but i think i will go another route just need to look at something soon.

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SGT Chris Kraemer "BIRD"
S/N: A07/TQ0.0.82154G1 Sgt Kraemer

A Pelican style case would be super, but I dont know if they make one large enough,
and if they do, you would need a second mortgage to buy it !
And then you would have the CarbonFiber option, if you REALLY have money to burn !! :O

I have now painted the vertical support bulkheads flat black !
when paint is dry, I will apply adhesive-backed Felt padding to the surfaces where the gun will rest on the wood.
The adhesive backed craft felt is also black, so it will blend in nicely.
Just cut to width, peel, and stick !

So, while the gun was out of the crate, I was inspired !

I had found a bit of aluminum tubing that I fancied for the trigger pull cable -

so, I decided to do some fitting !

after an hour in the shop, here is how it looks !

Wow - I dont know what has gotten into me today !

now I am experimenting with the new, larger, bluer LED display I bought for the ammo counter

I figure the electronic board and battery can fit easily inside the ammo drum,

with wires up to the LED readout up top, and two more wires running into the receiver of the M56

so each time the bolt cycles it triggers a switch, so ammo counter will count down properly.

also have to have a reset button hidden somewhere on the ammo drum, to "reload" when it gets to zero !

Does anybody know what color the ammo counters were on the Screen Used M56's ? ?
Does anybody know if the LED readouts were 2 digits or 3 digits ? ? ?

Thanks !