Is it possible to modify the design of the SR722 to fire more powerful ammunition, such as 7.62x39, 7.62x51, or 5.8x42or43R

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[–] 4 points 7 months ago (2 children)

If you have a way to make a DIY Bolt with Locking Lugs sure, or you made something like this: https://youtu.be/6dq5K1cwdyY?is=DVW5vsg-455O9ebs

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  • [–] 3 points 7 months ago (3 children)

    22LR maximum chamber pressure is 170 MPa. 7.62x39 is over 310 MPa. Doing some napkin math with pressure and case size can give an upper limit for force on the bolt. For 22LR that's about 450 kgf. For 7.62 it's about 3200 kgf. Actual is less, but the relationship holds, so you'd need a bolt locking mechanism over 7 times stronger than the SR722. Generally speaking that's going to mean machining something out of relatively high grade (and probably heat treated) steel.

    Right now 9mm is about as powerful as you can get in a DIY firearm with no commercial gun parts and no machined metal parts. There's also the problem of forming the barrel/chamber since there isn't currently a good way to ECM a chamber for a bottleneck cartridge. That's not to say it can't be done, but it hasn't been done yet and I don't think you'll see rapid progress due to cost and safety considerations.

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  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago (2 children)

    Can we print a series of chamber plugs, glue grit to it. And grind out the chamber geometry. It would be as slow as snail shit but might work

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  • [–] 1 point 6 months ago (1 child)

    The problem is accuracy. Chamber specs are a lot more complicated than people realize. In many cases, walls are tapered so you're working in all three dimensions at the same time (eg. changing diameter also changes depth) and you have to control multiple diameters with differing wall tapers simultaneously. Typical SAAMI chamber tolerance specs are +0.002" (+0.05mm) on diameters which is not easy to achieve across all dimensions of a printed part. I won't say it can't be done, but the skill, patience, and luck required would be off-the-charts. Realistically, if someone can get the ammo, they can probably get their hands on machined parts, or at least the machine tooling to make them with a lot less time and effort.

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  • [–] 1 point 6 months ago (2 children)

    Why has no one commented on the Krag yet?

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  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago (1 child)

    Could pick up a "shotgun adapter" for the given caliber.

    Chazel has a 7.62x39 shotgun adapter for 140

    You would still need to beef up the breech though.

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