A place for general potato gun questions and discussions.
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FighterAce
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Wed May 26, 2010 2:36 pm
I need some sort of back up iron sights for my new sniper rifle in case the scope breaks. I found some airsoft magpul ones but they are almost $80 so I figured if I could make them, I would invest less then $1 since I think I already have all the parts in my collection... springs, nuts, washers, etc. except for a piece of walnut witch I plan on using as the body.
If anyone doesnt know what I'm talking about... take a look at this
The only problem for me is the flip up/flip down and retaining part. Does anyone know how those sighs flip up by just pressing a button and lock in place once you push em back down? If not, could anyone suggest such a mechanism so it fits into the body of the BUIS in the image above? Since I'm making a sniper replica it would be nice to have replica sights too

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hi
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Wed May 26, 2010 8:36 pm
I think its just constantly under pressure from the spring and when you push the button it releases a sear and it flips up.
like a sear pin on a bolt action rifle.
"physics, gravity, and law enforcement are the only things that prevent me from operating at my full potential" - not sure, but i like the quote
you know you are not an engineer if you have to remind yourself "left loosy righty tighty"
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Insomniac
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Thu May 27, 2010 12:59 am
Yep, looks like a pretty simple spring-loaded mechanism. Shouldn't be too hard to fabricate somthing similar.
I wonder how much deeper the ocean would be without sponges.
Right now I'm having amnesia and deja vu at the same time. I think I've forgotten this before.
Add me on msn!!! insomniac-55@hotmail.com
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FighterAce
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Thu May 27, 2010 1:55 am
hi wrote:I think its just constantly under pressure from the spring and when you push the button it releases a sear and it flips up.
like a sear pin on a bolt action rifle.
Could you draw a sketch or something? I'm not really familiar with such mechanisms
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Crna Legija
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Thu May 27, 2010 3:31 am
i think a mousetrap type of thing would be best, but you would have to set it every time
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--Homer Simpson
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FighterAce
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Thu May 27, 2010 3:55 am
That wouldnt be so great... I would need to lock it down manually as opposed to pushing it down and having it lock automatically.
btw. any special reason for having a Croatian flag in your avatar?

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Crna Legija
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Thu May 27, 2010 5:02 am
im croatian
'' To alcohol... The cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems.”
--Homer Simpson
Add me on ps3: wannafuk, 8/11/11 cant wait
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Insomniac
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Thu May 27, 2010 5:20 am
Not to sound condescending, but surely you can figure out how to do this. This type of mechanism is found everywhere. A few examples: Doors of microwave ovens, latches on guitar cases and briefcases, pop-up flashes on digital camera, hell even a jack-in-the-box uses a similar mechanism.
This ironsight obviously moves the latch from an external to an internal mechanism (which is a bit more difficult to design or build), so it is a bit different but it really isn't difficult to figure out how to construct somthing similar.
I wonder how much deeper the ocean would be without sponges.
Right now I'm having amnesia and deja vu at the same time. I think I've forgotten this before.
Add me on msn!!! insomniac-55@hotmail.com
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FighterAce
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Thu May 27, 2010 6:20 am
The examples you just said usually have a tab witch you move. Tab extends a piece of metal/plastic into a depression in the body and thus holding it shut. On this design all I have is a button... I dont see how you can apply the same mechanism to the sight.
Anyways.. I just thought of a spring loaded button retainer design as opposed to spring loading the whole moving part of the sight and a sear to hold it.
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Insomniac
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Thu May 27, 2010 6:25 am
FighterAce wrote:The examples you just said usually have a tab witch you move. Tab extends a piece of metal/plastic into a depression in the body and thus holding it shut. On this design all I have is a button... I dont see how you can apply the same mechanism to the sight.
Anyways.. I just thought of a spring loaded button retainer design as opposed to spring loading the whole moving part of the sight and a sear to hold it.
And that button is likely directly linked to such a tab, hidden within the mechanism. Said tab would be spring loaded so that the button always returns, and the tab would be cut at an angle so pushing the sight down would press the button inwards, allowing it to latch. I'd draw a diagram but it's late and my drawing skills are dismal at best.
I wonder how much deeper the ocean would be without sponges.
Right now I'm having amnesia and deja vu at the same time. I think I've forgotten this before.
Add me on msn!!! insomniac-55@hotmail.com
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chinnerz
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Thu May 27, 2010 7:45 am
i have looked at your plan and come up with a little something.
you have to close it by hand, and when you do a little rod (green) will move into a hole and will be held there via spring pressure. the actual iron sight (blue/red) is under spring pressure at this point as well.
when you press the button, the green rod is pressed inward, losing its hold on the wall, and allowing the whole sight to move upwards into its operating position.
what do you think?
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Attachments
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- locking mech, open close (front view)
- locking mech.png (9.31 KiB) Viewed 3517 times
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- open and close, side view
- open close.png (6.24 KiB) Viewed 3517 times
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FighterAce
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Thu May 27, 2010 2:18 pm
Needs some fine tuning but it could work.. I'll try to give it a shot once I get my hands on some walnut. Thanks
I'd like to point out to just one thing. The whole purpose of BUIS is to have iron sights folded so they dont get in the way of the primary aiming device - a scope in my case. The way you drew it looks like it has no height difference compared to a normal static iron sight when folded. You want those walls to be at the same height as the folded aiming aperture

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chinnerz
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Thu May 27, 2010 4:40 pm
well if you want to point things out... There is no actual sight, its just a box right now. It was just a pre concept design. You could probable make it a bit shoeter and get rid of half of the case wall, that would make it shorter.