Longshot Integration With Internal Shotgun (Picture Heavy)

So I'll be showing you how I did an internal shotgun through the front gun integration =) Keep in mind that I provided a few of my measurements, but if you attempt this you'll most likely have to make adjustments to fit your particular Longshot. Also, this particular design does not work with any Longshot that still has a dart tooth. I had to cut that area to make room for the mechanism. This wasn't a problem since I have a brass breeched Longshot. Anyways, on to the writeup!




You'll want to first cut out the two arms that will connect to your bolt sled. Mine is a 16 cm section of 1/2" x 1/16" aluminum.




Next you'll need to cut a slit about as long as the widest part of the bolt sled's rail.




You'll need to trim down your bolt sled's rail area like this.




And it'll fit on like this. (The bolt sled is different in this picture because I was using an old one. I wanted to be sure everything was right before cutting into my real bolt sled.)




Next you'll want to trim down the rail to make room for the arms. There is one rail that's shorter than the other. Trim down the taller one so it's flush with the shorter one. Also cut out anything that is in the way of where the arms will have to pass. Make sure to make the slope toward the back or your arms will catch on the edge of where the rail is shorter and jam up.




And it should fit nicely in!




Make another arm identical to the first one and repeat the same thing for the other side of the shell.




Next thing you wanna do is make the support that will be coming out from the main arms. This is where you'll have to do some adjustments depending on how you did your integration since the distance will vary depending to each integration. My first one was between 6 and 7 cm. I used a long screw and a lock nut to attach it to the arms. I wrapped electrical tape in between the support and the arms because I didn't have proper spacers, but this seemed to work just fine. Just make sure that when you make your measurements, the grip can go all the way forward. Also, make these measurements with your whole setup in place. I made my first measurements with just the bolt sled in the shell and the end result was that my grip didn't move all the way forward and I had about 1 cm of unused rail space in the front. I had to remake the arms with my whole breech in place before I made the measurement.




Next you need to attach the second support. Be very careful when you're measuring this piece. There's not much room for error. If it's not the right length the whole system will not line up properly and you'll have to make another support.




The whole thing should look something like this.




If you did a spring addition I suggest enforcing your grip with epoxy putty.




Now mount everything into your Longshot and see if everything lines up.




You'll have to trim down the back of the grip like this to prevent it from getting in the way of the raised parts of the front gun integration.




Once you have it all together it should work. If it doesn't just go back and make adjustments until it does. The nice thing about this mechanism is that you no longer need to use the silly bolt handles =)



If you have any questions feel free to ask!

Does the strength of the spring have an effect on the system? If so, what's the strongest spring you would recommend to use with this setup?

With the right reinforcements I suppose you could use any spring.

You're really only limited by how thick your bolts you use in the front are and how much your bolt sled can handle. In the early phases of making this thing I used a crappy bolt that got bent so I replaced it with a thicker one. I'm using a stock LS spring with an AR15 buffer spring and it works fine.

Also would you recommend putting putty around the sled rail? 5th Picture

I like this. I really do. Good job with this!

- Brad

redcricket077 wrote:Also would you recommend putting putty around the sled rail? 5th Picture

That was my old bolt sled which eventually started cracking. I would recommend this bolt sled reinforcement guide which is what I used on my latest bolt sled. It works perfectly and I see no signs of cracking. Although putting some putty there in addition to the aluminum sheet reinforcement won't hurt.

Actually I meant the small nub after putting on the Aluminium.

It's not really necessary, the friction keeps it in place really well and the aluminum sits between the bolt sled and the shell's rail. If you want to put putty around it that's fine, just don't put anything on top of the aluminum.

You mean the aluminium side facing the camera? Alright thanks.

That's right. The aluminum has just enough clearance between the rail and the bolt sled so you don't need anything on the flat side of it.

Thats a sweet mod. I was thinking about trying to make a mod that would integrate the frontgun as a shotgun grip, but i do not have the resources or time to try and create the mod. Lucky you are here to solve the problem for me.

Well after the 'L' section of the boltsled is reinforced, the connection between the long arms of the boltsled to the sections where the priming bolt is actually inserted is the weakest point.

My advice is to extend the aluminium sheeting/laminating to the entire arms of the boltsled to reduce the effects of strong springs.

All this is after examining LittleBro05's LS at the last war - it broke in something like 4 places.

That aside, great mod, I was planning on doing a similar mod, though some other hobbies have taken precedent. Looks like it is a well thought out and very decent modification that is quite easily replicable.

My thoughs would be to instead of making 2 strips of Alu to move the boltsled, use one piece that is triangular. That would remove the need to be so precise in measuring and drilling the holes for the bolts.

EDIT: I figured you had some left over strips from making the priming arms, so you couldn't be bothered buying/cutting out a larger piece.

I really like this idea. Makes it a lot cleaner than making one out of polycarb etc.