by Holescreek

Demilling a cetme kit (and Trigger Pack Modification)

« on: August 30, 2010, 08:31:19 PM »

I needed a trunnion to get some measurements off of and was going to have to demill a kit to get it. I remember
all of the reading I did before I started on my first cetme kit build and wished there were a tutorial with pictures
on the demill. Although I had started on it already I went back into the house for the camera. Maybe the
following pics will help a first time builder and save some cocking tube sleeves in the process.

Here is the cocking tube assembly. The trunnion and the cocking tube are welded into the cut off section of the
old receiver.

The first thing I do is use a Dremel cutoff wheel and cut slits in the groove on each side of the receiver section
to separate the cocking tube from the trunnion:
Get one side cut through and the other side notched deep enough and you can split them apart and have only
used 3 of those cutoff wheels in the process:

Concentrating on the trunnion section there will be several spot welds that look like dimples and at least 3 plug
welds that show up as dark circles near the front end of the trunnion:
There are several ways to weaken the welds, I use a 4" angle grinder and grind into the old receiver around the
spot weld

Once the welds are weakened I hold the trunnion in the vise and use a medium cold chisel to peel the old
receiver away
I'd better split this up, not sure how many photos I can put in one post
« Last Edit: July 20, 2011, 04:48:27 PM by Holescreek
by Holescreek

Re: Demilling a cetme kit

« Reply #1 on: August 30, 2010, 08:53:12 PM »

Once the old receiver metal is removed you can deal with the extra material
left behind with a grinder and a file:

Next is removing the cocking tube with the sleeve intact. I remember a time
when I thought that all you had to do was cut the cocking tube off to weld it
onto the new receiver. Wrong! You need the sleeve too. The sleeve is the
reduced diameter part of the cocking tube that slides into the receiver.
I put some electrical tape around the cocking tube to provide a visual guide for
my hacksaw cut. The plan is to use a hacksaw to cut through JUST the top
layer of metal, not touching the sleeve.

After the line is cut around the tube, I use the grinder to notch out the welded
areas where the sleeve is welded inside the receiver section.
Once the welds are weakened and the hacksaw work is done, I put the old
receiver section in the vise and let it start the peel:
Here is the peeled cocking tube. I have had better luck keeping it round but it
is what it is. Get in a hurry and more work will await you. The front stub
sticking up is from a plug a plug weld on the top of the receiver. The hole was
caused because I didn't grind deep enough into the plug weld and it pulled the
material out of the sleeve. As long as I drill the plug weld hole in my new
receiver in a different location the hole won't matter.:

I made a mandrel for straightening cocking tubes that measures .707" O.D.
that I pounded into the bent sleeve. One the mandrel is inserted I use a body
hammer to tap the tube down around the mandrel to shape it round again.
Here are the parts after filing and sandblasting:

If I get some time in between other projects I'll add the steps for modifying
the FCG into single action.

« Last Edit: September 15, 2010, 11:52:14 PM by Holescreek »

by Holescreek
Re: Demilling a cetme kit
« Reply #5 on: September 01, 2010, 04:13:55 PM »

I got my other project finished quicker than I thought so I had a couple of

hours to kill this morning.

Continuing with the demill, here is the magwell section:

Punch out the pin and try not to loose it. It's just a short 1/16" roll pin
Everything in the photo will come out:

The fastest way to get the paddle out is to just unfold the section and grind
the expanded end down so you can slide it off:
I bag all of the small parts until I have a chance to clean them up then re-bag
them until assembly. Some cetme parts are expensive to replace if you can
find them:

I'll pick up the FCG work next.

by Holescreek
Re: Demilling a cetme kit
« Reply #6 on: September 01, 2010, 04:29:50 PM »

If you are building an HK, some of the only part of the info below that applies to you is the cutting out of the
shelf. For all other info jump to this thread: http://www.weaponsguild.com/forum/index.php?topic=24048.0

For you cetme builders, please continue:

Here is your stock FA fire control group. Next is to remove or modify all of the necessary comonents to make it
semi-auto. This FCG has shot more than it's share of FA fire, note how much the auto lever guide rectangle is
bowed up on the top edge:

First thing is to disassemble it. Start with the hammer pin then the sear spring pin, then the trigger pin. You will
reassemble it in the reverse order later.
I start with the box. I scribe a line .4" up from the bottom and .54" from the front. The hard part is not getting
confused and cutting the wrong corner off the box. The purpose of cutting this section off is to remove the FA
capability of the box.

I just use a band saw then true it up with a file:

I have a lot of 20 gage sheet metal scraps that I use to make a cover to fill the area effectively blocking the box
from accepting the FA components. This notched out area will be used later to accept the mag block.

Here it is welded in place:

« Last Edit: December 10, 2011, 12:44:48 PM by Holescreek »

by Holescreek
Re: Demilling a cetme kit
« Reply #7 on: September 01, 2010, 04:49:41 PM »

Next comes all of the little stuff that need modified or replaced. Remember 922R, no more than 10 foreign
parts are allowed off of the list. The FCG is a good way to replace 2 or 3 of them. I usually buy a trigger and
hammer from Turbothis but I didn't plan on doing this right now and all I have on hand is one of his triggers.

Here is a photo that should describe the little stuff fairly well. I have one of Turbo's triggers on the left. The
next one to the right already has the disconnector modified, and the one to the right of it is unmodified. I will
punch the pin out of the modified unit and attach the modified disconnector to Turbo's trigger. I use the round
section off of the FA lever as a spacer on the trigger pin, but throw away the lever itself. Normally I toss the old
hammer in a box but since I don't have a US made hammer I just ground off the sear catch.
Since I am temporarily using the stock hammer I'll show you a trick. I tack weld the hammer spacers onto the
sides of the hammer (using the pin as an alignment tool)

It makes reassembly with the spring in place a breeze:

Here is the reassembled FCG with all of the evil removed:

While I wa at it I set the lower up in a vise with a .900 spacer inside and performed the "clipping" portion of a
clipped & pinned lower.

Aside from the "pinning" the FCG modifications are finished.

The only part left to de-mill would be to cut the rear sight off of the receiver section in the kit. Use a dremel
cutoff wheel and imagine that I took a photo and posted it below.