M42-B Scope Rifle II, Nerf CS-6 Longshot Conversion

[Bazookafied]

By Bazookafied

This project originated as the main weapon of the Longshot CS-6 project. It is now in development on its own as a scope rifle. The M42B Scope Rifle II is a semi-auto scout weapon with a green dot scope. The M42B fires either a single or automatic round, though their ranges are currently untested. In combat, the M42B's range has been rated at at least 400ft.

Planned features of the M42B Scope Rifle II consist of the following:

* Long range sniping capabilities
* Adjustable stock
* Battery packs built into a clip system (two battery packs to be completed)
* Switch for Auto and Single shot rates of fire
* 25 round Clip
* Retractable Bi-pod
* Ammo Gauge

[Bazookafied]

Recently, the Scope Rifle II has seen combat and performed decently. The bolt-action reload feature... though it is flippin awesome... has proved to be a thorn in it's side. Nevertheless, I plan to keep the bolt-action reload feature... but simply make it easier to use. Currently, it is too difficult to reload quickly because the bolt-action is hard to pull back. I'll need to free up the space for this to happen.

The SR-II has also not been getting the range it should. A replacement lens arrangement will need to be installed.

This week, the SR-II is out of commission as far as battles go. Problems with her power supply have caused the weapon to fail mid-combat. She will probably be out for the remainder of the season at this rate and will turn into a fall project.

Here's the weapon as it stands... currently painted black like it's sister weapon with some dark hammered metal paint for the details (that really don't stand out much...)

[Bazookafied]

As I continue to work out the internals on this weapon, I've been getting more ideas for it's external appearance. I'm leaning more towards this USCM-esque paint job. Of course, the one pictured below has the extension on the barrel, but the coloration is what I'm going for.



This coloration would go well with my new MARPAT gear that I'll be working on for Season 4. I've also been meaning to get this weapon a different color scheme than it's sister project: the Skirmisher, which is currently in the same black and hammered dark metal scheme as this weapon.

[Bazookafied]

I've found that my original mount for the lens arrangement in the M42B was off, giving the gun a slight angle of fire. At close ranges (100-200 feet) it isn't much of a difference, but there's no point to a Green dot scope if its on an inaccurate gun. This week's project is to rebuild a better, more accurate lens arrangement. It'll hopefully have a longer range now too. I'll be refining my system that I used to make the Super Cobra's lens arrangement, so hopefully it'll get an even longer range than that. I'm "Shooting" for 500 ft.

I'll have images up of the new lens arrangement once it is complete.

[Bazookafied]

Finished installing the new lens arrangement. It should achieve the same basic range as a LC P.R.O. but I get the feeling I can crank more range out of it in a rifle case as opposed to a pistol case.

Here's a shot of the rifle and then a shot of the lens arrangement installed.

[Bazookafied]

Range Testing Results:
Location: Mission Park West, Omaha, NE
Date of Test: August 28th, 2008
Time of Test: 8:10pm CST

I know, I said I'd test this thing Saturday, but I was just so happy with how the lens arrangement turned out that I just had to test it tonight. It was perfect conditions: Dusk, mid 70s, I kept thinking I should've planned a match! So I set out with my M42B and a test vest. I hung the test vest from a tree trunk that is right by the "Ditch of Doom". I set out with my Weapon, stopping at landmarks in the park to shoot at the target. The results were nothing short of impressive to me. Take a look at the results I calculated:




Yes, you're reading it right. A Maximum range of 652.80ft was what I came up with. I know both the spots where I checked it on Google Earth are accurate because the end point of where I could no longer hit the target lay directly between those two houses property lines.

I moved forward a bit to get an effective range (where you don't have to be pinpoint accurate to still land a hit) and I was still about 620ft away from the target.

SO... I'm not gonna mess with this lens arrangement. I'm happy with it's results! A range like this can be just as deadly as a Firestorm in Mission Park West. I'll go with that!

[Bazookafied]

Another set of successful tests

With some active combat under the new lens arrangement's belt, the M42B's main systems are complete. Currently, I'm working on the battery pack with the clip storage. While I've been doing this, I'm finding it increasingly tough to find room in this rifle for the ammo gauge. I may have to omit this feature.

I'm also looking to mount a large flashlight on the left side of the weapon. Unlike previous lights that I've affixed, using scope rings and a rail to mount them, I'm looking to have more of a latch system that a Maglite could fit onto. Making the flashlight easier to remove would be useful and Maglites already have wall mounting clips. I'm looking to use some of these clips to mount a large (Possibly D Cell) Maglite onto the weapon. I haven't completely assured myself of this plan yet, but right now, its the only real system that seems different enough from the scope rings system to be effective.

[Bazookafied]

Another fantastic combat test for the M42B!

I took members of the UNO Marching Band out for a game of laser tag on Saturday (great turnout too) but also managed to tweak the strength of the Reload on this monster. The more obvious modifications, however, can be seen in this picture:



I'm pretty sure I'll keep her in these colors. Looks pretty neat, more like something out of the USCM anyways (which is the vibe I'm going for). Time for some Bug Stompin!

[Bazookafied]

Friday, September 26th, 2008
Fall Game #2

Rifle Update

The Scope Rifle II is ready for it's next engagement with a little blast from the past helping out. The Twin-Task II, a flashlight that was once part of the NPC-103A, has been equipped to the left side of the M42B. I used the same scope-rail mount idea that we used on the NPC-103A many moons ago. It's mounted near the vents around the barrel near the front of the gun.

Features of the M42B for this game will be as follows:

* 650ft Range
* Manual Bolt-action reload
* Single/Auto Firing Rates
* 25-Round Clip
* Adjustable Stock
* Equipment rail
* Twin-Task II Flashlight
* Green Dot Scope

_____________________________________________

Unrelated to the weapon's status for that Game, I've been thinking of installing a radio in the rear stock of the gun. I could take one of our older walkies that doesn't have a headphone jack, replace the speaker with a headphone jack, find a place for the channel screen, and design the unit into the rear of the gun. To get to it, I would just have to remove the Adjustable Stock instead of taking the entire gun apart. Its just an idea at this point, but I'm starting to think that it'd be a good way to integrate my systems more.

[Bazookafied]

Fall Game #2
Performance Report

The M42B has been working fine as far as internals and such go. The Flashlight addition was used during this game and made searches much easier. There were no problems with the weapon's performance at all.

A previous concern that I had was that my range testing I had performed earlier was too good to be true. As it turns out, the test couldn't have been any more accurate. During the game, I was on the assault team and took up a position hiding in the shadow of the fence where I had range tested it before. I hit targets that were advancing north who had just crossed the "Slipzone" with ease. This confirms my range test in real combat, which made me very happy.

The only problem the gun is facing now is it's sheer size. With my CVP-01 and -03 setup, the rifle completely blocks shots from my right side. I'll either have to do something different with my vest or make changes to the weapon somehow. If anything is done about this, it's more likely that changes to the vest would be favored over doing anything to this weapon.

All in all, she performed well once again. I'm starting to get more used to reloading after 25 shots and I've developed a faster way to reload the weapon after each clip of 25 is spent.

[Bazookafied]

New images taken of the current state of the M42B. I'll take some time off from this project while I work on others, but this is the state she'll be in for awhile. Notice, I have images with and without the flashlight attached.

[RoboRed]

Dude, if you ever plan on making anymore modifications to it, I think you should do this.

http://www.halolz.com/2008/01/23/itz-nerf-or-nuthin/

[Bazookafied]

I prefer functionality over aesthetics. A chain saw or those blue lights on my rifle wouldn't do it much good. Though I did come across that when I was looking for paint job ideas for this weapon.

[Bazookafied]

Well, I finally had a problem with the Scope Rifle II. At a recent Fall Match, I started having power issues with her. I had just put in fresh batteries, which means that theres something wrong with the temporary power supply I had built for her until I could finish the magazine-style battery pack. With Finals week approaching, it's unlikely that I'll be able to get to this until late December.

[Bazookafied]

Finally decided to get some shots of the internals while I was working on fixing the power issue today. Here we go!

General look at the internals layout.


Switch for Single/Auto firing modes


The reload button for the "Manual Reload" feature


The rail for the Tactical Light


The TwinTask Tactical Light


The Green Dot Scope


Trigger and trigger button


The manual reload assembly w'handle


The manual reload chassis