Turret on the cheap

[colt45727]

Hey Everyone,

Been awhile since I have been on the forum, but figured I would show off the turret I was able to build using some hmmwv parts along with some steel, and some thinking. I wanted a turret but also a soft top. So I made a hybrid,.. the only hybrid that I will ever like though.

I was able to finish this over the summer, so more pics will come soon.

I started out using the hmmwv parts for the reference and some of the info off the site to help.

I was able to get ahold of a turret bearing ring, hatch, triangle mount, and top cover.

First I came up with the idea of having the ring bolt into some piece of metal, but something that would be able to be used to lock the ring into place too. Thats when it hit me...angle iron. I got some angle iron and had a guy in B.F.E. bend the steel aroung the ring snug, but it could be also removed too.

 

[colt45727]

I next bought some clamps from kascar to hold the B-pillars I had whcih were .120 wall steel. We centered the the ring in the hmmwv and then bent the pillars to the right shape and height.

Next, we then tacked on the ring to the pillars after checking for it to be level to the hmmwv.

We then made arms that reached out to the the windshield and to the c pillar.

The windshield has some plates drilled and bolted to the frame where the arms would be welded to.

The c-pillar had a single arm meet it and was bolted to it, after being reinforced with an aluminum bung.

 

[colt45727]

some more pics

ring being tacked and welded in.

 

[colt45727]

Next we needed to put in notches so the turret can be stopped. We decided to put in 1'' 1/2 X 1'' tabs of metal to be welded in so that the newer style of the lock could fit the metal tab in between the two posts.

After this, we set the ring in the loop and then drilled the holes for the bolts to hold the bering into the loop.

 

[hippiedude]

Nice ...........You have access to cool tools ........................ What are you mounting up there ????? ...............................

 

[nf6x]

Sweet.

 

[colt45727]

We then painted it with POR 15 chassi coat, and bolted it up all together.

After getting all of the hmmwv parts powder coated and having the roof cut by a car interior guy, we put it all together for the final time.

The good thing is that all of this is removable and can be put back to stock and the hmmwv parts were not altered in any way.

It works and keeps it some-what light, sturdy, and a soft top. It also handles guns being fired from the mount just fine. The 1919a4 was fun shooting from it.

 

[colt45727]

Im mounting a 1919a4, and possibly in the future a semi 50 BMG...

 

[hippiedude]

Looks Great ............ You have skills !!!!!!!!!!

 

[wreckerman893]

That's tougher than woodpecker lips. l

 

[wsucougarx]

Great looking install!

 

[EdMontana]

nicely done, thanks for sharing!

 

[colt45727]

Thanks guys, for all the great comments.

 

[jdmcm]

That is just awesome....I'm stealing that idea to finish my slant back turret!

 

[actionpaintball]

Not to piss in your cherios, but I am pretty sure you need some rubber isolation between the windshield frame and roll bar before you shoot anything considerable from that mount. The work looks good-don't get me wrong, I just don't think you want it mounted that rigid. I would try to copy the mil-spec configuration using some body mounts or rubber pucks, even the oem stuff is pretty cheap if you make your own angled mounts.

 

[Augi]

What kind of cradle or pintle do you use to mount the 1919? I have a semi 1919 that I want to shoot from mine but I have yet to dive into finding the right kind of mount.

Augi

 

[colt45727]

I appreciate all the comments.

Actionpaintball, I have thought about putting some rubber buffers in the system, especially with the 50 cal. I did shoot the 1919 off of it and it was just fine. Anything bigger I will have to think about buffers.

Augi, I bought the cradle at Beltfedshooters.com. It works awsome, I love all the stuff he makes and great guy too. The humvee pintle is milspec but the peice between the craddle and the mount was made on our lathe.

 

[DoctorCheney223]

We used one of the German surplus MG3 turrets. Fabrication was simple and we can mount a M240, M249, MG3/MG42 no problem. These were from RobertRTG in AZ if interested.

 

[Cleptomaniac]

Cool!