Matt.Cross

So with the impossible nut problem out of the way, it's time to address the missing cant function. The top picture is the aforementioned upside-down "wishbone" that attaches to the rail adapter via the Torx cap screws shown in the lower pic, which were loc-tited in, by the way. None of the screws that need loc-tite have it, all the screws that don't need it have it. It's crazy. The relationship between the adapter and the wishbone are why this bipod doesn't cant, if you check out the other bipods from GG&G, you'll see that their design in this area different. My project is to add inline tilt function to the existing hardware.

So first up, I ordered 1' of 1/4" hex stock from McMaster-Carr and drilled and tapped it for 8-32 threads. Cut it off in 1/8" length nuts and voila!, brand new replacement nuts without having to ship my bipod.

What it is: Primarily it's designed for larger heavier caliber guns. It's straightforward and sturdy, and not meant for the type of application I've used it for, so I'm acknowledging that right away. So I'll include other pics here to further show what we're dealing with... The heart of this bipod is a Y-shaped aluminum wishbone that joins the leg assemblies to the picatinny adapter, via 8-32 Torx socket-head screws and 1/4" nuts. Herein lies our first problem, a 1/4" with 8-32 threads isn't a standard size, and one of these little criminals was lost. I called GG&G to see about replacing it, and it turns out they don't sell replacement parts, you have to ship your items in for repair. This seems a bit extreme, so I decided a project was in order.

Alrighty, we're well overdue for another project thread so here we go! Quite some time ago, I found a GG&G LCB-3 Bipod for sale on the interwebz and decided that I needed it for the MA TEN. At $125 it was a great deal because it was unused and came from a very reputable bipod manufacturer. However, I soon found it came with significant limitations. It doesn't pan or cant. Now panning isn't a terribly important function in terms of the type of shooting that I do, I'm accustomed to setting up natural point of aim for each shot I take, so resetting the bipod isn't a big deal. Cant (tilt) function however, has proven to be a real deficit though for this bipod, as I found out on our first Fall Shoot and in some subsequent PRS matches. Considering what it is and was designed to be, it's not a bad bipod by any stretch, it just doesn't do what I need it to. So this thread is all about the project to change that.

Be careful Shepp, everything in your house is going to seem magnetically attracted to that sore toe for a while.

^^^ This. Why sheeple insist on passive victim status is beyond me.

Some people just want to watch the world burn.

Well, there are times when it's appropriate to remove the gag, Doc. It's only duct-tape ya cheapskate. Love ya Susan!

If you want to buy ammo for the Fall Shoot, I'm now able to acquire ammo at dealer cost. I will ship the ammo and have it waiting for you at my cost. You only pay dealer cost for ammo, I take care of the rest. If you want to have ammo waiting for you, PM me what you need and I'll let you know the cost.

I wish Magpul would hurry up and release the new bipod. I'm getting impatient.

Nope, it can't.... Hahahahahahaha! Sorry.

I see the engineer wasn't paying attention during the parallel parking training.

I think alligator tastes more like liger taint than rattlesnake, but that's just me. Could've been the marinade.

It's pretty good, tastes a lot like Toucan actually.

Easy enough to make this mistake, but there's an easy solution. Thread your brake onto your muzzle and make note of the final position of the brake. Let's call the correct timing of the brake the 12:00 position. Now you need to assess the approximate amount of rotation you need to get to 12:00, maybe you're at ~2:00 and need a lot of rotation, or you might be at 10:00 and only need a little. There's some math involved, but it's not hard, it's based on how many threads per inch your muzzle threads are. So for 5/8-24 threads, 24 threads per inch, that's .0416 pitch. Meaning that 360 degrees of rotation in your muzzle device is .0416" of travel. To determine what thickness your peel washer needs to be, divide 360 by the number of degrees of rotation needed, and then divide .0416 by that number. This final number is the thickness needed. Example: Muzzle device is halfway between 10:00 and 11:00, you need 45° rotation. 360 ÷ 45 = 8 0.0146 ÷ 8 = .0018 So, .002" will give you ~45° rotation. Now you know how to determine the shim thickness needed to time a muzzle device.

Like what, a gunsmith? Newsflash, the precision shim is NOT more precise than the peel washer. You know why? The peel washer is a laminated series of precision shims. *Mind blown*

This may surprise you, but I'm a Machinist, Tool and Die Maker by trade. I'm intimately familiar with precision shims, how they're sourced, how they're made, how they function, and what is necessary for them to function correctly/ideally. Everything you have mentioned so far comes at substantial cost to a manufacturer; locating a manufacturer, choosing a suitable material, developing a manufacturing strategy, QC constraints, developing a solid and reliable business relationship, the list goes on and on. All that cost has to be recovered in the sales of product.

So what? Hypothetically there's not much that isn't possible... ... but if you've got even a miniscule amount of common sense, you're not going to put McMaster-Carr 18-8 stainless washers behind your muzzle device between a 416 SS muzzle device and a even higher-grade SS barrel, or other differential metals.

Here you go: Where's the $4 kit?

Not really so much as just busting your balls about not needing them if you had peel washers.

I'm well aware of that. How many companies that are not suppressor or muzzle device manufacturers are selling precision timing shim kits? I'm aware of none. Therefore in order to accommodate your preference, there's a problem of procuring and paying for precision shim kits. Since they aren't going to source them from their competitors, they don't necessarily come at the same cost or from the same source. Therefore it's not as simple as including the $4 shim kits with the $1000+ muzzle devices, is it? So once we know where you would source your theoretical $4 shim kits from, besides competing companies naturally, we would be better informed as to how reasonable such a demand is...

So much for exhibit A. No, you would've been advised within moments of being given any bad advice here. Ball busting aside, we really do care about people being able to come here and find sound advice. That'll do it for exhibit B. So Brownell's swallowed the shipping cost. Fantastic! Wanna bet their shipping cost for the item was less than $4? I wouldn't take that bet, but that's just me.

This is a Thunder Beast Brake & Suppressor combo right? GEMTECH is a competitor to Thunder beast, so it doesn't make a lot of business sense to put money into a competitor's products (like spacers) regardless of their cost, especially when there's a more economical way to approach the same problem that works equally well. It's in GEMTECH's best interests to say, "No, those peel washers are utter crap, buy our far superior precision spacers instead!". Whether or not you want to buy into the marketing hype is fine. Just don't get too wound up when the folks that know better shake their heads and giggle at you.

Call Ghostbusters since we're already in the delusional realm. Seriously, you passed up the solution that came at no charge with your brake, which works by the way; and now you want to know why the frivolity that costs more to ship than the actual product value isn't a better solution? Where to begin....

The short answer is that profits are in the margins, in conjunction with the fact that peel washers work just fine when they're installed correctly.