Made My Own 71-Round MP5 Drum

[Uncle Billy]

bought several SUOMI 9mm drums back in the day at the local gun show, made a couple of drums for the 9mm PPS 43 for myself and a friend who also has the pistol. so I came across the box they were in recently when straightening out my basement, and decided, 'hey, I'll make one for my VECTOR V-89."

so with drum and mag in hand I started this little project. I'm not a novice when it comes to making double stack mag a single stack feed tower, I've done it making a PPS43 drum for my 7.62x25 using PPsH41 drum and a SUOMI drum for the 9mm version. this one took a little ingenuity, because unlike flat sided mags the MP5 mag has those indents, still not that a big of deal to over come it, just took a bit longer cutting the spacer and fit it in against the sides so it sits flat.



like this a whole lot better then the BETA CO. 100 round double drum, I can reach around it to grab the vertical grip, and it's 21 round more then the 50 round XS version

then when I got the drum right I prettied it up, like a prom queen going to the dance

i've would have like to have it powder coated a shinny black, that would have been a very durable finish that would last a long time. but when I called around to have my PPS43 drum done, all these yahoos in Cleveland quoted me something outlandish. so I didn't even waste my time calling them, 5 years later. so I painted it a with a spray can a shinny black

the result;

 

[Uncle Billy]

I originally intended to have the feed tower welded onto the drum, and that would be the preferred method, but 5 or 6 weeks ago when I called the guy, who did the weld job on my PPS43 drums his wife said that he passed away . well he was in his late 80s 5 or so years ago.

so I started to call around welding places................these people must think they are "god's gift to metal", they either told me, "sorry we don't do small jobs like that, now if you ever need a large welding job then call us". "I asked by large, what do you mean?" he told me large industrial equipment, trucks, etc...

the ones that would do a real simple and very small job like that, 2 small 1.5 inch or less welds, were quoting me 80 bucks a hour, and that was the low end, no matter if it took 1 minute or 60 minutes.



so I'm sitting and staring at this feed tower and drum, and am bound and determine not to let these A-holes think that are indespicable . so I thought back to what I had done on another one of my projects, and that is use J-B WELD to mate the top portion of a TAPCO plastic 5.56 GALIL mag to the bottom half of a BETA AR15 feed tower, to make a AK feed tower for my SLR-106, 5.56 AK, then using alumium flat stock to brace the 2 pieces together

I did this more then 5 years ago and it's still rock solid like it was from day one.

I posted a video of it here on the AK forum:
http://www.uzitalk.com/forums/showthread.php?93821-My-Bulgarian-SLR-106ur-with-a-Drum

so that is how I attached the feed tower, took the bottom half of the cut off MP5 mag, cut off a small piece and bend it to make a brace, notched out the top part to fit in the screw that holds the 3 spacers, slathered it in J-B WELD like there is no tomorrow, then screwed the other half of the brace to the drum itself

easier to show pictures of what i mean

then I took J-B WELD putty and formed a thick bead on the back where the feed tower contacts the drum, and the front of the feed tower as well. I waited 48 hours for it to harden and cure. I'm here to tell you that tower is on there solid as the Rock of Gilberta and isn't budging a millimeter with me pushing on it and pulling on it with all my might. just like it would be if it had been conventically welded


well you be the judge, did you see the tower or drum move even one iota with all that weight on it and me firing it in the video?



I did have to tweak the spacer when I initially test fired it, it kept jamming and wouldn't feed into the chamber..............found out why, I made the outside spacer just a tad too long where it was inferring with the round going into the chamber causing it to jam, just had to cut back the spacer length less them 1/4" shorter, to where it would be where the front of the feed lips is

after I did that, I went back to the range again.............worked perfectly, fed beautifully not one jam or misfed , all because the spacer was a tad too long, not much but enough but just enough where it wouldn't reliably feed and jam. to make sure it wasn't just a fluke, I loaded another 71 rounds right then and there on the range and went at it again.................defiantly was no fluke, it worked like it's suppose to, just like the video shows



after I was satisfied all was great, I beautified it . by filing down the head of the screws to flatten them, dabbed some J-B weld in the slots, wait until it dried and filed again..................then took GLOSS BLACK spray paint and painted it, to give some class----------shinny, shinny, shinny

back 5 years ago or so I looked at having my PPS43 drums powder coated a shinny black, that would be a far tougher finish and would look tremendously nicer not to mention would last for a long time. but, what they quoted me then was something outrageous, I didn't even waste my time asking now, they would want a ton more then 5 years ago.

don't know what it is about Cleveland, but all these MFs in industries think they are "god's gift" and warrant a small kings' fortune, or can't be bother from peons like me asking for a simple job that wouldn't take them 10 minutes to do



I don't have a auto, or even know any one that does have a auto MP5, but I'm 98 percent certain it would function just as well as it did in semi. I set the spring tension to 5 complete revolution, add that to 2 complete revolution to load the rounds, you're talking a lot of tension that should keep up up with the ammo feeding fast to keep up with a high cyclic rate.

there is a drum for the MP5 from a company called XS. it's plastic has only a 50 round capacity and cost 300+ bucks.

I like mine better, has 21 rounds more, plus it gives me a great deal of satisfaction that I made something with practical nothing but a few hand tools, the most high tech one is a DREMEL, and the ingenuity............. even though I had to "bubba" it a bit :laugh:

 

[TheColtCollector]

What did you make the dummy followers out of? Are they linked together and tied to the original follower arm somehow?

 

[Uncle Billy]

What did you make the dummy followers out of? Are they linked together and tied to the original follower arm somehow?

those are pieces from a 3/8inch wood dowel rod. 3/8inch is very close to what the diameter of a 9mm round.

I had a 3/8inch wood dowel rod form a wood project I did years ago, so I just cut 6 pieces 19mm long. the aren't' attached to the drum follower arm, they just in the channel like rounds

 

[TheColtCollector]

Now does the top dowel get stripped by the bolt? Or is it low enough not enough not to be swiped after the last round?

 

[Uncle Billy]

Now does the top dowel get stripped by the bolt? Or is it low enough not enough not to be swiped after the last round?

the top dowel sits below the feed lips, after the last round is stripped, so the bolt never picks it up

 

[TheColtCollector]

Nice

 

[Uncle Billy]

Oh and BTW, posted this on the AK forum of this board but thought it should be posted here as well;


I saw on HKPRO.COM, a loader that was patterned after the SWEDISK K loader. since those loaders are near impossible to find, I decided to make my own by modified the base of a actual SWEDISH K loader to go over the mag . bought the loader from GUNPARTS.COM that came with 5 ganged stripper clips.

went to my basement, because that's where all the magic happens

. and with some heating duct that I had laying around, DREMEL with cutting wheel, a drill and some J-B WELD, I made it to fit over the MP5 mag

by pushing then advancing it forward I can load a mag in "no time" appox 30 seconds give or take a few seconds and on a BETA C-MAG as well .

there is just barely enough room between the dual drums of a BETA C-MAG where the clips fit in and exit the loader. not by much, but it does

this is me loading a standard MP5 mag . I put 5 round in each clip, since it's a 30 round mag


[video=youtube;Wc68kbzBufg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?Wc68kbzBufg[/video]

 

[TheColtCollector]

You can just cut out some of the sides with a dremel and it works the same. Nice. That was me who posted that on Hkpro

 

[Uncle Billy]

You can just cut out some of the sides with a dremel and it works the same. Nice. That was me who posted that on Hkpro

oh Ok. yeah, I just copied the picture you posted,

 

[Galil#1]

AWESOME work UB!