Jan 12, 2016
Always Ready
Today, TNW employs about a dozen people and is best known for their replica semi-auto versions of full auto historical military weapons. Since 1995, the business has expanded to include reproductions of the Suomi M31, MG34, M2, M3HB and of course they’re still building the 1919’s. They’ve also dabbled in M249’s as well as a few other medium duty type weapons.
While visiting, we got a chance to see several of the steps involved with the production of their MG34’s. As an interesting side note, TNW Firearms is currently the only manufacturer in the world who is building MG34 receivers. The original factory in Germany required a 2 story tall machine for broaching the 13 inch long steel receivers. These days, a machine like that would be quite the investment for producing a firearm with such a limited audience. While the MG34 stock, top cover, barrel and some other components are original, TNW had to overcome this obstacle by designing their own hydraulic broaching machine which is far more compact than the German version. The new machine utilizes 60 broaches each with 4 to 5 “teeth” per unit and a difference of 1.5/1000th (did I write that correctly?) of an inch from tooth to tooth. This is a lengthy process. In fact, Tim said it takes about 6 months to move a batch of MG34’s through the entire production line. While a lot of this is done by hand, some of the process is also machined with a Haas VF2 CNC as seen sped up in the video below.
The company also makes their own AR-15 upper and lower receivers which I’ve seen carried in several Oregon gun stores and used on a number of local builds. TNW themselves make both an AR-15 carbine and a pistol using these products. They also offer a carbine length AR-15 gas piston conversion kit. Then there’s their SGP-QCB… This thing features a hot swappable barrel system which is capable of changing out the barrel and gas piston in a matter of a few seconds. If you’d like to try one of these out, I noticed they have the 7.62 version for rent over at Threat Dynamics in Sherwood, OR.
http://oregunshooters.com/manufacturer-spotlight/tnw-firearms/
While visiting, we got a chance to see several of the steps involved with the production of their MG34’s. As an interesting side note, TNW Firearms is currently the only manufacturer in the world who is building MG34 receivers. The original factory in Germany required a 2 story tall machine for broaching the 13 inch long steel receivers. These days, a machine like that would be quite the investment for producing a firearm with such a limited audience. While the MG34 stock, top cover, barrel and some other components are original, TNW had to overcome this obstacle by designing their own hydraulic broaching machine which is far more compact than the German version. The new machine utilizes 60 broaches each with 4 to 5 “teeth” per unit and a difference of 1.5/1000th (did I write that correctly?) of an inch from tooth to tooth. This is a lengthy process. In fact, Tim said it takes about 6 months to move a batch of MG34’s through the entire production line. While a lot of this is done by hand, some of the process is also machined with a Haas VF2 CNC as seen sped up in the video below.
The company also makes their own AR-15 upper and lower receivers which I’ve seen carried in several Oregon gun stores and used on a number of local builds. TNW themselves make both an AR-15 carbine and a pistol using these products. They also offer a carbine length AR-15 gas piston conversion kit. Then there’s their SGP-QCB… This thing features a hot swappable barrel system which is capable of changing out the barrel and gas piston in a matter of a few seconds. If you’d like to try one of these out, I noticed they have the 7.62 version for rent over at Threat Dynamics in Sherwood, OR.
http://oregunshooters.com/manufacturer-spotlight/tnw-firearms/
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