Chester County Armory M45 - Pearl $34K

[Rekraps]

I've posted history behind the L and MB series guns which were made when the prices of the K's did not support the cosmetic touches that the newer refurbished K's are getting, i.e. welds smoothed out, blued parts etc. 

Not sure why a welded tube vs a Pearl type construction make a difference. In my layman's logic, the receiver of the K is subject to almost no stress at all which is why they seem to last forever. Same for most blowback (impulse) operated SMG's (although the M3 had some issues with the center weld failing with all the bolt pounding). The tube just contains the spring, bolt and ejector.

[Got Uzi]

The only “stress” on a K receiver is the trunnion welds, the ejector “studs” and the slots at the tail cap where the cap locks into place.

Now my question is this-were K receivers drawn as an extrusion, or were they rolled (similar to an MP5)?? My real K sure looks like it was an extrusion and not something that was “rolled over a mandrel”

[StrangeRanger]

The construction of the Beretta 38/42 through 38/49 is very similar to the K i.e. a piece of heavy-gauge sheet metal formed to make the receiver body and welded to the trunnion and tail cap mounting ring.  Berettas do not appear to have been rolled; they're very precise.  I have always assumed that the bodies were drawn in a long piece which was then cut to length to produce multiple receivers from a single strip of steel.

[USMCsean]

18 hours ago, Got Uzi said:

Now my question is this-were K receivers drawn as an extrusion, or were they rolled (similar to an MP5)?? My real K sure looks like it was an extrusion and not something that was “rolled over a mandrel”

I have been trying to find out this very question myself. It would certainly be easy to do either one on large scale, but the drawing the receiver could easily be done and making many quantities at once and simply cutting to length. 

[USMCsean]

I have a buddy in Sweden who’s visiting with a friend who was part of the team and he’s going to get answers for me tomorrow. 

[Got Uzi]

That would be great. I just took apart my pre sample to study it. I could see where the receiver could have been a flat piece stamped out on a punch press then rolled, but it almost seems like it was an extrusion then had the finish work done to it. Honestly it could’ve been done either way. 

[Labanaktis]

Long ago I seen pictures of the dies. The receivers were formed. The fixtures were very cool too. I’ve posted pictures of the case extractor tooling. In other treads. 

[USMCsean]

My buddy has confirmed that they were stamped and formed around a mandrel one at a time.

[Rekraps]

29 minutes ago, USMCsean said:

My buddy has confirmed that they were stamped and formed around a mandrel one at a time.

Wow, that seems the hard way to do it. Extruding (like a pasta noodle) somehow seems so easy....

[johnsonlmg41]

edited for clarity

Edited Tuesday at 11:41 AM by johnsonlmg41

[USMCsean]

I also found out that he has a can of the original paint that was used on these. I am going to see what else I can find out about that paint. LOL 

On a side note, I find that we often dive into another topic than the one that was posted. I think we should move some of this information into a new or separate post. Can the moderators do that?

 

[hkg3k]

On 5/17/2025 at 3:45 PM, Rekraps said:

Not sure why a welded tube vs a Pearl type construction make a difference.

It probably doesn't in the practical...or the theoretical for that matter, as evidenced by the information / differing opinions in this thread. 

IMO, I think it's pretty cool that a small-shop C2 back in the day tooled up to replicate CG's unique method of fabricating the receiver for the K.  The MkIII STEN's receiver was fabricated in a similar fashion during the war...but I'm not aware of any C2s which replicated that method for their MkIII builds.

If I were looking to build an exceptional K gun (on a transferable receiver) which was as close / true to the original factory guns as possible...I think I'd be looking for a Pearl gun to start.

[Got Uzi]

My hats off to them for some really good stamping and rolling equipment. 

[Rekraps]

On 5/19/2025 at 8:45 AM, hkg3k said:

It probably doesn't in the practical...or the theoretical for that matter, as evidenced by the information / differing opinions in this thread. 

IMO, I think it's pretty cool that a small-shop C2 back in the day tooled up to replicate CG's unique method of fabricating the receiver for the K.  The MkIII STEN's receiver was fabricated in a similar fashion during the war...but I'm not aware of any C2s which replicated that method for their MkIII builds.

If I were looking to build an exceptional K gun (on a transferable receiver) which was as close / true to the original factory guns as possible...I think I'd be looking for a Pearl gun to start.

I agree!