Months? But I wanna see it NOWWW!!!!
I kid, but I do think this is why 'build' threads never seem to thrive around here; too many people want instant gratification, even in something as vicarious as following someone else's build. I, at least, am glad there's other members on here who occasionally build stuff from scratch or do original designs
. A nice change from all the monotonous AR "build" threads about identical piece-together jobs (no offense to AR assemblers or their guns, it's just the assembly process isn't that interesting, mechanically
). Your progress has been blindingly fast; I'd assumed you were retired, or something
. Heck, my Skorparev project is nearly two years old, only completely designed the last six months or so, and I've only got 5 parts roughed-out! Granted I'm doing everything with handtools, but that's slow even by Khyber Pass standards
When you do get a chance to get back on this, promise us one thing;
when you go to shape the bolt body, please carve up the breechface to look like a miniature Stoner Sprocket. It'll really sell the 'Mini-15' (come up with something better than 'mini-15' also; I can't do any better at the moment) concept without adding complication in the form of a gas system. A mini gas key would be neat as well, but you'd only see it upon disassembly.
As small as your bolt tube is gonna be, you may have to scavenge some tungsten endmills or something to get things heavy enough. Even low-pressure 22LR needs a 1/3rd lb or so bolt, and 17 will need a good bit more. Have you run numbers for how heavy a bolt you'll need, and how much bolt volume you likely have to work with? I guess at worst you can always attach a 'piston' rod to the gas key that extends forward under the handguard to gain some weight in an unseen area.
TCB