Tutorial: How to mod a grip to fit a VFC SCAR

[pestobanana]

I have big hands, and I really don't like the stock grip. A few people at games have asked me how to do this, and now that my friend is having me do one for him, I thought it'd be a good idea to make a quick and simple tutorial.

What you need (aside from gun and grip):
2x 12mm M3 screws
1 or 2 11 or 12 mm O-rings
Sandpaper
Circular file or drill

The reason VFC SCARs don't accept regular grips is the gearbox sits higher in the receiver than in a standard AR.
Stock VFC grip on the left, Magpul PTS MOE grip on the right.


Due to the height difference, standard screws are not long enough to reach the mechbox, and the motor cannot be adjusted high enough to contact the bevel gear properly.
Standard screw on the right, 12mm screw on the left.


First thing to do is to use a circular file or drill to widen the motor hole to slightly larger than 11mm. Make sure the center of the hole is in the same place, otherwise your pinion will not mesh with your bevel gear properly.
Modded grip on the left, unmodded on the right.


Take the spring off of your motor, and it should fit through like this. EDIT: A little higher actually, O-ring was on the motor in this photo.


Without the spring to secure motor height, O-rings will be used instead, similar to how people use O-rings to shim hop up units against mechboxes. One 11mm O-ring is what works in my Mk.16.


With most grips, that's all you need to do. However if you have a grip like the MOE, you'll also have to remove material from the back, otherwise it will not fit onto the receiver properly. I'm good at using sandpaper (used to work in a professional music repair shop) so I just took some 120 grit sandpaper and taped it around a burnishing rod to make a sort of circular file. I then finished with 600 grit sandpaper to get a nice finish.
Modded MOE grip on left, new one on right.


There you go, you no longer have to deal with the ugly, small and uncomfortable stock grip.

[Strelok]

Might want to bring those images down to a more forgiving size!

[ccyg8774]

That is much better than what I have done...

[pestobanana]

Originally Posted by Strelok

Might want to bring those images down to a more forgiving size!

Does that actually affect anything? I have no idea how to use these image hosting sites properly. I just took iPhone photos and uploaded them.

Originally Posted by ccyg8774

That is much better than what I have done...

What did you do?

[ccyg8774]

Originally Posted by pestobanana

What did you do?

I cut off the edge of the MOE grip, dremeled the back, and accidentally cut too much. Also had to cut some pieces off the grip base plate.
Works, but ugly.

Originally Posted by pestobanana

Does that actually affect anything? I have no idea how to use these image hosting sites properly. I just took iPhone photos and uploaded them.

I can't see any pics when I was on my tablet.

[AnthonyG]

Pesto, any chance you can re-link the photos?

[pestobanana]

Looks like imageshack deleted the photos. I'll just have to re make this if I ever mod a grip for a VFC SCAR again.

[Gunny_McSmith]

Sorry for the necro but I recently did Pesto's mod on my VFC scar-h using these instructions and thought I could contribute some pictures!

1) So here's a comparison between the stock, super uncomfy grip from VFC, versus a Magpul PTS miad grip.




As you can see, there's a raised base in the grip to compensate for the gearbox that sits higher in the receiver. To make a regular m4 grip fit we're going to have to mod our grip to bridge that gap .

2) First, you're going to need longer screws for the grip. Stock screws are around 10mm long, you're going to need m3x16mm screws. (Amazon has packs of these)




3) Next, I had some plastic sheets lying around, and decided to make a shim to properly tighten the grip to the gearbox. (Easier to properly shim the bevel gear and adjust the motor height after. For the Magpul PTS grip, my shim had to be around 5.8mm thick.
PS: Yes you should check the bevel gear and motor pinion gear meshing when changing the pistol grip.





4) Since the motor is sitting higher, the next 3 steps are gonna be to compensate for this.

5) You're gonna need to widden motor axle hole to about 11mm. Like Pestobanana said, make sure it's centered, or else it could affect the pinion gear mesh.



6) After that, you're gonna have to ditch the spring and replace with o-rings.

The orings that worked for my settup were 11mm ID orings with a thickness of about 1 to 1.5mm. (Taken from a Lezyne bike pump rebuild kit at a bike shop)
I only needed one.





7) Last, you're gonna need a shim on the motor height adjustment screw. I just superglued a thick m5 washer on mine (from a bike disc brake caliper mounting bolt). But pretty much anything will work for this.




8) Finally, just assemble everything (Shim first through the wires, then the pistol grip)




9) And VoilÃ*! No more uncomfy grip on your VFC scar!

[AnthonyG]

Looks good!