Custom Gun Holsters - Happ

[rcosner]

Hi there,

For anyone looking for gun holsters for their cab, I thought I would share my little adventure in creating a usable holster to fit the AimTrak series of lightguns.

I took one of the 96-0750-16 from http://na.suzohapp.com/amusement/optical/96075016.htm and bought pipe hangers to modify how far down the rubber roller on the bottom is. Doing this allowed for an almost perfect fit of the AimTrak gun. 

You will have to grind off any excess head of the screw from the inside that is holding the pipe hanger on as the gun will rub against it and cause scratches if you dont.

[jasonbar]

Very cool! I used to have a holster solution for my old ACT Labs gun, but those guns didn't work after I put tinted glass over my monitor, so I got Aimtraks like yours but never got around to setting them up.


1 - Looking at that Suzo Happ page, it looks as if 96-0676-00 has a much wider mouth & could accommodate Ultimarc's Aimtrak without having to move the rubber roller down. Did you try that product? Of course, who knows if those 2 photos are to scale with each other...

2 - What kind of screw did you use that required grinding? Did you try a carriage bolt? That should have a short & smooth head.

3 - What is up with the loooong pipe hanger bar coming out the side of the holster on some photos? Is it mounted to your cabinet cantilevered way out far like that?


Thanks for sharing--I'm inclined to give this a whirl after I think about it some more.

-Jason

[rcosner]

3. No the pipe hangar coming out the side was just a proof of concept for how I will mount it. I just left it on for the moment. I will be using thicker piece of metal to have them slightly out from the cabinet.  I put together a North Coast Custom's Ultimate Arcade II and applied custom artwork to the side that I dont want to drill through, so I need to come out from the bottom part of the side that is recessed slightly to have room to pull the gun out without hitting the control panel.

2. The screws were fairly flat to begin with, but its a very tight fit for the holster and it holds the guns very snug, that little bit that was still sticking out was just a millimeter too much. 

1. Yeah, I saw the other holsters, I am guessing its just shy of being big enough. Like you said you cant tell for sure to scale, I just looked at the mounting layout that is there to determine that the Space Gun one and the one I got seemed to be about the same size, but the one I got was less than 1/2 the price.  I saw another post here where someone said they bought the space gun one and it was a perfect fit. Sadly when mine arrived it was far from a perfect fit to say the least so I decided to see what I could do to remedy the situation.

[kahlid74]

I used my 3D printer to print holsters for my guns.  Worked out really well.

[eds1275]

I used my 3D printer to print holsters for my guns.  Worked out really well.

I'd love to see pics of that, there's a 3d printer on my must have list. Along with like 120000 other things.

[rcosner]

I used my 3D printer to print holsters for my guns.  Worked out really well.

I'd love to see pics of that, there's a 3d printer on my must have list. Along with like 120000 other things.

Doing that would seem the obvious choice if you have a 3d printer. Unfortunately I dont have the money to spend $500 - $1200 or more to make 2 gun holsters for my cabinet.

I have to go for the econo option instead.

I imagine you could make all kinds of cool things with a 3D Printer, would be sweet.

[jasonbar]

rcosner, could you please measure the width, height, & depth of the gun cavity in the 96-0750-16, not counting your modification?

I contacted Happ & got some dimensional information in reply on all 3 holsters, but I'm not sure how to interpret the results--I want to compare them against yours for your holster.

Thank you,
-Jason

[jasonbar]

I've been exchanging some e-mails with a helpful person at Happ.

Long story short, they are out of stock of & will not be ordering any more of 96-0676-00 Sub-Machine Gun $32 & 96-0125-00 Space Gun $63.55. A quickie Google search on these 2 P/Ns shows no other vendors having these for sale.

Happ does have 8 remaining pieces of 96-0750-16 45 Cal $28.45.


I'm going to hit up Tornado Terry--he usually can beat Happ's prices. :]

Thanks,
-Jason

[jasonbar]

Terry has 06-0750-16 for just about the same price as Happ, & he can special order the other 2 holster styles, but he can't offer a return policy to take back holsters that don't fit.

So, I'm currently struggling w/ Happ's on-line cart/checkout process to get a pair of 06-0750-16 holsters.

Thanks,
-Jason

[rcosner]

Sorry it took so long for the measurements:

[jasonbar]

Thanks!

[jasonbar]

Just received two Happ 96-0676-00 holsters, bought from Tornado Terry.

The fit is fabulous. Even the bottom front edge of the gun has a chamfer that lines up perfectly w/ the holster mounting face, as if these were designed to work with each other...hmmm...were they actually...?


I used a hammer & vise & metal block to knock out the 3 Pem-style threaded studs from each holster. I will next drill side holes & use carriage bolts to side-mount the holsters to my cabinet's side walls. There's enough side-to-side room when the guns are inserted--there should be room for the fastener heads.

Thanks,
-Jason

[jasonbar]

Holsters mounted. I re-used the stock holes that accommodate the rubber bumper, & I drilled 2 more holes. In the 2 new holes, I used carriage bolts inside the holster & used nuts & washers on the inner wall of my control panel.

My control panel swings up 90 degrees for access, hinged along the bottom front edge, & I fear that the guns might fall out when working on my panel. The guns do rattle a little bit in these holsters when mounted vertically as I have done. If the holsters are mounted with the provided fasteners, then the angle will keep the guns from rattling. So, to take up a tad of the slack, I put a bit of foam tape on an inside wall of the holster to make the gun fit just a little more tightly.

Next up, mounting the IR LED emitter bar!

Thanks,
-Jason

[Necrosaro420]

Now, if we could find a way to springload the cord so it winds up on its own =)

[jasonbar]

Amen, Necrosaro420! I'm currently wrapping the cord around my bicycle water bottle cage (drink holder) to keep it tidy. Not elegant, but it's out of sight when playing (not "out of sight" as in "awesome!!!" but "out of sight" as in "I can't see it, so its inelegance bothers me not."


I did a quick search & found some possible solutions to add retractability to any given cord. I'm not sure if these are spring-loaded such that they will want to retract the cord while you're using your gun...?

http://www.recoilwinders.com/?gclid=COv0xe-Co7kCFQE6QgodMygABg
http://www.amazon.com/The-HUB-Automatic-Retractable-Organizer/dp/B009R61V6U
http://www.retractablecables.com/
http://www.recoilwinders.com/large-winder/retractable-cord-organizer-large-white-winder/



Or, perhaps use a pre-made USB retractable cord thing? Again, not sure if they will lock at their extended length during gameplay & not just constantly be wanting to spring back to their short length. Many of these look a little flimsy for an arcade gun, but they're the right idea.

http://www.amazon.com/Cables-Unlimited-Retractable-White-Extension/dp/B000E3LC3C
http://www.amazon.com/Male-Female-Extension-Retractable-Cable/dp/B0066NVC9I
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Belkin-F3U134-2.6-RTC-USB-Retractable-Extension-Cable/13077391
http://www.microcenter.com/product/306967/Retractable_USB_Extension_Cable

-Jason

[Necrosaro420]

Yeah I seen a few of those first set ones.  NOt sure how well they would work.  I got the aimtrak from ultimarc on the way. It states the cable is around 14 foot long though.

Looking to get the 96-0750-16 from happ, but according to their website, they wont be back in stock until 10/10/13 =(

[jasonbar]

Try Tornado Terry. He hooked me up & can probably help you. His prices are great, too.


Gotta do more retractable cord research--this sounds exciting...

Thanks,
-Jason

[TopJimmyCooks]

What would work better than a spring retractable would be to have a motorized reel with a gearmotor and a usb motor controller.  Similar to the monitor rotating rigs. 

when a gun game is started, wind them out.  when you end the game, run a 1 minute delay then wind them in.  That way, when they're out they wont want to pull back in accidentally. 

[PL1]

Looking to get the 96-0750-16 from happ, but according to their website, they wont be back in stock until 10/10/13 =(

Divemaster127 has them here.


Scott

[jasonbar]

I popped open my Aimtrak gun to confirm the style of USB on the Aimtrak PCB. It's Mini-USB B-Type, 2nd from the left as shown here: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:USB_types_2.jpg

I'm going to look into retractable cords of that flavor to see if there's anything appropriate.

-Jason

[jasonbar]

Hadn't considered a "telephone cord" style solution before--this has potential.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/400335009939

-Jason

[Necrosaro420]

Nice solution Jason.  Think im going to order one now.  Thanks!

[Necrosaro420]

Well damnit, I should of opened mine up before I bought that cable lol.  Is this the AimTrak you have?   http://www.ultimarc.com/aimtrak.html    Mine is not that mini end, it has this one below.  Anyone know what type of connector this is called?  Also, does a standard USB have 5 wires in it?  I will just cut the end and wire a new piece to it. 

[jasonbar]

Strange--I have 2 different Aimtraks w/ 2 different PCBs w/ 2 different connectors for the buttons, but both have the same Mini-USB B-Type connector...

The cords that I bought just shipped a day or two ago--it will be another couple of weeks till they're in my hands, I predict.

Thanks,
-Jason

[TopJimmyCooks]

Necro- that middle pin/green wire looks like it's out too far in your pic.  when you graft that end onto your new usb you may want to check that out and poke it back in the connector/make sure it's making contact with the pin on the board connector.     

[jasonbar]

I received & installed the coiled "telephone cord" USB cables into my cab & Aimtrak guns. They work fine & look good & feel good. I'm happy!

-Jason

[TopJimmyCooks]

Just make sure when you're playing Area 51 that you're not just "Phoning it in"

Ar Ar Ar

Here's my concept for steel sheet metal aimtrak holsters - I need them on the side of the cab rather than the deck mount happ has:
 

[jasonbar]

Nice sheet metal, Jimmy. A quick mod, however, will allow for side mount of the Happ holsters. Look at my pics above for inspiration! :]

Thanks,
-Jason

[TopJimmyCooks]

I like what you did, and the optical submachine gun holsters are a perfect fit for the guns.  However, it would be $60 plus shipping to get them and they would still have to be adapted and probably repainted for my build. 

I'm going DIY on this one- hopefully I'll have a decent product to look at after this weekend.  I don't have a box brake right now (unplanned permaloan to my brother) but I think I can get everything done with a vise, a 2x4, a BFH, some wd40 and duct tape -- and some careful sequencing and pre-scoring the insides of the bends. 

[jasonbar]

Great--love the DIY mentality--before I had a kid, I would have probably gone with your method. Please post pics of your work!

-Jason