Well, my AMD has never shot straight. Finally took it to a gunsmith who said he thinks the barrel extension/muzzle brake isn't aligned correctly.
His opinion of the assembly was, and I quote "hack and weld".
I contacted TGI, with no response. I don't really expect any being the rifle is out of warranty.

So......is it worth it to try and replace the barrel extension and/or muzzle brake? The only other suggestion was to hack them off and get an SBR stamp.
Really hate do dump at least another $200 in the rifle.

Why not?  Just pick something at least 4.25" in length to get you to 16". CNC Warrior has several extended brakes and flash hiders. Sten Parts makes a 1 piece 74 style brake for the AMD.

I have a hard time believing it's not aligned.  If it's not, there's a chance that any brake you put on there will be unaligned.  I would think it would be a thread problem, if the brake is off.

So I would do one of two things.  Take it to a machining shop and have them remount the brake and tack weld it back on, or have them mount a new brake, to be safe.  You can get a 2" extension and put almost any compatible brake on, or get one of the ugly long ones.

OR, if it's not a rifle you plan on shooting much, put it away, and sell it when you need the cash.  As scarce as these things are becoming, it's a decent investment, and the person who would buy it for more than it used to be worth, would be willing to change the brake.

This?
[http://stenparts.com/index.php/other-parts

Does anyone know if there is any time of screw under the weld? Seems like the consensus after visiting two gunsmiths was to remove the brake and see if that
fixes the problem and then put another brake on it. I

It is just the weld, I ground mine off in 1 min...  its very easy to do..  I'm actually on my thrd brake now (Polish tantal)and I'm finally happy with it as it is the shortest you can go and be legal, probably the one of the  most well rounded and light weight 4"-4.75" brakes as well that I'm aware of.

I'm also using the polish tantal brake.

As far as your brake not being aligned correctly, if so, you should see strikes on the brake where the bullet is hitting it. See with an AK the muzzle brakes are suppose to be loose, they do night tighten down, they screw on and the detent holds it in place from backing off. So there's wobble in the brake. If/when you weld it on one side, the weld is going to pull the muzzle brake in that direction.

What i am curious about is,  you say doesn't shoot straight? Does that mean it has bad groupings (ie 3-5 rounds shot at the same spot on a target) or your irons aren't sighted in?...i would assume bad groupings but just want to clarify before you go diagnosing an issue...its always best to have as much info before recommending things...


Like mentioned earlier, check from bullet strikes in the muzzle brake it self, this should be a very easy way to determine if the misaligned brake is the cause.

Yes, it's just a tack weld that, like a previous member posted, takes less than a minute to Dremel off and clean up. It's the easiest SBR I've ever built.

That's another option for you. Instead of welding on another brake, pay the $200 for a Tax Stamp and SBR it.

It's a possibility the extension is not square. If it's the extension that is threaded incorrectly, removing it and replacing with another brake will fix the issue. But if by some very small chance the barrel itself is not threaded square it will take a gunsmith with the tooling to remove the barrel, rethread it in a lathe and reassemble it CORRECTLY. if it comes to that make sure you use an experienced, competent AK gunsmith with a reputation for quality work.

Mine was crooked too. They 'short-cut' the assembly, simply threading the assembly (original muzzle brake and 2" extension tube) onto the barrel until it was clocked correctly, then welding it to the sight base, usually without getting it tight. Vibrations from shooting caused the weld to fail. Since it was longer than it needed to be anyway, I replaced it with the Tapco one-piece unit that closely resembles the original 'Snake brake'. It still had to be timed correctly (sanding the rear face until it clocked right when tight) to be in the right configuration (large holes in brake perfectly on the sides) and then welded to the sight base. It took some careful filing to get the old weldment off without cutting into the sight base, and I was able to reshape the cleaning rod stop with a Dremel. But it is not likely that the barrel threads are crooked. Hungarian AKs are extremely well-made and simply don't have those problems. The Tapco extension brake is also perfectly concentric and the end result is a very accurate AMD65 with a rodded barrel length of 16.25". I believe the extra 'free-bore' in this unit between the muzzle and brake contributes to accuracy. This is a well-known effect with guns in general and is not unique to the Tapco piece. Its easy to see when the Tapco piece is aligned right because it has a notch on top and bottom for the muzzle brake lock plunger. Either notch can be used as a gauge - its right when its tight and either notch is centered on the cleaning rod stop, and the notch is also a convenient place to put the spot weld.



You can also re-use the original TGI part by sanding the end of the barrel extension a little at a time and tightening to get it tight and right, then weld it. I haven't seen a TGI assembly where the original brake was not screwed to the extension tube tight before pinning/welding, but you can quickly check that before deciding to re-use it. Simply lay it down on a flat surface and roll it (like checking for a bent cue stick) to look for eccentricity. It should be straight, so all you have to do is get it timed right when tight and take it to the welding shop for a wire-welded spot weld at the cleaning rod stop like the original weld.