Does anyone know of an American manufacturer or importer of the Front Sight Housing with the folding bayonet lug as found on the Chinese type 56 spike AK's?

Are these simply not available any more or are they specifically prohibited?

I really like this feature and would like to have some more AK's built with this feature. Everything seems to be available (either domestic or import) except for this piece.

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

I did do a search with no results.

Are you talking about the "clamp on" underfolding bayonet or the actual front sight base with the ears for the folding bayonet assembly?  Both are of Chinese manufacture and are a very rare/very expensive commodity now.  But there's no "lugs" as that's for the slide-on style bayonet's latch to affix to.

I'm not sure of any US-made ones.  As for being "prohibitied," that may be something you have to check on with your local laws.

I'm talking about the "ears" for the folding bayonet. I called them lugs for convenience. I'm also talking specifically about the single piece, machined Front sight assembly with the "ears".

Any idea why no one in the USA is manufacturing them?

As for "prohibited", I meant at the federal level. State laws would not prevent importation on a national basis.

It just seems weird that with all the domestically produced AK parts, no one is making this one. It doesn't appear to be that difficult of a part to produce.

I bet I'm not the only person to want them; but maybe I am.

I think there's a lot more work involved with the process to get them to work properly.  If you look at the Chinese underfolder spike bayonet FSB, it's pretty unique.  Without the original Chinese FSB, a regular FSB from a standard AKM just wouldn't look right or facilitate the bayonet properly.  The Chinese FSB is a bit wider and beefier.  But certainly anything is possible - with a neutered MAK-90 with the proper FSB, the addition of the "wings" would be just what some folks would want.  Just some welding and you're there, providing you get the width and spacing correct.

Dont know best i have found is clamp on:

http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=4&f=78&t=119469

Someone built a us copy of the original but as far as I remember, it was very expensive to build.  Nobody was willing to pay that much for a copy.

The problem with domestic manufacture of that FSB is that it's a cast part that is machined to final dimensions. Producing it the way it's supposed to be done is cost prohibitive in the US. Also some of the cuts don't come out quite right when you CNC one and there are several other areas that don't come out quite right making it obvious that it's a copy, such as the area around the rear of the cutout by the rearmost FSB pin and the way the area the cleaning rod slides thru. I have only seen one copy and it was at a cost comparable to an original.

Thanks, this is the type of answer I was looking for. It sounds like there is a special mold for casting the raw part and then hand machining before a CNC finish. I sounds like it is labor intensive which would be right for China. It sounds like the intermediate production step (between casting and CNC finish) is where the problem is.

This is the one assembly that prevents the domestic manufacture of the Chinese Type 56. If there was a way to overcome this bottleneck, I think a LOT of money could be made. I know I'd like a couple of underfolders and a couple of full stock Type 56's, and I don't think I'm alone in this desire.

If anyone has a Chinese Type 56 spike type FSB, I'd be interested in purchasing it to pass around to a bunch of machine shops (I'm an Aircraft Engineer and I deal with a lot of hi-tech machine shops) for their opinion on cost and produceability.

Anyone interested?

If you ever remember who it was, I would sure like to talk to him. PM me if you want, or if you remember.

Thanks!  

it was $175 each, looks like they stopped due to low demand.

Sorry I missed it while it was available. It would have sold up here in the pacific NW. Differernt economy.

Anyway, if you remember who made it and how to contact them, I sure would like to discuss it with them.

Thanks,

NW51

I see them on Gunjoker occasionally as well as EE on theakforum.  They fetch around $200.00

Thanks.  

I'll look for them.