***This thread is intended to consolidate information as well as help anybody looking to do a similar project. If anybody has any suggestions please let me know or add on to the thread by posting below. The more information we can gather the more everybody benefits from it***


I tried to consolidate some of the very informative threads and valuable information on this board to make looking up information easier.

***All of the credit for these linked threads go to their authors and contributors, as well as photos that were provided by members for this thread, clearly there was a lot of time and effort put into these to help us all out!***

I consulted the Gunwiki compliance count page located here: Gunwiki 922 compliance worksheet for the AK series
There are also a couple of excellent links here:
Some good "how to" threads on this site
Federal firearms regulations reference guide
478.39 Assembly of semiautomatic rifles
Title 27––Alcohol, Tobacco Products, and Firearms
Letter from the ATF on the Gunwiki site
Letter part 2
Q&A about FCG "shepards crooks" and retaining plates

Also, have you ever wondered what all those little things in the buttstock cleaning kit do?

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This is one heck of a post.  

Great pictures.

Nice comparison on the Tung, BLO, poly.

Nice!  Looking forward to more!

Very nice! If you want to keep it "original", you'll want amber shellac for the furniture. It's all I use on AK's, Nagants, etc. Where are you getting the furniture from?

tag

tag

Great write-up, great pictures.  I like what you did with the rifle too, much nicer.  I've been looking for a MAK but I think I've just added a NHM-90 to the very, very short list of potential AKs to buy.  Thanks fo the info.

Thanks for writing this up. Looks great.

Looks good! Too pretty for an AK but I can still appreciate the wood Looking forward to the metal work...you know, grinding off and smoothing the weld bead at the muzzle...high polishing the entire thing and having it hot royal blued...something deserving of that very fine walnut stock set! Yeah I know, they call me an asshole at work...I have good intensions, I just can't help myself. Good shooting.
                                                                                                                                                                                                           Hill

Looks a little to shiny, maybe steel wool it, and tung oil. More of a dull finish.

Even with all the helpful likes you provided I am still confused by 922(r).  I like you have a Norinco NHM-90 and want to make it to look like a "traditional" AK.  Reading 922(r). it says that no more than 10 imported parts remain in the final product. In short, you must replace a number of parts from your parts kit with American-made components.

Since my Norinco NHM-90 has a thumb hole stock is it legal or illegal to simply replace that stock with a stock and grip from Iron Wood Designs?  In my mind I am removng one American thumb hole stock and replacing it with two American made parts (net increase of one American part).  Sounds legal but is it?


922(r)
––––––––-
Receiver
Barrel
Bolt
Bolt carrier
Gas piston
Trigger (Sear is combined with the trigger on AKs so it counts as one part)
Hammer
Disconnector
Forearm, handguard
Follower
––––––––––––––
TOTAL IMPORTED PARTS COUNT:  10   so I'm legal, right?


Since I have a MILLED receiver the mounting block is part of receiver so itdoesn’t count as a separate part.  I don't have a threaded barrel, there's no attachment so this doesn't get counted.

No, not legal.

The thumbhole stock is Chinese, not American.

On the outside chance I am wrong about that... then the thumbhole stock makes it a "sporter" rifle and not subject to 922r.  Making it a pistol grip and normal stock rifle will make it an "assault weapon" and therefore subject to 922r.  So if you just replace the thumbhole stock with and American stock and pistol grip, you still need to add more American made parts.  Most people change the fire control group out with an American one.. that is three parts.  So that'll put you up to 5 US made parts.  Just add a US made muzzle brake or muzzle nut and you have enough parts to be legal.

some NHM stocks/handguards were american made by Bishop? but if you replace a thumbhole stock(1 US made part) with a US made stock and PG it will count as 2 US parts toward your 922r compliance. it's not how many US parts you have...it's how many foriegn parts you don't.

I am sort of a Chinese AK nut... I have found that if you mix Iodine(avail. at your local drug store) with the amber shellac...you can get the more desirable dark orange finish, rather than doing a whole lot of coats.  amber shellac will darken with time.

hi i was just wondering which winwax red you used on your brothers only reason i ask is i cant find red cedar there is Red Oak,Red Mahogany,and Wood Finish Cherry thanks :)

It was Red Chestnut on my brothers WASR and my Norinco Walnut stock. Sorry for the typo. One thing I've noticed when refinishing comblock wood is that the wood doesn't seem to take the stain anywhere near as well as virgin wood like my Ironwood Walnut stock, especially when using Tung oil. It leaches the stain from the wood with the more coats you apply so go much darker than you intend with the stain and it will lighten up as you apply the Tung oil.

I was in the process of breaking this thread up into smaller segments (922, metal work, wood work) when, as usual, life gets in the way. I plan on finishing it this fall/winter when I have more free time.

There is a member here named "Sinatra" who has a number of threads in the "AK reference" section on finishing wood as well if you're looking for different ideas. He does great work and is more than willing to share advice from what I've seen in his threads.

thank you i love the color of your brothers its just what i want mine to come out as, im going out later today to get the stuff wish me luck

Preemptive Strike, I've been sitting on the fence for a long while about purchasing a stock from IronWood Designs for my NHM-91 in order to make it 922r compliant.  I'm thinking about going for one of their RPK-style stocks with a straight comb and recoil pad.  Anyhow, I've looked over this thread and it appears as though you've edited out some content.  Is there any way I could see pics of what you've done with your NHM?  If not, could you tell me what type of stock exactly you put on yours?  What wood type did you go with and would you go with another if you were doing your conversion over again?  Many thanks!

OST

There are 16 compliance parts on the AK style rifle, you need 6 of those to be US made.

Thanks for posting the cleaning kit video. My AMD just came with a bag fulla' junk.........some of it I knew what it was, but now I know all the different uses for all of it

Sorry, I hadn't seen this until now. Ironwoods makes an outstanding product IMO and would go with them again in a heartbeat. Wood choice depends on what you want it to look like. I like darker wood so I went with Walnut even though they have lighter, more traditional woods. Check out the photo section on their website for ideas.

Good luck.