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Posted: 12/4/2024 6:00:48 PM EDT
[Last Edit: JKH62][Edited]
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Taking a break from building Bren guns. My M76 parts stash is now open and going together. Tort receiver is pure joy to build on. Lapped the bolt & lugs , scope rail was flattened and riveted , added a 3/16" dowel pin thru the thickest part of the receiver thru the optic rail as a positive stop. Green mountain chrome lined barrel in 8mm at the ready , going to check receiver barrel diameter and barrel stub before pressing. Using my new 20 ton press which none of the tooling from my 12 ton fit so I had to modify it before forming rivets or anything else. Nice parts set~  Rivets..........Optic rail , trigger guard and grip mount.      |
My new 20 ton press with mods / 1st build on it. Turned a piece of bronze slightly over barrel OD to press against~  Not very exciting or challenging , pressed to set headspace and pinned.    My low tech alignment plate : Top of my safe. Its surprisingly flat , I mean really flat. I let the base of the receiver sit flat on the surface , when I start the gas block or front sight assy they have machined flats on the bottom. I use a parallel or V block under them to index them. A piece of short pipe and a dead blow hammer gives them a whack to start them in place then they go to the press for final fitting. The Tort receiver and Green Mountain barrel fit perfectly with the barrel shank .001" over the receiver bore ID, I use never seize and its a smooth press fit. Gas block fit was also spot on with .001" press fit.  My last barrel piece is the front sight assy. This has a less than press fit engagement. For this I applied Loctite 271 ( the red stuff) and let it sit overnight. This will guarantee there will be zero movement when I drill and pin it. 
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Anticipation grows......almost ready to test fire. Thought I had another pin retaining plate but cant find one. Need to make a dust cover for the bottom of the receiver that hides the stock and bullet guide rivet. Drilled the gas block and front sight retaining pins. Takes longer to set up in my mill than actual drilling. Simple task but you really do not want to screw something up at this point. Drilled & pressed in the pins without issue. Pressing pins in is a controlled way to do it and no mushroomed pin ends or surprises.    The wood fits nice and tight , Gas tube and dust cover fit nice without any slop , gaps or rattle.    |
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Tortort receiver was a joy to build on. Barrel diameter bore ID was spot on for ID the entire length and pressed smoothly with the Green Mountain barrel. Gas block also fit perfect with a .001" fit. Front sight base was not a press fit but using locking grade Loctite it was simple to index and position & pin in place. Receiver pins & safety fit literally perfect for diameter and alignment. Green mountain barrel is chrome lined and looks like a good tube , will find out shortly. I purchased it from someone in the market place so no idea when it was made but I thing its stock AWO was selling. Just put the scope on and it's dead center with my Leupold bore sight and moved it two clicks down. Waiting on my pin retainer plates to arrive.   While waiting for my hammer and trigger retainer plates to arrive I went back and tweaked my safety selector. The selector hits the disconnector and can not be installed with the trigger and disconnector in place. Using a pin retainer plate the safety selector locks the retainer plate in place & the pins need to be in before the selector. Easy fix with an end mill. Mark the selector and mill clearance for the disconnector / safety selector so they do not make contact. Not my 1st AK that this has happened to.   
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Originally Posted By M1Lou: Nice! I built mine a few years back but the AWO receiver is out of spec so the rifle has issues. It is also unhappy with anything that is not 196gr mil spec 8mm. It still looks cool. Hopefully yours functions correctly. There was quite a few different flavors of receivers floating around, some not fully machined that was finished by unknown and either built into rifles or sold off. Makes a build more complex when you have to trouble shoot the receiver along with build fits and tolerances. A lot of parts sets were missing the bullet guide which is an important part along with setting the mag stop distance. |
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Originally Posted By Falfreak: Are these Tortort receives available anywhere? Got mine from Tort. They run different receivers in batches but it's worth waiting for if your goal is to build a nice rifle without surprises. Other that them I would weld a commercial cut receiver back together. It's really your two options and it's hard to locate both if you want them next week. I would check the notify when available or give them a call or email. https://tortort.com/products/100-complete-milled-yugo-m76-ak-receiver?_pos=2&_sid=47ecc151d&_ss=r&variant=1762210906121 |
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