I have been working on some of the ideas I have seen here and on the other board and am now ready to post what I have found.

 Hesse I hear has come out with this for around $500  Saiga rifle,$160 Inner-Ord. RPK barrel assy,$40 Inner-Ord. RPK stock set,$50 Home Depot 1/2x1/8 C.R.S.(to make the RPK trunnion bulge)  Will post after I finish building.

 What I have built is a .223 VEPR with the gas block, front sight, and lower handguard bracket taken from a Inner-Ord. RPK barrel assy.  The gas tube and lower handguard come from the Inner-Ord. RPK stock set.  The stock I made myself from Baltic Birch plywood after looking at the Valmet Mod.78 and realizing it has the same angled cut receiver the VEPR has.  I did not feel I was up to welding the VEPR receiver, and was to cheap to pay to have it done, so a Russion stock was out of the question  When I saw a picture of the Valmet RPK I knew I would be satisified with how it would look.

 As it is now, the barrel was never removed from the trunnion, rivets were not touched.  The only thing I did was press a few parts off and on the barrel. (and shorten the cleaning rod)

 Next I will get a 5.45x39 RPK barrel ass`y from K-Var, I see last night they offer them now.  It should be a simple matter of switching barrels with a 5.45 VEPR ($600 gun + $300 barrel vs $800 kit + ? receiver and build)

 I should also say that of the six RPK barrel assy`s from Inner-Ord. one slugs the same size as my 7.62 VEPR and will be pressed on one some day. Another is close enough that it will be used to build a Saiga RPK (I belive it will need to be turned down to fit the Saiga trunnion)

 If someone could post some pictures I could show you how the VEPR turned out along with a saiga that has a new gas block and front sight.