Well folks, it is finally here! My new Romanian RPK got here last week and I finally had some time to examine what I got. The news is good and not so good. The Romanina parts came from a 1966 RPK with a ribbed cover and non-adjustable bipod. It was built by Blackwell industires out of Washington State I believe. I dealt with a man named Eric and his e-mails were prompt, corteous and informative.

The gun was shipped promptly and arrived safely at DeGoff's. There are some very nice things and some things I do not like about it. First, it has an RPK receiver by greenlight SN 0002. the receiver has no markings whatsoever on the sides and all markings are discretely at the bottom. Also, it has no selector stops or markings. Some might not like this but I think it's a plus as I can put whatever I like on it and some of the selector stops on US-made receivers are frankly awful.

The first thing I was told by Templar when I went to see the gun was that it had rust and it sure did, but not much and only some slight surface rust on the gas block which came right off. As for the finish, the rifle is evenly parked except for where it was heat treated. Oh, did I mention that only the pin holes are heat treated? Just like the OOW receivers. I do not like the parked finish on AKS even though I think this is the way Romanin guns came from the factory so I will have it enamelled. The stock set is laminated and is in good shape but absolutely not great. No problem here as I already have two sets of brand new Russian wood that will be installed soon. Kit was said to be all matching but it turns out that is not so. Only the gas tube is not matching and everything else is; not really a problem either.

Cycling the bolt was very smooth and so was the trigger wich is a G2 set. I have always like their FCGs better than the adjustable ones or any of the others out there. One minor annoyance is that instead of a muzzle nut they used a slant compensator. Not a big deal either since I also have a us-made nut and it's easy enough to replace. The one things that really annoys me is that the bipod is too loose and is not held against the barrel so it swings wildly. I guess I will have to get one of those Russian bipods from K-var. Upon close examination it turns out that the hole for the selector lever, just like in some of the OOW receivers is not drilled in the exact place where it needs to be and therefor there is a slight gap between the lever and the cover.

Overall I am mostly satisfied with the rifle given the price that I paid, but it does need a little more work done to it so as to make it what I really like. Enogh words, now for the pics.

Xcibes,

It looks very nice and I'm sure functions great. My Two Cents on PARKING -  I spent the day Blasting and Parking my FAL kits.  My park turns out very nice, but it does get blotchy alround heat treated spots and different metals.  For now they look 100 times better than when I received them, BUT each of my kits will be getting GUN KOTE or Moly resin within the next week.  I guess what I'm saying is the RPK has a nice base coat - Now Gun kote or Moly resin that BEAUTY.    You just don't see very many TRUE RPK's around.

Congrats again & Nice buy.

Travis

Thanks guys! A couple more things, I forgot to mention that although it came with a cleaning rod, it was an AK cleaning rod and not the long RPK rod, an annoyance yes, but no problem either since for some strange reason I already have a Romanian RPK rod which I will use on this as wel as real Romaninan 40 rounders and drums.

Yes, the build is quite nice, not perfect, but quite nice indeed and I am happy with it. Given the fact that the RPK kits are nowhere to be found now a days, not to mention Greenlight receivers, I think this worked out quite well for me. As to the finish, I will let Chris Butler deal with it as I lack the time to do this.

Looks nice..

The one things that really annoys me is that the bipod is too loose and is not held against the barrel so it swings wildly. I guess I will have to get one of those Russian bipods from K-var.

Now for that.. From you pic I am assuming that you are refering to when you have the bipod stored up..

Even the Russian bipod will do that.. What you need to do is clip the feet of the pod around the cleaning rod, then lock the two alves together.. This is how the bipod is stowed for carry, and it will hold it so it does'nt swing around wildly..

Great rifle, have fun..

Quoted: Looks nice.. The one things that really annoys me is that the bipod is too loose and is not held against the barrel so it swings wildly. I guess I will have to get one of those Russian bipods from K-var. Now for that.. From you pic I am assuming that you are refering to when you have the bipod stored up.. Even the Russian bipod will do that.. What you need to do is clip the feet of the pod around the cleaning rod, then lock the two alves together.. This is how the bipod is stowed for carry, and it will hold it so it does'nt swing around wildly.. Great rifle, have fun..

Thanks for the help, however, I have tried that asI have an RPK74 front end waiting for a Vepr receiver and the bipod folds quite well onto the cleaning rod. This does not seem to work on this RPK.

Owning a business with my wife gives me very little time off. and I don't think calling in sick will cut it with my wife for some odd reason. Sundays are the only days that work for me.

Looks good, I can't wait to bring mine to life.

AUGH!

I WANT MY RECEIVERS!

See ......... So many doubted ........ It will happen (Travis) ....

Very nice rifle indeed ........ In spite of a few small bugs I love it !!!!!!!!!!

Please post some reports on function and accuracy ....

Very nice !!

Quoted: See ......... So many doubted ........ It will happen (Travis) .... Very nice rifle indeed ........ In spite of a few small bugs I love it !!!!!!!!!! Please post some reports on function and accuracy .... Very nice !!

We'll see.  

Oh wow that's really pretty.

Quoted: See ......... So many doubted ........ It will happen (Travis) ....

And so many will continue to doubt.

That's SN 0002 - it's one of the prototype receivers.  Blackwell is in Washington, Greenlight is in Washington - it's probably an FFL friend of Greenlight's who built it.

The pictures that cwtoyota was showing around had selector notches and everything else on the receiver.

This RPK, while extremely nice, is by no means any indication of any kind of quantity of RPK receivers being available at this very moment.

I really hope cwtoyota gets things together and gets these receivers cranked out, because I need two of them real bad...

Those are some great pictures,  kudos to you for the photography!  And for the record I think it looks great as is, those stocks give it a lot of character IMHO.   A floppy bi-pod would need an artful bend or two to firm it up.

Thanks for sharing!

DAMN NOW ALL I WANT IS A RECIEVER OF MY OWN!!!!!   Seriously I need to find a good RPK frame myself.   Just where?  Grrenlight is truly MIA and I know he will be backed up for some time.  Oh well I guess just sit on the parts for another 3 years.

James

I'll continue to say it ... I'm willing to wait ... and will wait ...

I'll bet I end up with TravisAasen's kit ........

Quoted: DAMN NOW ALL I WANT IS A RECIEVER OF MY OWN!!!!!   Seriously I need to find a good RPK frame myself.   Just where?  Grrenlight is truly MIA and I know he will be backed up for some time.  Oh well I guess just sit on the parts for another 3 years. James

If you MUST have a receiver now get a Vepr and use the receiver to build your RPK. Big Buck$ but worth it in my opinion.

No. It needs to be a 5.45mm, It is a hardf enough project as it is and I don't want to mess around with caliber conversions.