I'm sure this has been asked a lot, but I dont have access to the old stuff so, is it possible to get a decent reliable build out of a romy "G" kit? This would be my first build and if I'm gonna screw up and learn from my first build, I would rather it be a cheapy than a kit I spend 500 bucks on. I have seen that I could easily find a good kit for under the 140 mark, say 100 bucks for the receiver 50 for the compliance parts and 10 for the rivets (did i miss any parts?) and that comes to 300 bucks for a complete ak ready to finish. I plan to do this at a build party so I'm not too aweful concerned about the tools. Like I said, I would rather screw up a cheapy, but if done right, could this be something that I can rely on and be proud of?

By all means, get it, build it, be proud of it. A Romy can be built into a very reliable firearm. They are just a little rougher in the finish department than the higher priced spread. If you are gonna build it at a build party, why not get a flat and bend up your own receiver too? It will only add a few hours to your build depending how handy you are with tools and which flat you buy. Oh, and don't forget to buy a center support and rivet, those don't usually come in a rivet kit. I would get rivets and center support from AK-builder.com

The romy kits are actual military rifles,not wasrs,romaks,curs,wums or any other of the commercially made rifles built for export to the U.S. and seem to be of higher quality.
One thing is for sure-you will do a better job of assembling the thing than the monkeys at century arms!
If possible try to get your kit from a vendor that will pick an early year of manufacture for you-like anything made in the 1970`s I had heard that the earlier kits were made to a higher standard,we just got a batch of 5 kits,4 were early 1980`s production and one was 1977 look at the difference in gas block machining......

Even if you can only get an 80`s production model it will still be a fine starting point to build a nice rifle.All the romy`s I`ve built so far have functioned fine.
Make sure you get a matching number kit and use the arsenal brand fire control group rather than the tapco G2-you will have less headaches.
Most guys seem to dislike the forward pistol grip handguard that comes with the romy,most just replace it with something else but if you are handy you can do minor surgery to it and make it more pleasing to the eye.....


saw the grip end off and make some palmswells from R/C aircraft plywood found in better hobby shops

Glue those badboys in place with superglue.

mix up a funky finish and apply it with care.

steam some 1/16" plywood in two layers and bend them into submission with a homemade jig....

lay some paper thin plywood crossgrain and secure with superglue for that russian upper  handguard look...

fit it to your gastube...

finish with your funky way-too-red polyurethane that you concocted from rit dye and clear poly,degrease the metal and spray with guncote.
Bake at 300 degrees till a fork comes out clean and your done.
So I guess you could say that a Romy will make a worthy first build project.
Put your heart into it and it will come out nicer than you expect.
Bossman

Bossman- That handguard makeover is great. You are a credit to the WECSOG family.

wow, bossman, just wow....

how long did you steam for?

Is the upper 3 layers total? or just two?

That's got to be the best post I've seen in a while.

The upper is made from 3 layers, 2 layers of 1/16" thick birch ply and then a layer of paper thin birch ply.
I tried to get a 1/8" section to bend but it was a no-go thats why I did 2 layers of 1/16" it was much easier. Nothing would bend cross-grain for the russian look so I had to lay the paper thin stuff over the top to get the look I was after.If I recall correctly I steamed the 1/16" sections for about 15 minutes each,bend a little steam a little etc. etc.
Thanks fgor the compliments.
Bossman