Anyone here ever built an AK from parts? Trying to decide if I should go that route or try a 7.62 AR platform...


How much difficulty are we talking?

Pain in the ass.
Rewarding, but PITA.


Nothing worse than completing a long frustrating project with:
"Bang,Bang, ,,, Bang"    "Wow, these sight suck."

Some guys love 'em. Not me.

AK's are #1 for me....once you go evil...you never go black.

Was easy to do when kits were $80 a pop with original barrel.  If you're in the Capital Region I've still got a bunch of tools from my kit building days.  Building an AK on par skill wise with building an AR, that being said, I was able to do it and I was learning as I went.

Wny area actually... luckily gunwolf is local! Need to make a decision

Im in the process of getting some things together for an ak build....well saiga since i will always follow the laws and never put a baby killing pistol grip on it

RRA makes an AR platform that uses AK magazines and fires the 7.62x39 cartridge.  I read a review in Guns & Ammo and it scored quite high.  Worth a look: http://www.rockriverarms.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=category.display&category_id=558

Too bad rock river wont ship anything to NY, had a lower on order with them since dec.

Isnt it illegal now?

So are fireworks, but it's always noisy after dark on the 4th of July.

I don't blame them, fuck this state.

Maybe pkfirearms will have them in stock at some point and hopefully they will ship to NY.

I understand Colt made a 7.62x39 AR that was a complete disaster with the requirements of the straight magazine well.  It was essentially a curiosity, but a shit gun soon after they stopped making them, saw one for $4,000 in December.

https://www.mgi-military.com/store/index.php?product_id=40&type=&category=11

anyone ever see one of those firsthand?

Do it! you can bend/drill out your own 80% receiver, and not have to deal with any FFL or paperwork.  

It can be an expensive undertaking if you don't have the equipment though. (shop press, drill press, jigs, welder, dremel, etc) There are many steps to completion as well. How good are you at bending/drilling sheet metal, heat treating, welding, filing, grinding, riveting, pressing parts together, head spacing, and painting? If you start from a parts kit, you will also need to figure out how to remove the old rivets and barrel/trunnion parts.

I did an AMD-65 over the winter and couldn't be happier with the results.  It was very rewarding. Overall, I would say that it was more time consuming and expensive than difficult. Parts are becoming hard to find as well.

I too live in western NY and would be happy to lend you any help or tools.

Here is a great tutorial that guided me through my first build.

there are(were?) some $30 80% receivers from poland on the market a month or so ago Keep Shooting had them so did Weidners.  They need holes drilled and heat treating, and finishing and lower rails welded in.  A challenging yet fun project.  AR's are easier by far IMHO.

Sportsmans Guides has the 80% polish foldings. They still need rails.

rails:
http://www.robertrtg.com/polish_akrails.html

ak74 blanks:
http://www.keepshooting.com/polish-ak-74-receiver-blank.html