AK Sponsor
Posted: 8/9/2009 4:23:16 PM EDT
|
Hey guys sorry if this question has already been discussed. I've been off this site for a while and just now getting back into building.
What happed to all the ak47 kits |
|
Quoted:
Hey guys sorry if this question has already been discussed. I've been off this site for a while and just now getting back into building. What happed to all the ak47 kits They're out there, just 4-5 times the cost they were 3-4 years ago. I remember when they were going for $100 per kit.....Shoulda bought a dozen or so. |
|
Quoted:
Hey guys sorry if this question has already been discussed. I've been off this site for a while and just now getting back into building. What happed to all the ak47 kits Effective 12/31/05 no more barrels were allowed to be imported as a part of kits. As a result most kits are only available from individuals. |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
Hey guys sorry if this question has already been discussed. I've been off this site for a while and just now getting back into building. What happed to all the ak47 kits They're out there, just 4-5 times the cost they were 3-4 years ago. I remember when they were going for $100 per kit.....Shoulda bought a dozen or so. Even you were late to the party. 5 or 6 years ago we were buying them for $59-$79 |
|
I still have 2 kits. I started 1 of them, the other is still packaged up. I think I paid about 120.00for them a few years back.
I've searched around and now I can't even find anyone who has them for sale. "They can"t sell the kit with the barrel" ???? I'm sure the kits I have were purchased after 12/05 and I got the barrel as part of the kit. Does Copes still sell kits? I didn't see any on there web site. |
|
Quoted:
I still have 2 kits. I started 1 of them, the other is still packaged up. I think I paid about 120.00for them a few years back. I've searched around and now I can't even find anyone who has them for sale. "They can"t sell the kit with the barrel" ???? I'm sure the kits I have were purchased after 12/05 and I got the barrel as part of the kit. Does Copes still sell kits? I didn't see any on there web site. Importation (not sale) was prohibited after 12/31/05. the barreled kits that were imported before that date can still be sold. The supply of Romy kits didn't run out until '08. |
|
Quoted:
Are there any of the remaining kits that one should steer away from? Also, is there a feasible way to build an AK without one of these kits? It's USUALLY easier to build an all matching numbers kit, because most of the time the headspace won't have to be altered (but it should be checked even with such a kit). You could buy all the parts individually, but that would probably be more expensive than buying a kit. If you assemble a rifle from a collection of parts it is very likely that you would end up drilling for a larger barrel pin to get the headspace set correctly. |
|
AH! Learny bits! Thanks! So the AK headspaces by virtue of the barrel pin diameter?
So what I'd need is either a barreled front trunnion (at the minimum) or a willingness to take a drill to one of the demilled barrel rears that I'm starting to see where the full rifle kits used to be. (Copes, IIRC, now shows barrel fronts and barrel rears where the actual barrel is sawn just aft of the sights and just forward of the trunnion.) Is this area the only critical point if I'm not using a kit? Also, at this point, should I be looking for just any kit I can lay hands on, or is there still room to be picky? |
|
Quoted:
AH! Learny bits! Thanks! So the AK headspaces by virtue of the barrel pin diameter? So what I'd need is either a barreled front trunnion (at the minimum) or a willingness to take a drill to one of the demilled barrel rears that I'm starting to see where the full rifle kits used to be. (Copes, IIRC, now shows barrel fronts and barrel rears where the actual barrel is sawn just aft of the sights and just forward of the trunnion.) Is this area the only critical point if I'm not using a kit? Also, at this point, should I be looking for just any kit I can lay hands on, or is there still room to be picky? The AK is headspaced by barrel placement in the trunnion. You install the barrel (without the pin), put the stripped bolt in the rifle and check with headspace gauges. If the headspace isn't correct, you move the barrel and check again. If the barrel must be placed in a location other than the original one (for example, because you've used a different bolt) the original groove in the barrel won't line up with the holes in the trunnion. If you simply enlarged the original groove and used the original pin, the barrel would not stay in place. You must us a larger pin which will fill the new larger groove. This requires larger holes in the trunnion as well as the larger groove in the barrel. Unless the barrel, trunnion and bolt were all from the same rifle there is a substantial chance that a larger pin will be required. Some people believe that using a bolt and carrier from different rifles can cause accelerated wear. I've never seen this happen, but I've never mixed carriers and shot the rifles a lot, so I can't say they are wrong. If you are willing to pay the price I'm sure that any kit you want is available. Since none are likely to be inexpensive, I'd get the type you want and get one in good condition. IMO there's no sense spending a lot of time, effort and money to end up with a rifle that's made up of parts that are half worn out. |
|
AH! Learny bits! Thanks! So the AK headspaces by virtue of the barrel pin diameter?
So what I'd need is either a barreled front trunnion (at the minimum) or a willingness to take a drill to one of the demilled barrel rears that I'm starting to see where the full rifle kits used to be. (Copes, IIRC, now shows barrel fronts and barrel rears where the actual barrel is sawn just aft of the sights and just forward of the trunnion.) Is this area the only critical point if I'm not using a kit? Also, at this point, should I be looking for just any kit I can lay hands on, or is there still room to be picky? I did read the whole post above. But you move the barrel in & out to adjust head spacing. At this point I'd get whatever you can at a fair price, there's still some kits (not many) and the prices are staying up there. Don't worry about matching #s if you find a deal, just make sure it's as complete as possible. |
AK Sponsor