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Posted: 6/2/2005 4:30:11 PM EDT
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I'm new to the AK scene (I owned a MAK 90 about 8 years ago, though). I see all these parts kits for sale seemingly very cheap, and these flat sheet metal receivers going for about $40. Which kits are recommended? What kind of parts do I need for compliance with the law? Are these hard to build? What tools are needed? Also, I ve noticed some Krinkov kits. These can't be legal to make, can they? |
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The standard answer is, it depends. Romanian kits are very cheap, but then so are fully assemble Romanian rifles, so unless you do the building yourself it's a lot cheaper to buy one NIB, as far as I'm concerned. If you can find a Yugo kit that's in good shape with a good barrel, they can be a great build. My major hangup with building them is the time and equipment involved. But, depending on where you're located, you might be near where someone else has the equipment and may be willing to help. I like a fully machined, heat-treated receiver for the build, but there are guys who have great luck bending and making one themselves and heat-treating for a build. I'll be corrected here if I'm wrong, but you generally should expect to use US H/T/D, gas piston, receiver, and one other part, typically a pistol grip or muzzle device. Ironwood designs has some great wood for kits that you can finish to look like it came off of the assembly line in Mother Russia. Yes, you can make a Krinkov kit legal if you either have a 16" barrel to start with (like the K-Var kits had in 5.45 for a while) or if you build one with a permanently attached fake brake. Check out www.ohiorapidfire.com in their AK section for some cool pics, I have a Krinkov in 5.45 built on a Global 1.6mm receiver that has a 16" barrel. Sleeved over that barrel is a fake PBS suppressor, which looks a lot like the picture they have in their AK/Krinkov section. Hope this helps. |
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Start by reading the AK ABCs forum. There is some good info over there including the Parts Count Question (Answer). To answer your questions based on what I'm doing and what I've read: Romanian kits seem to be the simplest. It sounds like Yugo kits require special receivers. AMD65 kits require a barrel extension of some sort. AMD63 kits might be simple also, but more expensive. Anything with a folding stock requires more modification, i.e. drilling more holes in the receiver. On my Romanian kit that I'm working on, I'm using US made: pistol grip, fire control group (G2 from Tapco), gas piston, and receiver from Global Trades. For the Romanian, I've gotten by so far with a $40 drill press, some punches, a hammer, a Dremel, and some improvised vices. All I've really done is remove the rivets. I'm doing a rivet build and someone locally has said that he can mash the rivets. You may choose to do a screw build if you can't find someone to mash rivets. I think a lot of people are building the Krink kits into pistols? Hope that helps. God knows my first post over on the AK side went to hell. I find the layout over here a little different and I had trouble finding stuff like the FAQ at first. Rather than tell me where it was, I got harassed by some guy.
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Thanks a lot for the answers guys. I know generic questions like mine are a pain in the ass to answer. I'll check over the build sections more. But someone told me that those flat receivers can be bent into a usable shape, then stuck in a woodstove until red, then voila, I have a receiver? That sounds too easy. And then, its a matter of screw/bolting the pieces together? Am I wrong? |
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Its really not as easy as it seems. I am a very mechanicly inclined person, and I have allmost all the tools one would for an AK build (not including bending jigs and rivet jigs, etc.....). Using all the tools I have I found out it took me about 25 hours to build a complete gun - Yugo underfolder (not including finish). + total amount spent on the gun was about 330$ - this includes all the US parts. 180$ hand picked parts kit - 95+% metal and finish, 80% barrel, 95% wood. 65$ 80% receiver, with rails from ColdSteel. 17$ Top cover 25$ bolts (8-32, 10-32, 5mm, taps, drill bits) 10$ US grip 15$ piston 20$ US orange followers + base plates (I bought extra just incase) ------ 332 Total Conclusion - Just buy a new or used AK for around 400$. OR BUY VEPR for 500$ - best AK you can buy or build. Think about it, VEPR is only 170$ more than the Yugo I built. Take 25 hours of my time and it comes out 7$ in hour. So you loose more than you earn when you build. But ofcourse if you like to build, and you think you will build more than one AK, then maybe it is worth starting building. Good luck. |
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You have to get into building AKs for the sake of *BUILDING* AKs, not saving money or shooting them. It is a time, labor, and money-intensive venture. It is also very rewarding. You can tool up to build on 100% receivers for around $200 on the cheap. You can also splurge & spend upwards of $1000. Check out the Home-Builder's Library over at Gunco.net |
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Assuming you start with a good base of basic tools... you should be able to acquire the stuff you probably don't have for about $200 and some of that you don't have to have. $200 @ Harbor Freight prices Drill Press, Press, and Bolt Cutters to mod, cheap bench grinder You can knock about $100 off that if you skip the press. After that you should be able to build AK's (assuming $100 parts kits) for just over $200 a pop. (Not counting your labor.) Now if you want to go buy one of the Romanian WASR's for $330 or so... You could do that, but if you do, you'll still have to rework the FCG and refinish it to have it look like something other than a cheap POS. Really in the end, you either want to go buy one or you want to go build one. I still haven't managed to justify the return on bending my own blanks or starting with 80% receviers (in most cases) when I can get a GT 1mm receiver for $60 though. And the gun can be easily sold in the future should I ever tire of it. (Which I also can't imagine... I know each of these rifles personally after all.) |
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Yes, flats can be bent into receivers. Yes, you can heat treat them yourself. I'm not sure that a wood stove is the way to go. You must realize, if you bend a flat yourself, you then have to weld the rails into place also. I wouldn't try to bend a flat without a bending jig. In my mind, it's a lot easier to buy a complete receiver and just drill the holes for the trunnion rivets. Once you have a complete receiver, you either rivet the trunnions to the receiver, or you tap the trunnions and screw them together. Until there is a really in depth guide to building, people are going to have generic questions. Every page and every guide that I've seen on building has been very light on details. Most of them seem to assume that you've done it before. Heck, let's see if I can give you a walkthrough based on what I know, then someone else may chime in and and correct me. You get your kit. Your kit is the entire gun, all parts, but the receiver has been cut twice. Your kit may or may not have the receiver pieces still attached (mine didn't). Either way, you drill through the center of the rivets. Some people say to start small, then step up, some just start with the large bit. Through some combination of drilling and using a punch, you take out the rivets on the front trunnion, the rear trunnion (tang), and the triggerguard. Alternatively, you grind the head of the rivet off, then use a press to push them out. If you are doing a rivet build, then the barrel has to be removed. You need a press or a BFH to do this. First the barrel pin is pushed out, then the barrel is pushed out of the trunnion. If you're doing a screw build, you tap the holes in the trunnions. Next you drill holes in the receiver to line up with the holes in the trunnions. Now you either screw it together or rivet it together. There are several methods for riveting, including the modified bolt cutters and, again, using a press. Now you need your compliance parts. I've learned recently that if you're replacing your gas piston, you have to knock a pin out, then unscrew it. Drilling and pinning the new gas piston is recommended. At this point, you assemble the internals and it's ready to go. Ok, what did I miss?
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Being broke (and cheap), I recently did my first AK using a receiver flat and screws. The homemade bending jig used $12 in bar stock and some nuts & bolts, bending done with a rubber mallet and ball peen hammer. Rails were silver brazed in using a high-temp rod and flux (I don't have access to a spot welder). Pin holes and ejector were heat treated with a propane torch and water bucket. Did it work? It functions perfectly and even hits where aimed! And it actually looks decent, too. Doing it the way I did takes more effort and time, but I wanted to enjoy both the journey and the destination. Between this forum and others that are dedicated to AK building you can find all the good advice you need to do a build you can be proud of. Cadapult |
I like the way you think. Sems to me, this is the golden age for AK builds since just about every gun stuff seller has a shitload for sale. Whats going on with that? Did all these ex-commie countries decide to dump their AK's all at once? |
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