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Posted: 2/23/2011 2:40:13 PM EDT
| New to AK's and just wondering what should I expect to pay for a real Bulgarian side folder and who has them? I've found some replicas online for $100+ but wanted to get some advice on them. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks |
| Avoid the replicas like the plague. They're cheap but the trunnions aren't properly heat-treated. Don't put a Taiwanese "Airsoft Qaulity" part on your rifle. Check the EE and just stay on it. They come up for sale there. Expect to pay somewhere around $300 and make sure you get a complete kit. Then have someone that knows what they're doing install it. It's not like installing a fixed stock. This is out of most people's technical realm although some guys have had luck doing it themselves. If you do, make sure you utilize the correct template in order to make the proper cuts on your receiver. |
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The complaints about the Tiawanese made ones that DPH sold are overblown.
I have two of those. The first one I set the top long rivet into.... Yeah, it scrunched the trunnion in about .020" setting the rivet. The steel could have been a little harder. But remember that in this trunnion design there is very little metal there at the top of the trunnion to begin with! I was a little bummed at that, but I got to talk to DPH personally at a gunshow about them. His simple solution is to brace that area as you set the top rivet. I just used a Romy fixed stock rear trunnion as the "support" and then set the rivet on the second trunnion I had. Perfect! It just needed that little extra support as you finish the squish. To be thorough on that one I rubbed all the sheet metal edges with emory cloth to smooth them better. The pin that is too large because its the same size as the pivot hole? Simple fix. Chuck it in a drill press and file it to fit. In five or ten minutes you can have it a nice snug press fit that you can tap in with a small hammer. Easy enough to tap it out again if you wish to remove the stock. (I blasted and moly resined mine.) The latch springs on mine were perfect. The hook latch needs a little hand filing for a perfect fit. Just 10-20 minutes work there to get it just so. Front latch parts are perfect. Really, it is a damn good $99 stock IMO. For those who claim it'll fail as the carrier slams into the rear trunnion? You need new recoil springs. That carrier doesn't touch the trunnion. Firing leaves no marks in the finish there. That one I squished the trunnion on? Well, that was my fault. I ate that mistake. I replaced it with a CNC'd new rear trunnion from Turbothis. His ARE a perfect copy of the Bulgy ones are are properly heat treated. Although I plan to be careful and brace it as I did that DPH when I put it in my next build. That, just in case. For those of you needing a Turbothis trunnion to go with a DPH folder stock..... Realize that the DPH stock wasn't a perfect copy of the Bulgy. Very close, but not perfect. Install a DPH folder in the Turbothis trunnion and once open it will have the stock opening past the center to the right about a couple degrees. Just enough that you notice it. About .010" closer to the trunnion on the right than on the left side. The fix to make it perfect? I made four "dots" of weldment on that face of the stock where it contacts the trunnion on the right side. Just four one second deposits of weld with my MIG. These dots act as bumpers. I filed them until the stock opened up centered. Then I filed the latch and the slot in the folding stock to get good latch engagement. No changes to the trunnion were made! Want to use a real Bulgy folder in the Turbothis trunnion? No worries. I took mine off another rifle and pinned it into the Turbothis trunnion. Perfect fit. Opened up well centered. The latch I had already filed to work on the DPH folder also then fit the Bulgy. The Bulgy and Turbothis trunnions fit the NDS-1KP receivers perfectly. (So did the DPH trunnion for that matter.) Remember that the Russian trunnion uses a 5.5mm pin. 1mm larger than the Bulgy. And their rear angle is a little different as well. Check to find out if these fit the NDS-1KP before ordering! That, just in case there are fitment issues. So IME the Bulgy folders are terrific and the Turbothis replacement rear trunnion is perfect as well. The DPH triangle folders are very worthy projects to use. just brace the trunnion as you set the top long rivet. Then file the pivot pin to fit. For $99, these were a great value. Yes, DPH was screwed by the manufacturer on these. But they were no where near as bad as many internet poop throwers made them out to be. Easy fixes to use them well. When he put them on sale for $99 he did us home builders a great favor. Personally, I thank him for that! |
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I dunno, my DPH isn't even drilled properly to accept the hinge pin. Neither theirs nor a Bulgy 4.5 pin will fit, the trunnion and the stock both need to be drilled out. That's where my problem is with them There is a guy who will heat treat and test the hardness of the DPH receivers for less than $30. So the trunnion isn't an issue for me other than it's out of spec w/ even their own stock and pin. I'm sure they can be "fitted", but none of my Bulgy's required "fitting". My Russians do, only b/c you need to start w/ a fresh receiver to get a Russian to fit right. That being said, the DPH feels solid, I just haven't thought about mounting it on anything yet....My 2 cents on it. |
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