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Posted: 7/15/2005 10:14:41 PM EDT
| ...an American gun company started producing AK copies with ALL parts being American made ? Then I would think AK's would become just like AR's in terms of building restrictions. |
you're going to import drunken peasants and vodka?  you might be on to something here....... |
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I'm relocating to AZ. Would illegal immigrants and tequila work?  Seriously though, if I can get my hands on Russian or Bulgarian drawings (not the gun show walter mitty survivalist crayon drawings) and get some of the right know how (what's cast, what's forged, alloys, hardening, etc) I may try to gear up for this. I'm really sick of government contracting in general and writing software and supporting computers in particular. I think a domestically produced AK could fit quite comfortably in price between a rooogler mini-14 and a good AR. I'd like to make a $500 AK with a chromed bore that is not cast junk. I don't know what the commie equivalent to a mil-spec is but I want that to apply as much as legally possible. My idea (dream, delusion?) is to be the RRA or Bushy of AKs. We'll see. I think that, like Henry in Brooklyn and HiPoint in Ohio, training local labor is the way to go. The only real problem is that most gun owners are the cheapest bastards on the planet. I think there is a closet socialist in nearly every gun owner that thinks that dealers and manufacturers somehow, magically make billions of dollars off of $550 handguns and $850 dollar rifles. Maybe it's something about wants exceeding means. The other problem is that I can't think of a name for a company. I'm no good at naming things like animals, companies and other things. My name is too bland and would carry an association with a former maker of tiny, chromed .22, .25, .32 and .380 pistols that sold for $60-$130 in the early 90s. I'm not going to do like the Korean Mooney and name my company something sounding german just to fool people into thinking it's high quality (Kahr) and nobody would take seriously a company call DorkGuns or The Gun Nerd, Inc. I have a couple of other ideas that might actually be viable but they are not very politically correct. All the obvious ones are taken like Freedom Arms, 2nd Ammendment Arms, Liberty Arms and variations of Cochise, AZ, Southwest and Desert or This Armory or That Arsenal. I think I would have less trouble buying one complete production line from Bulgaria and shipping it over here than thinking up a good name. Sorry about writing a novel. Typing 35 wpm and being a blabbermouth can be a curse. |
Yes, producing an All American made AK here could be possible. I said that statement in relation to the track record the U.S, has in making AK parts. Some of the receivers aren't in full spec. Like the OOW 7.62x39 receiver with the safety lever gap when it's in the safe position. There's been complaints about the Pro Mag manufactured 7.62x39 magazine. An AK isn't something that can be throw together. I don't know if it's whether companies here just care more for the money or they don't care about the quality when producing something for the AK. |
I wouldn't knowingly buy an out of spec POS. (thinking Speshul Wepnons, Hesse, and a certain AR maker not on the east coast) I'm not going to knowingly produce an out of spec POS, assuming this idea proves to be workable. I don't know of any guns that are something that can just be thrown together, although I suspect some 1911 makers think otherwise. ADDED: We'll see if I can hit a price point that will succeed in the market. Some are makers cut corners with non-chromed bores, cast front sights, cast uppers and lower grades of steel all around. I'd like to think that except for auto fire control parts, it's possible to produce an in-spec AK at a price that people would actually pay. Having no dependancy on foreign supply that can be arbitrarily and capriciously cut off by .gov would be a plus too. Anyone think they'll ban the importation of front sights, gas blocks, stocks or rear trunions? |
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I actually think an all American AK would easily be as much as an AR. ARs have the Gov't thing going for them. Pretty much all (with the exception of non standard versions which are much more) parts contractors (LMT, CMT, others) that supply the AR factories also supply for the US mililtary in some shape or form. They produce more parts, can make them cheaper, and pass the costs on to the customer. An AK made in the US would not. Civilian purchases would be all there was. Yeah, some parts like the receiver, barrel, stock parts, etc could be made here easily with minimum effort but try the bolt carrier, trunnions, barrel parts, rear sites, etc. Add to all that that most American parts are substandard, it doesnt look very appealing. Also, look at the Arsenal AKs.. Even using many imported parts, they are still in the $600-1200 (AR price range) area. I would rather see importers/dealers concentrate on imported "sporters" why they still can. Its only a matter of time before they are banned as well, and there are plenty of AKs from different countries that are not imported. An example would be Romanian semi RPK "sporters", Yugo sporters, etc. |
I agree, because any import ban similar to the ones with Russia or China. Could be brought up against Romania or Bulgaria and that would be disastrious for the AK market. |
I'm not going to try to gear up as an importer. I've been having a running discussion about this crazy idea with a Marine here that has an MBA. He keeps hammering on labor and tooling costs. He thinks I should only produce parts in the US that MUST be produced in the US and buy everything else from overseas, preferably an eastern european country. I wonder if I can get raw forgings from overseas..... There is a LOT of research between now and Dorknikov, Inc producing anything. I hope I don't become a laughing stock like Turd Bailey or Geoff Herring. Turd releases junk that isn't finished and Geoff Herring, to date, hasn't finished. |
If you are going to import parts from overseas, I dont see much difference. Would be more lucrative and easier as well. The conversion from low cap to high cap could easily be subcontracted out, and the US parts are already made, and can be purchased in bulk. |
The difference would be between importing completed firearms versus front sights, gas blocks and other things that are currently not on their no-no list. The firearms importer must comply with nonsense and arbitrary rules. If I can get raw forgings then I don't think those would come under the purvue of ATF. Forgings of the major components might be a better route. |
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I watched part of this TV show hosted by Michael Palin about the Khyber Pass. One area he visited was where AKs (and other firearms) are made. I guess a lot of it is done by hand. The one thing that struck me as interesting was that different places made different parts and someone else assembled it into a complete firearm. What if more US manufacturers started making AK parts? Red Star Arms makes the fire control group and the gas piston. There are several American-made receivers. If someone else started making barrels and another place made trunions and another made gas blocks, etc, then another company could make an all-American AK. I would think there would be less cost involved for a company to make one or two parts as opposed to the whole thing. The only problem I could see with this would be a lack of standards. The US-made barrel would need to fit in the US-made trunion which would need to fit in the US-made receiver. Of course, this all could be moot if things change radically in '08... |
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