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Posted: 4/26/2010 12:50:38 PM EDT
| First of all I have been reading posts from here for almost a year. Great site guys I have learned a lot. Great source of information. I have a TGI AMD-65. I love it. Anyway this weekend I went to shoot in a national forest in colorado. I went through about 400 rounds "wolf and Golden Tiger" and the gun shot perfectly. Anyway when I got home I started cleaning my gun when I noticed that the muzzle brake was loose. I am currently looking for a gun smith. Has anyone had this problem and if you have how did you get it fixed? I want to keep the original muzzle brake on. Any idea how much a repair like this costs, how long does it tAKE. Can I continue to shoot it like this without causing damage to myself or the gun. Thanks in advance for your help. |
| It was the barrel extension weld that broke. Upon further inspection I noticed that TGI only put one weld on the barrel extension. I took it to a gunsmith and they put four welds on the barrel extension and two more welds on the muzzle brake. I think this should hold. If it breaks I can take it back since they guarantee their work. |
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Quoted:
It was the barrel extension weld that broke. Upon further inspection I noticed that TGI only put one weld on the barrel extension. I took it to a gunsmith and they put four welds on the barrel extension and two more welds on the muzzle brake. I think this should hold. If it breaks I can take it back since they guarantee their work. Thanks for the Info. I will keep close watch on mine from now on. 
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This problem is caused by hasty assembly, where they don't take the time to index the brake/extension assembly with it tight, and weld it while loose but in the right orientation. This sets up a vibration on every shot that quickly breaks the weld. It also can result in the extension/brake being at a slight angle, and because it's so long, it can influence bullet path. Now that the gunsmith has securely welded it (another hasty fix without adequate research), has he merely made the angled assembly more permanent? Take the bolt carrier out and look down the barrel from the muzzle. The muzzle of the brake, the barrel muzzle and the end of the barrel at the chamber should be concentric circles. Chances are they're not because the extension/brake is angled. The angle may be be because of sloppy assembly of the extension/brake itself as much as the assembly to the barrel. Based on what I've seen myself and on here, they're all crooked.
What I did on mine was I finished removing the brake extension, then fitted/indexed a Tapco one piece extension/brake, then had it welded while screwed down tight. Concentricity check was great and I don't expect to ever have any trouble with it. You could also file down all those welds and take off your extension/brake and check it. If the brake is attached to the extension pipe crooked, you may as well plan on trashing the assembly and trying to find a Tapco unit (out of production). If the assembly is made correctly, you can re-use it by indexing it tight, then having it welded (again). You do that by tightening it up to see how it is oriented. You sand on the back end of the extension pipe so it rotates a little farther when tight. To do this you use a piece of emery cloth on a good flat surface, rubbing the end of the pipe on it while holding it vertical. This is to keep some semblance of a square cut on the pipe. Sooner or later, you'll get it right, then you can have it welded. It it's screwed down tight, one tack weld is sufficient because there's no vibration when firing. However, a few more spots for security won't hurt anything. ETA; the brake never needs to be rewelded to the extension. The brake is blind-pinned and welded to the extension. There is no possibility of separating one from the extension pipe without destroying it. That's why I said if the brake is put on the extension pipe crooked, you may as well trash it. |
| Thanks for the info. I saw the muzzle break that you are refering to on akbuilder.com"I think this was the website". I want to pick up this muzzle break when I get some more cash. As far as the weld I took it shooting today and shot almost identical groupings prior to the weld breaking so I think I am safe. If anyone is in colorado the place that did my repair was iron ridge guns in longmont, I am happy with the work they did , here is a link to their website if you want to look. http://www.ironridgeguns.com/. They were great considering at least a couple of gunsmiths I called refused to have anything to do with AK repairs. One of them being Bass Pro Shops gunsmith in Denver. I had them add three welds on the brake because after doing some research online I found this http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=269919 about a guys who blew off his entire break while shooting. Maybe the I went overboard but I did not want this happening to my gun. |
| So guys you know that I got it fixed my barrel extender. Well I put 300 rounds through it and the barrel extender weld broke again. I am stumped. Anyway I bought the AKbuilder.com extended muzzle brake. I will let you guys know if this works since it should replace the barrel extender. One question about this muzzle brake, Is the length long enough? I compared them and the barrel extender/muzzle brake seemed a little bit longer. If anyone has the extended brake is it just as loud? Second I bought the Hauge pistol grip "the nicer one" also from akbuilder and I had to cut some of it off in order to get it to fit right because of the colapsibal stock botton. |
| One more question guys and it not ak related, My buddy is losing his house and does not have a job "not a deadbeat but due to lousy economy", anyway I bought a gun from him I dont need it but am buying it more to help him. Beretta 96, 40 cal, three magazines, external holster, two different grips, only 50 rounds fired through it, all original paperwork and box, he also said he had better springs put in it, and 500 rounds of ammo for 550. Good deal? If not I dont care since this is to help him but I am wondering. |
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Quoted:
So guys you know that I got it fixed my barrel extender. Well I put 300 rounds through it and the barrel extender weld broke again. I am stumped. Anyway I bought the AKbuilder.com extended muzzle brake. I will let you guys know if this works since it should replace the barrel extender. One question about this muzzle brake, Is the length long enough? I compared them and the barrel extender/muzzle brake seemed a little bit longer. If anyone has the extended brake is it just as loud? Second I bought the Hauge pistol grip "the nicer one" also from akbuilder and I had to cut some of it off in order to get it to fit right because of the colapsibal stock botton. The two-piece extension brake is about 3/4" too long. The one-piece Tapco is the right length - barrel measurement comes out to about 16.25". Since the Tapco is a very faithful copy of the original brake, it's just as loud as the two-piece. |
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