I'm looking to have an HK53 pistol built and was wondering what would be the cheapest route to go? Since this will be a pistol I won't need any 922r compliance parts and was wondering if a Malaysian HK33 parts kit would work for the build?

I talked to someone from Zenith recently and they are considering bringing in an HK53 pistol but there is nothing in the works as of yet, so even if they do that is a very long way off.

Buy a used Vector V53 and throw a stock on it when your form 1 comes back.......

mine has run 100%

Or even better get a used C93 pistol.
Cheaper price and generally as good to better quality than Vector.

I would have one built to HK53 specs. Will make finding parts easier down the road when you need to replace springs, etc. I bought a Vector 53 new from Vector earlier this year, and had to send it to Jeff Walters to fix. The barrel is 9", cocking tube is a custom length, as is the cocking tube support, recoil spring and rod, and bolt-carrier. So that means when or if any of those need replaced, I will have to have parts made. By the time Jeff fixed all of it, I am in pretty-much the same spot financially speaking, as if he had built me a 53 to spec, from the flat.

I have been stung once and know how expensive these can get. I'll save up my money and have Jeff build me one.

I can NOT speak for Jeff, and this is not a quote on price- but I want to say it was like $2,500 last I inquired? So when I bought a V53 for $900, I thought I'd done well. Looked the part and shot good. Then when the cocking tube hanger was so far out, I couldnt get the handguard pin back in, I wasnt so proud of myself. By the time I shipped it to him, had him re-do the cocking tube hanger and front sight, make a new recoil rod, refinish, engrave NFA (which was sort of an extra, not a necessary repair), shipping both ways, I think I saved like $100-200? But my Vector has a 9" barrel, not 8.3, so it changes specs on other parts, which sucks.

I bought a new C93 Pistol for $535 and it's been great. All I had to do was swap the HK33 ejector for a 53 ejector (because it had trouble running suppressed full auto). 100% after that. It doesn't bother me if it uses modified HK33 parts. That just means it's cheaper for me to modify those same parts from a spare HK33 kit (which I already have) vs buying the more expensive 53 parts. Those special parts are not likely to fail in the first place, other than the recoil spring. It's no big deal to shorten a spring. 

If I could find a C93 pistol at a decent price and could inspect it, I would consider one. Only one I have seen for sale was on GB for $1200.

It was right when Century discontinued them, and some big pawn chain that does distributor drop-shipping clearanced them out, so I ordered it sight unseen. I'm really glad I did too. I already had a HK53 stock for a 33K build, and it went right on, and is tight and smooth. I got tired of swapping my Surefire rail between an MP5 and it, so I bought a second one.

Looking good. Awesome deal too.

I happened upon JG sales when C93 pistols were $420 with 2 mags and free shipping. They obviously sold out in a few minutes but I was a lucky one.
I put a Knights handguard, Choate adjustable stock, paddle mag, 53 cocking handle, extended sling loop and a TRS-25 and mount etc. so I have far more into the gun now but likely still less than any other plane Jane clone would have cost me. They are the best deal on a 53 by far. I have the best looking, best running 53 clone I have ever seen and very little invested in it in comparison to other 53 clones.
Mine came with a new? SUO lower and a beautiful deep black phosphate finished and beautifully welded receiver (rather than just paint that I don't care for) and a very nice new barrel. The entire gun was built beautifully and has ran 100% with the same bolt gap after hundreds (possibly thousands) of rounds. Mine has run perfect with a #8 locking piece all along so I have not bothered with a #15.
As far as 53 clones go I could not be happier. I believe my clone can use standard 53 parts if needed because of the new 8.3'' barrel rather than a cut down 33 barrel. Either way I see the benefit of using much cheaper and easy to find HK33 modified parts rather than factory HK53 parts $$$. If a 100% factory gun is what someone wants and they have the money, get a 53 parts kit and go at it. If having a gun for use rather than a collectible is the goal a C93 pistol makes a lot of sense.  
I have heard of some guns coming with aftermarket lowers and some with a grayish finish on the receiver and neither seems to be liked. Since Century no longer makes new 53 clones it should be fairly easy to just buy a used one that is black with the SUO lower ( if that is what you want) rather than buying online and hoping. My 53 is one of my favorite guns.

If I remember correctly the C93 pistols were made better than the C93 rifles. If I could find a used C93 pistol for a decent price I'd go for it, but I don't think I'll be that lucky to. I might look into getting a PTR 32 pistol too.

I have not owned a C93 rifle but I get the idea they are generally well made also but I have heard complaints of shrinking bolt gaps over time on some. I do think you are correct that the pistols are higher quality though.
I believe the very first C93 pistols were made with Special weapons receivers and are the ones with a gray finish and or lettering on the top rather than the mag well? Fairly early on Century switched receivers and builders and the remaining guns were made with impressive quality by someone who knew what they were doing. Toward the end of production Century ran out of SUO lowers and HK33 charging handles and began using slab side aftermarket lowers and G3 charging handles but the rest of the gun remained the same.

Do you guys know if there are any issues with using claw mounts on these C93 pistols?

Works fine on mine.

Great!

Are the receiver rails squared?

I would consider mine square. The outside corners are fairly sharp and the back of the rail is a flat surface but the inside corners are more gradual without sharp corners.  I believe my receiver is the same as the above photo KitBuilder posted, not sure you can tell the rail profile from the photos?  I am not sure about the earlier Special weapons receivers.

Can't tell for sure without looking with the cap/stock off.

To get into more detail, I looked into this a couple years ago.

There are a few options.

1- Buy the Vector for about $1500. It is a US "reverse engineered" receiver, and many of the parts are HK33 "surplus" parts. It is HK53ish, and not a perfect clone. If that doesn't matter, a decent choice.

2- Buy a US full stocked clone, MKE, or HK93 and then have the full sized parts modified to "HK53" spec. Or close. Cocking tube for example will only be close. Price a few years ago was just under $800. That was to modifiy the barrel/front end and bolt carrier. That does NOT include the refinish.
So-
Donor gun: $1000-2000
Labor: 800
Refinish: 300
Total: $2100-3100



3. Buy MKE or real HK93 as a donor and have real HK53 parts installed. Labor was $640. That does not include the refinish. The problem is that there the real HK53 parts sold are off ex LEO weapons. So no idea of round count. and applying M16 style checks / gauges doesn't work. The real HK53 barrel I had for example, ate an M16 bore errosion gauge.

Donor: $1000-2000
Parts: $2300 (used parts kit)- 1750 (used German parts for unique stuff), $1000 (for US stuff)
Labor: 640
Refinish : 300

$3000-5300


That of course ignores that the HK33-93 series is a money pit. Want a A3 collapsable stock? $500-600. New trigger pack? $400-800. Real Miltiary grade mags that will last? $80.

Info I came across claimed that Vector built some of their 53's on MKE receiver flats that Bailey imported. These flats are easy to distinguish due to their round rails and correct charging handle notch cut into the receiver where the cocking tube is attached. Basically the top section of the receiver is flush with the leading edge of the trunnion vs the SW receivers which have that area cut back. They also have the ribs stamped in the trunnion area.

Looking at my 53 in daylight this morning I can see better than last night. The rails are definitely squared. The inside corners are fairly sharp corners as well. The rail itself does not form a perfect square shape because the inner surface is not as wide as the outside open part of the rail but the 3 sides of the rail are all flat with fairly sharp corners. technically the rail is a trapezoid in shape.
The rails are definitely not rounded and should be plenty strong.

My V53 was indistinguishable from an HK53 aside from the markings.......it was an early gun however......the paddle mag release is a plus as well

There is another option.  I've got a Coharie Arms CA53 AR.  It is a 53 clone that uses AR mags instead of HK "X3" series mags.  I'm originally an AR guy.  So I already had piles of AR mags when I got interested in the roller locked guns.  I didn't pursue the roller locked 5.56X45 guns because I didn't want yet another mag system.  There is no on GB http://www.gunbroker.com/item/695421941 which is not my ad.  I've got a couple of others (one built with a 53 parts set and the other with some Malaysian parts and US parts with a HK carrier and SW53 AR receivers) and the parts seem to interchange.  Jeff built the other two guns and reinforced the sheet metal mag adapter in the receivers.  I was thinking about sending in the CA53 AR for the reinforcements, paddle mag release and caliber change to 300 BLK OUT.  Good luck with the 53 project.

Scott

Do the Coharie Arms 53 run ok? I don't know much about those but I know how expensive these get and don't want to have to sink a bunch of money in it. Looks like a easy $2-300 I'd have to put into one to get it the way I want.

The one I bought was $1,250 when it was new.  I bought it during Todd's "Going Out Of Roller Locked" sale.  I have something over 500 rds through it.  The barrel is SS so I don't think it will hold up as well as the CHF RCM or HK factory barrels, but I've been happy with it.  That is why I thought about the 300 BLK OUT barrel/LP change out.  I certainly would not pull the factory barrel.  I'd rather pull that SS barrel than the CHF RCM barrel.  

What is it you want to do to it to get up into the $3,000 range?  I bought a complete HK 53 parts set for $1,750 shipped.  I sold the Navy trigger group that came with it for $400.  The SW53 AR receiver was $225 and Jeff charged me $500 to put it together.  It might be tough to find a US receiver with a HK53 parts set for a little over two grand today.  Again good luck with your 53 project.

Scott

At this point, it looks like I'll be putting this project aside awhile. Jeff quoted me $2500 for a 53, made off a Malaysian 33 kit and that's more than I have to spend at the moment. Also, while I'm saving up the money, I'm hoping Zenith/MKE comes out with a 53.

At that price I'd rather shorten a z43.

I have one and that's exactly what I'm thinking. I'm gonna wait awhile though and see if Zenith comes out with a 53. If not, I will cut down my Z43.