Bought the kit 7 years ago to use for a 7.62 carbine build.  Actually bought three kits.  The 7.62 Tok has never functioned properly and I built one kit into 5.45 (had to buy the barrel separately) only to sell it later.

Bought a barrel last year from AKBuilder.  Project was always on the back burner.  Finally installed the barrel but found I had the head space way off as it ripped the casing in half.

Reset the head space and it wouldn't extract.  Did a little underside trimming of the extractor and it works fine.

Thing puts out on hell of a fireball easily visible in the day time.

Could have purchased one for less trouble a few years ago.  But I like projects.  It's just something men my age (60) have done all our lives.

.223 "AK-74" ?!?

I seriously considered building/buying an AK-74 in 5.56 but my local gunsmith told me horror stories about such guns never running correctly and that convinced me to stay on my original course of finding a Gallil to have an AK style gun in 5.56.

If you've got one up and running you have my congratulations and admiration.

If you want an AK in .223, which is common in the former Soviet Bloc as their MBR and you like to make stuff, do it.

Don't let nay-sayers stop you from having fun.

From my understanding, the AKBuilders barrel is as good as they get.

The Yugo M85 is what you seek

No pics no care.

In before some fuckin idiot tells you to buy something when you already built what you want.

Like a Sig 5.56?

Cost was low.  Used a NODAK receiver which was $75.  Barrel was a little over $100.  Kit was only $150.  Counting bits and pieces, I have about $400 in it.  Mags will be at least $25 each, but I won't need more than a half dozen.

Is it as good as an AR?  Not in my opinion.  The AR as we all well know is the the Lego of killing machines.  Get a good receiver and a good parts kit and you would have to work very hard to make a bad AR.

Build an AK, other than sticking a parts kit on a receiver which is work in itself, and go wildcat by trying some mods?  Pain in my old ass.

Glad I did it.  I've built a dozen AKs over the years.  This one is my last.  It was real.  It was fun.  And at times it was real fun.

But after putting together better than a dozen ARs, why would anyone want to go any other direction?

I'll keep my AKs:  Bulgarian side-folding stock in 5.45; an ass ugly Egyptian parts kit build in 7.62x39, and now this bastardized Bulgarian in 5.56.  I guess I need to count my Romanian-built PSL54 in that it is AKroid spitting forth 7.62R.

But for fun, none of them can compare with my 9mm NFA carbine, my 300 Blackout pistol, a couple of nondescript M4geries, and my early full-length, no forward assist, no deflector, three-prong lovely with triangle HGs and the black stock w/o the storage compartment.

Building guns is fun.  As we know from Brother Old Painless, shooting guns is even more fun.  But there is a certain deep pleasure from owning many guns that shoot many things and many different ways.

It can't be said enough

I kick myself for not buying a new SAR 3 years ago when I purchased my SAR1.  Mags were available and not too expensive back then also.

WHERE ARE THE PICTURES?!

Pictures are hard...