First off, this is my first rifle-ish build of any kind. I have built a semi-custom 1911 but that's obviously a bit more of a drop in operation than this. However in writing this I ended up answering a lot of my own questions so I have a high degree of confidence that I can pull it off.

Now that the ban is gone I am considering a screw together Krink pistol build, but i have a few questions that I have not seen answered on the board. I really don't want to hear how people distrust screw builds. Red loc tite and good quality fasteners make a stronger connection than any rivet I have seen, and the machinist I know and trust more than any other machinist in the world agrees. It will be a 7.62. I am going to have a brake on it to help manage reciol, but that is really of very little concern to me as I am just building this as a "shooting with friends" gun and not a real workhorse. I will be using using the k-var krink kit and the OOW receiver.

Who will press the barrel into the trunion for me and how much will it cost? Should I get the underfolder kit (keeping in mind that I am not using the underfolder) and save a few bucks since it comes with the trunion, or is there a reason to get the other kit and buy a trunion?

I want to get all black furinture. Anyone know if I have to (and can) get specific krink furniture, or is it the same furniture as another kind of AK?

The front sight/gas block looks like it is just an attachment to the end of the barrel and is threaded for accessories. Is this correct? Does it pin on, screw on, or does it require welding?

In addition to the kit, all I need is a receiver, a trigger guard/mag catch/selector stop setup, a rear block and the screws, right (plus tools, of course)? Do they include all the necessary pins in the kit?

As far as the tap and die set, the guide to screwing together an AK says "taps were ground down to allow bottom tapping". I am not familliar with this, can someone please explain?

With the k-var kits, it appears that the barrel and front trunion are separated and I will be using the rear block instead of the rear truntion, so I don't need to worry about rivet removal anywhere except on their demilled trigger assembly set, right?

How are the triggers in these kits? If they could use improvement, it seems like I could replace the trigger at a later date ya?

What about a Left+Right side selector? Do they sell the receiver cut and drilled for this or do I have to do that myself? I am a lefty so this is important. For attaching it, I was thinking of tapping the reciever and drilling the hole in the lever slightly larger than that and using a screw for the pivot pin (on my KTR the pin is soldered or welded on). Is there a better way?

Well, I jsut spent like 3 hours writing this post and reading all the while so I think I am going to give it a rest, come back to it tomorrow and finish it then.

Done.

Thanks,
Derek

Who will press the barrel into the trunion for me and how much will it cost?  - Don't know about this one, may be you machinist friend has a press and can help you out. It is not too bad if you have a press, jigs, plates, and a chamber guage for .  
Should I get the underfolder kit (keeping in mind that I am not using the underfolder) and save a few bucks since it comes with the trunion, or is there a reason to get the other kit and buy a trunion? Don't know sounds good to me.

I want to get all black furinture. Anyone know if I have to (and can) get specific krink furniture, or is it the same furniture as another kind of AK? Krink Furniture is unique to krinks.

The front sight/gas block looks like it is just an attachment to the end of the barrel and is threaded for accessories. Is this correct? Does it pin on, screw on, or does it require welding?
It is pressed and then pinned.

In addition to the kit, all I need is a receiver, a trigger guard/mag catch/selector stop setup, a rear block and the screws, right (plus tools, of course)? Do they include all the necessary pins in the kit? They should include all the various pins, ask K-VAR there good folks, and have answered my questions in the past.

As far as the tap and die set, the guide to screwing together an AK says "taps were ground down to allow bottom tapping". I am not familliar with this, can someone please explain? It is so that the tap can go into the bottom of a blind hole and cut threades, a starting tap has a tapered point on it to aid starting, a flat ended bottoming tap can thread to the bottome of a blind hole. Instead of buying two types of taps you can grind a starting tap flat on the end.  

With the k-var kits, it appears that the barrel and front trunion are separated and I will be using the rear block instead of the rear truntion, so I don't need to worry about rivet removal anywhere except on their demilled trigger assembly set, right? I don't follow this question, are you asking abot the rivets in the trigger guard ?

How are the triggers in these kits? If they could use improvement, it seems like I could replace the trigger at a later date ya?  You will probably want to replace the fire control parts with US made one to maintain a proper parts count - although a pistol may not need the US parts at all now that I think about it.

What about a Left+Right side selector? Do they sell the receiver cut and drilled for this or do I have to do that myself? I am a lefty so this is important. For attaching it, I was thinking of tapping the reciever and drilling the hole in the lever slightly larger than that and using a screw for the pivot pin (on my KTR the pin is soldered or welded on). Is there a better way? No I don't think anyone sells a receiver for a left handed saftey lever, you could modify the existing leve by adding a lever to the left side, an ambidextrious safety I suppose. If I were you I would just use your off hand to operate the safety  

You are asking good questions and doing your research upfront. I suggest you consider doing a build of a realitively cheap AMD-65 kit or somethong similar to pratice on before building a more expensive and slighty harder to build gun like a krink. The krink is a little tougher in that the length from the rearsight block/hinged action cover to the rear trunnion is very critical.
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Thanks! I have been looking at the AMD kits as well, and I might do that. An AMD kit would also probably give me more furniture options.

Anyway, the machinist friend works at a large shop so he cannot do it. I can probably find SOMEONE to do it.

Re: the rivets, I either have to buy the trigger guard/mag catch kit and assemble it, or I can buy it pre-assembled from kvar, but it comes attached to a bit of receiver as it is just cut off of the gun. I know I'll have to remove rivets there, but I think the rest comes pre-stripped. I'll ask k-var, I was just hoping someone here had one of the kits already and could answer.

The US parts count is not an issue in a pistol.

The ambidextrous safety I am talking about is of the same style used on the Galil - or so I have been told. It's technically designed to allow you to use your right thumb but it also means I can use my left hand without removing it form the firing position. My KTR has one and it is built on a stamped saiga receiver but k-var only sells one for a milled receiver. All it required in my KTR was an extra hole and an extra slit in the receiver.

Anyway, thanks for answering some of my questions. I'm off to try and find a good site with pics that covers assembling the barrel, front sight, and gas tube now. If anyone has a link that would be great.

I suggest buying the assembled trigger guard and mag catch from K-Var, thats what I have done. Its cheaper IIRC and the rivets are easy to remove.  

There was a thread somewhere here or on another board about an easy way to assemble the triggerguard and mag catch.  A pre-assembled triggerguard is easiest, but some kits have a new, unassembled triggerguard.

Using a Zip-Tie to install the spring...

1.  Insert the tail of the zip-tie through the lock and form a loop about 1/2 in diameter.
2.  Use pliers to squeeze the tails of the spring together.
3.  Slip zip-tie over spring.  Tighten if necessary.
4.  Release tension on pliers.  The spring tails are now secured.
5.  Assemble triggerguard and flare the ends of the pin.
6.  Reach into mag release with whatever you can fit in there to cut the zip-tie.
7.  Remove zip-tie pieces and smile at a job well done.

For the AMD-65 option, you would have everything needed to build a pistol except the furniture.  If you don't mind a little wear and tear on the finish, the "good" condition kits from Centerfire are only $79.

If you want a Krink style gas block, you can order this one from K-Var:

http://home.woh.rr.com/rnystrom/receiver-barrel_stub.jpg

The barrel in the picture is the 9.5" 5.45 receiver/barrel stub from K-Var.  This is what you would have with a standard gas tube cut and modified to fit the AMD-65.  The gas/sight block is a combo unit available from K-Var.

You could use the same gas/sight block and gas tube on an AMD-65 barrel if you wanted 7.62.  The AMD gas port would wind up in the middle of the threads on the gas block.  I would shorten and recrown the barrel to get rid of the original slanted gas port.  The 7.62 barrel would be about 1/2" longer than the 5.45 in the pic after cutting and crowning.

A Krink kit is $399!  You can get the AMD-65 kit, Krink or Combo gas/sight block, and a set of handguards with gas tube for about half that.  You would still have to get or modify a rear block so that it could not accept a stock.  K-Var had these blocks, but has sold out of them since the ban sunset.  The AMD from Centerfire comes with a semi-auto trigger group, so you don't need to spend any cash for one with a pistol.

Well, I am going to to the AMD build. I will probably do a Krink later but for my first I guess I should do an AMD :-) It will be a bit longer than the Krink, and I think later I may have it turned into an AOW since it has the ability to accet the forward pistol grip, but for now it will do jsut fine.

I will be getting the $109 kit from Tapco. It comes with the furniture including the forward grip if I want to make it an AOW. I'll be sure to document the build well and I'll post a full report here.