okay i have decided i like the looks of the krinks, in all honestly i never really like the the looks of the ak 47. i really like the reliablity, and the looks in a utlitarion sort of way.the main thing i did not like about the ak looks was the fsb way out on the end of the barrel. so once i saw a krink i loved it but they cost way too much money for me.

so once i received my romy kit i started looking at the front sb/gb of the krink, and was thinking about swapping it out till i saw what they cost ( 80 $ ) . so i decided i would rework my romy kit in to a krink look a like. now the design has changed slightly. i plan on putting a mil spec rail on the top cover, which will go up to a modified rsb and hinge of off the old pivot point for the stock rear sight. that way the cover is much more solid and consistant. i wont be putting any kind of fsb or rear sight at all ie the A3 title

so today i took the barrel stuff off and cut down the rear sight base, gas tube, i relocated the modified rear sight base and the gas block closer to the chamber. what i need to finish this is to cut down the gas piston, drill the new gas port, close the old gas port off, fill the old pin notches from the gb and fsb. also i need to rework the lower handgaurd to fit the new length of the gas tube. then attach a rail to the cover and make it hinge from the old rsb. i also plan on putting a dummy suppressor on it to hide the barrel.

and before any one complains as of right now if i wanted to i could go back to stock with just a new gas tube and rsb, i did not not modify the barrel in any way that matter to the stock parts yets

http://www.homegunsmith.com/cgi-bin/ib3/iB_html/uploads/post-24-25302-cutdown_001.jpg

close up of the rear sight base... modifiedhttp://www.homegunsmith.com/cgi-bin/ib3/iB_html/uploads/post-24-25558-cutdown_003.jpg

Hmmm, what about headspacing, that barrel looks to be all the way out judging by the groove of the barrel pin. maybe i'm not looking at ur pictures right. hmmm

the barrel has not been removed from the trunnion yet, the pin notch you are seeing is the old one from the rsb, which i moved back when i cut it down

I see I see pretty slick, keep us updated on your progress. McM

Good job!  When you build it yourself, for yourself, you can do what ever you damn well please.  I like it so far.  Keep us posted as you progress.

i dont know how to close the old gas port it points right at your forhead and if you shoot it and it comes loose its gonna shoot you in the head
think about the only safe way to do it is chop the barrel and add a extended brake

btw if you get a 90 deg gb you can chop the top off your fsb and make a combo sight its fairly easy and if you do a good job they look good

Can't you put a spot of weld over the old gas port?  Sounds like there is going to be a faux suppressor over that spot anyway, so I guess I would just give it a little puddle of weld there and turn it down smooth again.  Little spot is the key, you don't want to heat the hell out of your barrel in a localized spot like that.

okay, today i cut down the lower hand guard to fit the new space under the gas tube, and i cut down the gas piston.

here is the bolt and handguard in place
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/scotty1911/modifed002.jpg

i will be reshaping and refinishing the hand guards, so the final shapping will take place after final assembly

here is the gas piston, it is cut down then sleaved with a steel sleave. there are several holes drilled in the sleave and it is brazed on each end and thru the holes. even the 2 cut ends are solidly brazed togetherhttp://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/scotty1911/modifed003.jpg

okay here she is 90 % assembled, at this point i need to attach the rear trunnion. at this point i dont know if i want to pistol it or not. right now the rear trunnion is just being held in place with one screw ( not threaded ) and the stock is under the reciever. i aslo need to do the center support, then  i need to attach the scope rail to the cover and whats left of the rsb. the last thing i will need to do is to shape and refinish the hand guards and repark the rifle
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/scotty1911/modifed004.jpg

last one for now, a closer pichttp://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/scotty1911/modifed007.jpg

Looks good Scott.  I'd say go with the stock and maybe a little more wood removal on the lower handguard.  Reminds me of a pregnant spider right now .  

i do plan on cutting the hand guard down much more, and going blond on the wood

What all did it take to do this? What tools did you use? What is involved in/ how hard was it to make the new gas block operational? Just drill right through the barrel? How did you shorten the gas piston? Also, how would one cut down the barrel without destroying it? This is very interesting to me so sorry for all the questions

it did not take much, more than a little time. my tools consist of a hack saw, files, drill press, vise, bfh, small gas welding rig ( used for heating ), a bench grinder and a few punches.

basicly i just removed pins to get the fsb, gb, and rear sight block off. then i filed the inside of the gb, and rsb out a little to get them to slip over the old spots on the barrel ( a few .001 over ) then a filed the barrel till the parts slid almost all the way to where i wanted em. then i just drove them the rest of the way. the rsb i just measured it to where i wanted it to go and cut it off to fit the new location.

as for the gb i just put it where i wanted it and redrilled the pins and repined it. then i just ran a very sharp drill bit down the hole tll it hit the barrel, then i just ran it in slow. it did not burr out enough to worry about, but i ran a 000 buck pellet down the barrel and it removed the burr ( or just pushed it back in to the hole ).

the gas tube i just cut down and welded it shorter

the gas piston was just cut with a hack saw and then i put a steel sleeve over and brazed it together

as for cutting the barrel down you could just hack saw it the recrown or do it in a lathe and recrown

okay reshaped the lower handgaurd and strhttp://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/scotty1911/mineblond.jpgipped both upper and lower to blond and put on some poly

an idea of what it will look like with a red dot ( not the final one ) just sitting on top of the cover, still need to put the rail on and fasten it to the rsb
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/scotty1911/modifed011.jpg

awsome work dude, especialy with the hand tools. I had no idea it could be done without a lathe.

I have been wanting to make a shorty pistol, (maybe 7 inch barrle?) to fit inside a 50 cal ammo can, have screws on the front trunion, for disassembly... but I was stuck on the "turning the barrle down on a lathe" part., and this information will help me... and other people without a lathe.

Thanks.

That's a beautiful gun.

i have access to a full machine shop, but not at home. if i where to do more i would turn down the barrel, or bore out the stock rsb and gas to fit not file it.

well, I "turned down" a barrle one my grunder/beltsander, it is "OK" I think after sand blasting, it will be ok.

I cut down my AMD pistol barrel even shorter, and I will be moving the rear trunion forward about 1/2" to 3/4" and using a buffer.

I think it has about a 8.3 inch barrle... I really don't see how to make it any shorter without a 90 degree gas block. I guess since the port will be closer to the chamber, and the bolt carrier lighter, I can get away with a shorter barrle after the port, but it's already only about an inch on an AMD anyways...

I'm not going to use the rear sight block at all, I'll weld (or other) the gas tub to the trunion. and mount the receiver cover over it all somehow (screw?)

I want reliable cycling, the piston will ride inside the gas tube the whole time.  

So, looks like 7 inches is the shortest one could make an AK barrle with a 90 GB, 8" with a 45

I have a front sight welded on the gas block too. Will be putting a peep sight on the back.


Thanks for the inspiration.... (I hope this works out)

you can cut down the rsb to hold the gas tube, and make it hold the cover. i did that and the whole rsb is now only 1 inch long. you could also while at it cut down the top of the rsb to get rid of the sight stuff. if you look close at my pic, this is what i did

welll, I'm looking at the geometry here, I want to piston to ride in the gas tube the whole time. I am allowing the bolt to travel just past the end of the magazine. maybe a 1/4" at the most. then it hits a buffer, and the trunion.

this keeps the bolt carrier from coming out of the tube. the tube will start where the sight block would normally sit. I already flared the tube to fit, using a correct size socket, driven through it with a rod and hammer. (I think) I used a torch to anneal it first.

it taps throu easier when it's red...

I'm goan hafta stop hijacking this thread....

In theory, the barrel can be as short as

length of travle of the action, plus the length from the piston tip down 45 to the barrle for the gas port, then add the one inch o barrle.

looks for a ruler....

add into that distance, the sight block.... so removing it removes two inches from the total "minimum barrle length. (remember, the piston must ride in the tube the whole time.

So, moving the rear trunion forward 3/4 of an inch lets the barrle be another 3/4" shorter, and OAL 1 1/2" shorter.

The gun will be lighter and shorter than almost any other ak pistol... (maybe) if I Can pull this off...

I'm getting close to assembly time. (promises to take pictures)