So my AK-12 kit is starting to show up (it was sent in seven different packages) and something that has really bugged me about the coverage on the rifle is that there are no real details on it beyond generic info. So, as I receive these parts I'm going to take pics and point out interesting differences or features. If you have any questions on something specific, just ask. General impressions on some of the parts so far:

1) Receiver cover: it feels extremely solid and it's not even mounted to the locking block. The rear sight is pretty sweet and would be a cool addition to other rails as well.

2) Stock: Again, feels extremely solid. A magnet sticks to almost all parts of it so there's a lot of steel in this thing. The stock is tight on the tube with no wiggle room. I'm working on getting a factory cheek riser. Not sure how confident I am in the long term material choice of using polymer for the sliding/locking rail for the stock, but I imagine the Russians tested this out fairly heavily to adopt it.



























ADDED 26MAR2020
I definitely think that the demil kits are put together with some reject parts. The egging in the receiver stub would in no way be acceptable for a military rifle, especially considering how much it allows the handguard to wobble. The same goes for the handguard retaining pin spring, which bent with little effort when testing the handguard fit to the front stub. I already have a fix in mind for this, but it won't look or operate as the factory intended. This doesn't really bother me, but it's definitely something to keep in mind. I've noticed from looking at other kits that the parts marked with "CY" are not consistent, which furthers my hypothesis that parts marked with that designation are in fact reject parts. If anyone has any other insight into this please let me know.


























ADDED 18JUN2020
Got the rest of the parts (finally) and I also got my barrel. I was going to turn my own barrel and then send it off to have it nitrided since that's easier to have a one-off done of as opposed to chrome. Well, Obstreperous on the AK Files offered to turn some AK-12 barrels on his CNC, and since he had enough interest he was able to have them chrome-lined as well. I'm finished up the rest of the pics now, but here's the barrel:



Here's the rest of the parts. I'm honestly impressed with the cleaning kit and how it was thought out. It would seem they took the design from the CAA SBS stock with the dovetailed/removable buttplate, but I love how the cleaning kit works with the stock.














































ADDED 4AUG2020
Childers Receiver arrived. Still bummed it's not an 80% (I don't like manufacturer's markings on my builds), but it's a receiver nonetheless. Not completely correct, but enough so that 99.99% of people won't know the difference.

Whoa, awesome.  Thanks for sharing!

Larue might have issues, but ADM may work due to using a crossbolt all the way through.

Thanks. I have two more packages that should arrive this week. The others all left Russia already but haven't landed in the good 'ol US of A yet.

That's good to know. I actually have a Russian NPZ Rakurs-PM on the way to use on this rifle which should also work. If I decide to use my ACOG I'll look into ADM instead.

Neat!  My serial under the dust cover is only 4 digits.  Do you know what the numbers are for on the front trunnion?  They don't match my dust cover (assuming my kit is the same rifle).

I haven't received the front trunnion yet.

This thread is awesome thank you for the pics!!!

No problem. I plan on doing a video as well once everything is here to show how everything works together.

Thanks for doing this, I've been curious about the details as well for a while. It's very interesting to see the changes they've made.

excellent.

OST

Thanks for posting the detailed pics

Anyone AK12 kit buyer from zip 44691. Have a tracking number for you sent to me by mistake. Pm if so.

Would be nice if a company scanned/reproduced these. It's not like Russian patents apply here right?

thank you for sharing and taking your time on it.

Where did you source the kit from? I think I need to build one.

https://rusweapons.com/?product=ak-12-parts-kit-5-45

Cool, thanks. So they are in Russia and are still able to get the parts into the states? It sucks the kits are missing some big parts, but not impossible to acquire.

There's a chance they will get caught in customs and confiscated. That's why they send them in six to seven different shipments.

That would suck if some parts were confiscated. From one other build thread I saw, it looks like a 5.45 barrel and side folder receiver will work without too much of an issue? I think I might have a Bulgarian 5.45 bolt and carrier around here somewhere. Dammit, I have way too many kits to build but an AK-12 is high on my want list.

It would depend on how correct you want the build. AK-12 barrels have different dimensions than AK-74 barrels and lack specific features like the journal that interacts with the AK-12 handguard to prevent it from flexing excessively and the shoulder for the barrel mounted sling swivel. Also, it will have the slots/cuts for a handguard retainer which the AK-12 lacks. The overall thickness of the AK-74 barrel is also thinner than the AK-12. You can get away with it, sure, but it will look wrong. For the receiver, you can use an AK--74M pattern receiver but it will need the front stock latch hardware holes welded up (or just leave them there and charge a premium like RD ). Also, the selector markings on a typical Russian AK-74M pattern receiver aren't correct for an AK-12 and will need to be welded up or just left off completely so that they can be marked correctly. With the addition of the 2-round burst option, it raised the detent positions of the full and (traditionally) semi-auto positions on the receiver. This is why the AK-12 selector lever is notched at the top to clear the bolt carrier when it's in the full-auto position. You would then need to drill a cross hole in the front of the receiver for the AK-12 handguard retaining pin.

If you plan to use the complete kit that comes with an intact front trunnion, your challenge will be how to recreate the bolt cam rivet, which I'm not sure any home gamer or professional shop has figured out yet. KUSA shows the rivet on their new AK-103-ish rifle they're releasing, but I'm not sure if it's just there for cosmetics. You could, as far as I can tell, install a traditional AK-74 bullet guide with the built-in cam surface, but that seems to defeat the purpose of getting the intact front trunnion, IMHO.

That's great info. It's sounds like a fun project to figure out anyway. I haven't had to do anything extreme for my AK builds so far, so this sounds like a little bit more of a challenge, but not impossible. I would have to farm out some of the barrel work. The other stuff doesnt sound too impossible. Just trial and error. I might have a secure a kit. Sometimes parts start flooding when demand rises. That happened for the CETME L kits. I bought my kits before any parts were available. Now there are flats, barrels, bolts, springs, and even furniture to put them together.

lol

Awesome - I have a kit too... let me know if you manage to source any more original parts for yours or find a way to get a QD swivel to work with that socket.

Everything on mine is identical but my dust cover has no serial number, odd.

That is pretty cool.

Looks cool. Hope you get all of your parts. I cringe at the thought of spending $1000-2000 on a parts kit I may not receive intact.

Who will you use for the build?

Me.

I would love to see some pics of the rear trunion and how the dust cover locks into it. They made a big deal of that when it was released.

I definitely will show that once I get it. I got the front trunnion yesterday but haven't had a chance to take a pic due to work.

Thank you sir!

Great thread.

Outstanding!

That's fascinating to see how this design differs from traditional AKs. Thanks a lot for sharing all the photos and insight. Hopefully if these kits continue to be obtainable, or maybe become even more common (doubtful), some shops will develop the capability to work on them. Perhaps we'll even see some aftermarket receivers made specifically for them. I'd love to start collecting the parts to build one of these, but I don't see myself ever having the capability to build it myself. I'd have to find a shop to assemble it for me. Having said that, the way AK prices are going up and availability is decreasing, it's probably best to collect parts now anyway and worry later about how to assemble them.

How do you plan to tackle the selector settings / markings? Is that something that you have the capability to engrave yourself?

Already working on that with a certain someone.




Yes, I can mark them myself. If these AK-12 specific receivers work out they should come with them already.

I can get blanks no problem. Green Mountain has quite a few ready to go 5.45 blanks and can make different blanks based on your needs. I tried to get some hammer-forged blanks but they wanted a minimum order of 200 pieces which is outside the scope of my interest unless I had a CNC lathe. There's someone working on AK-12 specific barrels but they have other runs of different barrels to fulfill first before they'll start it. With those, they will only come in the white or nitrided. My ultimate goal with my build is to get a chrome-lined hammer-forged blank purely for the "correctness" of the build.

That's great, thanks for the info! Not that my wallet needs that kind of encouragement to collect parts...

With AK-12 barrels and receivers potentially coming, I definitely need to save up to get a kit. I just set up my 20 ton press in my storage unit so I can build AKs again. Unfortunately my truck outlet can't run a drill press and there is no power cord by the unit. That might be a trickier problem to solve.

Want to see pics of front and rear trunnions.

So buy a kit.



Just playing. I haven't received the rear trunnion yet. I just received the front trunnion today. Updated the OP.

Maybe a small generator??

Man I have had my eye on one of those kits.  Your making it hard not to drop the coin and take the ride of "will customs seize it".  

Thanks for the updated photos. I'm guessing the cut locking lugs and junction block are what they mean in the product description where it says, "The front trunnion is a bit cut but it`s easy to fix..." I see that they mention this: "Ak12 full parts kits: Included everything except a barrel and magazine (front trunnion is intact) – $1990 shipped." I'm not sure what other parts are included in the full kit or if it's just the intact front trunnion for an additional $500 (or $800 if you consider the current sale price). That must mean that it's more common for those cuts to be made on the trunnion during the demilling process, so the intact front trunnions are rare (or they have to pay extra to get them).

With the complete kit you get an intact front trunnion, bolt carrier, and intact bolt. I looked at the offerings from Kalashnikov Concern and it appears they offer three options:

1) Decommissioned AK-12, which is what these kits with the destroyed front trunnion are made from. These don't require any licensing, so they're simple to get.

2) AK-12 that's only meant to fire blanks. I believe these are what they use to make the complete kits. These also don't require licensing, but they cost more from the factory.

3) TR-3 which is an actual semi-auto AK-12 made by Izhmash. It requires licensing and is highly regulated.

I used too a long long time ago. Back when CampyBob, Jeep Creep and the like patrolled these forums.....

I wish I had the time to build my own AK. I barely have time to shoot these days