Well i've owned quite a few firearms but i've  always wanted an AK. My problem is I am kind of a noob when it comes to varients and "kits". I have my eye on a bulgarian, chinese norinco, or russian if I can find them. What I am wondering is, can I get any ak -factory made-  not welded together some time ago in america from a kit. I dont care about furniture I will probably replace it with synthetic anyway I just want a gun that has all original parts(or simply  semiauto conversion parts put in) and full body on it (never been chopped in two). Are all factory made orignals fully automatic and there for illegal?



ps. sorry if this post has already been done i checked and didnt see anything.

wow n00bomatic here(with a few questions that make me think BATF plant). uhh well where do I start.....


the factory built guns have never been full auto.  while it is legal to just clip the autosear and sell it as a semi in Canada, it is not legal to do here.  a real Russian AK is going to be nigh on impossible to find, with the exception of a VEPR or a Saiga, however neither one of those come set up as "real" AKMs, the Saiga has a hunting rifle style stock and a goofy trigger to let you use it.  the VEPR has a slant cut reciever that makes it difficult to put normal furniture on.  however they are both great rifles and can be converted to "fully evil" spec.

the Chinese rifles are great, as are the Bulgarian and Hungarians.  the Romanians work fine but arent as nicely built as the others but the price reflects this and they are quite a bit cheaper.  the Egyptian Maadi is actually built on Soviet machinery and is as close to a real Soviet AKM as you can get.  they came with a really crappy finish but you can refinish an AK easily.  

anyway rifles that are built from parts kits have nothing wrong with them, if they are built by a good smith.  they are all built with brand new recievers(or body as you incorrectly called it) and have the correct number of USA made parts in it to make the jack booted thugs at the BATF(e) happy.  as for welded together rifles, you arent going to find those outside of a Hesse piece of crap build, the vast majority of builders build them correctly with rivets.

Well thank you for the reply though i'm not sure i understand everything you were trying to get across. Also I've heard some chinese, romanian and russian made AK's were built for semiauto only. Any information on where I can find these?

And how many rifles out there are from part kits and how many of them are all original. Where do i find the ones that have not been smithed back together.

I explained that

Quoted: Well thank you for the reply though i'm not sure i understand everything you were trying to get across. Also I've heard some chinese, romanian and russian made AK's were built for semiauto only. Any information on where I can find these? And how many rifles out there are from part kits and how many of them are all original. Where do i find the ones that have not been smithed back together.

Simply put if JoeKen - Vulcan - Hesse  pop up anywhere in description or websit name run like hell away.  Chinese will all be used, no new rifles for at least two years+.  Romanians are ugly but they work.  "Russian" rifles are parts (used) guns generally often not Russian parts thier is a reason thet "new" Russian builds only pop up at places like JoeKen.  Also be very leary of "in house builds".  


Some might rebut with positive experiences, but I would also reccomend avoiding Military Gun Supply and Centerfire Systems.  Their questionable rep however in all fairness pails by comparison to JoeKen/Vulcan.

Quoted: Well thank you for the reply though i'm not sure i understand everything you were trying to get across. Also I've heard some chinese, romanian and russian made AK's were built for semiauto only. Any information on where I can find these? And how many rifles out there are from part kits and how many of them are all original. Where do i find the ones that have not been smithed back together.

I have a "factory" Chinese Norinco AKM-47S that was imported prior to 1986, and therefore "pre-ban."  No NEW rifles with "evil" features can be imported, so that's why there is the "kit" market.  The builders (not really manufacturers as much as just builders) buy kits from overseas, and use US made parts to legally build a rifle.  These can have bayonet lugs, threaded barrels, flash hiders, pistol grips, etc...  

An Egyptian Maadi is an example of a factory rifle, as is a Romanian SAR, Chinese Norinco, Russian VEPR, Russian Saiga, Hungarian FEG, etc...  Armory USA imports a Bulgarian SSR85C-2 which I would consider to be "factory built" as well.  

I, however, prefer to buy "kit" rifles, since I can get them the way I want them!  Complete with underfolding stocks, threaded barrels, etc...

just to get one thing across "smithed back together" is not rewelding a cut receiver- that is illegal in the vast majority of cases.

they are built with brand new receivers

Good luck replacing funiture. The stocks are rivited in so unless you want to grind off the rivet heads, punch them out, install a new stock, press in new rivets with a 12 ton press and a riveting jig, then re-finish the whole thing and TRY to get it to match... good luck... It sucks. That's why I like my WWII eara arsenal, Easy to work on anything, including dropping in new stocks. AK's still have a soft place in my heart tho.

Quoted: Good luck replacing funiture. The stocks are rivited in so unless you want to grind off the rivet heads, punch them out, install a new stock, press in new rivets with a 12 ton press and a riveting jig, then re-finish the whole thing and TRY to get it to match... good luck... It sucks. That's why I like my WWII eara arsenal, Easy to work on anything, including dropping in new stocks. AK's still have a soft place in my heart tho.

thank you for info . i never know that replacing  funiture on AK can be that hard

...Most wooden stock on the AKM rifle are held in place by 2 screws...Took me 5 minutes to change it. The Top HandGuard takes longer, about 20 min. And, the bottom handguard took another 10 min.

Quoted: Good luck replacing funiture. The stocks are rivited in so unless you want to grind off the rivet heads, punch them out, install a new stock, press in new rivets with a 12 ton press and a riveting jig, then re-finish the whole thing and TRY to get it to match... good luck... It sucks. That's why I like my WWII eara arsenal, Easy to work on anything, including dropping in new stocks. AK's still have a soft place in my heart tho.

since when are the stocks riveted in?  put the crack pipe down

Quoted: Good luck replacing funiture. The stocks are rivited in so unless you want to grind off the rivet heads, punch them out, install a new stock, press in new rivets with a 12 ton press and a riveting jig, then re-finish the whole thing and TRY to get it to match... good luck... It sucks. That's why I like my WWII eara arsenal, Easy to work on anything, including dropping in new stocks. AK's still have a soft place in my heart tho.