Any AK builders out there?

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I've done a search for any AK build threads in this forum, and came up empty. So, here it is... [grin]

Motiviated by the looming prospect of H.R. 1022, 8 years of Obama, and future MA bans, I've finally started down the road of assembling the AKM (sorry, I mean, "Mass-compliant Kalashikov-style semi-automatic sporting rifle") kits that I've accumulated over recent years.

So far, I've bent some flats, and will be visiting a buddy next week to avail myself of his spot welder & tack on the rails. After that, I'll start into the process of drilling out the trunnions and trigger guard, drilling the receiver holes, riveting & screwing the receiver to the trunnions, and cobbling the rest of the parts into a hybrid US/Romanian frankenrifle. The first build will be a combination of rivets and u-drive screws (as I don't want to bother with pressing out the barrel pin and barrel right now). I'll probably try parkerizing the end result, which should give it a suitably ugly finish [smile]

How about y'all -- anyone completed any AK builds and have advice for a newbie like me? Or anyone else in the same boat -- you have kits but never got started assembling them?

While I don't have access to all the necessary gear for a proper build party (I'm lacking a spot welder and a drill press or milling machine), I do have a shop press and bending jig for stamping AKM receivers... if anyone is in the area & needs help getting started with their flats, I'll be glad to give you a hand.

Happy building!
Chris
 
Here's what the first steps in a build look like:

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Hey Chris,

I've built up a couple from Romy G kits. I applaud your bravery in building up from a flat. I "cheated" and used a 100% receiver from NoDak Spud (NDS-1's).

Surprisingly, the barrel pins and barrels came out with relatively little trouble. The kits I built from were unfired, so that may have helped. I was able to push them out using a regular old punch and hammer, didn't even use the press.

The front trunions were relatively easy to deal with, as the rivets pop right out once drilled. I wrestled with the rears for quite a while though. There is absolutely no way those rivets were coming out without drilling all the way through. The trick there is to keep the hole centered and not wander too close to the side of the hole in the trunion. When that happens, the hardened steel snaps your drill bit like a twig... (ask me how i know).

I did full rivet builds using modified bolt cutters and air chisels. The bolt cutters took a while of trial and error to reach all the rivets in the front trunions... but once you get them right, the next build flies. I made a bucking bar with a rivet dimple out of some 1/4" steel and used a ground up air chisel and air hammer to flatten the trigger guard rivets. Was just a matter of grinding the chisel flat at the end, and along the sides so that it would clear the rails and cross pin. I used a modified air chisel with a dimple cut in the end to form the rear thru rivets. Just took it slow with many light taps of a hammer to start the rivet forming. They came out pretty decent for a beginner.

Sandblasted and coated the whole works with black MolyResin and that's about it. The biggest issue i ran into was for some reason the top receiver rails bowed in a bit after baking the resin on. I had to ease the rails a bit with a file so the bolt carrier would slide smoothly without binding at all...

Good luck with your build!! Looking forward to seeing the progress :)

-Matt
 
I've wanted to build one of my own from scratch. I just don't have any of the tools to build it with. I've also seen the 80% receivers on Gunbroker and thought about maybe buying one of them since that takes a tool or two out of the equation. I'd find someway to make the thing.....eventually.
 
If you don't mind, a question-> from the pic of your bent flat......does not look like you did the heat treat yet using the MAP gas torch.??...don't forget to do that.

Thanks for the pic... now I'm even more motivated to get going! That's a nice Krinkov! I knew I should have bought a kit back when they were affordable, but I didn't want to have to deal with the SBR. Now that I see what a Krink pistol can look like, I'll have to keep my eyes open for a kit.

I haven't heat-treated anything yet. This weekend I'll be doing a mini-build-party with my buddy out of state... not sure how far we'll get, but my goal for the weekend will be to get the receivers & rails welded, everything heat-treated, the trunnions installed, and the upper rails trimmed.

Thank you for the links -- I've been reading AKFiles and Pookie's site, but haven't seen the other... I'll give it a read.
 
I've built up a couple from Romy G kits. I applaud your bravery in building up from a flat. I "cheated" and used a 100% receiver from NoDak Spud (NDS-1's).
I'd come close to buying a 100% receiver a couple of years back (when I was buying the kits), but decided that it wasn't cost-effective if I was going to build more than one. Two years later, I still haven't built any, and am thinking I would have been better off just buying one kit and one receiver. You made the wiser choice [grin]

Surprisingly, the barrel pins and barrels came out with relatively little trouble. The kits I built from were unfired, so that may have helped. I was able to push them out using a regular old punch and hammer, didn't even use the press.
Wow - you'd lucked out on that one. On my Romy G's bbl pin, I tried hammering, then my vice, and finally bought a 6-ton press. When the press broke the hardened steel bit I was using as a punch, I gave up. I'll probably try a full rivet build on a later kit, but for this one, the original pin is staying put.

There is absolutely no way those rivets were coming out without drilling all the way through. The trick there is to keep the hole centered and not wander too close to the side of the hole in the trunion. When that happens, the hardened steel snaps your drill bit like a twig... (ask me how i know).
I'll keep that in mind and buy extra bits [smile]

Thank you for the tips - I'm planning on modifying a bolt cutter, but hadn't considered the air chisel. When I'm ready to start riveting, I may ask you for more details, if you don't mind!

Good luck with your build!! Looking forward to seeing the progress :)
Thanks - hopefully will have more pics to share soon. Of course, now I'm stuck, publicizing my first attempt... I'd better do a good job [smile]
 
I've wanted to build one of my own from scratch. I just don't have any of the tools to build it with. I've also seen the 80% receivers on Gunbroker and thought about maybe buying one of them since that takes a tool or two out of the equation. I'd find someway to make the thing.....eventually.

I've looked at a couple of 80% receivers, and I'm not sure which way is easier to build. The 80% ones are pre-bent, but you'll have more drilling and cutting to do. The flats are will have less trimming... you have to bend them, but that's really only about a 15 minute job with the bending jig. The flats are also a lot cheaper than the 80% receivers that I'd looked at, but the prices may have gone down since then.
 
Two AK builds (1 Romy "G" and 1 Polish PKMKS), both on NODAK receivers.

As is most often the case... pressing out the barrel pin without a press is about as frustrating and futile as squeezing a cyst.

I tried the maul and punch method (along with Kroil, sticking it in the freezer), no dice. The pin wouldn't even budge and I only ended up peening one of them. [hmmm]

Eventually I sent both barrels/trunnions to someone else to press out the pins and barrels (for something like $20.00 each including return shipping).

I've read a few other suggestions including using an impact hammer with a hardened steel pin, and one builder that used a Ramset (attempt at your own peril).

Surprisingly... drilling out the rear trunnion rivets went without a hitch. Just lucky I guess.

For my riveter I used a snow chain repair tool that I bought at a yard sale.
http://tirechain.com/tirechain-pliars-large.htm

I ground it down a bit and made my "dimpling" jig out of 1/4" bar stock.

For installing the barrel back in the trunnion, I used the all thread method.

Good luck on your build.

Looks like you're off to a good start.
 
Two AK builds (1 Romy "G" and 1 Polish PKMKS), both on NODAK receivers.

Good luck on your build.

Looks like you're off to a good start.

Thank you! I'm off to a better start now, having (finally) stripped a kit, completed a receiver, and installed the trunnion. My screw build allows me to avoid the hassles of driving out the barrel pin and re-installing the barrel into the trunnion, but I will bookmark your link to the all-thread method, for a future rivet build.
 
I have been building AKs from flats for about 5 years. Previous to that (before flats became available) I built them from bent blanks.

I've posted some pics in the past.
http://northeastshooters.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=10801

another related thread
http://northeastshooters.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=13067

That Krink build is gorgeous! I fully expect my first Romy build to be even uglier when I'm done with it as it was the day it was constructed (and that's saying a lot). But after I get some practice, I have one Hungarian that I'm saving for last... with any luck, that will be one I'll actually be proud to show off.

I'll admit, though: after a couple of days hammering, dremeling, drilling, grinding, and griping, I think I would have been smarter to have just bought a nice Arsenal model and left the kit builds to the kids in the Khyber Pass. But then, I've always had an odd sense of "fun" [grin]
 
My screw build allows me to avoid the hassles of driving out the barrel pin and re-installing the barrel into the trunnion,

Assuming it headspaces correctly.
You do have access to a set of go/no-go gages, and will be checking the HS right?
 
Assuming it headspaces correctly.
You do have access to a set of go/no-go gages, and will be checking the HS right?

Thank you for the reminder... they've been on my "to buy" list, and I've just added them to my Brownell's cart.

I'm hoping that they'll headspace fine... I sure don't want to have to drill the u-drive screws back out and then proceed with a full rivet build. But yes, that's still far preferable to trying to shoot something that fails a headspace test.
 
A quick update:
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It's all together... operational, headspaced, safety-checked, and ready for a test fire at the range (will hopefully get that in early this week). The bolt carrier and magazine are both snug but functional... I'll probably need a bit more filing on the rails before I call it "done", at which time I'll stamp a serial # and apply some gunkote.

This project has definitely required more effort than I'd anticipated. Trimming the upper rails with my Dremel (which is now all but kaput) was by far the most time-consuming part, even using diamond cut-off wheels. Hopefully the next one will go quicker... and maybe I'll use it as an excuse to finally pick up a small milling machine [grin]
 
Looking good Chris!

There's nothing like the thrill of that first successful shot with a new build...

Half of it is pure joy that it actually goes *bang* - and the other half is relief that your face and hands are still intact haha.
 
Home Brewed AKs

I screw-built a Romy AKM (excuse me, a People's Republik compliant semi-auto sporting rifle with pinned-in-place no longer folding stock and tack-welded muzzle brake) two winters ago. I didn't bother pressing out the barrel pin. I just carefully drilled out the rivets and tapped the trunnions. I bent the receiver out of a Tapco flat using a jig that I made from some scrap steel. It took a lot longer to make the bending jig than it did to bend the flat! I flame-hardened the pinnion trunnion holes with a propane torch, sand blasted the receiver and painted it with high-heat ceramic paint. The darn thing shot the first time it went to the range! Only jammed once on the 3rd shot and has never jammed again. The whole project only cost me a tad over $200 including all the U.S.-made "compliance parts", not counting the magazine (which wasn't easy to get here in the Commonwaste). This coming winter I'll finish the pistol build of a Hungarian AMD-65. Since it's going to be a pistol, it won't need the US Compliance parts and I can re-work and re-use most of the original parts, except the trigger group parts. It will be another screw build. I like not having to press out the barrel from the trunnion and headspace it when putting it back on. The button head Torx srews look OK to me and seem to hold up OK.
 
Success! I just put about 50 rounds through it at the range without so much as a single jam, FTE, FTF, or FT anything. (Ok, failure to hit the target, but that's due more to my flinching with every shot, fully expecting it to self-destruct in my hands) [grin]

There's nothing like the thrill of that first successful shot with a new build...

Half of it is pure joy that it actually goes *bang* - and the other half is relief that your face and hands are still intact haha.

You ain't kidding! I had quite a surprise on my first round when the receiver cover flew up and hit me in the head. Turns out it's riding just a hair too high, and isn't fully latched. Easy to fix, but certainly gave me a quick adrenaline boost [smile]
 
I bent the receiver out of a Tapco flat using a jig that I made from some scrap steel. It took a lot longer to make the bending jig than it did to bend the flat!
Points to you, sir, for fabricating your own jig! I'd considered doing the same, but my lack of welding skills scared me off. I'm happy with the jig I'd bought from AKBuilder, and I figure that if I eventually sell it, it will have paid for the balance in the time it saved me.

I like not having to press out the barrel from the trunnion and headspace it when putting it back on.
Agreed 100%: after trying (and failing) to press out my Romanian barrel pin with a 6-ton press, I've given up on trying to remove any Romy bbls in the future. I do have one Hungarian kit which I may attempt a full rivet build on down the road.

I haven't seen any compelling evidence that a rivet build provides any practical increase in reliability over a screw build. Yes, the rivets are probably stronger, but then, I suspect that they're also overkill (especially for a semi-automatic sporting rifle).

The button head Torx srews look OK to me and seem to hold up OK.
I have some Torx screws on mine, and agree that they look just fine. For most of the mounting block screws, I'd used self-tapping "U Drive" screws, which are very easy to install, and look like rivets when seated flush to the receiver. They do have the downside of being permanently installed -- if I should need to rebuild for some reason, I'll have to drill them out.

Oh yeah - and I just noticed your post count, Lenny... welcome aboard!
 
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