First Maadi Kit Arrived Today

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After consulting with Fintoid on Saturday night, I decided to pull the trigger on one of these kits while they are still around. I am very pleased with the condition of everything. There do not appear to be any missing or damaged parts. The numbers seem to match on everything except the trunnion.

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After ordering this one, and seeing that this vendor quickly sold out, I decided to invest in a second kit from another supplier that had them for $20 cheaper. Hopefully I'll have that kit in a day or two to compare.

This kit did not come with a magazine, but I understand that the second kit might.
 
The numbers seem to match on everything except the trunnion.

are you sure about that?

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Your kit does match. And it's a very fine example of what these rifles used to be- Egyptian export crutch folders. Which is why the rear sight leaf is European marked (numbers with a "P") and the other parts are Euro numbers as well. These rifles came on receivers marked S A R for the fire control group and had english caliber designation on the side of the front sight block.

What many people fail to understand is that the Arabic chicken scratch typically found on the side of Egyptian rear sight blocks is that it, too, is caliber designation. Unless it's a pharoh's head ****ing a snake, it's an export model. And the pharoh's head ****ing a snake on the side of Maadi import rifles were meant for US shores. The ones found in parts kits are either US demilled rifles, or PLO kits.

If your rifle had a blondie lower hand guard, you'd have a shining example of a Maadi Import rifle. Your other kit probably will have one. Either way- it's a great kit.


I ended up taking the plunge, too. Bought one from Arms of America, and paid an extra $50 on top of the $220 price point for an arabic front trunnion and a arabic rear sight leaf (some exports came with these, which I find ****ing cool). It also came with a egyptian bayonet, oiler, and a Serbian or Croatian mag pouch. I also bought the $9 maadi sling just for the shits of it, since I was already dropping cash. And a Romanian hammer forged barrel.

once 74ullc decides to invest in the tooling, hopefully he'll be making egyptian replica receivers with the "long" mag dimple and S A R markings. When that happens, I'll be buying and building. Until then, I'll just finger **** a Arabic parts kit. Who knows- maybe all of that turmoil over there will shut off imports from them for good. Might turn into one of those evil empire people like Russia and China one day.


But very nice kit. Very nice. I'll post pictures when mine shows up. Be sure to share your other kit, too. Remember- crutch folding stocks were going for $250 just a month ago before these kits hit the the vendors. You basically got a discounted crutch folder with a free parts kit [smile]
 
My second kit came yesterday. It looks identical to the first kit.

Maadi 2 001.jpgMaadi 2 002.jpgMaadi 2 004.jpg

Both kits look like they were packed by the same person. Identical checklist, bag, oil, etc... My first kit came from a company with initials K.S. and my second kit was from a company that rhymes with a pickle brand.

I removed all of the rivets from the first kit, and have started fitting it to one of the $19.95 Polish receiver blanks from K.S. I'm using that as practice, since I haven't built one of these yet. It will take me a while, because I need to borrow a welder and press from a couple of buddies.

The second kit is back in the bag for long term storage. I ordered a Romanian barrel that hasn't come yet, and also a US barrel so I can build something that is 922r compliant while using this furniture. I'm not quite sure how to use the crutch stock on a MA build...

Thanks again for your help.
 
looking good, my friend. Both of your handguard sets look nice. The third is even more blonde- I love that for some odd reason. It shows you the level of detail that the Egyptians went to in order to copy their target rifle- the German MPiKMs. The germans had "two tone" handguards and they looked pretty snappy- mostly because they used two different wood types for the upper and lower. The crutch folding stocks are almost identical copies, too. But being stupid Sand People, the Egyptians used extra effort to get it to match, anyways.

The second kit is back in the bag for long term storage. I ordered a Romanian barrel that hasn't come yet, and also a US barrel so I can build something that is 922r compliant while using this furniture. I'm not quite sure how to use the crutch stock on a MA build...

Thanks again for your help.

I have never played with a crutch folder yet, but if it's similar to my Romanian side folder, there are ways to stack a spacer or pin the internal locking mechanism so that the button doesn't depress anymore. You can do it permanently, or do it in a way where it requires a butt load of tools to re-activate the movement of it. But where there's a will, there's a way. If anything, you can put a weld tack on the rotating internals to lock it to the trunnion mounting part of the folder.

And excellent choice on the barrel. I do have nothing against the US made barrels, but you can't beat the durability of a hammer forged barrel for a AK.

922r parts - trigger group, gas piston, and a magazine follower (if you don't get bothered by doing that to a preban mag). Muzzle brakes are benign, as well. They just get shot up anyways.
 
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This is how far I've gotten dicking around with this Polish receiver blank. I can't go any further until I can get the rails welded in. Hopefully I can arrange that for next weekend.

The barrel laying next to it is a US barrel from Cope's. It doesn't actually say 'US' on it anywhere, so I wonder if it flies as a compliant part. I am still waiting for my Romanian barrel to arrive, along with my rivet sets, Tapco trigger groups, etc...
 
it'll count. No need to worry. No foreign country makes chromoly steel barrels except for the US because it's cheaper to make that way without capital in machinery.

those polish blanks look really nice. I'm half tempted to pick one up for myself sometime. Nice chicken foot stamp along with the double X's. And that magazine dimple screams Radom. Very cool.
 
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It's kinda funny, in my buying frenzy I accidentally bought a 5.45x39 receiver blank from Cope's and they shipped it before I could stop them. When I hold it up next to this one, the only difference I see is that extra Y stamp. Every other dimension seems to be exactly the same.
 
today, I finally joined the Egyptian club. I received my Arms of America Egyptian kit that I paid an additional $50 total for "hand select" (the first $30 was for the Arabic trunnion, then another $20 extortion fee for a Arabic sight leaf... and I also kindly asked for a blonde lower handguard because I want that authentic "copy cat" look that the Egyptians strived for)

got a 1995 dated kit with arabic markings on the trunnion and sight leaf. All parts match: bolt, carrier, front trunnion, top cover, and the recoil spring assembly. The spring was electropenciled while the rest of the kit was stamped European (besides the Arabic electro-penciled trunnion).

Blonde lower handguard, black with a hint of blue pistol grip, dark brown stained gas tube wood.

And the kit was mint. No marks from demilling, no over drilled pin holes, and it is unfired, and the bolt and trunnion lugs are not messed up like some people are seeing. It's got all the classic "export for making war model" features like the blonde lower handguard, non-lightening cut milled gas return block, and the deep square hole cast FSB. Quirky- just like the Egyptians made all the parts.

Packing slip in Croatian matches the numbers on the kit. I ordered a maadi sling and a romanian barrel with this kit- got a barrel that isn't swallowed by the front trunnion (thank god) and the kit came, by luck of the draw, an egyptian green mag pouch. The bayonet, although egyptian, is the only thing "mismatching" as it is brown instead of black. LOL

The crutch folder also locks up properly, nice and tight.

Finally, another win for flintoid on the AK parts collecting frontier. I did pay a $50 premium, but god damn now I don't have to screw around hunting out missing parts (or replacements for messed up parts), or horse trade for matching serial numbers from other schmucks.

Away it goes into the closet with my other kits until an egyptian replica receiver is manufactured, ordered, and custom serialized to the kit. This one will be built right (sober) along with my Tula AKM and Tula AKSU.
 
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Just received, my MADDI kit, looks like its brandy new and unissued. Excellant demilling with no scratches anywhere, rivets still in the holes though. It's a 1996 vintage, best part the bolt cover bluing is near perfect. I am building it on one of the polish receivers and using a new US barrel from Brownells. I'll post pics when its done! This is my 4th AK and third build, do I have a problem yet?
 
Nope. But I am sure your wife might beg to differ.

I know mine does. She saw the box and said "I thought this was supposed to be ammo?" Nope... I figured shooting could wait a little for this kit to be realized.
 
Hah! Thats why I don't have a wife!! well not really why but still a good reason not to get another one! When I was married my wife thought I only had 2 guns. Everytime she caught me with what she thought was a new one I would tell her no this is just the "other" one.
 
Hah! Thats why I don't have a wife!! well not really why but still a good reason not to get another one! When I was married my wife thought I only had 2 guns. Everytime she caught me with what she thought was a new one I would tell her no this is just the "other" one.

genius.
 
I'm expecting a couple of Southern Armament receivers to show up at B&K any day now. I plan on building mine in the next couple of months.
 
Sorry for butting in, but I got my Maadi kit the other day from AofA and the rear sight block doesn't match my kit. Everything is 339, but the block is 87, but marked in a much different way. Is this normal practice? I got a Romanian Chrome barrel and nodak spud receiver(twisty). Any word on the twisty? Any help would be great. Thanks!


 
A twisty was a nodak spud receiver that I bought for cheaper. They said it was just slightly off, but would be okay when the trunnion is in.
 
I finally got my receivers from Southern Armament. They look pretty good. A little surface rust, as they say on their website, but they are a hell of a lot better than the abortions I tried to make from the Polish blanks.

I also got my 12 ton press in the mail today - one day after I decided to try assembling a barrel with a mallet and a piece of pipe. I have the first barrel pretty close. I need to check headspace before I finalize all of the positions and pin everything. I haven't pressed on the FSB yet, waiting until I am sure the gas block is perfect.

I expect to be dicking around with this for quite a while before committing to anything permanent.

My inclination is to leave the receivers as-is. I think they will look pretty cool. If anything, I might spray one with BBQ paint after they are both built.

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drill and pin anything yet? Did you drill the gas return port? There are ways of doing this with a hand drill and the right sized bit through the gas return block. I just highly suggest getting a wood dowel for your barrel bore when you do it- because when you punch through, it's going to want to fly into the bore or chrome lining if your barrel is chromed. Either way, you want something in there to "catch it."
 
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