Ak47 "kits"

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  • cherrick

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    Apr 6, 2009
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    I see several AK47 kits for sale on the gun auction sites. Are these the real deal? What are the gotchas and negatives? For an inexperienced gun assembler, to get some help building the gun, is a kit a feasible way to go? Thoughts, please?
    Military Camp
     

    poolingmyignorance

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    May 30, 2011
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    Unless they include the barrel even after having all the tools it's still not much of a savings anymore since the ATF changed demill standard to chop barrels too.
     

    DarbyFett

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    May 27, 2009
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    Tyler
    A good deal if you can find a build party. That is how I built my(now traded) AK47. Good group of guys with a shop and all the tools. This was back when the original barrels came with it. Now if they include the US made barrels, I believe there is more work that needs to be done, plus they come in the white. I was able to build a Romy G in the style of a polish underfolder for around $250 Hard to get a deal like that now.
     

    Acera

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    Drop a PM to member 'Jakashh', he will give you some good advice on his adventures into building them.

    They are very different, and much more complex than from simply assembling an AR.
     

    TX0303

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    The negative is they are way overpriced compared to last year. Those $500 Romy G kits were $100 not long ago. If you have a build party though, still cheaper than a new one.
    In case you don't know, you have to spend a few hundred more on a new receiver and the other required 922r parts.
     

    Leper

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    Jim up at JBI in Denton does builds, or at least he used to. Like said, you still need the receiver and barrel.
     

    Gilgondorin

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    Apr 21, 2012
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    You'll need a 20-ton shop press to do most of the building, which is $140 if you can find it on sale. If you intend on building your own receiver, tack on another $400 in bending jigs, rivet jigs, and practice flats. If you don't have the luck of buying a kit with its original barrel.... Tack on another $150 in materials to fit/finish the (sub-par quality) barrel yourself, plus the hours of work of trying to get the head-spacing right to work with the rest of the build.

    And if you bend your own flat, you're going to have to have a good quality welder of some kind to weld the rails in place, along with a drill press/angle grinder to finish and mold the finer parts of the finished receiver if necessary. Finally, once you've got the receiver and barrel finished (or paid the out-of-pocket expense to hire someone to do it for you) and you've got everything more or less ready to go, you have to figure out a way (there are several, and all of them are hard for a first-timer) to heat-treat several crucial parts of the receiver so that it won't literally fall apart on you after your first magazine.

    The result is a rifle of comparable quality to a WASR-10 which, unless you're really handy, MIGHT be good for a 3" circle at 25 yards, with some considerable work to fix any FTF/FTE problems that might arise from an improperly drilled gas port. It's going to cost you over to $1,000 to get all the tooling and equipment to build your first AK of either kind, and probably more since the ATF has made it a lot harder to get good quality import kits (which are going for $500 themselves as someone mentioned already).
     

    Rentz

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    May 30, 2011
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    The kits sky rocketed. I saw some on Atlantic firearms for like 500 today.
    its a better deal like now to just buy an arsenal for 1100-1200 than to build one
     

    XinTX

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    Aug 29, 2010
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    Depends on where you are. If you can find a build party or someone with a lot of the tools, it's a way to learn a lot about how one goes together. If not, you'd have to invest a LOT of money in tooling and replacement parts (and things broken during the 'learning' process). You'd have to buy headspace gauges as well. It's more 'building' than 'assembling' (as with an AR 'build'). You'll have to do some riveting. Barrel needs to be pressed in with a shop press (10 ton is about the low limit on finding one that will do the job, most use 12 or 20 ton versions). The barrel needs to be headspaced, then the barrel pin hole drilled and reamed (using metric drills and reamers, which you won't find at Lowes or Home Depot). Barrel components need to be aligned and pressed in place, then drilled (with some metric drills that tend to break easily).

    It's not super complicated, but it's not easy. It's rewarding if you enjoy building something. If you want to 'save money' unless there's a builder near you with the press, fixtures, a drill press, and the headspace gauges, you'd be better served just paying the freight for one that's finished.
     

    cherrick

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    Thanks team, you guys are the smart ones. I'll look for a complete unit. I was really just trying to save buck$$.
     

    country_boy

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    You'll need a 20-ton shop press to do most of the building, which is $140 if you can find it on sale. If you intend on building your own receiver, tack on another $400 in bending jigs, rivet jigs, and practice flats. If you don't have the luck of buying a kit with its original barrel.... Tack on another $150 in materials to fit/finish the (sub-par quality) barrel yourself, plus the hours of work of trying to get the head-spacing right to work with the rest of the build.

    And if you bend your own flat, you're going to have to have a good quality welder of some kind to weld the rails in place, along with a drill press/angle grinder to finish and mold the finer parts of the finished receiver if necessary. Finally, once you've got the receiver and barrel finished (or paid the out-of-pocket expense to hire someone to do it for you) and you've got everything more or less ready to go, you have to figure out a way (there are several, and all of them are hard for a first-timer) to heat-treat several crucial parts of the receiver so that it won't literally fall apart on you after your first magazine.

    The result is a rifle of comparable quality to a WASR-10 which, unless you're really handy, MIGHT be good for a 3" circle at 25 yards, with some considerable work to fix any FTF/FTE problems that might arise from an improperly drilled gas port. It's going to cost you over to $1,000 to get all the tooling and equipment to build your first AK of either kind, and probably more since the ATF has made it a lot harder to get good quality import kits (which are going for $500 themselves as someone mentioned already).



    I respectfully disagree with this information! Ive built 6 rifles and counting all shoot and function great! Its not going to cost $1000 for tooling. Lots of it can be bought used and or made. Dont need a high quality welder... again why spend that amount of money? Unless you already have a welder. The HF spot welder works great. Headspacing isnt hard, in fact its easy. Building from a flat is easy, I have sources that can fully heat treat the receiver so thats not an issue.

    My wasr shoots great for an ak. An ak is a pheasant rifle with loose tolerates designed to hit a target. Its not a bolt action bench rest rifle or even a ar 15. Its really hard to mess up an ak.

    All in all for the guy asking the question buy a saiga and convert it.

    I can help answer any ak questions tooling questions,, etc let me know!
     
    Last edited:

    Acera

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    An ak is a pheasant rifle with loose tolerates designed to hit a target.

    Wow, It never ceases to amaze me the versatility of an AK. I have one, but never thought to use it as a pheasant rifle. (I guess that's legal someplace.)Thanks.

    images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTBBG-jBewFn6L5AWzIdD1VnMKHMKxdL70SsCrP7llGL4DeNADOdg.jpg





    lol.gif
     
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    XinTX

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    I've never shot pheasant, so I wouldn't know about that.

    But it is true you don't need $1000 worth of tooling. But for a first time builder it could be intimidating. If you can find a local 'build party', it can be a lot of fun. It's not that difficult if you have access to a press and a few fixtures.

    But if my only objective was to 'save money', I'm not sure building is worth it. Given the panic of late, parts kits are becoming more expensive. Barrels have been hit or miss as far as supplies go. If you love to tinker and learn how things work, love working with your hands, building is quite rewarding.
     

    h2xmark

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    Feb 24, 2013
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    Beaumont
    Ic you can get a deal on a kit but it they will only go up in price. I always used a nodak receiver on builds as they are heat
    treated and have the rails ready to go. Kits can be fun, just take your time on the build
     
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