DIY Romanian AKM

[Big Blue]

Every now and then I pick up the Shotgun News to see what milsurps are available. Well any of you have read it know how many ads there are for AK parts sets. I decided to look into it for myself and was astonished to find out you can legally build your own rifles. I found a guy selling Romanian AKM sets for $109 in excellent condition with all matching parts. After looking into it, I found out that you can only use 10 imported parts when building one of these, so I sent for the required 6 U.S. made parts. The AK has 16 parts according to the BATFE. It doesn't matter which parts you use, or buy, as long as you only end up with the 10 imported parts. So, I bought a 100% receiver, trigger set, pistol grip, and a new gas piston. There are basically two ways to build these, one is to use rivets like the original uses, and the other to use machine screws. Both have their own ups and downs. I decided on the screw build. All I can say is that if you have any interest in these guns at all, go for it. It was much easier than I thought it would be, and a lot of fun to tinker with. The best part is that you end up with a neat rifle that you built yourself, all for around $200. If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask. I'm no expert, but having just done one of these I know what needs doing and how it's done.
Don

[RedRyder21]

My biggest worry is getting the barrel on and off without having to take it to a professional to do it who will charge me money for it.

[Big Blue]

RedRyder21,
I used the big hammer method to remove the barrel. I know it sounds a bit neanderthal, but it worked well. I sat the cloth wrapped barrel loosely in a vise, with the front trunion against the side of the vise to brace it. I used a few copper pennies to protect the chamber end of the barrel, a long bolt against the pennies, and a few good smacks with the hammer against the end of the long bolt. It came out a lot easier than I thought it would.
To reinstall the barrel, I picked up a $1.79 2 foot piece of threaded rod. I put tape on the threads in the middle to protect the bore, and ran the rod through the bore, and the front trunion. A couple of washers and nuts on each end, and all you have to do is tighten the nuts to draw the barrel and trunion together. I used anti-seize on the barrel and inside the trunion, to make it easier for them to slide together.
The worst problems I encountered were, getting the barrel pin back in, I tried to press it in using my vise, and I acually broke the vise. Admittedly it was a cheap Chinese vise. The hammer and punch method worked better. The other problem I had was putting the hammer and trigger group in. Having bought this rifle as a kit, I had never seen the trigger group together. I eventually figured it out, but it would have been a lot easier if I could have had one to look at that was still together.
Don