[hydrilla]

It's not quite done but close. I need to widen the mag well a little bit, the magazine fits but it's way too tight and it won't cycle cleanly with the magazine in. Little stuff I'm sure. I'm pleased with how it's turned out so far. Everything feels real good and goes together well. I'll post progress here when I complete and test fire, and when I apply whatever finish I decide on. Not to mention switching to whatever furniture I decide on, the Romy stuff isn't staying on.

Note: the magazine isn't in all the way in the pic, because like I said I need to do a little work so it's not so tight.

 

[mechdriver]

Link doesn't work for me.

 

[hydrilla]

Figures, worked last night but now it doesn't. I hate webshots, normally use photobucket but they were down last night, the photo sites took a beating because of the inauguration. I'll repost it after a while.

EDIT: Link fixed in original post, photobucket is back up this morning. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[mechdriver]

Looks good.
What kind of finish do you have planned?
How does it shoot?

 

[hydrilla]

1) Don't know yet, open to suggestions on what finish to use

2) Don't know yet, it still needs a little tweaking (mag well mostly).

 

[Blue]

Looks good so far..
I've done 2 so far from kits..
What did you end up using for US parts (other than the receiver, lol)
I've never been a fan of the Romy furniture myself.
Can't wait to see it finished

 

[hydrilla]

Thanks, I appreciate it a lot. I ended up using the Tapco FCG, pistol grip, and flash hider as my additional compliance parts.

 

[Blue]

Thanks, I appreciate it a lot. I ended up using the Tapco FCG, pistol grip, and flash hider as my additional compliance parts.

Like I said, looking great, but please
go ahead and get yourself a US stock, or forend
You're 1 US part short right now of being compliant..
5 parts would clear you with no muzzle device, but you have one, so you need 6 parts..

A stamped receiver AK usually has the following parts :

1. Muzzle device
2. Barrel
3. Gas piston
4. Handguards
5. Trunion (this is the front trunion, the rear trunion does not count)
6. Bolt carrier
7. Bolt
8. Receiver
9. Pistol grip
10. Buttstock
11. Hammer
12. Sear
13. Trigger
14. Magazine body
15. Mag. Floorplate
16. Mag. follower

That makes 16 evil parts - so you have to replace or get rid of 6 of these.
The law against evil ensures that no foreign (read:evil ) firearm may have more than ten evil parts.

Just want to keep you safe man

:wink:

 

[GOVT1911]

Looks good! Duracoat is a great finish, but pay attention to the prep and take you time. Hell, I have a build I got from a buddy that's just sprayed in krylon and it works for me.

 

[hydrilla]

Hmm, I thought my 6 were- receiver, FCG (3), US flash hider and pistol grip. Is that incorrect? Not arguing, just trying to clarify. I will replace all the furniture anyway, before I do anything but test fire. Thanks.

 

[mechdriver]

Your right. You have the magic six already on there.

 

[hydrilla]

Thanks, I'm sure I wasn't clear about the flash hider being US made.

 

[mechdriver]

FYI

http://thegunwiki.com/Gunwiki/BuildAkVerifyCompliance

active worksheet for compliance checking.

 

[Blue]

Hmm, I thought my 6 were- receiver, FCG (3), US flash hider and pistol grip. Is that incorrect? Not arguing, just trying to clarify. I will replace all the furniture anyway, before I do anything but test fire. Thanks.

Lol, I forgot about the receiver :lol:

Sorry about that, just trying to keep you out of trouble..

Now go get some color on that thing :wink:

 

[NCshooter26]

Looks good so far. Did you get the FCG holes and ejector heat treated? If not, make sure you do that before you try to fire it any more. As for the magazine fitting, if it is too tight side to side, you can remove some of the metal from the sides of the mag well on the receiver. If it's too tight front to back, you can remove metal from the rear of the magwell.

As far as it not cycling completely, my vote is that the ejector is most likely too long. Or it could be that you need to trim a little more material from where the bolt carrier rides on the rails of the receiver. The easiest way to check is to remove the bolt, reinstall the carrier and recoil spring, and work by hand.

 

[hydrilla]

Bingo, what you are saying is what I think it is, although I haven't worked on it yet. Front to back tight, and I do believe the ejector is too long. I was cautious about cutting it back, because of course you don't want to shorten it too much.

FCG holes and ejector are all heat treated, yep.

Looks good so far. Did you get the FCG holes and ejector heat treated? If not, make sure you do that before you try to fire it any more. As for the magazine fitting, if it is too tight side to side, you can remove some of the metal from the sides of the mag well on the receiver. If it's too tight front to back, you can remove metal from the rear of the magwell.

As far as it not cycling completely, my vote is that the ejector is most likely too long. Or it could be that you need to trim a little more material from where the bolt carrier rides on the rails of the receiver. The easiest way to check is to remove the bolt, reinstall the carrier and recoil spring, and work by hand.

 

[hydrilla]

Progress...

I made some more progress, the learning continues. Here's my latest pic. I'm staying with the Romy wood. I cut the handle off the front grip, and spent a little time with a rasp and some 80 grit sandpaper. It needs some more work but I think it will look good. When I strip and refinish this furniture, I think I'll be happy with it.

Here's what else I worked on tonight, if the resident experts don't mind, please read this and post your advice. I shaved the sides of the magazine well, and it was no longer tight there, but it was still very tight front to back. Since there's not really anything to trim in the front, I shaved a little bit from the rear of the mag well, which also means I have to shave a tiny bit off the front of the trigger guard frame. I was reluctant to do much of that. However I did enough that now the magazine does go in somewhat easier. It's still too tight in my opinion, so maybe someone can tell me what else I should do. It almost seems like trimming a little more off the rear of the mag well would be the thing, but I'm concerned about the trigger guard frame and maybe even the mag catch.

With the magazine in, the bolt still wouldn't cycle, but after trimming a little off the ejector, it started working. I still feel it grab a little bit as it passes the ejector, but not bad. Without having seen to many of these, I'm scared of trimming too much off the ejector.

I also loaded a few rounds, went outside and tried to cycle the rifle loaded. It failed to load, the bolt went forward and stopped with the round tipped up to the chamber. The shell casing has a long deep scratch down the side, could it be that the ejector is still too long?

**EDIT: I think I figured out the problem. The rail on the opposite side of the ejector that you spot weld, the one shaped like a "U", when I trimmed the lower rail closest to the dimple, the magazine went in much easier (but still fits well with no wobble) and is easier to take out. I was able to chamber a couple of rounds without malfunction, and then I had several that did malfunction. I'm thinking that I need to trim that rail a little bit more yet.

 

[GOVT1911]

Looking good! Thanks for the update. Sorry I don't have anything constructive to post, but I am happy to see you getting it closer to running.

 

[hydrilla]

Thanks man, I appreciate it. It's been a lot of fun so far 8)

OK now I'm going to hold off on making any more tweaks until I hear from some experts. Here's what's going on now.

I trimmed the rail I mentioned above, and the ammo still isn't feeding right. This might be useful info- the first round (left side of mag) chambers about 60% of the time, maybe a little more. The second round (right side of mag) never chambers. On the ones that don't feed, and even some extent the ones that do feed, the shell casings are pretty marred up and were even dented a couple times.

Oh, the one that does chamber, it ejects very cleanly.

 

[NCshooter26]

hydrilla, it looks like you are making some good progress, and learning as you do it. I forgot to mention the magazine stabalizer, it does need to be trimmed, as just about every one I've ever seen on a Tapco flat with Tapco rails are too long. Also, remember to check to see how it cycles without the bolt installed in the carrier, and it should give you an idea if it is only the ejector that is causing the bolt/carrier to drag.

Once you've eliminated all other causes of dragging, reinstall the bolt into the carrier, leave the dust cover off, but install the recoil spring. Cycle the rifle by hand, while looking through the magazine well. Watch for the ejector pushing the bolt carrier to the side. If it does, then you'll need to trim your ejector a bit more, just be careful not to take too much off.