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Posted: 7/6/2025 4:13:29 PM EDT
| School me on 1st AK. How much of a job is a bbl. swap? Is there any difference between replacing the bbl on forged vs stamped recvr? |
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Why are you worried about changing the barrel? To directly answer your question, it’s quite involved. Push out the barrel pin, push out the barrel, push out all component pins, push off each component. Then push the new barrel in. Depending on what barrel you get, it may have the handguard retainer cut done already. Be sure to get that level. Set the headspace, pressing back and forth. Drill, ream, and pin. Now you can repopulate the barrel, pushing each component on, drilling and pinning. It sounds real easy just saying it, but when you don’t get it perfectly lined up you may push each on and off several times. Then you’re drilling the small pin holes and doing that without breaking a bit while actually getting straight holes, not too big or small. But don’t drill and pin the FSB right away. Press it, but test fire and see if it’s real close to zero. If you’re having to drift the sight really far, better to push it off and back on at a different angle. But before you can do that, you have to drill the gas port. Fun angle to do that. Really don’t want to break a bit there. So yeah, there’s a bit involved. Again though, the real question is why do you think you need to? The first AK I built actually had the original barrel. Yugos didn’t chrome line. With some trench art, it could’ve been used in the Balkan war. No way to know round count and it’s still fine. Oh and yes there’s a bit of a difference between milled receiver and stamped. The milled will be threaded and the barrel screws in. Stamped the trunnion is the milled part; it’s riveted to the receiver and you push the barrel in. ETA: when I say “push” I mean use a shop press. 10 ton is fine. |
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