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Posted: 12/23/2013 12:37:50 AM EDT
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... this is a highlight of how I did it.
I bought a HTA Kestrel 556 sight unseen, having never heard one. There were wildly mixed reviews on HTA products. Most of the negative comments were directed at their 762 model, and all the 556 owners seemed pretty happy. Then of course, there was the '74 adapter from HTA that never materialized. Luckily, there were two different third parties producing the required adapters. I bought one of each. I kept the one I preferred and passed the other along to a fellow AK enthusiast in need of one. I wanted to fit my adapter to my rifles. If you thread the adapter on all the way, then let go of the detent, you will end up with a small amount of wobble. To eliminate that, I sanded down the corresponding lug on the adapter to make sure I had a tight fit. The lugs press agains the FSB. I filed down two lugs; one for the Krink, and one for the Bulgy. I filed, for a while, then checked. Repeat till the detent barely clicks into place. This left my adapter locked up snug. 
The AK-74's I'm working with are kit builds, put together by me, in my Garage. The plum '74 is a Bulgy on a NDS receiver. The Tula Krink is on a 74ULLC receiver with a Blue Jack V5 barrel. Concentricity is always the big question with AKs. My theory is that 74's, with the threads on the FSB, are more likely to be concentric. The Ruskies had some long breaks, so they had to be at least a little bit close. Still, you need a way to check. Note that the end cap diameter on the Kestrel 556 is about .278", and the bore diameter is about .214" (depending on where and how you take it, I'm using regular calipers), so you do have some tolerance to work with. 1. Drill rod blank. I got these from McMaster for just a few bucks. I ordered three sizes about the diameter of the bore. They are supposedly accurate to within .005"/foot. Thats good enough. This is what I ordered: 88725K23Ultra-Machinable W1 Tool Steel, Rod, 0.2120" Diameter, 3' Long 1 88725K24Ultra-Machinable W1 Tool Steel, Rod, 0.2070" Diameter, 3' Long 1 8890K31 Ultra-Machinable W1 Tool Steel, Rod, 0.2187" Diameter, 3' Long 1 They were about $3.50 each. I tapered the ends to avoid scratching the bore, and threaded the can on. Then I stuck the rods down the bore till they hit the bolt The Krink came out dead center- 
The Bulgy '74 was a little off, but still not touching- 
2. Eyeball it. Thread the can on, remove the BCG of the rifle, hold a light at the breach, and look down the bore from the muzzle. You can see where the baffles line up and where the walls of the bore are. I was able to get a pretty good look and it gave me enough confidence to fire a bullet through the can I spent months waiting for. I have pretty good eyes, and it was easy for me to see that the bore was not going to guide the bullet into a baffle. 3. Automotive inspection mirror. This method is similar to method #2. I read about it on one of the forums. Here, you thread the can on and position a small mirror in the action of the rifle such that you can see down the barrel. If you see the end cap or baffles out past the muzzle, you have problems. If not, you're probably ok. I couldn't find a mirror small enough to fit in my receiver, so I skipped this method, but it should work. I have done this same process with my AR barrels, but without the mirror. So finally, the moment of truth. I got out to the range to see if all this prep work had paid off, or if I would blast a new hole in my brand new baffle stack. It turns out that everything lined up perfect! Both guns are a blast to shoot suppressed. The POI shit is really noticeable with the full size '74. That barrel is pretty thin, and the can is heavy. I also ran a few mags through the Krink without any muzzle device. This turns it into a noise-making fireball machine, that just so happens to also sling a projectile out the end. Its pretty cool. 
Note that these guns are NOT hearing safe with this can. I put about 60 rounds through my 18" AR with the same suppressor, and my ears felt fine. With these rifles, the first shot will leave your ears ringing. I was under a tin roof, so maybe it would be better out in the open. That is not to say the suppressor doesn't work. Without a muzzle device, my Krink was by far the loudest gun on the range. I would not advise doing any extended shooting without ear protection with this setup. It's probably good enough for killing hogs or something where you just fire a few rounds at a time. I do think it is "hearing safe" with an AR (probably not by OSHA standards, but neither is my music or '67 Mustang). All in all, I'm glad I have the adapters to run my cans on my AK-74's. I have a second Kestrel 556 pending. Both of these cans will spend most of their time on ARs, but I'm glad to know that I can put them on these rifles whenever I want to. The Krink looks the best with the can, but the full size Bulgy was an awful lot of fun to shoot suppressed. I think it will get more suppressor time than its little brother. Feel free to ask any questions. Moar pics.  _zpsba19c51d.jpg.html" target="_blank">
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When exposing a crime is treated as committing a crime, you are ruled by criminals.
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nice write up! I was under the impression, as you stated, that these don't suppress very well, or at very decent levels (comparatively speaking). That and the adapter debacle seems to have made these less popular than initially received when they were 1st revealed. I like your method of testing, I did the same thing (rod) when checking the bore concentric on my FAL. Those rifles look sexy! |
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Pretty solid write up.
I have a Gemtech HALO that I use with a kit-built AKS-74 (from Red Jacket in their pre-fame days, no less!  ) through Vltor's HALO-74 adapter. Did the same sorts of checks, just not as exact with those rods, used a cleaning rod.  Came out okay in the end.
It's not as quiet as the 16" AR, but it isn't bad. Better than the AUG. I always shoot with muffs on anyway. Worst thing I can say is you get a lot of gas blowback out out of the back of the dust cover. I'm experimenting with those recoil buffers to see if it tames it down a bit. I know the tactical tuna crowd cringes at anything less than "optimal" but it's a ton of fun to shoot a suppressed AK! |
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One more note regarding user serviceable cans. Clean it after every outing if you want it to remain user serviceable. I ran my suppressor twice this week. The first time was only about 50-60 rounds. Second outing was about 100 rounds, all non corrosive. When I went to take my can apart last night, everything was frozen solid in place. It took about a half hour of banging, spraying, and coaxing to get the thing apart. I'm glad I didn't wait till after a third range trip. |
When exposing a crime is treated as committing a crime, you are ruled by criminals.
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I've run my HVT QD on my M92 Yugo SBR. Was quiet enough to like it, but the CNC warrior adapter I had used wasn't reliable enough to use again. I'm going a different way with it, new barrel, properly threaded, and a 4 piece with adapter for when I run it unsuppressed.  |
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Originally Posted By C-4:
OP, just curious: Did you shoot non-corrosive? I may have missed if you mentioned it. That is very cool. Any visible flash from the krink? Is there a way to shoot it at night? All I shoot in my 74's is 7N6. If there isn't much flash, if any with the can. I was shooting at dusk the other day. There was a watermelon-sized blinding flash with no muzzle accessory on the Krink. There was nothing from the shooter's perspective with the can installed. |
When exposing a crime is treated as committing a crime, you are ruled by criminals.
| well i didn't get an answer on the best adapter to use, so i went ahead and ordered one from CNC warrior. i'll try it out and check to see if it stays concentric to the bore. modify it a bit if needed. haven't ordered my .556 suppressor yet anyway, but i can check to see the alignment with my 9mm can as soon as it gets approved. |
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Dang, this thread is back from the dead!
It was fun figuring out how to go about doing all this, and I'm glad to see that the writeup is helping fellow ak enthusiasts. ETA: one interesting thing I forgot to mention was the different sized bores. I bought the three drill rod blanks not sure of which one I would need. The Bulgarian '74 and the Tula Krink with BJ v5 barrel took different diameter drill rods, which surprised me. I can't remember which was the bigger of the two. |
When exposing a crime is treated as committing a crime, you are ruled by criminals.
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Originally Posted By mustangduckk: Dang, this thread is back from the dead! It was fun figuring out how to go about doing all this, and I'm glad to see that the writeup is helping fellow ak enthusiasts. ETA: one interesting thing I forgot to mention was the different sized bores. I bought the three drill rod blanks not sure of which one I would need. The Bulgarian '74 and the Tula Krink with BJ v5 barrel took different diameter drill rods, which surprised me. I can't remember which was the bigger of the two.  ) so it wouldn't slip into the archives.Remember when you are in this forum, go up to MY Topics, click it and this thread will always be there for your viewing pleasure. OP only because it's his thread. I figured this subject would come up again. So it's back helping another poster. And that's how we roll.
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