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Posted: 12/3/2007 6:15:30 PM EDT
| Don't like make fun of me or anything but, do you have to buy a receiver and bend it or w/e or for the gun to work. Or can you buy a receiver that is ready to go. And do you have to have a permit to buy gun kits |
| Dude Im not trying to start anything, If you dont have anything good to say then please dont say it. I mean you got to learn somtime. I actually want to take up in guns and Im not arounf anyone who knows about them. This is why people grow up and are anti guns because people turning them away. |
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Ok I won't make fun of you for the ak building Q's, but I might for the expected turn on advice (16 min? Dude, even we all day surfers need to get a bite to eat or take a piss from time to time). just messing with you... actually if I don't get an answer (with pics) on something in about 7 min over on FullSizeBronco, I figure the server is having issues... Now on your questions: You can buy a receiver "flat" which you then have to "fold" into the right shape with the right tool. Then you heat treat it and build it up with a kit. It's not trivial, but if you are good with tools, follow basic safety precautions, listen to others who have been down that road it's not too hard to end up with a functional gun. Kits are not considered firearms, so there is no federal paperwork to buy them. I'm not sure but I think there are a few states that have restrictions on parts (as there are states with restrictions on completed weapons.) |
Hey, sorry, I was just messing with you. I just saw the 16 minutes between post and repost and laughed ... mostly because you can learn just about anything on these boards in that time or less... see my answers in my last post |
There's a sticky on the build process, check it out and if you need more specifics come back here and ask away. As for if they shoot... yes they do, but like pretty much all AKs, most will function well, some will function exceptionally well, and all can fail miserably by a bad build process. |
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my $0.02 If you are worried, or lack skills or access to tools or friends with tools, then either buy a rifle already built or buy a Saiga and convert it. It is pretty hard to go wrong with either. Saiga info is in the Russian forum. If you do want to build an AK, I'd suggest buying a complete receiver from NodakSpud. Last time I looked a NDS-3 was $55. My other advice is 'lighten up.' Attitude is everything. 
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There is a tacked thread or two that you need to read, then come here and ask your questions. There are tons of guys here who are more than willing to answer any questions you may have, but please read the tacked threads at the top first. Enjoy yourself and play nice.
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Did you press one for English or "dos para espanol?" Tools are minimal but a press is something that is hard to go without. Things I can't live without besides a press is the dremel with cutting and sanding bits, punches and BFH (big fing hammer). You can get around most of the jigs using a 100% receiver. If you go that route you will at least need some way to do the rivets and or screws. Your question about if these are as good as other guns and the answer is if you do it right (even if you don't do it very well) it is better than other guns. The person who designed the AK was a genius and while I may get chastised for saying this they are more combat ready than the ARs. Once you resurrect an AK it will be hard to kill. The more you shoot it, the better it will work. I have come a long way with military weapons and have gained what I lost with the AR. The AK-74 is what the M-14 could have evolved into rather than the evolutionary jump to the AR. Hope that answers the questions. Good luck and check out the tacked stuff, the more you read the more you'll see the whole process of the AK birth. |
With most pre mades, you have to drill the trunion holes yourself, that's it. Nodak spud receivers have the holes already drilled, so you're pretty much ready to rivet when you get the receiver. Do you know how to buy a firearm off the internet? Receivers are treated like firearms so you need it to be transfered by a local FFL. I'd suggest buying a premade one first. When you make a receiver (bending it) you dont need to "register" anything and it doesnt need a serial number. The best a cheapest premade receivers. nodakspud.com |
Generally, NO. Most of your Q's can be answered by reviewing the FAQs and doing a search; you can also check out www.roderuscustom.tzo.com, but you have to be willing to take the time to do it. Building from a flat requires a lot of patience. Actually, building from a 100% complete reciever from NDS also requires a lot of patience. Maybe building an AK is not for you? |
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While a receiver is considered a weapon even if it does not actually work whether you build the receiver or buy it already built it or buy an already built AK it has the potential of being just as good either way. You can sell a firearm you built (just as mentioned above even a receiver with nothing else is considered a firearm) but you cannot manufacture for sale or distribution. What does that mean? That means don't do anything that might be misconstrued as you manufacturing a firearm or you dealing with firearms may end very quickly and you may find yourself in a compromising situation. I hope this helps understand things better. While it may seem unclear it really is pretty straight forward. For the most part stay way clear legally speaking in both your building efforts and in your daily life and should be fine. Piss off a cop and he may dig deep enough to at least make it appear you are guilty of some sort of ATF violation. |
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Relax, man. You'll need patience for your build. Read the tutorials in this website and use the forum for the little stuff. The people on this forum are very nice and have helped me greatly with knowledge and humor. I am grateful to them and never expected any of them to drop everything and answer my questions in 16 minutes! They do spend some time away from the computer building and shooting and having a life! Having said that, welcome to the dark side and be warned, this hobby can be addictive and teach you a lot of cool stuff! |
It's possible to use a huge vise, but you can get a 12 ton press on sale at Harbor Freight for $100-$150. If you plan on building even a few, it's worth it. You can even buy it, use it, then sell in on Craigslist or something and recover part of the $ spent. Presses are cool to have around anyway... sometimes you just need 12 tons of ram to destroy thing. |
| Yes it is harder using a vice but not as hard as other ways (i.e. using a gear puller and a BFH). The press and jigs makes the process a joy to do, or maybe I am just so far gone (an addict) that I find it strangely exciting hearing the pop as the barrel pin moves. And seeing a nice head on a rivet. |
| Can you afford to spend Christmas here in Utah? Maybe not, but I'm sure you could find a press if you looked a little. Garage sales are the best (if I only bought one of the several presses I had seen when we used to go to garage sales all the time). There are ways around the press as the guy who introduced me to building AKs (my FFL) does all his builds without a press but the press takes the frustration out of most builds (granted it also helps things go bad faster). See the tutorials on this forum about doing the builds using the threaded rod method and a BFH (Big F-ing Hammer). For the price of a press you could build all the tools you will ever need for the AK. But you may find yourself spending months building the tools and cursing the attempts in the process. I like to spend more time shooting these than building them so I did get most the jigs and am still working on getting a few more (unnecessary but makes life easier). |
| Depends on what you are using to build (100% or 80% receiver). So long as you are using a 100% receiver you should not need to weld anything. You may want to get a bolt cutter from some place like Harbor Freight to make a rivet tool and it would not cost much. But if you are building from a flat you need to adhere the lower rails in. Despite the industrial adhesives out there I don't know that anything less than a weld would do. As for other "stuff" each thing has its advantage and its work around. Perhaps a screw build would be the cheapest for that reason (you would not have to sweat it when trying to get the best rivet heads, maybe that is why my FFL does those instead). After demilling it entirely you just have to worry about putting it all back together. That can be done with a BFH and some equally profane vocabulary, but it is doable. I hope that answers your question(s). |
| Ok with a 100 percent or a 80 percent, do they both not require it to be transferred by a ffl dealer? And I saw something where this guy sold "bent metal" for receivers would that work also, and not needed to be transferred by a ffl dealer. If you cant tell, I dont want this to be in my dads name. I just want to build and have fun because I think it will be intructive for me and Ive always loved guns and such. |
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100% means it is all done and is considered a firearm by the BATFE (ATF) even before it has a barrel or anything else attached to it. So it does require a FFL to purchase it. There are 2 types of 80%. One is the bent type that is all bent but has no holes or anything cut out so you have to do all the cutting and drilling (which is not that hard considering most places will give you a template you glue on, some come with the template already glued on). The other is a flat that needs to be bent but has all the holes. Some flats come with the upper rails already bent (which is nice). I prefer to drill my own holes for the trunions but it is cheaper to get the "improved flats" with the upper rails already bent and the trunion holes already drilled. The 80% does not require any documentation at all and is considered paperless. The letter of the law indicates that you cannot build it for some one else (so the key is you are not to build it for dad, either dad builds it or. . .). The law also allows you to sell them but requires you to do something to try to keep track of it. You cannot fabricate them for sell or "distribution" so steer clear of that. Does that answer your question(s)? |
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Alright thatnks that answers ALOT of my questions. See Im only 15, and I dont live by myself and Im not old enough to own a gun in my name, I like guns to much not to be involved with them so I need a way to enjoy guns and I think this will be the best way. And I love being creative and exploring and building. WHat kind of drill do you need? Just a regular drill? |
| 15? You may need adult supervision/permission to build these (we are all individually responsible to make sure our actions do not violate any local laws for the areas in which we live). A drill press is best but a hand drill works as well. Drill bits for hardened steel work best. |
| More significantly and easier to relate. Firearm charges in most cases strip you of all rights of legal gun ownership for typically the rest of your life. So while the AK building community may not like it, ultimately you have the most to loose from this. Do it right and you have nothing to worry about. Even if you have to wait it is better than no longer have these rights. You can still learn a lot in the meantime either way as I have been working on firearms since I was 12 with my father and grandfather and now am able to do most things without their supervision (I'm nearly 3 times that age now). |
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