Posted: 9/13/2006 7:40:53 PM EDT
| Today, I finally got to finish my first AK build (well, 98% done). Mags go in and lock smoothly, feeds flawlessly and it runs great. The only problem I have is in order to space the front trunion where the mags lock up nicely and feed smoothly, I had to put it a little farther forward than I guess it was in Romania (Romy G kit) and now, the top cover is a little too short. I decided to put a couple of tack welds on the back of the top cover and fit it to the rear trunion to keep it from sliding back and popping out of the grove in front during operation. As soon as it's 100% done, I will post pics. |
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If mags fit and function fine than your truninon is in the right place. I just posted the other day about how G kits in particular have basically no spec to alot of their parts, top cover included. It was a discussion about recievers with the rivet holes pre-drilled-- if you install the trunions by lining up the pre-drilled holes, sometimes that results in other problems, such as the top cover not fitting right. I've had it both ways-- on a couple of builds I've had to grind down the front of the top cover to make it SHORTER. But don't worry, the kit has "matching numbers", what could go wrong? 
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Yes, the kit had matching numbers The receiver I used had pre-drilled holes, but I didn't use then, they were about 1/3 hole off. Since I got rivets from my local hardware store that were slightly oversized compared to the original rivets, I drilled my own holes and it took up the space where the holes were off, so I had a round hole and not an oblong hole. It is only off by about 2mm. The only thing I didn't really like about my rivets is the heads are rather large compared to the originals and I had to use u-drive screws for the rivets by the magwell on the front trunion because I didn't have the $$ to buy a pair of bolt cutters to make rivet smashers. But all in all, I think it turned out pretty good, now I just need to refinish the metal when I get some more $$ for a can of duracoat or something (not sure how much that is) I have already refinished the wood.
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They did line up after i fixed the holes with my vertical mill and a drill bit. Although it took some creative clamping and shimming methods to get it clamped in straight. I think I'll prolly do the bbq paint thing, is it very durable? I'll post pics when I'm done if ya'll don't laugh to hard at my huge rivets, 
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Post pics, I always do! The paint is decently durable until you save up some money for a proper refinish. Its better than leaving a bunch of stuff bare metal. This way you can at least play with it and it won't rust just from having bare metal exposed to air and moisture. |
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Yeah I know they are HUGE and UGLY, but they were .04 apiece at the hardware store and they were available and on the shelf. They didn't have any smaller round headed ones, only the mostly flat ones, but oh well, maybe next time I'll just buy a real rivet kit and make a concave rounded punch or bucking plate to keep their shape when i put them in. But it does shoot, I don't know how well yet though, hopefully this weekend, I'll be able to shoot it more than a couple of single shots then bumping 2 mags to check operation and tell hot accurate it is.
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