?'s on building an AK

[thebigx]

i'm very new to the AK world, i've fired them, but never really owned one... 'till this past weekend. i got an arsenal SLR 106CR and a SA M-7 R from Arsenal... these obviously were already built. but if i wanted to build my own, where should i go to read up on them?

also is there really any benefits to building from the ground up? when i see all sorts of AK's selling anywhere from $300 and up.

[Joeywhat]

Do you have all the tools? I wanted to do an AK build as well...until I realized I would need a small shop to do it.

[thebigx]

tools? i got two hands! LOL! no serioiusly, like i said above, i'm a total newb when it comes to AKs, so i just wanted to start reading about building them and see what it involves.

i'm not trying to cast my own receiver or anything like that...

[JhankG]

It takes a lot of specialty tools to build an AK. Unless you are planning on building and selling, it just is not worth it. It is nothing like throwing together an AR.

[thebigx]

Originally Posted by JhankG

It takes a lot of specialty tools to build an AK. Unless you are planning on building and selling, it just is not worth it. It is nothing like throwing together an AR.

i see...

[speedracer211]

Made this a while ago with some rough price estimates. Check out

Welcome to

$250.00 Shipped Parts kit
$96.00 Shipped NDS 1-p Receiver
$25 Transfer fee
$25 Rivet sets (enough to build ten ak's)
$45 or so for the compliance kit. G2 double hook trigger, gas piston, muzzle brake
$2-3 for the trigger retainer spring.
.50 for the gas piston 3mm rivet.


The tools I used are the following. Please note a drill press is not needed but makes life easier. Especially when drilling the front receiver. I used a hand drill since I had left my press up north and one hole had to be egged rather significantly.

Northern tool 12 ton press. $89
A decent vise $25
Trunion hole locaters (tweezer style) $5
Trigger guard rivet jig (made myself)
5/16" carbide ball mill $25
Rear long rivet jig (made myself) maybe $5 in parts
Punch set from sears $12
Bolt cutter rivet tool bought this already made $50 (if you buy the 24" bolt cutters from harbor frieght you can make them for under $20)
Steering wheel puller from autozone to pull the barrel $20
Hardened all thread method to install the barrel $6
Head space gauges $60
Harbor freight cheapo drill press $60

I now build from flats which is much much cheaper... I scored a deal for 5 flats for $45 shipped. I borrowed a flat jig from the guys on akfiles.com and bent them up a few months ago. Building from a flat is definitely the way to go. I can now build romy's for under $150. (Use to be able to closer to $200 now)
Tooling up to build these is not cheap but a lot of the tools you should have or could always use for something else car related as well. If you plan to build only one ak (good luck it wont happen you will build more) building may not be the method to go. Check out ak-builder.com for already made tools at decent prices.

So with this build and new tools I bought to replace other tools I left in the move and including everything was just under $800. Not too bad since these cost around $700 to buy already assembled.


If you have all of the major needed tools you can build all of your own jigs cheap. I would say you could get away building an ak poly underfolder for under $500.

[blefferd]

the only way it would be actually worth buying one kit to build would be to go to a build party, other than that its not really worth the tooling unless you are going to build multiple kits. its defently cheaper just to purchase a fully built gun from a good builder. having one built doesnt seem to cost effective to me from the prices they charge vs the price of a parts kit now days. the best part of building your own is showing someone your rifle and telling them you built it.

here are some of the tools to acquire

-trigger guard rivit jig 50$ (build your own would be cheaper)
-bolt cutter style rivit squeezer 50-60$
(again you can build your own if you know how alot cheaper with the 15$ pair of harbor freight bolt cutters they use.)
-Drill press 50$ (harbor freight) i would almost say this is a must have i tried drilling rivits out with a hand drill and its alot of work.
-Hydraulic shop press 90$ harbor freight (another nice to have a vice and some all thread works for 7,62 rifles, no clue what you would use on a 5,45 rifle)
-barrel press tools (ak builder kit 90$, build your own alot cheaper)
-head space guages- MUST HAVE 30$ each so 60$ for go and no go.

more common tools you may or maynot have
-grinder or dremel 30-45$
-punches 10-20$
-3lb maul 10$
-clamps 5-10$
-vice 45+$
-scribe 3-5$

then you have to purchase the kits, the compliance parts, receivers, and rivits. then you have to refinish it, which usually inlcudes a park job with either gun kote or the less desiarable dura coat. so we will run over these numbers
-run of the mill Romanian G code rifle kit -210$
-compliance parts- $50 (fcg, piston, break)
-receiver- 55$ (NDS3)
-xfer fee 5-50$
-rivits 8$
-refinish 100$ give or take

add your tools and your rifle stuff up that is one expensive firearm when you get done and all you have is a run of the mill romanian AK! lol but the look on an Anti's face when you tell them you build AK47's in your garage is priceless!

[seattleducati]

You're 2 years too late. It's cheaper to buy them complete now than it is to build them...and good luck finiding a barrel for them.

I have two Romy kits I still have to build that I bought when those kits were more than $120 GASP

Making your own receivers is not hard at all, although you'll pay a pretty penny for the jig to bend them; as far as I'm concerned if you planned on building more than one it's worth it to build your own as opposed to buying completed FFL needed ones.

As for the tooling, it's not that big of a deal as some people made it out to be simply because the tools you buy you can more than likely use on your car or home projects... i.e. a 12 ton press for car bearings, a drill press and an air compressor for all sorts of things.

Too bad you're too late

[thebigx]

Originally Posted by seattleducati

You're 2 years too late. It's cheaper to buy them complete now than it is to build them...and good luck finiding a barrel for them.

I have two Romy kits I still have to build that I bought when those kits were more than $120 GASP

Making your own receivers is not hard at all, although you'll pay a pretty penny for the jig to bend them; as far as I'm concerned if you planned on building more than one it's worth it to build your own as opposed to buying completed FFL needed ones.

As for the tooling, it's not that big of a deal as some people made it out to be simply because the tools you buy you can more than likely use on your car or home projects... i.e. a 12 ton press for car bearings, a drill press and an air compressor for all sorts of things.

Too bad you're too late

it's all good man! i was really looking for information... as stated above, it's not like an AR, so i wanted to see what really goes into it. know what i mean?

[seattleducati]

OK then, check this out.

How to build an AK type rifle

Has a lot of good info and can give you kind of an idea of how to do things and what's needed. FYI it doesn't talk about how much of a pain in the *ss it is to demil the rear trunion