AK Build Log, Part 1

Mon, 06/13/2005, 01:37
About a year ago, a friend and I bought a couple AMD-65 rifle kits from TAPCO. Price was decent, at around $60 each, which was (and is) a decently good price.

For the uninitiated, AMD-65s are a variety of AK47, endemic to Hungarian tanks. As tanker rifles, they're short, have folding wire stocks, and have both rear and forward pistol grips. Overall, they’re a very compact and effective platform.

The civilian shooter finds they are somewhat more expensive to build than other AK rifles, though. The barrels don't meet the 16" legal requirement normally, and need to be permanently extended. Additionally, since the parts are imported, domestically-manufactured parts need to be purchased to meet 922(r) compliance. Both these issues can be negated, though, if building a pistol (where barrel length doesn't matter, and 922(r) doesn't apply).

Myself.. I’m still unsure of whether I'll build my kit as a pistol or a rifle... Rifle is the authentic configuration, but pistol will make it a much quicker and cheaper build. If I elect to go the pistol route, I'll probably mount a single-point sling on back, Euro SMG style.

Either way, though, the parts still have to be prepped, and progress has been slow on that front. Mostly because I don't have all the proper tools. One of the major sticking points was the old rivets in the rear trunion. I kept bending my cheapie punch set, so I decided to drill the rivets out..

I don't have a drill press, so I used a handheld drill to get as far through the rivets as I could. One rivet went OK, but I broke off a drill bit inside the other. I was thinking I'd need to take it to a machine shop to get it removed with an electronic tap remover. Well, it sat in my garage for a few months, until today, when I decided to try punching them out.

It worked! Huge relief, since the tap/drill removal services are obscenely expensive.

Today's minor miracle brought to you by Craftsman... and the letter "Q". Their punch set is orders and orders better than the junk punches I used to have.

My next step is for my friend and I to order some AK receivers. I think I’ll order my receiver as a pistol, then convert it later to a rifle, if I find my needs have changed. Right now, the best candidate receiver I'm looking at is the Ohio Ordnance Works, though I'm also investigating other possibilities.
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