Ak-47 Parts Kit

[nalioth]

So if you don't mind doing a little work, I'd say it is cheaper to do this than to buy and convert a Saiga. (Sorry nalioth)

Don't "sorry" me

You're the one that has changed the heat treat of their AK's critical parts.

Just one reason weld builds don't sell for very much.

 

[Spec ops Grunt]

Looks like it came out of some bazaar in Afghanistan.


Pretty cool.

 

[A_Matthew]

Don't "sorry" me

I was only pointing out that building AKs from kits is cheaper that converting Saigas.

You're the one that has changed the heat treat of their AK's critical parts.

I changed the heat treating method of AKs?

Just one reason weld builds don't sell for very much.

Well, I wasn't intending to sell it. Otherwise, I would have riveted it. And I can't sell it anyway because it is unregistered.

And from seeing not only this welded AK, but other numerous AKs other people have welded, they hold up just as well as the riveted versions. So what is wrong with welding?

 

[A_Matthew]

Looks like it came out of some bazaar in Afghanistan.

I have to admit, it almost does.

Pretty cool.

Thank you.

 

[nalioth]

You've changed the heat treatment of the barrel trunnion, and depending on how the welding was done, portions of the barrel.


Like I said, I thought you were only welding the rails.

If I'd known you were gonna weld the whole thing, I'd've warned you before you did it.

 

[A_Matthew]

You've changed the heat treatment of the barrel trunnion, and depending on how the welding was done, portions of the barrel.


Like I said, I thought you were only welding the rails.

If I'd known you were gonna weld the whole thing, I'd've warned you before you did it.

Interesting. Never thought of that. I guess we'll see how she holds up. But I don't think that the welding is going to be heating up the trunnion enough to de-temper it to the point where it is unsafe to shoot.

To weld the front trunnion, we drilled 3 new holes that had the solid backing of the trunnion rather than trying to weld the original holes without any sort of backing, thus risking de-tempering the barrel. But by drilling the new holes, the barrel is pretty safe.

 

[animator]

Pulling a barrel and riveting the trunnions really isn't that difficult to do, and produces a much cleaner build, in my opinion.


My first few AK builds were weld jobs, and they came out alright, and have even been decent shooters. But I now exclusively rivet them. Call me a purist, but it's how it is supposed to be done.


The problem with weld builds, is if the weld doesn't get good penetration, they will fail. And I don't mean that they *might* fail, I mean they will. I have a weld-built AK from a "manufacturer" (joeken, hesse, vulcan, or whoever they go by these days) that used rivets at the mag opening, and tig welds on the front trunnion holes, and those welds eventually failed, leaving only the rivets holding the front end together.

 

[Semyon Vasilii]

yeah man. and those welds dont look very professional. if the person behind the mask wasnt very experienced the welds may not have penetrated the rifle metal deep enough and melded poorly. i give it 500 rounds before something welded fails.

 

[A_Matthew]

Semyon Vasilii and animator,

Thanks for the warnings. As I'm shooting, I'll definitely keep my eyes open for any sort of cracking, weakening, etc...

All though the welds my not look professional, the guy was a pretty experienced welder, and did A LOT of test pieces before welding the actual gun. After he got warmed up, the test pieces were welded so hard, they're still stuck together I believe.

So even though I don't think the welds are going to fail, like I said, for the first 500-1,000 rounds, I'll keep my eyes open for any signs of weakening.