Alright guys, thanks for your replies. I was looking at the AK's. I think i might get one now. Thanks again for all your help
There are a couple legal problems that no one else has brougth up that you need to know about.
If you are planning on making a functional rifle out of a AK-47 parts kit you have to be VERY, VERY, careful that you don't violate either of the following two laws.
First off, you need to make sure the AK you build is semi-auto ONLY and is also "not readily convertable" to full-auto. You'll have to make sure you have the plans or parts for a semi-auto receiver and not a "real" military full-auto capable receiver. If you follow original military plans and drill the hole needed to install full-auto parts, you could be convicted of illegally building a machine gun.
So, make sure you have plans for a semi-auto receiver.
You'll also need to throw away the original military fire control parts that come with the kit. You will need to substitute semi-auto only parts, for the same reason that you don't want to accidentily build a MG or something that can be "readily converted" into a MG.
That's not all yet though.
You also have to make sure you don't manufacture a "imported assault weapon." You have to make sure there are no more then 10 "imported" parts in the final rifle. That means you have to throw away a certain number of original parts and replace them with a certain number of U.S. made parts to be legal. Even if the receiver is U.S. made, it could still be considered a "imported assault weapon" if you have too many imported parts.
So, at a minimum you need to make sure you are building a semi-auto only receiver and then find out how many original parts you need to replace with U.S. parts. You'll then need to buy and install those parts. Since you'll need to replace the original fire control parts anyway, installing a U.S. made hammer, trigger, and sear is a no brainer. You'll still need more parts though so you'll have to do some reading to see how many exactly you need and what are the best options.