scottishclaymore
Member
Posted the following over at Warrior Talk, but thought I might give my friends at THR a shout out as well and see anyone here has any experience with this.
I've been wanting an AK of some variety for quite some time now (shot my Dad's quite a bit growing up) and while at one of my local pusher's this past weekend I happened across a Zastava PAP for $400 out the door. I was impressed with the rifle's overall fit and finish, but knew it would need some work to get it converted from its current neutered "sporting" configuration. I'm familiar with the process of converting single-stack WASR's back to "fully evil" status, and figured this one would be more or less the same. The price was good and I found the overall fit and finish of the rifle to be impressive, so it ended up coming home with me.
Only after I got home and did a little more research did I find out what a PITA it was going to be to convert this rifle to take double-stack mags again. Well, that's my fault for not researching it first, and I'm not blaming or complaining. I did a little bit of research and it looks that the only complicated part about doing the conversion is going to be redoing the rivets on the front trunnion once I've widened it to accept the double-stack magazine. The rest looks like it can be done with a dremel and some elbow-grease.
I should probably mention that I'm fairly handy and have done a fair amount of work on most of the guns I own. I've also built an RV-8 with my uncle and have a little experience working with rivets and sheet metal. Not saying I know jack squat about AK's - just that the project doesn't really discourage me.
Right now I'm planning on making the following modifications to the rifle:
1) Get it converted to a double-stack gun
2) Have the muzzle threaded for a muzzle brake/flash supressor
3) Remove the thumbhole stock (which is actually pretty comfortable) and install a Kregs pistol grip and Ace folding stock.
4) Replace the railed dust cover with a regular dust cover.
Beyond that I might do something with the sights eventually, but I don't have anything planned at this point. Suggestions are always appreciated.
So here are my questions for those who know:
1) Has anyone else here ever done a conversion on one of these? If so, do you have any specific tips or tricks? Anything I need to be aware of? Specifically speaking about the magazine conversion here. Everything else should be pretty basic.
2) Regarding the rivets in the front trunnion, what's the best way to go about removing them? Just push them out once I've cut into the front trunnion? Or is there a specific way I need to handle this?
3) I don't currently have access to a press (I've moved since the RV-8), so my current plan for the new rivets for the front trunnion is to use some kind of hand crusher. Any advice here? Anybody have experience installing front trunnions and have some words of wisdom to pass along?
Thanks in advance for the time it took to read this and respond. As soon as I get the magazine issue resolved I will start training with this rifle, and will continue to work on the other parts as needed.
I've been wanting an AK of some variety for quite some time now (shot my Dad's quite a bit growing up) and while at one of my local pusher's this past weekend I happened across a Zastava PAP for $400 out the door. I was impressed with the rifle's overall fit and finish, but knew it would need some work to get it converted from its current neutered "sporting" configuration. I'm familiar with the process of converting single-stack WASR's back to "fully evil" status, and figured this one would be more or less the same. The price was good and I found the overall fit and finish of the rifle to be impressive, so it ended up coming home with me.
Only after I got home and did a little more research did I find out what a PITA it was going to be to convert this rifle to take double-stack mags again. Well, that's my fault for not researching it first, and I'm not blaming or complaining. I did a little bit of research and it looks that the only complicated part about doing the conversion is going to be redoing the rivets on the front trunnion once I've widened it to accept the double-stack magazine. The rest looks like it can be done with a dremel and some elbow-grease.
I should probably mention that I'm fairly handy and have done a fair amount of work on most of the guns I own. I've also built an RV-8 with my uncle and have a little experience working with rivets and sheet metal. Not saying I know jack squat about AK's - just that the project doesn't really discourage me.
Right now I'm planning on making the following modifications to the rifle:
1) Get it converted to a double-stack gun
2) Have the muzzle threaded for a muzzle brake/flash supressor
3) Remove the thumbhole stock (which is actually pretty comfortable) and install a Kregs pistol grip and Ace folding stock.
4) Replace the railed dust cover with a regular dust cover.
Beyond that I might do something with the sights eventually, but I don't have anything planned at this point. Suggestions are always appreciated.
So here are my questions for those who know:
1) Has anyone else here ever done a conversion on one of these? If so, do you have any specific tips or tricks? Anything I need to be aware of? Specifically speaking about the magazine conversion here. Everything else should be pretty basic.
2) Regarding the rivets in the front trunnion, what's the best way to go about removing them? Just push them out once I've cut into the front trunnion? Or is there a specific way I need to handle this?
3) I don't currently have access to a press (I've moved since the RV-8), so my current plan for the new rivets for the front trunnion is to use some kind of hand crusher. Any advice here? Anybody have experience installing front trunnions and have some words of wisdom to pass along?
Thanks in advance for the time it took to read this and respond. As soon as I get the magazine issue resolved I will start training with this rifle, and will continue to work on the other parts as needed.
