Ian S

Awesome. I was expecting to see some wood sets for $25 or $40 but took a look out of curiosity and I’m shocked that furniture sets are going for what a parts kit should be worth. Getting a blemished set, sanding it down and staining whatever color you like is the way to go. I had a polish set that needed a lot of cleaning. Took off the metal and cleaned all the rust. Sanded down the wood and chose the color I wanted off the shelf at Lowes. Then did 15-20 coats of hand rubbed tung oil. That’s definitely my favorite rifle now. Good luck.

Apex is good. AK-Builder is good. I’ve had good luck with Gun Broker and forum marketplaces too.

Sandpaper should do it. I mean the pistol grip is held on with a bolt up through the bottom of the grip and a nut dropped through the bottom of the receiver. Shouldn't be any fitment there. Stock has a couple screws, take them out and wiggle it off, wiggle the new one back on. Maybe sand the stock a little to fit. The lower fore end slides into the receiver and locks in with the latch. That fitment might need sanding on either end. The upper fore end rotates around the gas tube. There may also need some sanding there. But with upper and lower fore end, I'd try wiggling them to fit first.

There are also 3 rivets for the trigger guard. You will still want to remove the barrel pin and push the barrel off the trunnion to do the front rivets. I can’t see bucking the rivets into the barrel without misforming them.

Look at Toth Tools. They make a replacement head for bolt cutters that is formed to crush rivets. They also have other tools for populating barrels.

... The receiver and trunnions will sit flat to each other when riveting the trunnions to the receiver. You can align the barrel to the rear sight block. Use two straight rods, set perpendicular to the barrel, one on the rsb and one on the hand guard retainer cut. Look down the barrel and verify the two rods are parallel and have an equal space between them on the left and right of the barrel. The rsb will fit snug in the front trunnion and align to the receiver.

I might be misunderstanding which rivet you mean. There is no rivet on the barrel. There is a barrel pin.

I’ve done Romanian, Polish, and Bulgarian kits with pre-drilled holes and everything went together well. I did an Egyptian with no pre-drilled and I was able to line up the trunnions and receiver with a vice and c-clamp under the drill press. If you talk to the receiver manufacturer, they might steer you one way or the other, pre-drilled or not, based on the kit you’re going with. Don’t worry if they suggest pre-drilled. The jigs make it easier, but you can get through it pretty easily without.

Woot woot! Triggers... thanks

What A Country is good to go. They have Polish and Romanian kits now https://whatacountry.com/parts-kits.aspx Ak-Builder is great for other parts and tools, barrels, rivets, fcg’s, etc https://ak-builder.com/ I’ve also had good experience with gun broker and the NJGF marketplace here so don’t hesitate to check those.

What do you need to do it yourself? I keep throwing up my hands when I try to justify a blasting cabinet and a compressor with enough CFM at PSI to run it.

Their website has a menu style price list. You could get a ballpark there.

I can't see bucking the rivet against the barrel. With the barrel in place, the rivet will swell against the trunnion and receiver and then into empty space outside the receiver. The head would never seat against the receiver correctly. And looking back at the particular barrel now in the Classic kit, the ESS barrels are very soft. In a test of foreign and domestic made barrels, ESS 4140 barrels measured a 5 RC versus most barrels coming in around 26 RC. A kit with a prepopulated barrel could be doable with minimal special tools, but again, look for another.

The PSA kits have the receiver parts already riveted. That is the extra work you would have to do for the kit you linked. But, with the barrel already populated, you could legitimately do the riveting with the Toth tools. And the parkerizing already done is a nice bonus. You would need to press out the barrel, rivet the front and rear trunnions, rivet the trigger guard and press the barrel back in. The rest is your standard compliance work on the muzzle device, bayo lugs and stock. I don't think you need a full set of jigs or hydraulic press for this kit. As far as price, there are Hungarian kits with original barrel and no receiver priced for $200 more than your link ($510 or so) on other forums. But Dres made a lot of good points on the barrel and the stock, and I'd agree to keep looking for other sets.

First, beautiful wood. You are right and they should not have drilled more than a dimple to install the pin. If you are concerned how the rifle will work, the hole will not affect the function at all. Remember that there is another open hole drilled for the gas port.