MotoSam Posted August 20, 2012 Report Share Posted August 20, 2012 I have decided to build a short barreled AK inspired by the AK PDW thread, mine is less ambitious and won't involve any fabrication, just chopping things up. I hate TM style AK's and managed to sell my last one recently, albeit as parts, this left me with a receiver and some bits, unfortunately that made me want to build a gun. I got a badly damaged AK Beta with full stock and am getting a damaged AK Tactical with broken underfolder and gearbox, between the two guns I will have a working gearbox and all needed parts for the build. I want to build a shorty AK, to have as a back-up at games which is light and compact. I used to lug a couple of full sized full steel rifles to games and that got real old real quick! So I don't mind building an ugly 'my eyes they bleed' gun as long as it in small and interesting. I have photoshopped a concept together, for this gun I would need to cut material off the front and back of the outer barrel, and drill some new holes for screws, I will tap the holes using the screws themselves, this shouldn't be too hard as I have done it before. The gas block will be behind the handguard retainer, in front of this the sling loop will be allowed rotate freely on the barrel, the front sight block will hold them all on. I may do a front end assembly with the AK Beta gas block too, but using full length furniture. For that version I will use the Beta outer barrel, but drill a new mounting hole further back along the barrel, so it protrudes further out to suit the full length furniture. This is in progress now and I have almost all the parts, I collect the 'tactical' AK tomorrow. I also plan to mod the receiver somewhat, maybe fill in the AK47 milled mag well recess, and make a 'polymer' style receiver, like in the other thread. I may add sheet plastic in future for a magwell, or to bulk up the receiver, I do not have sheet plastic now so that is a possible future job. Polyfiller and black paint though will be an interim job, I succesfully made an RPK receiver in the past from a TM receiver using a similar method. What I'd like to see in this thread is other people's work along a similar line, and suggestions for the gun I plan to make, it is no Renegade cow build that's for sure! But I hope to have a useful cheap spare gun in the end. Link to post Share on other sites
MotoSam Posted August 21, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 21, 2012 Ignore the fact that everything looks wonky, it is simply because the handguard is not fixed on yet. The front of the barrel had been shortened, a new mounting hole bored by hand with a cutting tool, and tapped with a self tapping screw, then the original screw put in. Not shown but the sight block has had the 'gas tube' cut off, and a new fixing for the brass hexagonal 'piston' part installed further back inside it. Left to do is shorten the rear portion of the barrel, and make a new mounting hole, then I can assemble the whole gun pretty much. After that I will repaint the mismatching parts, and maybe add some edge highlighting with modelers paints to camoflage the plastic parts. I will use a TM style underfolder receiver, but will have to fill in the stock mount holes, or will use a fixed stock receiver and cut off the rear mountings. Either way this thing isn't getting a stock for now. So far so good. Link to post Share on other sites
Stinky Posted August 22, 2012 Report Share Posted August 22, 2012 Nice job with the front. Link to post Share on other sites
MotoSam Posted August 22, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 22, 2012 Nice job with the front. Thanks, I have 3 plastic receivers that I hope to modify, maybe along the lines of your build which I though looked very cool. I would need to get some sheets of ABS. Link to post Share on other sites
MotoSam Posted August 22, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 22, 2012 Finished the front end, it is nice and secure, I do need to fix in place the front handguard retainer in some way if I want the sling mount to be able to freely swivel, drilling and tapping some holes for screws would do it. Also remaining is to modify the TM lower receiver to take an AK74 pistol grip as per the photoshopped image (easily done) and to fill in the holes in the stock and the cut-outs in the receiver denoting an AK47 milled receiver, I want to go for the stamped receiver look. The gearbox, inner barrel, etc. all need to be done too, but that is boring easy work. Then painting of all parts, any suggestions? I will go for matt black but would love a parkerised effect instead. Link to post Share on other sites
MotoSam Posted August 22, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 22, 2012 I made a retaining screw and mount that I have fixed inside the handguard retainer, it is poly-cemented in place and 'welded' at the edges with a soldering iron, hopefully it is very secure. It mates with a detent I bored into the outer barrel, this will retain the handguard and allow a gap between that handguard and frontsight for the sling swivel. Link to post Share on other sites
huntER_HuntED Posted August 22, 2012 Report Share Posted August 22, 2012 Nice project, defiantly unique Link to post Share on other sites
MotoSam Posted August 22, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 22, 2012 Assembled and firing, just need a magazine (none with me at the moment, I use bakelite '74 mags so I will be using them with this) and it needs a back plate to cover where the stock was. I also plan to paint the gun, matt black or if I can, a grey parkerised effect matt paint, though I don't know of one or where to get it. This is the most rock solid TM style AK I've owned, everything is super tight, I'm looking forward to chrono-ing the gun now, and putting a magazine in it! Link to post Share on other sites
Stinky Posted August 23, 2012 Report Share Posted August 23, 2012 Again nice job. Like the screw in hand guard mounting piece, screw make stuff better IMHO. More secure, no rattle. Link to post Share on other sites
MotoSam Posted August 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2012 Again nice job. Like the screw in hand guard mounting piece, screw make stuff better IMHO. More secure, no rattle. Thanks it worked out well, as the retainer was forward of the gas block, it was on the narrower end of the barrel and had a good bit of play. The plastic wedge filled in the gap and allowed the retaining screw to be put in to something thick, as I needed to bore the hole and then thread it properly to have any strength. I'll be going back over your thread for some inspiration for the receiver and materials to use. Link to post Share on other sites
Stinky Posted August 23, 2012 Report Share Posted August 23, 2012 One thing I did that I would not do a second time around is use bondo vs just epoxy ABS plastic to the receiver. The bondo isnt all that strong for impact vs the ABS being just as strong as the plastic receiver. I will just use ABS and high quality epoxy with a stabilizing filler like JB weld or something even better for resisting impacts. Car body filler is nice for making the shape easily and making it very smooth and blended, but it wont last actually playing conditions IMHO. Link to post Share on other sites
HardcoreCook Posted August 23, 2012 Report Share Posted August 23, 2012 How accurate do you expect it to be? Link to post Share on other sites
vorpalbunnie Posted August 23, 2012 Report Share Posted August 23, 2012 How accurate do you expect it to be? Well it's a TM base, so I think he expects it to be pretty accurate for its size. Link to post Share on other sites
HardcoreCook Posted August 23, 2012 Report Share Posted August 23, 2012 Well it's a TM base, so I think he expects it to be pretty accurate for its size. How? Doesn't a longer barrel mean greater accuracy? Link to post Share on other sites
MotoSam Posted August 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2012 How accurate do you expect it to be? With a clean barrel and a well installed hop? It will be fine, it's not far off mp5 length and I don't plan to be sniping with a gun with no stock or scope any time soon anyway. Given the very low cost of the gun, and stock clone barrel, I may run recycled bb's, for sh*ts and giggles, I have a target box full of them that could be washed off and used as spray and pray ammo. Link to post Share on other sites
scorch Posted August 23, 2012 Report Share Posted August 23, 2012 In airsoft? Not always. Hop is more important. What he has there is plenty of length if the hop is done right. Link to post Share on other sites
MotoSam Posted August 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2012 One thing I did that I would not do a second time around is use bondo vs just epoxy ABS plastic to the receiver. The bondo isnt all that strong for impact vs the ABS being just as strong as the plastic receiver. I will just use ABS and high quality epoxy with a stabilizing filler like JB weld or something even better for resisting impacts. Car body filler is nice for making the shape easily and making it very smooth and blended, but it wont last actually playing conditions IMHO. I might get some two part epoxy putty, the non name brand cheap stuff you sometimes see for sale. With a keyed surface that should be able to fill in the receiver recesses over the mag well, I did this before and it held up well. On top of that I may do a sheet of plastic to mimic your polymer receiver, I have a DVD box made of thin plastic that should suit that. What I want to do is paint the gun though, I hate the shiny grey these plastic receivers come with, I think the gun will look much better in black. I am half tempted to do it up in OD either, with some parts such as the furniture, rear sight and take-down lever left black. Link to post Share on other sites
MotoSam Posted August 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 27, 2012 I have done a little work on the receiver, filled in the 'milled' recess and added some rivets, these will be sanded down and shaped to be a bit closer to the real thing. This is to get it to look like a stamped receiver, as per the concept image. I still have to source some decent paint, ideally to make a parkerised look, failing that I will use satin black. Link to post Share on other sites
MotoSam Posted September 3, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2012 And it's pretty much done, I might have a go at sanding down the receiver a bit as it is slightly uneven in places, but more or less the gun is finished. Link to post Share on other sites
DarkLite Posted September 13, 2012 Report Share Posted September 13, 2012 Very nice! What are the internals going to be like? Link to post Share on other sites
WestyIII Posted September 13, 2012 Report Share Posted September 13, 2012 Just makes me realise, I REALLY need to Fakelite my mags..... Link to post Share on other sites
MotoSam Posted September 13, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 13, 2012 Just makes me realise, I REALLY need to Fakelite my mags..... Got any crappy brushes with stuck together bristles? Use them to varnish a sanded mag, then repeat a couple of times. http://s240.photobucket.com/albums/ff232/motosam1/?action=view¤t=P6120231.jpg http://s240.photobucket.com/albums/ff232/motosam1/?action=view¤t=P6120234.jpg Link to post Share on other sites
MotoSam Posted September 13, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 13, 2012 Very nice! What are the internals going to be like? Stock Jing Gong I think, as I got the parts guns as parts, I am unsure what they were! I love clone parts though, a bit of tinkering and they work great. The problem however is that I cant fit a decent sized battery in the top, so I might get a li-po of some sort. I also would like to get the parkerised effect I had in the photoshopped concept, all I can think of is modellers paints in the little tins and doing it by hand. Link to post Share on other sites
WestyIII Posted September 13, 2012 Report Share Posted September 13, 2012 It's on my (forever growing) to do list :/ Link to post Share on other sites
MotoSam Posted September 13, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 13, 2012 It's on my (forever growing) to do list :/ It's one of those stupidly easy, immediately satisfying projects to do, and there is no 'wrong' finish to end up with, as bakelite varied quite a bit. I guarantee you could do a better job than me, I just used varnish, you could use paints, washes, anything. And it does look a million times better than the orange plastic. Link to post Share on other sites
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