getting ready to embark on a journey to russian bliss!!!

Donvin999

Donvin999

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just picked up this from harbor freigh... they have stores btw including one in attleboro i just learned about this!
press.jpg


and these to build on the press....
romy.jpg

psl.jpg


next some tools from akmachinist and waiting on the recievers...
oh and sorry about the crappy pics particularly the psl didnt come out well!
 
Nice! Harbor Freight is great. Picked up a cheapo HVLP spray gun from the Attleboro store a couple weeks ago for some hydrographics work and for $15 you can't beat it haha
 
Yes got it from ak builder, yes the lower hand guard appears to be the palm swell style and also numbers matching and the kit has a new us barrel! Only thing I'm worried about us the psl kit is not headspace so that should be interesting...
 
The kit parts look painted... Romanians never painted their AKs.

Take a picture of the trunnion. I am curious if it really is Romanian.

Very cool stuff.
 
It looks blued, for sure. It is in surprisingly great condition since it's so old:

Romanians used to hot blue their m63 AKs back in the day. They also used to look like "typical" russian AKMs. 1966 is a early year- 1960 was the first year that the Soviets started AKM production. The romanians were early adopters and one of the first satellite nations to be "approved" or licensed, to build the AKM for the Soviet empire. "m63" stands for "model 1963" or the year they started AKM production.

The surprising state of your kit is that the blueing is so ****ing dark. That is impressive for such a kit. It appears Curtis got his hands on a ton of the lately imported Romy parts kits that Apex was selling a few months ago. They were reported to be in great shape- and at the $120 mark, they were a good deal. He's done good by keeping the kits together and saving the matching serial #'s.

The 60's are when the Romanians were still in love with communism. Likewise- they were in love with making the AKM. It is during the 70's that you see this characteristic drop off. Their tooling becomes well used. Their assembly starts to suck. Shit just stops looking right.

So build yours well, and then blue the receiver and barrel to match. It was originally hot blued. Since everything is so good looking, either find a hell of a cold blue that matches the rest of the kit, or hot blue the whole damn thing.
 
I will do my best hopefully get it going next week sometime! Spent some time today working on the demilling... Still waiting on the receivers and the build tools! I sure am getting excited! :-D
 
Oh most defineatly will do! Probably will only be able to work on it an hour or 2 at a time but I'm fairly confident in my ability to get it done eventually! Lol only thing I'm worried about as of now is the psl isn't headspaced so I'll likely have to do an oversized barrel pin unless I'm extremly lucky!
 
doitdoitdoitdoitdoitdoitdoitdoitdoitdoitdoit why isn't this built yet?! why aren't both done yet?!

GOD BUILD THEM ALREADY.

i love to live vicariously through you jerks who get to have gun fun immediately.

GO!
 
atilla said:
doitdoitdoitdoitdoitdoitdoitdoitdoitdoitdoit why isn't this built yet?! why aren't both done yet?!

GOD BUILD THEM ALREADY.

i love to live vicariously through you jerks who get to have gun fun immediately.

GO!
Click to expand...

Lol that's the plan my tools and receivers should be nothin in by end of this week beginning of next week! :-D I'm already thinking I wanna do a polish under folder and just fix the stock (damn ma!!) for my next build...;-)
 
Lesson learned 20 ton harbor freight press is not tall enough to press a psl barrel in... Any suggestions???? And this is the case even if the muzzle brake were to be removed!!!!
 
Donvin999 said:
Lesson learned 20 ton harbor freight press is not tall enough to press a psl barrel in... Any suggestions???? And this is the case even if the muzzle brake were to be removed!!!!
Click to expand...

I installed two PSL barrels with brakes attached using a 12-ton HF press. I built a wooden base for it that elevates the press about 16", which gives the barrel room to extend between the lower feet of the press. Adding wheels to the base also makes it much easier to move the press around.
 
paulleve said:
I installed two PSL barrels with brakes attached using a 12-ton HF press. I built a wooden base for it that elevates the press about 16", which gives the barrel room to extend between the lower feet of the press. Adding wheels to the base also makes it much easier to move the press around.
Click to expand...
Thanks! I ended up getting it in!! Yeah!!!! Like an idiot I was focused on using the ram until I realized that I could just slip the barrel under the top I beam! Worked perfectly! Next step is to grind on the receiver that Romanian receiver fits like it was made with no blue prints by a drunk factory worker in romania!!!
 
I bought two Romy receivers at the same time and each was screwed up just a little, but in a different way! So much for QC on these things.

I'm not sure if they've changed the siderail on these, but the original ones weren't to spec and had to be ground or filed down in order to get a scope on there.
 
Oh great yet another thing to look forward to! Lol I hadn't originally planned on a scope but I'm starting to think a psl without one is a sacrilege! Now has anyone ever done an oversized barrel pin? It looks like that's what I'm going to have to do! :-/ other than that the rifle is pretty much done!
 
Very Nice!

The shop that was suppose to order a PSL receiver for me sat on their ass and now center-fire systems is all out. I now have to wait till Nodak makes more.

Edit: Center-fire now has square back receivers in stock. Buy it and grind it?
 
Last edited:
The barrel pin resize should be done with a milling machine. It's tempting to want to rush in and try to drillpress it, but you're better off having it done right the first time.

As for the siderail, most guys building these five years or so ago were just using a file to take it down to spec. It requires quite a bit of filing. When you start shooting this you're most likely going to want a scope on it, even if it's just a 4x, so get that file (or machine shop) ready!

The square back receivers require no grinding! The advantage to these receivers is that any normal AK stock can be used on a PSL. Also note that these are US manufactured NDS receivers that are much better quality than the imported Romy ones.
 
NickW85 said:
Very Nice!

The shop that was suppose to order a PSL receiver for me sat on their ass and now center-fire systems is all out. I now have to wait till Nodak makes more.

Edit: Center-fire now has square back receivers in stock. Buy it and grind it?
Click to expand...

oh sorry man! i bought one from tnguns not a week and a half ago i was going to post the link for ya but it no longer works looks like they have sold out too! nodak does have a waiting list going for a psl reciever you can email them to be put on it.. probably better quality than the romanian one im still not done grinding on it!!!
 
finished my first true ak build in awesome time!!! almost 2 hours on the nose!!!!
akbuild1.jpg

akbuild2.jpg

many thanks to flintoid and everyone else who gave me advice! way more fun to build than an ar... cuz you get to use hammers and such! [wink]
edit: btw the action in this thing is smother than any wasr ive ever felt!
 
Harkes2k said:
I would definitely like to build one... but just kind of figured out how to build an AR... this seems a bit more complex am I right?
Click to expand...
Yeah somewhat the tooling required is more substantial and there not Legos so everything requires some fitting work... But there cheaper and more fun to build than ar's so that's the trade off! I hope to host a build party this spring that would be good for people looking to do one as the tools will be available along with experienced builders!
 
Donvin999 said:
Yeah somewhat the tooling required is more substantial and there not Legos so everything requires some fitting work... But there cheaper and more fun to build than ar's so that's the trade off! I hope to host a build party this spring that would be good for people looking to do one as the tools will be available along with experienced builders!
Click to expand...

Me and a buddy would definitely be in for that!!
 
Donvin999 said:
oh sorry man! i bought one from tnguns not a week and a half ago i was going to post the link for ya but it no longer works looks like they have sold out too! nodak does have a waiting list going for a psl reciever you can email them to be put on it.. probably better quality than the romanian one im still not done grinding on it!!!
Click to expand...

I'm on the list with Nodak and the new ones center fire has are Nodak. I wonder if Nodak is supplying them first? Nodak was going to come out with either a arch back or square depending on demand.
 

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