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Yugoslavian WASR
- Thread starter Migmojo
- Start date
Producer
NES Member
AK Maadi Fiberforce Stock is what I have on one of mine. Its light, and just feels right for me. It improved my aim from one foot to about 6 inches at 100 yards using my iron sights. Hovever , the Dragunov design is radical, and gets rid of that old style look.
WASR's are Romanian.
I used the stock wood and stained it with a red tinted stain and then sprayed it with polyurethane.
I got tired of that and added this:
The wire stock is OK but not the most comfortable for shooting. The foregrip piece is from a Romanian AK Kit.
I used the stock wood and stained it with a red tinted stain and then sprayed it with polyurethane.
I got tired of that and added this:
The wire stock is OK but not the most comfortable for shooting. The foregrip piece is from a Romanian AK Kit.
Refinishing the stock was very rewarding for me. It takes some patients for the many applications but compared to other woodworking projects it's very simple. For the finish I hand rubbed tung oil for a matte finish.
for how-to details see http://riflestocks.tripod.com/
for how-to details see http://riflestocks.tripod.com/
+1 on refinishing the stock.
I followed the directions here for refinishing an SKS stock and was very satisfied with the results...
http://www.jouster.com/Bulletin/refinishing.htm
If you decided to change the furniture with something else, be careful not to buy/install something that could exceed the imported parts count. Stocks, handguards and pistol grips are countable parts under 922r...
(I have no idea which parts in a WASR are of US manufacture that makes them 922r compliant)
The 16 countable parts of an AK rifle. No more than 10 of these parts may be imported.
http://www.ar15.com/content/page.html?id=80
(1) Receiver
(2) Barrel
(3) Trunnion
(4) Muzzle attachments(flash hiders, brakes, barrel extensions, barrel nuts)
(5) Bolt
(6) Bolt carrier
(7) Gas piston
(8) Trigger
(9) Hammer
(10) Disconnecter
(11) Buttstock
(12) Pistol grip
(13) Forearm handguards
(14) Magazine body
(15) Follower
(16) Floorplate
This is a pretty good website for info on thw WASR and other romanain AK's
http://www.gunsnet.net/Linx310/model.htm
I followed the directions here for refinishing an SKS stock and was very satisfied with the results...
http://www.jouster.com/Bulletin/refinishing.htm
If you decided to change the furniture with something else, be careful not to buy/install something that could exceed the imported parts count. Stocks, handguards and pistol grips are countable parts under 922r...
(I have no idea which parts in a WASR are of US manufacture that makes them 922r compliant)
The 16 countable parts of an AK rifle. No more than 10 of these parts may be imported.
http://www.ar15.com/content/page.html?id=80
(1) Receiver
(2) Barrel
(3) Trunnion
(4) Muzzle attachments(flash hiders, brakes, barrel extensions, barrel nuts)
(5) Bolt
(6) Bolt carrier
(7) Gas piston
(8) Trigger
(9) Hammer
(10) Disconnecter
(11) Buttstock
(12) Pistol grip
(13) Forearm handguards
(14) Magazine body
(15) Follower
(16) Floorplate
This is a pretty good website for info on thw WASR and other romanain AK's
http://www.gunsnet.net/Linx310/model.htm
I refinished the wood on my Romak. Being Romanian its basically the same style in construction and look in wood as a Romanian AK except for the upper handguard which was a horrible blonde color and it bugged the hell out of me.
Red Mahogany Minwax stain took care of that with more coats added and longer penetrating time to the upper handguard to get a uniform look. The buttstock and lower handguard weren't too far off from each other with the butt being the darkest so it only got one quick application. The finish is Minwax satin spray poly.
Don't give up on the wood furniture before you try a few refinishing tecniques. The Romanian AKs for sale here in the US are often left unfinished, grimey, and rough. I'd take the wood off, wash it down lightly with some denatured alcohol or mineral spirits, give it a light sanding with 150 or 220 grit if needed to get any imperfections out, clean it with a tack cloth or rag dampened with pre-stain wood conditioner and go from there with whatever color or finish you're after. With a little work you can make the wood look quality.
Red Mahogany Minwax stain took care of that with more coats added and longer penetrating time to the upper handguard to get a uniform look. The buttstock and lower handguard weren't too far off from each other with the butt being the darkest so it only got one quick application. The finish is Minwax satin spray poly.
Don't give up on the wood furniture before you try a few refinishing tecniques. The Romanian AKs for sale here in the US are often left unfinished, grimey, and rough. I'd take the wood off, wash it down lightly with some denatured alcohol or mineral spirits, give it a light sanding with 150 or 220 grit if needed to get any imperfections out, clean it with a tack cloth or rag dampened with pre-stain wood conditioner and go from there with whatever color or finish you're after. With a little work you can make the wood look quality.
When I refinished the original WASR wood, I didn't take the time or effort to make it look good. I wanted to retain the "utilitarian" appearance.
I used MinWax Sedona Red 222 stain.
I used MinWax Sedona Red 222 stain.
Good idea. That's what I did. I liked the result and it was cheap and easy.Migmojo said:
The black plastic furniture looks good but I'm more of a "traditionalist" and like the look of the wood.
JJ did you polish the charging handle on yours? It doesn't look blued in the picture. I've seen online where you can deblue them, with a wire wheel and some buffing to make them look more like a regular AK and know someone who did theirs. After much work and fine buffing it came out pretty good.
Yes, I stripped the bluing with Birchwood Casey Blue and Rust Remover. I then used my Dremel with SS brush. Then I polished it using auto rubbing compound with a polishing wheel on the Dremel. It wasn't much work at all. Maybe 30 minutes. I didn't take all of the machining marks off.Milsurps 4 Me said:
This formula looks interesting. It's how to achieve the classic looking red style
finish found on older Soviet AK-47s...
"I have had a couple eMails about my "formula" for the Russian finish tint. There are a couple was to go about this. First of all some people would have you believe that this can only be accomplished by some soooper secret method, not true! Anybody with mild wood refinishing skills can accomplish it, but they need to take their time!
For you Chemical Engineer types out there......
The Varnish formula is as follows:
Russian Gun Stock Varnish
Percent
Spar Varnish 98.920
Bayer Macrlolex Yellow 6G 0.800
Finos Red 693 0.125
Finos Blue 1402 0.155
Heat to 150-180F for 2 hours. Shake or shear contents for 10 minutes. Filter when cooled to room temp through 100 micron bag.
This isn't too much help for those of us who are not Chemical Engineers, or access to a full chemical lab. There is however another way for the common man to accomplish this feat. Here is an example of what can be done with some simple products and some time
For the Homebrew types........
Required materails
Rit Dye
#42 Golden Yellow
#25 Dark Brown
#16 Tan
#5 Scarlet
Isopropyl Alcohol
Yellow Varnish
0000 Steel Wool
mixing cups
cheese cloth(I have used coffee filters also)
rags
brush
Start off by putting a few teaspoons of the yellow dye in the filter materail, then pour a cup of alcohol thru it. The reason is we want the color, but not the salts. After it has filtered thru once then pour it thru again and again until you have a bright yellow mixture. (Side note: if you wanted to duplicate the light Chinese wood finish you would stop here) Now get another filter this time do this with the scarlet. Then depending on the "brown hue" you want either the the tan or the dark brown. (you won't need much of this mixture).
Now, slowly add some red to the yellow making an orangish (Iodine) colored mixture. Find a piece or a spot of the wood that is not so noticable, and "stain it" using some of your rag materail. Adjust color to suit mixing in more red, yellow, brown, etc.
I usually put on about 3 coats of this lightly buffing in between with 0000 steel wool. Next with your wood "tinted" Open your Yellow Varnish. DO NOT SHAKE!!!!!, this will cause bubbles in your finish. Slowly stir with a wooded stick. Using a brush to apply. Apply light coats, again AFTER each coat has had time to dry lightly buff with 0000 steel wool. I do not buff after the final coat as you want very light brush marks to remain".
finish found on older Soviet AK-47s...
"I have had a couple eMails about my "formula" for the Russian finish tint. There are a couple was to go about this. First of all some people would have you believe that this can only be accomplished by some soooper secret method, not true! Anybody with mild wood refinishing skills can accomplish it, but they need to take their time!
For you Chemical Engineer types out there......
The Varnish formula is as follows:
Russian Gun Stock Varnish
Percent
Spar Varnish 98.920
Bayer Macrlolex Yellow 6G 0.800
Finos Red 693 0.125
Finos Blue 1402 0.155
Heat to 150-180F for 2 hours. Shake or shear contents for 10 minutes. Filter when cooled to room temp through 100 micron bag.
This isn't too much help for those of us who are not Chemical Engineers, or access to a full chemical lab. There is however another way for the common man to accomplish this feat. Here is an example of what can be done with some simple products and some time
For the Homebrew types........
Required materails
Rit Dye
#42 Golden Yellow
#25 Dark Brown
#16 Tan
#5 Scarlet
Isopropyl Alcohol
Yellow Varnish
0000 Steel Wool
mixing cups
cheese cloth(I have used coffee filters also)
rags
brush
Start off by putting a few teaspoons of the yellow dye in the filter materail, then pour a cup of alcohol thru it. The reason is we want the color, but not the salts. After it has filtered thru once then pour it thru again and again until you have a bright yellow mixture. (Side note: if you wanted to duplicate the light Chinese wood finish you would stop here) Now get another filter this time do this with the scarlet. Then depending on the "brown hue" you want either the the tan or the dark brown. (you won't need much of this mixture).
Now, slowly add some red to the yellow making an orangish (Iodine) colored mixture. Find a piece or a spot of the wood that is not so noticable, and "stain it" using some of your rag materail. Adjust color to suit mixing in more red, yellow, brown, etc.
I usually put on about 3 coats of this lightly buffing in between with 0000 steel wool. Next with your wood "tinted" Open your Yellow Varnish. DO NOT SHAKE!!!!!, this will cause bubbles in your finish. Slowly stir with a wooded stick. Using a brush to apply. Apply light coats, again AFTER each coat has had time to dry lightly buff with 0000 steel wool. I do not buff after the final coat as you want very light brush marks to remain".
![[wink]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/002.gif "Wink [wink]")
