#gunsmithing

What once was a bullpup, is no longer. Used RPK furniture and an AMD65 pistol grip, lightly restained to retain their texture from years of use, then sealed. Manufacturers will cringe at my rivet work on this one, but they're tight and they'll work, and they're worlds better than the ones the turks originally fitted to it. Don't balk at the turkishness, this is a meme gun.

Still need to order the safety lever, work on the trigger group, and fit picatinny and scope. That last part may be two or three weeks before I spring for anything. Magazine fitment is super tight right now and I may need to file some material off the tip of the magazine catch, but I'm gonna play with it a bit first.

I was going to set up to film this all in one shot for @mexicain-sans-frontiers-v2, but I'm stuck waiting on a correct rear trunnion and I got a wild hair this morning.

I set the trigger guard first. The setting order can be important depending on what's being built. In this build's case, the center trunnion, which integrates the magazine catch, will obsure the trigger guard rivets if it's installed first.

PIctured above is the set trigger guard and the AK Builder trigger jig. (picture was taken last because I forgot)

Here I've got the receiver in the press with the rivet die and a couple of other dies under the receiver to get it elevated off the safety stop tab.

Set on the top left, and cleaned up with some Super Blue on the right. After the Super Blue, wipe the excess off and hit it with some hydrophobic penetrating oil to stop rust from forming. (this is why the very top picture looks wet)

Board of various firearm elements and parts from Lvov Army Workshop No. 6.

So, a standard stamped steel AK safety is only designed to clear one center post rivet. The S12 design uses two center rivets, which means that when Izmash makes them, they mill in an inset on the safety side of their receivers so that the flat side of the center rivets sit low enough for the safety to clear them. They can get away with this depth-wise because the receiver is two layers of 1 mm sheet metal in this area, not just one. This knock-off S12 was originally a bullpup and the receiver was encased in a nylon body, meaning they didn't have to worry about clearing the rivets because the safety's post was extra long to reach outside the casing. Unbullpupping this thing means I've had to mill in the insets for clearance.

They were this terrible brown color:

So, I removed the ferrules and cleaned them up with some Murphy's Oil soap. Then I applied ebony wood stain diluted with thinner. Light coats until I got close to the furniture I've already done. After drying I'll seal them and they should darken a little more to match.

I don't like doing shop work when I'm off and Wife is awake, I'd rather spend time with her, so this project (which could be knocked out in an afternoon if we're being real) won't go fast.

Pictured here is me using a countersink tool to do the sinks on the main rivet holes for the front trunnion. These aircraft tools are a dime a dozen on ebay and are adjustable for depth.

What isn't pictured is that I also pressed the dimples in the receiver. These will lock in and create a very strong joint with all three parts; receiver, trunnion, and rivet.

I was going to rivet in the rear trunnion this morning, but it's the wrong size. Apex really meant it when they listed the item "As-Is." lol Too short lengthwise. I'm now debating getting another one or drilling new rivet holes. Probably the latter, but I'm loath to have another set of exposed (the correct location ones) rivet holes on this project. I may set some dummy rivets to cover the holes, but I've got to percolate on it.