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AK Builds: Screws or Rivets?


I am often asked, "Should I use screws or rivets for my AK build?"

There isn't a "one size fits all" answer here. So since you asked me, you probably want *my* opinion, and here it is.

Screws are ok for the first build... gets you into the AK building hobby. They are easier to do. They are a shortcut, and there is a tradeoff there. I have not shot enough rounds through my screw builds to find out if they last less than the rivet builds.

HOWEVER

Think how a rivet holds the two pieces of metal together though. You smoosh the rivet on both sides, it fill out the hole and holds the two pieces together, with no wiggle room, and the two opposite smooshed sides of the rivet hold the pieces together. A screw, on the other hand, holds the pieces together by being threaded into one of the pieces. The bond in the screw case is only as strong as the threads into which the screw is threaded. I have seen some very soft trunnions that the screws just wouldn't hold, or you would start tightening the screw and strip the threads in the trunnion. My yugo underfolder build started that way but finished with the front trunnion welded into the receiver.

A shotgun build


When there is a shotgun offered at an auction for $20 and no one is bidding, I cannot just let it pass. It wasn't much to look at and the stock was cracked and the blue was all worn off. I decided that I could make a new buttstock and forearm for it from an old mil-surp Yugo Mauser stock.

I also decided to refinish the metal. Deceptively easy it may seem... Cold blue refinishing is not for the faint of heart. You have to be prepared to scrap a days' work and start over because there comes a point at which the metal just doesn't take any blue; and if you are not happy with the finish (or what you can make out of it by polishing it with steel wool), then you just have to re-do it.

Anyway, here are some "before" pics:

Here is the stock roughed in:

Trying to see what it will look like:

And here are the pictures "after":



I think this one turned out real nice.

I bought this as a 12ga shotgun. Imagine my surprise when I realized that a 12ga shell just doesn't fit in the chamber. The chamber is actually 16ga.

 

March, 20: Finally took some pics of the new Bulgarian build


This is a kit from Ohio Rapid Fire, it was in near new condition. I sandblasted and refinished the metal with moly resin flat black. Wood was sanded and then treated with six coats of tung oil and four coats of polyurethane matte coating. I may refinish the buttstok with some stain to match the color to that of the handguards slightly better.

 
 

This picture shows how you can use a vise to press the barrel in. Slowly keep cranking the vise up, then tap with a heavy mallot, then crank some more, tap, etc.

This method may even be better than using a 12-ton press. The vice jaws do a good job. Use aluminum or brass inserts to protect the receiver and the rear sight block that come in contact with the vise.

January, 3: FAL Build Update

The FAL has been assembled, all large parts painted, all small parts blued, all required US parts installed. This is one good-looking rifle.

Here are some pics of my new Safe Queen:

November, 27: Yugo Underfolder Build Complete

The milled yugo underfolder built on a stamped receiver has been completed (more milled on stamped build info here).

The rifle has been painted with Norell Moly Resin, has a new set of century plastic furniture and a yugo-style US-made pistol grip:

Top, nice all-black rifle, with yugo-style pistol grip and Century plastic handguards.

Left, same rifle but with the original wood handguards, stained dark walnut. The handguards were very beat up (and cracked).

November, 15: FAL Build Progress Report

The receiver is here, and other US-made parts for the build are trickling in. Here are some pictures (more info here).

The infamous Century receiver. The hand-threading of the barrel into the receiver on this one has got to be the worst ever, but I was prepared for that. At $250 shipped, this was still a really good deal for a FAL receiver. Always fun to lay out the kit, the receiver and all, and try to imagine what the rifle is going to look like.
I have a lot of work ahead of me with "chasing" the threads on this receiver. I don't have a tap, so I will just use the barrel, the vice and wrench, and slowly work the threads. I was fortunate to acquire a receiver wrench and a barrel vice, for $90 shipped, from a fellow member on Fal Files