# Lifestyles & Discussion > Personal Security & Defense >  How to Build Your Own AK-47

## tangent4ronpaul

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/...building-party




The wooden and steel parts I need to build my untraceable AK-47 ﬁt within a slender, 15-by-12-inch cardboard box. I ﬁrst lay eyes on them one Saturday morning in the garage of an eggshell-white industrial complex near Los Angeles. Foldout tables ring the edges of the room, surrounding two orange shop presses. The walls, dusty and stained, are lined with shelves of tools. I'm with a dozen other guys, some sipping coffee, others making introductions over the buzz of an air compressor. Most of us are strangers, but we share a common bond: We are just eight hours away from having our very own AK-47one the government will never know about.

The AK-47, perhaps the world's best-known gun, is so easy to make and so hard to break that the Soviet-designed original has spawned countless variants, updated and modified versions churned out by factories all over the globe. Although US customs laws ban importing the weapons, parts kitswhich include most original components of a Kalashnikov variantare legal. So is reassembling them, as long as no more than 10 foreign-made components are used and they are mounted on a new receiver, the box-shaped central frame that holds the gun's key mechanics. There are no fussy irritations like, say, passing a background check to buy a kit. And because we're assembling the guns for our own "personal use," whatever that may entail, we're not required to stamp in serial numbers. These rifles are totally untraceable, and even under California's stringent assault weapons ban, that's perfectly within the law.

Among those ready to get going at this "build party" (none of whom wanted their names used) are a father-son duo getting in some bonding time and a well-bellied sixtysomething with a white Fu Manchu who "loves" the click-ack! sound of a round being chambered. Assembling a Romanian variant is a builder wearing a camo jacket and a hat embroidered with an AR-15 rifle above the legend "Come and take it." His knuckle tattoos read "PRAY HARD."

We crowd in as our three hosts, all expert gun assemblers, hand out waivers with a list of questions: Are you a convicted felon? Ever been dishonorably discharged from the military? Addicted to drugs? Mentally unstable? The guy in camo looks up and, to much laughter, says, "So it's all 'No,' right?"

The hosts collect our paperwork without checking IDs. We don eye protection and gloves, and soon the garage is abuzz with the whir of grinders, cutters, and drills. Sales of receiverswhich house the mechanical parts, making a gun a gunare tightly regulated, so my kit comes with a pre-drilled flat steel platform. Legally, it's just an American-made hunk of metal, but one bend in a vise later and, voilà, it's a receiver, ready for trigger guards to be riveted on. Sparks fly as receiver rails to guide the bolt mechanism are cut, welded into place, and heat-treated. The front and rear trunnions, which will hold the barrel and stock, are attached to the receivers.



Building an AK from parts requires no background checks or serial numbers. Bryan Schatz

Now I need a hand. A stout guy with caramel skin, tired eyes, jet-black hair, and a penchant for peppering his sentences with F-bombs assists me. He starts hammering the barrel into the front trunnion. "If this were an [AR-15] and we did this, we'd be crying doing so much damage," he says. "But an AK, you can drop this thing in $#@!, drag it through the mud, smash it against the ground, pick it up, pull the charging handle, and keep shooting. That's why they're so popular."

Durability and simplicity are why AKs have become the most widely distributed guns on the planet since their 1947 debut. They began proliferating in the late '50s, when the Soviets permitted "fraternal countries" to manufacture Kalashnikovs at will. Soon they spread from one hot spot to another, their reputation for ruggedness and reliability growing along the way. Now there are as many as 70 million in circulation. Colombian drug lord Pedro Guerrero and Saddam Hussein's son Uday had them plated in gold. Both Hezbollah and Mozambique display them on their flags.

Many kits come from stockpiles in former war zones. "I can guarantee you this one has bodies on it," says one of the hosts as I peer down the barrel of a Yugo RPK. It's lined with grit and soot. My host says the AK I'm building is an Egyptian "Maadi" that came to the United States via Croatia, likely having been shipped there during the Yugoslav wars. He tells me some wooden stocks come with tally marks notched in them.

We prep the metal components in a sandblaster and submerge them in a phosphoric acid solution to protect the steel from corrosion. Finally, we grease and assemble them, semi-automatic firing controls included. Owning a gun that can shoot full auto, like these did in a past life, is effectively illegal under federal law. But you can buy a souped-up stock that will harness each shot's recoil to help trigger the next, a bit of clever engineering that mimics automatic fireand stays on the right side of the law. Adding one would be a simple future modification.

The first guy to finish is all smiles, but he has a question: "Say some Johnny Law comes up who don't know $#@! about this law, and I've got an AK without a serial numberthen what?"

"There's a series of laws that make this legal," says one of the hosts. "Just print those up and have them with you in case Johnny Law does come by.

The next morning I do exactly that before tossing my AK in the trunk and heading to a gun store so busy I have to take a number. I pick up a barrel cleaner, a 10-round magazine, and 40 bullets before driving out to Jawbone Canyon, federal land northeast of Los Angeles. I park on a bluff, walk to a spot where I can aim at a mountain of scrub brush and sand, and load five rounds. I empty the magazine in seconds. Their reputation has been rightly earned: AKs are popular because they workevery time.

I'm left wondering: Seeing how easy this is, are build parties monitored? Do hand-built weapons ever surface in crimes? Are the cops worried? When I call local law enforcement representatives from Los Angeles, Orange County, Santa Ana, and Garden Grove, they say they've never heard of such a thing. "That doesn't happen here," says Bruce Borihanh, an LAPD spokesman. But a cursory browse of online gun forums is enough to show that, well, clearly it does. There seems to be one about every month. Plus, I just attended one less than an hour's drive from his office.

I'm reminded of what one of the build party hosts said before I left: "Remember that thing I told you about why people do this: These builds can happen only because they aren't blown out to the public and law enforcement."

People are selling AKs like mine on Armslist.comthe eBay of firearmsfor as much as $1,600. In most states, there are no records tracking such private sales. California residents have to go through a certified dealer to sell them legally. But since this AK is untraceable to begin with, who's to know how I choose to unload it?

Between you, me, and Johnny Law, here's what happened to my homemade AK. Back in my garage I use a grinding wheel to cut the receiver in half and the other components into pieces. I put the scraps back in the cardboard box the kit came in and leave it for the garbage truck.
Target Demographics

Don't call it an assault weapon! "Modern sporting rifle" is the term of art preferred by the National Shooting Sports Foundation to describe civilian versions of military rifles such as the AK-47 and M16. So who owns them?

 Around 3% of Americans have a modern semi-automatic rifle such as an AR-15 (the consumer version of the M16).
 2% of semi-automatic rifle owners have 7.62 x 39 mm rifles, the most common caliber for AK-47s. 76% have .223 rifles, the most common caliber for AR-15s.
 84% of owners are men. 86% are white. 60% have two or more semi-automatic rifles.
 Top reasons for owning a modern semi-automatic rifle:

    Collecting: 28%
    Avoiding future weapons bans: 27%
    Target shooting: 18%
    Protection: 17%
    Hunting: 6%

 25% made their most recent semi-automatic rifle purchase online, 10% at gun shows.
 59% have a 20-plus-round magazine in their most recently purchased semi-automatic rifle.
 28% say theyve spent more than $600 on accessories and customization.

-t

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## Athan

Awesome post!

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## jmdrake

Good video.  Shame the progressive felt the need to destroy a perfectly good and legal gun and the end of the video just to maintain his "mother jones" cred.  I'm sure this is the next "gun loophole" the liberals will try to close once they finish licking their wounds from their last spanking.

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## kcchiefs6465

> Good video.  Shame the progressive felt the need to destroy a perfectly good and legal gun and the end of the video just to maintain his "mother jones" cred.  I'm sure this is the next "gun loophole" the liberals will try to close once they finish licking their wounds from their last spanking.


Yeah, $#@! the guy who wrote that piece.

Too bad he didn't include a price. Might try to get in before some wannabe do-gooder tries to make it a crime.

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## jmdrake

> Yeah, $#@! the guy who wrote that piece.
> 
> Too bad he didn't include a price. Might try to get in before some wannabe do-gooder tries to make it a crime.


Interesting part of the article where he undermined his own not so hidden agenda.

_I'm left wondering: Seeing how easy this is, are build parties monitored? Do hand-built weapons ever surface in crimes? Are the cops worried? When I call local law enforcement representatives from Los Angeles, Orange County, Santa Ana, and Garden Grove, they say they've never heard of such a thing. "That doesn't happen here," says Bruce Borihanh, an LAPD spokesman. But a cursory browse of online gun forums is enough to show that, well, clearly it does. There seems to be one about every month. Plus, I just attended one less than an hour's drive from his office.

I'm reminded of what one of the build party hosts said before I left: "Remember that thing I told you about why people do this: These builds can happen only because they aren't blown out to the public and law enforcement."_

Let's see.  He's worried about whether these unmarked guns are showing up in crimes.  The sheriff isn't away of the build parties.  If these guns *were* showing up in crimes wouldn't the sheriff had started investigating it?  Translation?  Most people building their own AKs aren't going around using them to rob and/or kill people.  The criminals don't care about the serial numbers.  When they buy a gun on the street it's probably changed hands several times already anyway.  It's people who want to own guns legally that are the ones worried about ending up on some fed list.  Criminals are already on fed lists.

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## kcchiefs6465

> Interesting part of the article where he undermined his own not so hidden agenda.
> 
> _I'm left wondering: Seeing how easy this is, are build parties monitored? Do hand-built weapons ever surface in crimes? Are the cops worried? When I call local law enforcement representatives from Los Angeles, Orange County, Santa Ana, and Garden Grove, they say they've never heard of such a thing. "That doesn't happen here," says Bruce Borihanh, an LAPD spokesman. But a cursory browse of online gun forums is enough to show that, well, clearly it does. There seems to be one about every month. Plus, I just attended one less than an hour's drive from his office.
> 
> I'm reminded of what one of the build party hosts said before I left: "Remember that thing I told you about why people do this: These builds can happen only because they aren't blown out to the public and law enforcement."_
> 
> Let's see.  He's worried about whether these unmarked guns are showing up in crimes.  The sheriff isn't away of the build parties.  If these guns *were* showing up in crimes wouldn't the sheriff had started investigating it?  Translation?  Most people building their own AKs aren't going around using them to rob and/or kill people.  The criminals don't care about the serial numbers.  When they buy a gun on the street it's probably changed hands several times already anyway.  It's people who want to own guns legally that are the ones worried about ending up on some fed list.  Criminals are already on fed lists.


Indeed. Not to mention he is advertising to all of the criminals he is supposedly worried about doing just that.

I wasn't even aware of this until I read the article. I knew people were building their own from parts kits but to actually have a setting where if you needed some help you could get it and the tools being available.. I was not aware. I am sure many others weren't as well. His article is biased and suggests that perhaps laws should be put in place to prevent such actions from happening while all the while advertising the process to those who he apparently believes aren't responsible enough or believes should not own a firearm. There might actually be some criminal who reads his article and says, "You know what, that's not a bad idea." Then he and motherjones will flaunt it as an, "I told you so," and use it to push for more legislation.

Weaselly... if I had to put it in one word.

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## tangent4ronpaul

> Yeah, $#@! the guy who wrote that piece.
> 
> Too bad he didn't include a price. Might try to get in before some wannabe do-gooder tries to make it a crime.


https://www.apexgunparts.com/index.php/cPath/21
https://www.apexgunparts.com/index.php/cPath/107
https://www.apexgunparts.com/index.php/cPath/92

http://www.brownells.com/items/ak-parts-kit.aspx

awe - screw it! - someone already did what I was starting to:

http://www.theakforum.net/phpBB3/vie...p?f=7&t=195651

Bulgarian Milled AK47 Underfolder 7.62X39
$219.95 WhataCountry.com
$224.99 AK-Builder.com
$240.00 GunThings.com
$299.99 ClassicFirearms.com

Bulgarian AK-47 Milled 7.62X39
$199.95 WhataCountry.com
$215.00 – Poly Stock GunThings.com
$219.00 AtlanticFirearms.com

Cutaway Polish Milled AK47 Underfolder 7.62X39
$329.99 ApexGunParts.com

Czech VZ58-V Folding Stock 7.62X39
$249.00 DPHarms.com
$289.75 ApexGunParts.com

Hungarian AMD65 7.62X39
$299.95 WhataCountry.com
$315.00 GunThings.com
$399.99 w/ receiver ClassicFirearms.com
$399.00 LegionArms.com

Bulgarian AK-74- Wood Stock 5.45X39
$249.99 ClassicFirearms.com
$299.95 WhataCountry.com
$300.00 GunThings.com
$325.00 ArmsOfAmerica.com
$325.00 AtlanticFirearms.com
$399.00 LegionArms.com
$499.95 w/ ass. barrel ArmsOfAmerica.com
$499.95 w/ ass. barrel AK-Builder.com

Bulgarian AK 74 – Poly Stock 5.45X39
$310.00 GunThings.com
$359.00 ArmsOfAmerica.com
$379.00 AtlanticFirearms.com
$425.00 LegionArms.com
$569.00 w/ ass. barrel ArmsOfAmerica.com

Egyptian Maadi AKM-47 7.62X39
$349.00 ArmsOfAmerica.com
$379.00 w/ Arabic writing ArmsOfAmerica.com
$379.00 AtlanticFirearms.com
$569.00 w/ ass. barrel ArmsOfAmerica.com (new May)

Polish AKMS-47 Underfolder 7.62X39
$379.00 ArmsOfAmerica.com
$385.00 GunThings.com
$389.95 WhataCountry.com
$590.00 w/ installed barrel – ak-builder.com
$699.99 FloridaMilitarySupply.com

Yugo AKM Underfolder 7.62X39
$399.00 LegionArms.com

Romanian PSL/FPK 7.62x54R
$399.50 ApexGunParts.com

Polish Tantal WZ.88 5.45X39
Was $399.95 in April, $349.95 ApexGunParts.com

Romanian M63 AKM 7.62X39
$659.99 FloridaMilitarySupply.com

Romanian M65 AKMS 7.62X39 (new May )
$325.00 ApexGunParts.com

Romanian RPK 7.62X39
$450.00 *NonMatch ApexGunParts.com

Khyber Pass AK-47 7.62X39
$675.00 w/ installed barrel – ak-builder.com

Yugo M85 5.56×45
$549.00 w/ Barrel ArmsOfAmerica.com
$575.00 w/ pre-cut Barrel ArmsOfAmerica.com
$599.00 w/ Chrome Barrel ArmsOfAmerica.com
$599 w/ Chrome Barrel - AtlanticFirearms.com
$699.00 w/ Assembled & Head Spaced Barrel ArmsOfAmerica.com
$749.00 w/ Ass. & Head Spaced Chrome Barrel ArmsOfAmerica.com
$788.00 w/ Barrel AA-OK.com

Bulgarian AKS-74 – Triangle Sidefold 5.45X39
$699.00 w/ chrome barrel ArmsOfAmerica.com
$699.00 w/ Barrel, AtlanticFirearms.com
$759.00 w/ chrome, ass. barrel ArmsOfAmerica.com

Yugo M92 7.62X39
$599 AtlanticFirearms.com
$699.00 w/ pre-cut Original Barrel, Underfolder ArmsOfAmerica.com
$849.00 ArmsOfAmerica.com
$925.00 w/ pre-cut Original Barrel, Sidefold ArmsOfAmerica.com
$999.00 Ass & Head Space Orig Barrel, Sidefold ArmsOfAmerica.com

http://gunwebsites.net/2013/05/23/ak...ated-may-2013/

Build it yourself sub-forum - lots of tutorials...

http://www.theakforum.net/phpBB3/vie...2b7455e55a85b6

Find build parties here:

http://www.theakforum.net/phpBB3/vie...2b7455e55a85b6

Video's:

http://www.theakforum.net/phpBB3/vie...2b7455e55a85b6

-t

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## AuH20

He looks like your typical smarmy prog. It disgusts me to even watch that. The man is so incapitated by the latent potential of an inanimate object that he must destroy it.

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## COpatriot

I love how this guy places an emphasis on things he thinks are just so terrible like no background checks, government won't know, no serial number, or untraceable. I'm reading this going "and the problem is........?"

Oh gooood for you on destroying that evil scary shooty thingy. That will really put a dent in that 70 million in circulation you mentioned in your little article.

By the way, the comments on that video are awesome.




> I hope you failed your high school video report dumb a**. You did no research and committed a felony by going to a LEGAL build party and not, YES YOU built it so you built a actual illegal AK47 assault rifle and are blaming law abiding citizens following law for your felony build. And you may have destroyed it but you still manufactured and imported a illegal assault rifle and posted video evidence of said commited felony. You fail at life





> Glad you broke the law on camera. Bullet button wasn't right, and you didn't even cut the damn thing up properly. Hope you at least get a fine (I know I'm dreaming, you'll walk) if only for wasting an Egyptian kit.

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## S.Shorland

An Egyptian SEMI AUTOMATIC 'AK-47'

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## S.Shorland

They know their 'arguments' are rubbish as a hunting rifle with some bits added looks like an 'assault rifle'.So they're trying to come at it another way: 'People are building 'AK-47s' from kits!' - leaving the 'but they are just semi-automatic replicas',out.

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## Pericles

There is a company soon to put a small 3 axis CNC on the market for less than $2K. Can make everything you need with that except possibly the barrel ....

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## ghengis86

> There is a company soon to put a small 3 axis CNC on the market for less than $2K. Can make everything you need with that except possibly the barrel ....


In that price range, I would seriously consider picking one up and experimenting. I'm sure I could get some time on a lathe at worh for the barrel.

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## ClydeCoulter

> In that price range, I would seriously consider picking one up and experimenting. I'm sure I could get some time on a lathe at worh for the barrel.


Adding the rifling is the more difficult task.  We need to come up with a good way to do it.

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## ghengis86

> Adding the rifling is the more difficult task.  We need to come up with a good way to do it.


Hmmm...some sort of modified tap?

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## ghengis86

how to sunday morning bump

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## tommyrp12

Excellent thread. The kid who built it committed multiple felonies according to this video. He didn't comply with state laws regarding assault weapons. Im sure nothing was done about it, but it would be nice if they were not enforcing them at all.




Here are some things to look out for when doing this .....

Build Parties and Proper AK Construction 



The basics. Its been a while since I watched this but I don't think they cover heat treating the receiver. It would be nice to get a vid of that.  
Rifle Dynamics AK Builder Class: Part 1

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