AK Screw Build Question.. .

[oaklander]

I'm having a heck of a time removing my Romy kit's barrel trunion.

I'm thinking just to leave it on - and drill out the rivet stubs.

I've already dome some partial "de-milling" - I've got the trigger housing and rear trunion off of the old receiver - and I've got the old reciever off of the front barrel trunion.

SO what I've got now are the front and back trunions, with rivet stubs in them. . .

My question is:

How hard is it to drill out the old rivet stubs, if one does not have a drill press? Can they be drilled out with a hand electric drill. Are they soft metal (I suspect they are)?

THanks in advance!!!

[salvageland]

you definitely need a drillpress...i used a super tiny one and it worked perfect. The rivets are easy to drill into, i used cheap carbon steel bits from McMaster, if u have the NDS3 reciever, line up the front bottom rivet holes with the bottom holes on the reciever and thread and screw them in...then use the predrilled reciever holes to drill into the top 2 holes...easy as cake, the only thing to watch out for is to tap the holes straight or else the screw heads will not fit flush with the reciever.

[Lateralus]

you can do it without a drill press. just drill in a little bit and then punch it out

[oaklander]

Thanks guys for the tips!

p.s. - I also wanted to put out a solid "+1" for the J&G Sales Romy kit.

The price was $99.95 and all the critical parts are matching numbers.

It's a Romy "G" kit that looks like it has never even been fired. The front of the gun was pristine just some handling wear on the wood - and the metal parkerizing was 99 percent - the buttstock was from a different gun, darker wood laminate - but cleaned up nice.

I ordered it last Thursday - and got it yesterday. Fast shipping!

[thedrickel]

Don't give up on the barrel pin until it is all mushroomed out on one side. Then do the other. Then drill it out and use the shank of a drill bit. One fits perfectly, down to .001, I forget which. You are using a 3 or 5lb hammer right?

I like to leave the front receiver stub on until I get the pin out, so the trunnion doesn't get beaten up by the vise jaws.

[Builder]

Even though you seem to have yourself set for a screw build, a TIG welded AK is sooo much easier to do. There's no drilling out of the rivets on the trunions, just grinding them flat. The trigger guard does need to be drilled out. No removal of the barrel and no tapping needed. My PSL was a screw build and the TIG was so easy by comparison.
Thanks,
Builder

[oaklander]

Even though you seem to have yourself set for a screw build, a TIG welded AK is sooo much easier to do. There's no drilling out of the rivets on the trunions, just grinding them flat. The trigger guard does need to be drilled out. No removal of the barrel and no tapping needed. My PSL was a screw build and the TIG was so easy by comparison.
Thanks,
Builder

Can you post a picture of your PSL - I'm curious now!

[Builder]

Yes, you can find a pic at: http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/s...8&postcount=39
Thank you for asking.
Here's the TIG welds on the AK:

Builder

[oaklander]

Builder - Nice Pics!!!

TheDrickel - I'm using a 3 pound hammer - but my vise is too lightweight.

Hypothetical question - if I was going to do a screw build - I could just simply drill out the rivet stubs from the barrel trunion - yes? That way I would not have to remove the barrel from the trunion.

Don't give up on the barrel pin until it is all mushroomed out on one side. Then do the other. Then drill it out and use the shank of a drill bit. One fits perfectly, down to .001, I forget which. You are using a 3 or 5lb hammer right?

I like to leave the front receiver stub on until I get the pin out, so the trunnion doesn't get beaten up by the vise jaws.

[Builder]

Builder - Nice Pics!!!

Thank you.

Hypothetical question - if I was going to do a screw build - I could just simply drill out the rivet stubs from the barrel trunion - yes? That way I would not have to remove the barrel from the trunion.

Even though you asked it of TheDrickel, yes you can, just be very careful that you don't drill so deep as to drill into the barrel. My crude measurement puts the depth to be about 0.285", so sneek up on it carefully. See if you can find yourself a bottom tap to get almost all the way to the bottom of the hole for as much thread purchase as possible.
Have fun,
Builder

[sactoshooter]

Another way to do it is the U-drive screw. You have to drill out the rivet to a certain size and drive the u-drive screw in. You can read more about it on a few of the ak builder sites.

[grammaton76]

*shudder* Or just do it with rivets, the way God intended 'em to be built!

[oaklander]

I did some research on u-drive screw last night at akfiles.com.

Does not seem lilke the way to go, since they weren't really designed for load-bearing applications.

Grammaton, what's the status of you coming up to this neck of the woods for a build party? I know me and some of the guys have been PM'ing each other trying to figure out the logistics, etc.

Here's *my* build status so far, 48 hours after getting the kit:

1) NDS-3 receiver is being DROS'ed - CWS was out, so they are on *short* backorder, I'm sure it'll come in before the 30 day DROS (drop dead deadline) period is up.

2) I've partially demilled the kit. The only thing left is getting the barrel off. A friend is going to trade me back trunions, so I won't have to drill out the back trunion rivets.

3) I'm still waiting to order my MM grip and 922r parts (I'm tight on money right now).

4) I've refinished the wood. The buttstock is cool, it's a very dark color (came like that, it appears to be dark wood). I stained the front wood to match.

5) I'm not going to do much else, based on advice from akfiles.com - their suggestion was to wait until the build party so I don't screw things up.

The zen aspect of this is knowing when inaction is action, and at this point - my best course of action is to slow down!

I've tried everything to get the barrel off (short of using a press). I've hammered the pin in a vise, on a vise, on the concrete floor (using cardboard underneath). I've put it in a vise and tried to press it out using the vise. I'm six foot tall, 250 pounds, and if I can't make something move with a 3 pound hammer, it's not moving without a press!!!



Anyway, this is going to be my first featureless build, and as you can tell, I am super excited!

[Lateralus]

im guessing you havent got the pin out

theres a trick. Use kroil. It hard to come by, but theyre usually on ebay. Seep it in kroil for a week, out it in a vise, use a BIG hammer and a really strong punch (steel works great, ive bent a couple of the others) and hammer STRAIGHT DOWN. Last build i did took MAYBE 20 swings. Came out real nice.

The barrel itself is a different story. A press must be used, i dont trust anything else when its so easy to seriously FUBAR your chamber.

I may be reading you wrong, but you said your going to trade your friend trunions? I wouldnt if i were you. The barrel and the trunion have that pin in there for a reason, headspacing. i wouldnt use another trunion, no matter how hard it is to demill yours

[oaklander]

We're going to trade *rear* trunions.