Anyone putting together a Tula AKM parts guide? If not...

[Malikovski]

First, I want to check if anyone is already doing this.

As we can all see from the many posts of detailed photos of Tula kits, all essentially asking for help in ID correct era of parts (mine included!), we clearly need an AKM parts guide similar to Tantal's AK-74 guide, with part by part breakdowns for each year and detailed pics of each part, so us noob's can identify them without having to ask lots of noob questions. So far the experts have been kind in analyzing the pics and making suggestions as to correct parts, but no one wants to do that 100 times over, and there are hundreds of these kits.

So, if no one is already working on a parts guide, I volunteer to do the work of collecting the information and putting it on the web/posting here. I need this for my own reference, so why not create a public resource?

I will need help--both in terms of working out which parts are correct for what years, and with detailed pictures. I can supply some pics from my own kits, but not nearly all. The focus would be on the years of the current crop of kits, which seem to be 68-75, and Tula vs. Izhevsk parts.

If I don't hear that someone is already doing this--no point in duplicating effort--I will start by reading all the Tula threads here, as well as Stottman's year by year AKM guide, and piece together what I can on part by part variations. Once that is done, I'll post here for corrections and comment.

If I do this, anyone willing to help with corrections and detailed, close up pics?

[MPiKM-72]

Being one of the first to get one of the Atlantic kits I’d posted this to somewhat curb 600 individual “what Soviet parts do I have” posts but it is a work in progress. I keep learning more, taking better photos, buying/trading parts to identify, etc. My updated post is still not ready, but will be soon. One of the toughest things is what to call the different variations/generations of parts. I’m the kind of guy that wants to make sure I/we get it right. I’ve had to recant some of what I had posted, but am always willing to state that I got it wrong the first time (or thirtieth time). FSBs have been quite a mystery in some respects.

viewtopic.php?f=20&t=137258

I have also produced a spreadsheet that identifies the typical barrel components, rear trunions and wood variations of Soviet AKMs on a per year and arsenal basis, but I have not posted this spreadsheet anywhere yet. There are still a few question marks in some of the fields due to the fact that I have not found good photos of untouched rifles in some cases.

I spent a bit of time acquiring, identifying and then photographing some wood.
viewtopic.php?f=20&t=136273

I've thought of melting all this info into one post.


ETA -It would be wise to get specific permission to use any photos used and to give proper credit for those photos for a guide of this nature. I have thousands of AK photos, but if I don't recall where I got it from and don't have permission to use it it will be omitted from any guide I produce. I'm not in a terrible hurry to get this info out because I am patient.

[Stottman]

Honestly, I dont think you have to do a "year by year" guide, as the rifles themselves were pretty stable for most of the time; THe only hazy area is during "transition" periods like around 72-74...

[Malikovski]

Honestly, I dont think you have to do a "year by year" guide, as the rifles themselves were pretty stable for most of the time; THe only hazy area is during "transition" periods like around 72-74...

No, not truly year by year, but what I'd like to have, and what I think would be most useful for all the folks who are buying a Tula AKM as their first Russian kit and finding their way here, is a grid with years across the top, parts list down the side, so you find your trunnion year, see the list of appropriate parts--cast this, milled that, et c.--then scroll down the page to pics of each individual part for identification.

I had no idea about AK-74 parts, but Tantal's guide let me sit down with my Bulgarian kit and correctly identify every single part without asking anyone--other than a "did I get this right?" post.

MPiKM-72, I've got every one of those threads bookmarked already as references Big thanks for putting in the time on cast vs. machined, really gave me a leg up on that--I haven't even started to delve much into wood yet, other than some of the dead giveaway features.

And of course you're right it's good form to ask permission for use of any material and cite appropriately. Don't want to ruffle any feathers.

[MPiKM-72]

I created the Soviet AKM spreadsheet because it helped me keep everything straight as I did research.

This is the rough spreadsheet - it should only be taken as a guide - info is subject to change. Ideally one would click on a field and see photos of the type of part typically used for a given arsenal and year Soviet AKM, but not there yet.

Let's see if this works. I've never done anything with a google account, so its a place to start.

https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key ... j_sM#gid=0

Let me know what you think.

Edited and reuploaded the spreadsheet. Changed the link.

[Malikovski]

I created the Soviet AKM spreadsheet because it helped me keep everything straight as I did research.

This is the rough spreadsheet - it should only be taken as a guide - info is subject to change. Ideally one would click on a field and see photos of the type of part typically used for a given arsenal and year Soviet AKM, but not there yet.

Let's see if this works. I've never done anything with a google account, so its a place to start.

https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key ... sbEC#gid=0

Let me know what you think.

Beautiful--that's exactly what I felt was needed. Glad I asked first and didn't get busy reinventing the wheel!

[Indiansprings]

I created the Soviet AKM spreadsheet because it helped me keep everything straight as I did research.

This is the rough spreadsheet - it should only be taken as a guide - info is subject to change. Ideally one would click on a field and see photos of the type of part typically used for a given arsenal and year Soviet AKM, but not there yet.

Let's see if this works. I've never done anything with a google account, so its a place to start.

https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key ... sbEC#gid=0

Let me know what you think.

Good job.

[Stottman]

Especially during the "transition period" there is enough variation that one cannot nail down a change over like that...

[Tantal]

With enough matching numbers examples, I think we could do just that.

[Weaponmark]

I created the Soviet AKM spreadsheet because it helped me keep everything straight as I did research.

This is the rough spreadsheet - it should only be taken as a guide - info is subject to change. Ideally one would click on a field and see photos of the type of part typically used for a given arsenal and year Soviet AKM, but not there yet.

Let's see if this works. I've never done anything with a google account, so its a place to start.

https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key ... j_sM#gid=0

Let me know what you think.

Edited and reuploaded the spreadsheet. Changed the link.

This is really good MPI.