[jagedge]

I finished my first build this weekend (almost, I still need to drill/rivet the new piston and finish pressing the barrel pin in), it's a 1972 non-G Romy from Apex (all matching numbers w/ a bore so shiny it looks brand new) on a NDS-3 receiver. I haven't scaled these yet, so have to link them for now:
full pic
Next to Yugo

Everything went pretty good, though I did have some problems getting the barrel lined up which I went into in another thread. The front rivets aren't great, but not horrible. The rear ones are a bit worse, they seemed to lean a bit while forming so aren't centered. I intended for this to be a learner, so I'm not going to let it bother me but I'd like to figure out what went wrong on those so I don't make the same mistake. I used AK-builder riveting jig & rivets w/ a HF 12T press. I'm thinking it wasn't exactly straight or not tightened down enough (just hand tightened). I did hear mentioned that some feel those long rivets are a bit too long and should be shortened a bit. Other ideas?

Front Left
Front Right
Rear Left

Other than the barrel, I did run into a couple other problems to deal with. The first was a rusted on barrel nut that sat below the pin. At first I thought I'd leave it on and use the US grip in the above photo, but yesterday I decided I really didn't like the grip and wanted to put the original bakelite back on, so spent some time w/ a can of wd-40 and a couple pairs of pliers and finally worked it off by wedging it past the pin for the first turn.

Last issue is one that I haven't solved yet. I tried manually cycling a few rounds (Wolf HP) and noticed that the tips were being deformed a bit from hitting the edge of the barrel. The last one in the magazine actually wedged between bolt & barrel edge, but it wasn't under full spring tension as I was trying to watch what was happening by that point. Looking at the picture labeled "Front Right" above, I thought the magazine may be riding too high in the back compared to my M70, but then I realized it's the magazine itself and the magazine I was looking at in the M70 fits the same. I tried getting some pics of the feed ramp w/ magazine, they turned out a bit blurry though:
Feed Ramp 1
Feed Ramp 2

Any ideas what this could be (or is it even unusual)?

- jE

 

[bones357]

I think it looks great! Are you refinishing it? I think it has a perfect "battlefield pickup" look. And I think your rivets look fine. You should see one that I buggered on my 74 build. :doh:

Regarding the HP ammo: The ammo is most likely your problem, not the mags or feed ramp. I had the exact same problem in my Henderson Defense "Khyber Pass" AKM (built from a G kit), and I know they built it right. Try some FMJ and I bet the problem disappears.

 

[74uLLC]

Looks good!!!

I also use the ak-builder jig and his rivets. I dont shorten my rear rivets and I dont have any problems. I dunno about that one. Some people do and some dont. Try to shorten them about .020" and see what happens.

As for the HP's not feeding right. Its very common. Try a few different mags and see what happens. When you find one that works right measure the length of the feed lips and compare that to the length of the feed lips on the mags that dont feed correctly. I have found up to .030" difference in my mags. I think that some mags have the feed lips too long and they dont allow the round to get at a steep enough angle as the bolt pushes them in.

It could be your rifle but try different mags first! Let us know!

 

[oldcar]

The rivets on the front left of the Yugo don't look that bad. I had a Yugo kit that had rivets that looked just like those before I demilled it.

 

[jagedge]

I think it looks great! Are you refinishing it? I think it has a perfect "battlefield pickup" look. And I think your rivets look fine. You should see one that I buggered on my 74 build. :doh:

Regarding the HP ammo: The ammo is most likely your problem, not the mags or feed ramp. I had the exact same problem in my Henderson Defense "Khyber Pass" AKM (built from a G kit), and I know they built it right. Try some FMJ and I bet the problem disappears.

Thanks! The wood was in really bad shape so I stripped it and did a bit of sanding, then put some teak oil and a layer of lacquer on it. For the metal, I had been planning on getting a park kit together, but like the way it turned out too so haven't decided for sure if it would go in it.

I've tried FMJ and yes, it works fine. I have a couple thousand rounds of HP though since one of the local ranges doesn't allow FMJ, so would like to use it but I haven't even been to that range yet. The one I normally go to doesn't care, so I'll be getting more FMJ anyway.

-jE

 

[jagedge]

Looks good!!!

I also use the ak-builder jig and his rivets. I dont shorten my rear rivets and I dont have any problems. I dunno about that one. Some people do and some dont. Try to shorten them about .020" and see what happens.

As for the HP's not feeding right. Its very common. Try a few different mags and see what happens. When you find one that works right measure the length of the feed lips and compare that to the length of the feed lips on the mags that dont feed correctly. I have found up to .030" difference in my mags. I think that some mags have the feed lips too long and they dont allow the round to get at a steep enough angle as the bolt pushes them in.

It could be your rifle but try different mags first! Let us know!

I've tried a couple of my Yugo mags and they seem to be the worst. Another I have (Romy or Bulgarian, not sure) seems to be ok for all except the last round which wedged between the barrel and bolt. I'll try some more after work and also using a FMJ round as the last one and seeing if any cycle 100% like that.

-jE

 

[jagedge]

The rivets on the front left of the Yugo don't look that bad. I had a Yugo kit that had rivets that looked just like those before I demilled it.

Thanks, but the Yugo is actually a CAI build. That's the gateway AK that got me hooked