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Building Your Own AK Isn’t That Hard – An RPK From An 80%

Related Tags: AK, build a gun, Buzz, DIY, Feature Articles, Gunsmithing

Just a few years ago, the idea of an 80% receiver that you could complete in a home shop and build into a rearm
was an unknown concept to most shooters. Now there are a variety of different models available in such a format,
with all sorts of different options, and different dif cultly levels to complete. The Kalashnikov is no different in this
regard. The design of the AKM and its derivatives lends itself to the home builder, as it was designed to be produced
en mass with as little sophisticated manufacturing as possible. As homebuilders, we are predominately interested in
the receiver, it being the actual “ rearm”.  With the AKM type ri es, the receiver is basically just a bent piece of sheet
metal.

This type of receiver makes an 80% build very possible for those without a lot of
equipment.
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 Until recently, anyone wanting to build an AK from something like an 80% receiver really only had one option, a at.
Honestly, if you have a little bit of metalworking experience, a at is not a bad option. But it requires a few things
that a novice homebuilder might be intimidated by. Bending the receiver in and of itself can be tricky. Also, the
general consensus is that the receivers need to be hardened to some degree, or at least in a few critical places. There
are a lot of things that can go wrong trying to heat treat a piece of sheet metal that needs to keep its shape.
Recently, pre-bent, pre-hardened 80% receivers have become available. Basically, this just leaves the holes to be
drilled, which requires a lot less tooling to accomplish.

 For this particular build, I wanted to show that you don’t need a bunch of machinery to complete an 80% receiver
and build a ri e. So I used a drill press (speci cally because drill presses are quite inexpensive) for the receiver work,
and a 20-ton hydraulic press for the assembly work. However, if you’re using a new barrel, that hasn’t been pre-
headspaced, you’ll need a vise for your drill press to properly drill the barrel pin hole. Since I was attempting to put
more emphasis on the receiver completion, I summarized the rest of the build procedures. Those details are in
previous AK build articles I’ve written for GunsAmerica (and will also likely be in future build articles), should you
want that information.

For this build, I’m putting together a Yugoslavian M72 RPK clone. The M72 is essentially their idea of an RPK, itself
the squad level light machine gun. Basically, the RPK is an AKM with a longer, heavier barrel, a bipod, and a beefed
up receiver and front trunnion. This was done to allow the weapon to deal with the higher heat from the higher rate
of re. The Yugos took a little bit different of an approach with their AKs in general. All of their AKs used the RPK
style thicker receiver and front trunnion. The M72 had a unique cooling n on the barrel and a heavier pro le than
other RPK variants. If you served in a combat capacity in Iraq, you probably have seen an M72. They were relatively
common in theater, as were Yugo AKs in general. The Iraqis also had assistance from Yugoslavia in producing their
own AKs and produced an M72 copy called the “Al Quds”.

The M72 parts kit, our star ng point for the build.

For the build itself, I used an M72 parts kit that I obtained some time ago from APEX Gun Parts though, at the time
of this writing, they are sold out. These parts kits are also available from Numrich for $312. For the receiver, I used
an 80% pre-hardened blank. But the particular place I got it from said they do not have any of these available at this

atime. ChildersdGuns also has aysimilar 80% blankv in the Yugo pattern available. I bought the receiver blank drilling
 xture and the trunnion hole drilling xture from AK-Builder. I used an original barrel that I bought in a bunch of
other parts some time ago. New, US-made barrels are available from AK-Builder.

 A quick note on the legal issues is in order before we proceed. Like always, make sure you comply with all federal,
state, and local laws and regulations if you attempt a build like this one. Also aside from the obvious NFA rules, you
must also be in compliance with 922r. 922r states that certain ri es may not have more than 10 foreign-made parts
off of a speci c list. Because of that, it is necessary to replace enough parts on the list of counted components with
US-made parts so that you have no more than 10 foreign-made parts on the list. Fortunately, there are lots of US-
made AK parts of all different shapes and sorts, so it is not particularly dif cult or expensive to meet this
requirement. Do some research and make sure your build is legal where you live before you begin.

First, the old receiver and barrel stubs must be removed from the parts. While a bit tedious at times, it is pretty self-
explanatory. So I’m not going to go into a bunch of detail of it. Basically, you remove the pins from the barrel
components and press out the remnants of the old barrel. You also drill out the old rivets and remove the old
receiver pieces.

The Receiver Blank Drilling Fixture has all of the holes marked for what size bit to use for each hole.

As I mentioned earlier, I used an 80% receiver for this build. So the next step was to complete it. I used the AK-
abuilder drillingd xture to drill ythe FCG (Fire Control
v Group) pinholes and the selector holes. The drill bits are all
 provided, though you won’t use them all for this type of receiver blank. An aluminum block is provided in the kit to
put under the xture while you are drilling, to ensure the xture sits at. There is a thin steel place that is also
provided. It slides into the receiver on top of the rails to support the receiver while you drill the holes.

The holes are not intended to be drilled straight through both sides, but from each side separately. This is especially
important with the FCG pinholes, as they are 7mm on one side and 5mm on the other (if you look at the pins in your
kit it’s pretty obvious). Next, I drilled the holes for the selector. There are two on one side and one on the other. After
the selector holes are drilled, there is a small web of material left between them that needs to be removed. I used a
1/8” endmill to machine out the majority of it, and then I nished it up with a le. All in all, I highly recommend this
xture. It is REALLY easy to use.

Just line the fixture up on the hole you want to drill and drill the hole. It’s literally that easy.

Next, I needed to drill the holes for the front and rear trunnion rivets. I used the Trunnion drilling xture from AK-
Builder for this. This xture is intended for use with a milling machine or drill press. I used a drill press, in keeping
with the theme of not using a bunch of expensive equipment. How this xture is intended to work is that the
trunnion is put on the xture, line up the hole to be drilled, and then the receiver is slid on and the hole drilled.

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 No ce the setup I’m using to drill the front trunnion holes, with the extra clamps. This was necessary because of the snug
fit between the receiver and the trunnion I was using.

Obviously, you need the receiver to slide on and off fairly easily for this to work well. My particular receiver and front
atrunnion t together
d a lot tighter
y than that. Wevare dealing with bent sheet metal after all. I’m going to describe
 what I did to deal with this, as I think it’s a reasonable possibility when performing a build like this. I did some
tting, to where it would go on with some pressure. Unfortunately, I didn’t feel like I could get it to come off so
easily without removing an excessive amount of material. So, I clamped a piece of steel tubing behind the xture, to
help keep it in place against the extra force from putting the receiver onto the trunnion. This is in addition to
clamping the receiver to the drill press table already. Then after drilling the hole, I loosened the xture and took the
receiver and trunnion completely off when it was time to take the receiver off of the trunnion.

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 Drilling the rear trunnion holes. Don’t forget the block underneath!

Fortunately, the rear trunnion t very nicely. I was able to drill those holes in the manner they were intended. The
provided instructions suggest that you should drill these holes all the way through. That’s exactly how I drilled these
aholes. I made da mistake when yI forgot to put thevaluminum block under the receiver when I drilled one of the holes.
 The whole thing shifted slightly and my hole was misaligned. I had to weld that hole closed and re-drill it. So, don’t
forget the block! The last thing you need to do to complete the receiver is to t the ejector. Carefully remove a little
bit of material at a time until it ts the slot in your bolt and bolt carrier.

Once the ejector is tted, the rest of the build is similar to any other AK build. Since I was using an original barrel, I
already knew where the components would go on. I simply lined them up and pressed them on until the slots in the
barrel for the pins lined up with the pinholes in the parts. I use anti-seize whenever I install press- t parts in order
to help them go on a little easier, and off easier if needed.

The Yugo trunnion uses a long rivet along with the short rivets I’m installing here.

Before the barrel is installed, the front trunnion must be riveted into the receiver. The M72 trunnion is installed in a
similar manner to most any stamped receiver AK variant. The one thing that is a little different is that there is 1 long

arivet used alongd with the shortyrivets-instead ofvjust short rivets. A lot of times, I’ll rivet the trigger guard in place at
 this point in the build. However, I do not recommend that for this or any other Yugo type build. I always wait to rivet
the rear trunnion in place until the barrel has been installed because if you need to press it back out its much easier
to do so without it. With the M72 and other Yugo models, there is no pistol grip nut per se. There is a plate that
serves this purpose. It gets riveted on the receiver, under the back of the trigger guard. The last rivet in this plate
also goes through the rear trunnion (which in typical Yugoslavian fashion is itself quite a bit different from a
standard AKM). So given all that, it’s much easier to wait until the barrel is pressed in before proceeding with any
more riveting. I’m passing this on so that you save a little aggravation that I had when I gured this out. Fortunately,
I have extra rivets.

As I mentioned earlier, I am using an original M72 barrel for this build. But, it did not come with this kit, and hence
was not speci cally headspaced to my bolt and trunnion. I gured that I would press it into place and go from there.
In this case, all I really had to do was make sure it was straight and press it in until the slot in the barrel for the
barrel pin aligned with the hole in the trunnion. Not terribly dif cult, but still some care is required. Once the barrel
was in place, I checked the headspace. Fortunately, it closed on the GO, but not on the NO-GO-just like I’d hoped it
would. So I pressed in the barrel pin. If you were building a parts kit with a barrel that had already been headspaced
(such things do exist), you would basically do what I described (always con rm with GO and NO-GO gauges). If you’re
using a new barrel, you’ll obviously need to machine the hole for the barrel pin.

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 With the barrel installed, I installed the rear trunnion. It has 2 long rivets through the sides in typical fashion and
one short rivet that passes through the plate on the bottom I mentioned earlier. There is a slot on the left side of the
receiver. This is for the rear sling mount. Some kits do not include this part, and some do. It has little tabs that you

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 put through the slot and bend outward. After that, the furniture, FCG, and remaining parts are installed. Now the ri e
is complete and ready for function testing.

The tabs on the sling mount are simply bent out to hold it in place. No ce the rivet right in front of the stock bolt. That
rivet goes through the plate, receiver, and rear trunnion.

The last things to do are function testing and test ring. I say this every time I write about a build because this is
extremely important. Before putting any live rounds through a new build, a function test needs to be done to ensure
that the FCG is working properly. I also run a few dummy rounds through as well to make sure the ri e will properly.
Once that’s done, its time to test re the ri e. Do not just load a full magazine into your untested ri e! Load and re
1 round. Then check the casing for any abnormalities. If everything is good, re 2 rounds and check the casings. If
everything looks good, re 3 rounds and check those casings. If you get through that without any problems or
oddities, you’re probably safe to proceed with normal ring.

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 Here is the completed M72, ready for test firing.

As you can see, it is quite possible to build an AK from an 80% receiver without a lot of equipment. It does not
require a whole lot of special skills to do either. Hopefully, this will inspire some of you would-be AK builders to give
it a shot. Until next time, happy building!

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About the author: Christopher Mace Christopher Mace enlisted in the US Army as an Infantryman in
2001. He served in the 82nd & 101st Airborne Divisions, with four deployments to Afghanistan &
Iraq. Chris started hobby gunsmithing in 2005. After completing his service in 2010, he earned AAS
degrees in Machining as well as Welding & Fabrication. Chris has taken several armorers courses on different
rearms, and has built several different types of rearms. He has been collecting & shooting military rearms, old
and new since he was 18. He is currently pursuing a Gunsmithing Technician Certi cate from Trinidad State Junior
College. Chris enjoys repairing, customizing, building & assembling rearms, as well as different disciplines of
competition shooting.

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 Next post: Vickers, Spring eld, Wilson Combat and Lipsey’s Team Up on Tactical Master Class 1911
Previous post: S&W M&P 9 2.0 Performance Center – The Flagship M&P – Upgraded

{ 5 comments… add one }

Mike G.
JUNE 9, 2020, 1:20 AM

This is a thing from the past maybe 10 years ago or longer ago. Parts kits are cos ng almost as much as a built rifle now.
Try and find or buy a parts kit and then purchase a barrel and all the li le things needed to assemble this along with the
tools that are needed.

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Big Al 45
JUNE 9, 2020, 11:38 AM

Seriously, are you not aware of the reasons MOST (not all) people build instead of buy?
In fact, I’ve found that you can get a screamin deal on a built rifle, but money isn’t the main reason people do the
build.

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Bob
JUNE 8, 2020, 2:14 PM

Why do a build when you cant get parts, good informa on but kind of useless

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Christopher Mace
JUNE 9, 2020, 12:42 AM

Numrich is showing kits in stock, Childers is showing receivers available, and AK-Builder is showing barrels and
FCGs available. Not sure what parts are unavailable for this build.

REPLY LINK

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 Big Al 45
JUNE 9, 2020, 11:40 AM

From a Philosophic and even a common sense P.O.V., Knowledge is NEVER “useless”.

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