Gun Appreciation Thread

Originally Posted by Duff_Man

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Do you guys know of any luxury ammo storage retailers? I stumbled upon Technoframes when I was at IWA and have been bitten by the bug of severe vanity.

Cool! I like some of those handgun boxes.

Originally Posted by JustinW

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Cool! I like some of those handgun boxes.

Unfortunately the prices are pretty hefty.
100EUR to store 50 fuckin rounds of 9mm? ****!

Originally Posted by Duff_Man

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Unfortunately the prices are pretty hefty. 100EUR to store 50 fuckin rounds of 9mm? ****!
Yeh, I think I'll just leave my ammo in it's sealed spam cans, though I think their stuff is cool. APEX currently has some good parts kit deals, including a **** G3 and Brit G3 (made for West Germany) and Bulgarian AK74 kits for $155!! These genuine Izhmash SVD stocks, refitted for a Romak.PSL, are currently on sale for $210 shipped. Would make a good start for a budget Dragunov: http://thedsmlab.com/adjustablepolystock.html

I have never quite understood these. You get the parts kit and then what, buy a new receiver and build it? Is there an advantage compared to just buying a complete rifle? After all is done it doesn't appear much cheaper if at all.

Also, just how dumb is it to buy a parts kit with a FA fire group? It sounds like asking for trouble to me.

Originally Posted by j

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I have never quite understood these. You get the parts kit and then what, buy a new receiver and build it? Is there an advantage compared to just buying a complete rifle? After all is done it doesn't appear much cheaper if at all.

Also, just how dumb is it to buy a parts kit with a FA fire group? It sounds like asking for trouble to me.

The ONLY way a foreign-made modern military rifle can be imported to the US is as a demilled parts kit with the receiver and barrel destroyed per BATFE regulations (the exception being the 'Saiga' AK series rifles which are imported as sporting rifles and then restored by home-builders and Arsenal).

Generally you will need a new barrel, receiver and your US made 922R compliance parts.

If you buy it as a complete rifle then you are simply paying someone else to assemble the imported parts kit for you. PTR and DSA are examples of name brand, high quality builders.

You could buy a Century build 'truck gun' Bulgarian AK74 that is pretty sub-standard (they build theirs with cheap key-holing barrels, cheap US-made stocks and shoddy workmanship) for cheaper than you could build your own kit or you could pay about twice what it would cost to build it yourself by sending it to a name brand builder like Mario at Piece of History Firearms, Red Jacket or Ted Marshall.

I prefer to buy the components to either build the rifle myself, because I enjoy the process and having that confidence in the rifle that only a builder can have or else to hand-select the parts and configuration I want and then have it assembled by a builder I know well and have a personal relationship with.

The FA fire group is legal to own. All of the US-made receivers for things like the FAL, G3 and AK are designed to be incompatible with the FA group and relatively difficult to convert in a home workshop.

Originally Posted by JustinW

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Cool! I like some of those handgun boxes.

+1 those look nice.

The price isn't too bad just to store a couple spares.

Originally Posted by Duff_Man

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Do you guys know of any luxury ammo storage retailers? I stumbled upon Technoframes when I was at IWA and have been bitten by the bug of severe vanity.

Those might be the sexiest ammo boxes I've ever seen. I would almost be nervous about actually using it.

Will have to get my dad one of the Blaze 1911 cases if they come in under two bills.

Originally Posted by Bhowie

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Looks like I'll be selling my guns, or I'll give them to my parents. Thanks Justin.

No worries.

Too bad you're not headed to Vermont. Their liberal firearms laws are a big draw for me - though the weather is enough to kill that thought pretty quickly!

I'm disappointed by the price the micro Galil kits have started at. US made barrel & receiver, cool night sights swapped for standard Galil sights and they are STILL asking several hundred more than the mint Russian AKS74U 'Krinkov' kits are going for!

http://akpartskits.com/cart/index.ph...roducts_id=416

Originally Posted by JustinW

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The ONLY way a foreign-made modern military rifle can be imported to the US is as a demilled parts kit with the receiver and barrel destroyed per BATFE regulations (the exception being the 'Saiga' AK series rifles which are imported as sporting rifles and then restored by home-builders and Arsenal).

Generally you will need a new barrel, receiver and your US made 922R compliance parts.

If you buy it as a complete rifle then you are simply paying someone else to assemble the imported parts kit for you. PTR and DSA are examples of name brand, high quality builders.

You could buy a Century build 'truck gun' Bulgarian AK74 that is pretty sub-standard (they build theirs with cheap key-holing barrels, cheap US-made stocks and shoddy workmanship) for cheaper than you could build your own kit or you could pay about twice what it would cost to build it yourself by sending it to a name brand builder like Mario at Piece of History Firearms, Red Jacket or Ted Marshall.

I prefer to buy the components to either build the rifle myself, because I enjoy the process and having that confidence in the rifle that only a builder can have or else to hand-select the parts and configuration I want and then have it assembled by a builder I know well and have a personal relationship with.

The FA fire group is legal to own. All of the US-made receivers for things like the FAL, G3 and AK are designed to be incompatible with the FA group and relatively difficult to convert in a home workshop.
Interesting, thanks. How much work and special tools involved in putting together, say, one of the Krinkov kits?

Originally Posted by j

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Interesting, thanks. How much work and special tools involved in putting together, say, one of the Krinkov kits?

Assuming you have already received your Form 1 BATF Tax Stamp to manufacture a SHort Barrel Rifle (Form 4 if you purchase something already built, but process otherwise identical) ....

You have several options:

First demill the kit - the old cut barrel stubs have to be removed and the front trunion taken out of the old cut receiver.

You will also need to modify your FA group to fit the semi-only receiver (easy to do on an AK, a little more involved with a G3/CETME)

You could have the barrel head-spaced for you, so then you'd only be looking at a few basic welds in assembly and then a half dozen rivets through the receiver.

If you don't want to buy a pre-made receiver you can also buy a 'flat' that will require bending and welding to turn it into a functioning receiver (and legal firearm).

However, with a krink, you are looking at a very rare and potentially collectable firearm - probably not something most home builders should do. There is also the issue of a lack of good US-made 5.45 barrels on the market (I had a new East German 5.45 AK74 barrel professional cut-down and reprofiled for my Krink).

The best place to start is probably a cheap Romanian AKM or a Bulgarian AK74 kit.

G3s/CETMEs and AKs are dead easy to build with a few basic riveting & welding skills - though it is a lot harder to make them look as pretty as a factory build without a lot of practice. I've never built a FAL, so not really sure where they rate at difficulty. One of the easiest builds (and my first) was helping a friend do his 1919 Browning (semi-auto) machine gun.

There are 'build parties' held in most major US cities all the time - fellow enthusiasts getting together over a weekend to share knowledge and tools while building rifles. If you are a newb, you just bring your parts and some beer for the host - you can borrow all required tools and usually get a lot of guidance while you build your first rifle.

More info on tools, parts and build tips are here:
http://www.prexis.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?
http://ak-builder.com/index.php

Ok, my mistake, I forgot the Krinkov was the SBR. I just meant a basic AK. Thanks for the info, if I ever get some spare time I will look into the build party idea.

If you bought a Century or crappy build AK and a decent barrel, could you put together a serviceable rifle from that?

Originally Posted by j

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If you bought a Century or crappy build AK and a decent barrel, could you put together a serviceable rifle from that?

Sure. The Century AK74s are built with Bulgarian kits (better than Russian) and NDS receivers (best US-made receivers available). The AK parts are often from non-matching kits (serial numbers don't match - doesn't affect function but will affect resale)To turn it into a quality rifle you just need to put a quality barrel in, change the trigger group 922R compliance parts (from Century to Tapco G2) and ditch the awful plastic furniture (K-Var makes ok US-made stocks) and then refinish the metal with Gun Kote or similar. Total cost, excluding labor and tools: about $650-$700.

Buying the parts mentioned above and installing them on a minty matching-number $155 Bulgarian parts kit would come in around $450 - $500 depending on what options you choose (eg: using the wood stock that comes with the kit and installing a US-made mag follower & gas pistol for your compliance parts).

I just bought a W. German Sig P226 as my first handgun. I absolutely love it. very accurate and shoots everything I put through it.