{"id":128920,"date":"2020-09-06T11:01:49","date_gmt":"2020-09-06T15:01:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/digest\/?p=128920"},"modified":"2020-09-06T11:01:49","modified_gmt":"2023-09-06T19:21:06","slug":"lee-armorys-ak-build-class-combloc-culture-club","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/lee-armorys-ak-build-class-combloc-culture-club\/","title":{"rendered":"Lee Armory’s AK Build Class: COMBLOC Culture Club"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Like many people, I am fascinated with the simple and robust technology used in the AK. The design has many subtle features, not the least of which is the ability to fabricate the rifle under austere conditions for wartime production. I wanted to build one to understand the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Lee
The same features that made the AK well suited for WW2 Russian infantry made it the weapon of choice for the proxy guerilla wars that followed around the world.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The AK was influenced by German and US WW2 designs and shaped by Russian WW2 experience. Design work on the AK-47 began during the war in 1945. The AK was designed for wartime mass production. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While it did not make it into WW2, the AK served in many other wars and the ease of production allowed it to become the most manufactured gun in history. It has been estimated that over 100 million AKs have been produced. Half of them were made outside Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1946, the AK-47 was presented for testing. In 1948, the fixed-stock version was issued to elite units of the Soviet Army and in 1949, the AK-47 was accepted by the Soviet Armed Forces and the Warsaw Pact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The guys at Lee Armory<\/a> in Phoenix know AKs. They host build classes. They mostly run an AK manufacturing operation and have all the jigs fitting and parts for building AK rifles. They also have a cadre of gunsmiths who know and love the Kalashnikov design in all of its variants with a passion for sharing with others. Lee Armory wants to help you build your perfect AK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Lee<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

If you live in an area with state restrictions, Lee Armory can talk you through your options for a legal build. Because they are close, California guns are a specialty. They will ship the rifle back to an FFL of your choosing for DROS. If your rifle must be featureless for your state, Lee has parts like the Strike Industries AK Fin Grip to keep you legal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Lee
All AK parts are not created equal. Lee Armory has a complete stock of quality forged virgin parts from a Romanian factory. Their virgin Romanian barrels are cold-hammer forged with no gas ports. With no pins and no holes, these barrels can become the exact custom cut fit you need.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

AK47, AK74, and RPK; Lee can do it all. They have the connections to get quality parts and receivers. Traditional or modern they can make the gun you have only imagined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have seen and shot AKs from all around the world. There are some amazing variants and enough models to give most shooters a dream gun. I am partial to full stock classic models because they just feel better to me. I must admit, I am not immune to the charms of the triangle side folder, but the under folder is not the girl for me. I picked Lee Armory\u2019s Romanian Military Classic AKM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Avtomat Kalashnikova has an enviable reputation for reliability under adverse conditions. While it has some weaknesses like poor sights, heavy magazines, and substantial recoil, the strengths of the AK far outweigh its deficiencies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was perfectly designed for the Russian Army. Simple, rugged, reliable, easy to mass produce and sized for teenaged conscripts. As they taught me at infantry school, “Quantity has a Quality all its own.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Simple Design<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The AK is simple in a way that only expert engineers and craftsmen can make a gun. It uses no space-age materials, just steel, and iron, and wood. By the 1990’s, Kalashnikovs would have composite magazines and composite furniture, but they didn’t need them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Lee
I have seen functional AKs that were made in villages in Pakistan from railroad ties with files and hammers. Photo courtesy of acidcow.com<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The AK\u2019s operating system is a long-stroke gas piston system with a rotating bolt. The AK’s oversized bolt has two big locking lugs which are remarkably tolerant of sloppy headspace and undersized contact patches with the locking recesses of the trunnion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Lee
This Chinese Type 56, a copy of the milled receiver Soviet AK47 was siezed from a poacher in Africa. The receiver cover and trigger guard are missing, the furniture is improvised, and the rear sights are held on with wire. Reportedly, it still fires Photo courtesy of Underground Tactical<\/a>. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Engineered for Cheap Mass Production<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The AK was designed as a stamped sheet metal gun. The German’s perfected this technology with the MG42 and later the StG44. The first AKs were made with milled receivers, not because they were better, but because it took a few years for the Russians to perfect the stamped receiver. Stampings are cheap and can be made by unskilled labor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Lee
The bent sheet metal receiver in the middle soon became a gun.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The key components are held together with rivets. This medieval technology consists of taking a small piece of soft metal and smashing it to hold two parts together. Much cheaper than welding or threaded parts with less technology and skill required. Barrels are pressed into riveted trunnions and pinned, much simpler than cutting thread.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Lee
This is the secret ingredient that turns sheet metal into Russian guns. Rivets. Not just any rivets, the correct rivet for each location on the gun. These are the rivet bins at Lee Armory.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Rivets are much easier to make than screws but it’s not as simple as it seems. To get the full strength a rivet can provide, you must have the correct rivet profile and smash it with the proper tool. If the metal doesn’t flow properly, it will not join the trunnion to the receiver as it should, weakening the gun and possibly misaligning cycling parts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Loose Tolerances?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"Lee
This is my sheet metal receiver after the rivets have been smashed for the trunions, sight mount and trigger guard\/magazine release. This strengthens the sheet metal stamping yet still allows some flexing.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

While there is some healthy space for carbon and debris, critical parts of the AK are manufactured with precision. The beauty of the Russian engineering design philosophy is that nothing is manufactured with unnecessary precision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are some parts of a gun that absolutely must fight tightly to ensure safe, accurate, and reliable operation. The only critical tolerances in the operating mechanism come from the interface of the lugs of the rotating bolt with the locking recesses of the receiver.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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