AK 103

[dubya 198]

I've asked alot of questions and gotten great answers since I've been here, and thank you, but i have one more.. i plan on picking up a 3rd Saiga 762 with my tax refund and have a Kobra sight lined up id like to put on a Ak 103 conversion i want to do. Can you guys help me start a list of all the correct part's im going to need to make a true 103 i would really appreciate it!

 

Someone posted this pic last week and i fell in wuv

 

Kvar handguard I already have the PG74 gas tube?14 or 24mm threaded FSB? No clue what stock that is but it looks like a folder?

[HateTheSnow 29]

Here's the article from that pic. It doesn't have everything you'll need, but it covers enough to get you well on your way. And yes, the stock for the 103 is a side folder.

http://www.avtomats-in-action.com/pro26.html

[dubya 198]

Thanks for the link. I think ill start by finding a receiver with dimples and the "Y", then send all the metal off to be cerakoted after i make any necessary cuts to the receiver. Should be pretty spendy and take a few month's but after my first 2 Saigas im ADDICTED!

[Spetnaz Soldier 47]

Damn that is one beautiful piece of art right there. i tell ya, i freakin love kalashnikovs. Mikhail Kalashnikov is my hero. I respect that man with all my heart.

[semper299 284]

I am with ya Dubya. I can't pay the current prices, but as soon as they dip below $500, I am going to do a 103 config. I have one with wood furniture, so I really want to do one in poly with a side folder. I had several chances to do this about 6 mos ago, but kept finding other things to spend money on. Really regretting that about now, but I figure prices will come out of the stratosphere later this year.

 

 

Or not, and I will pay out the ass for another Saiga because I reallllly want another one.

[dubya 198]

Yeah I just bought another new one for $600 but I'm putting a CTR stock on it. Hopefully i get lucky and find a dimpled with the "Y" somewhere for $600 but ill pay up to $900 if i have to otherwise ill wait for a deal. $900 for one is alot considering i got 2 new Saigas in the past 2 month's for $900! That's with 400 rounds too. But anyway, i think the hardest part of it all will be finding the correct receiver and rear sight leaf, and keeping my patience and not rushing the rifle.

 

I guess i could buy a used rifle too (as long as it hasn't been chopped).

[dubya 198]

Any idea what i should do about the latch hole on the left side? I could cut it with a Dremel (that's all i have...) but I'm a bit hesitant. Maybe i should pay a smith to cut it? Any good Smith's with AK experience in the Midwest? Or anywhere i guess, just don't want a 6 month wait.

[HateTheSnow 29]

My plan is to mark out the areas to be cut and use a drill & dremmel to remove a smaller area (to leave me a good margin of safety). I'll finish the job with hand files until I get the size that's needed. Slow, but it's what I know I can do & end up with a good finished product.

 

Regarding the Saiga's with the extra "Y" stamp, that is going to be a hard speciment to come by. Very few seem to have made it to the open market (see this thread for some history on it), but I'd snatch it up if you run across one. The good news is that the 2009 import I'm converting has dimples and X & Y FCG pin reinforcements. Those are not all that uncommon.

 

BTW, K-var has the vast majority of what you'll need. I had to go Bulgarian on the sight block, gas block, and gas tube due to availability; but you can get pretty much everything else Russian (excluding your required 922r parts). And I can tell you the Russian AK slings they have in stock right now look like they were made yesterday...mine arrived this past week. If you need help with specific part #'s, let me know.

Edited February 12, 2013 by FLTF3

[dubya 198]

Thanks FLTF3, I most likely will be getting a hold of you soon. I'll be ordering most of the basic/cheaper stuff tomorrow but ill have to wait for my tax returns to buy the actual rifle and furniture. I was thinking of doing the "hole" the same way but a bit nervous. Guess it shouldn't be THAT bad as long as i go nice and slow taking a little off at a time. I have a Kobra Russian red dot lined up im buying from a member here in a few weeks, that should be a pretty cool addition. Ordered a threaded FSB from Kvar last week (they must be busy i still haven't heard from them). What flash hider is correct (and threading)? And one last thing for now, will the Tapco G2 be fine or is there a better American made FCG?

 

Thank you!

[HateTheSnow 29]

I went with Dinzag for the muzzle brake and the modified FCG (both are US parts). I know there has been some talk about the G2's lately, but I figure they can't be all that bad considering Tony Rumore used one on my S-17 conversion...modified, of course, but it's a damn nice trigger.

 

One thing on the 74 brake, sticking with the M24x1.5 threads gives you the version that has the holes in the correct location. And if you want a flash hider instead, I'd go with the bell shaped style. That's the standard for the AK-104 carbine.

[mancat 2,368]

Don't do it the way you're thinking.

 

Buy an SGL-21 and have a professional gunsmith - one who specializes in AKs, and not just in a hole-in-the-wall gunshop - install a side-folding rear stock and trunnion. This will be a 100% legal AK-103 clone for minimal cost and work.

 

Unless you have built an AK from scratch, receiver-up, this isn't a fast and cheap conversion. You're not even going to find a Saiga 7.62x39 with the Y-stamp any more. They are extremely rare.

 

You're probably looking at around $250 for the parts to do the stock install - rear stock, rear trunnion, and front spring latch assembly. It would probably take a gunsmith a couple days of labor to do it. The receiver will have to be angle cut at the rear, the existing trunnion removed, the receiver and front trunnion drilled/cut for the spring latch, and a new rear trunnion riveted in. There will also be a couple rivet holes left to weld up left over from the fixed-stock trunnion.

 

You could also just buy a Bulgarian Arsenal SLR-107, then all the work is done for you, but it's not Russian - just almost identical externally. Can you tell the difference? Probably not.

 

Edited February 12, 2013 by mancat

[dubya 198]

Half the point and fun is actually building it myself. Looking deeper into it though I'm really starting to think a true clone will be nearly impossible to do at home and I don't want to half ass it either. Grrr...

Maybe ill try my hand at a S12..idk. Are there any other 762 clones that wouldn't be such a daunting task???

 

That 103 folder stock just looks to much for my skill level (and tool set).

Edited February 12, 2013 by dubya

[mancat 2,368]

when you start to get into replicating very exact details of military production rifles, it becomes more cost effective just to buy the "real thing" if it's available to you.

 

the ONLY reason I did a full conversion on a Saiga .223 to make it a fixed-stock AK-101, for example, is that at the time I could get all of the parts to do it for nearly $500 less than the cost of an SLR-106. Not gonna happen now.

 

There are several SLR-107s on Gunbroker now in the $1100-1500 range. Prices are awful right now and I would not suggest ANYONE buy an AK right now, but if you wanted to have a true AK-103, doing a full conversion is probably going to cost you at least that much. If you have zero experience doing receiver riveting or fine welding, it's not a good idea at all.

 

Just my opinion

 

If you're fine with a fixed stock model and want to do it yourself, the 7.62x39 IZ-340 is a direct conversion to an SGL-20 style rifle, i.e. a neutered, fixed-stock AK-103.

Edited February 13, 2013 by mancat

[Remek 771]

Make copious notes. I habe a feeling I am going to follow in your footsteps once,this crap blows over and prices go down.

[breid1970 327]

Any idea what i should do about the latch hole on the left side? I could cut it with a Dremel (that's all i have...) but I'm a bit hesitant. Maybe i should pay a smith to cut it? Any good Smith's with AK experience in the Midwest? Or anywhere i guess, just don't want a 6 month wait.

I also live in MN dubya and good gunsmiths are pretty pricey.. Stay away from Ahlmons (misspelled) . J & S customs are pretty spendy too. They want 100 bucks to thread your barrel. I think thats a bit much when any decent machinist can do it for a third of that. Im going to keep my barrel as is i suppose. Fleet Farm is selling good mags for cheap man. Dirt cheap.

[dubya 198]

Yeah i picked up 22 mags from them already this year. Not to mention about 3200 7.62x39 rounds, 8 pmags, and a case of Romanian ss109 steel core 5.56 ammo. Now they're limiting the hell out of everything

[breid1970 327]

You must mean the Lakeville Fleetfarm! Damn I knew it was you! Ha ha.. I went in a few weeks ago and bought 600 rounds of the wpa. Few days later i went in and they had started some 6 box per customer deal. Your the dude who bought the schload eh? Damn! If you find a good and cheap gunsmith let me know.

[dubya 198]

Lol yeah because i went in 3 days after i bought like 4000+ rounds and all them mags then and tried getting more and it was 5 boxes of ammo limit and 1 mag limit per person per day. I actually went in bought my limit, put it in my truck went back in got more, did that 3 times and on the fourth time the manager told me to leave! Guess i ruined it for everyone! Oops...

[breid1970 327]

let me know if you get your barrel threaded and who you take it to.

[dubya 198]

talked to a good gunsmith Kurt Kampfeld whos cerakoted one of my Kimber Montana hunting rifles and he said no problem cerakoting the saiga with the receiver and barrel together as one but cant cut and thread my barrel unless i can remove it prior to sending itvto him so ill just thread it myself.