AMD-65 Build - Flat to rifle

[Quarterbore]

No, the kit I am building is a misc collection of AMD-65 parts... I got it back in the day for something like $40 and I had planned to make a cut-a-way out of it. Now, AMD-65 kits are too expensive to chop it up so it is my training build... I am building this as a rifle...

I have considered plinker's rear rivet jig but I am going to wing it in this build and see just how tough it is to do. I plan to start the squash with a hammer and then press the head to final size and shape when it is nearly complete.

I will have to see how it works but that is why I am starting with my ugly duckling kit!

[Quarterbore]

Another update to this project, for my own memory is not so great when I get busy...

Last week I went ahead and headspaced my build and put the barrel pin in place. Next I installed my rear trunion and got those rivets done as well as the center support. I tried to use the Plinker jig to do the rear trunion rivets and learned that this is not a one person job. Try like I might I could not get the first of the two rivets to squash square and it folded over on me a bit. I gave up when I realized I was in trouble and tried to use a hammer to bring the rivet back and then round it using a bucking bar that I drilled to match the factory rivet head. The result was far less then perfect but hey, I am learning!

For the second rivet I tried the method shown on the ak-builder video and simply put the rifle with the head of the rivet on a buck sitting on my anvil and used the hammer to start the rivet squashing. Slow even blows compressed the rivet nice and I could adjust the blows to make the rivet straight. When the rivet was pretty well squashed down I took the rounded buck and pressed the head to a round head... the second rivet looks factory!

The next day, last saturday, I was at a build party and then proceded to silver solder my barrel extension and muzzle break onto the barrel. This was done using the fusion 1200-deg silver solder paste from brownells. The threads on all of the parts (barrel, both ends of the extension, and factory break) were all cleaned of oil and dried. Then I added a heavy coat of the silver solder paste to the threads (male ends) and screwed everything to where I wanted it so that the timing of the muzzle break was where I wanted it. From there, we got the MAP torch and heated the thread area of the flash hider to a nice red color and held the heat until I could see the silver solder starting to work its way out of the joint between the break and the extension. This was then repeated of the other side of the extension (end of the barrel).

It took a LOT of MAP gas to get enough hear to turn these parts red. We actually had two MAP torches on that barrel and Break to help get the temperature to where it was needed to melt the solder!

So anyways, this is where this project sits at this point. It is noteworthy to add that after adding the center support and rear trunion that my Bolt-carrier does not fit into my receiver anymore. That is fine and expected as I when I did the original fitting it was just so that I could headspace the kit. Nex time I get a few hours need to get the top rails filed down a little more and then I can work on the stock assembly and she should be ready to take shooting!

[twistedneck]

Quarterbore,

When you said you had to file the top rails down, can you explain this?

-- OK, i understand this now it pulls them together. but what is the proper ID down the center of the receiver by the support. Is it the same as the trunion width?

When at first you went too far and the go gage would not fit. How do you 'fix' a headspace by using a larger pin? would be a bitch to drill down the center of the new overlapping hole.

If the stock pin fit, was it perfectly aligned?

thanks for all the great tutorials and a great site.

Jeff