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hack89

(39,171 posts)
Thu May 23, 2013, 12:53 PM May 2013

I Built This AK-47. It's Legal and Totally Untraceable.

The wooden and steel parts I need to build my untraceable AK-47 fit within a slender, 15-by-12-inch cardboard box. I first lay eyes on them one Saturday morning in the garage of an eggshell-white industrial complex near Los Angeles. Foldout tables ring the edges of the room, surrounding two orange shop presses. The walls, dusty and stained, are lined with shelves of tools. I'm with a dozen other guys, some sipping coffee, others making introductions over the buzz of an air compressor. Most of us are strangers, but we share a common bond: We are just eight hours away from having our very own AK-47—one the government will never know about.

The AK-47, perhaps the world's best-known gun, is so easy to make and so hard to break that the Soviet-designed original has spawned countless variants, updated and modified versions churned out by factories all over the globe. Although US customs laws ban importing the weapons, parts kits—which include most original components of a Kalashnikov variant—are legal. So is reassembling them, as long as no more than 10 foreign-made components are used and they are mounted on a new receiver, the box-shaped central frame that holds the gun's key mechanics. There are no fussy irritations like, say, passing a background check to buy a kit. And because we're assembling the guns for our own "personal use," whatever that may entail, we're not required to stamp in serial numbers. These rifles are totally untraceable, and even under California's stringent assault weapons ban, that's perfectly within the law.

I'm left wondering: Seeing how easy this is, are build parties monitored? Do hand-built weapons ever surface in crimes? Are the cops worried? When I call local law enforcement representatives from Los Angeles, Orange County, Santa Ana, and Garden Grove, they say they've never heard of such a thing. "That doesn't happen here," says Bruce Borihanh, an LAPD spokesman. But a cursory browse of online gun forums is enough to show that, well, clearly it does. There seems to be one about every month. Plus, I just attended one less than an hour's drive from his office.


http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/05/ak-47-semi-automatic-rifle-building-party

Anyone have any experience with build parties?
38 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
I Built This AK-47. It's Legal and Totally Untraceable. (Original Post) hack89 May 2013 OP
Assholes gonna do what assholes do. Ron Green May 2013 #1
So sorry jehop61 May 2013 #2
I don't do AKs - too inaccurate hack89 May 2013 #4
"Anyone have any experience with build parties?" Buzz Clik May 2013 #3
how do they get the reciever? gejohnston May 2013 #5
Looks like they fabricated them - from the story: hack89 May 2013 #6
Yes. Xithras May 2013 #7
I have built a dozen or so ARs, one from an 80% lower rl6214 May 2013 #9
This guy made an AK receiver from a shovel Howzit May 2013 #16
That is am interesting Soviet shrine under that homemade weapon. Nika May 2013 #26
Gun Control advocates really have no clue. virginia mountainman May 2013 #8
if your a CNC machinist FreakinDJ May 2013 #30
One of those would still be quite useful. beevul May 2013 #33
Very useful.. virginia mountainman May 2013 #34
I wouldn't mind having an AK as a range plinker. ileus May 2013 #10
ak-47, available in different chamberings? .nt quadrature May 2013 #11
Yes. Straw Man May 2013 #13
There are also AKs chambered in 5.45x39mm and 5.56x45mm derby378 May 2013 #17
Yes again. Straw Man May 2013 #18
Forgot the 7.62 x 54 R ..nt virginia mountainman May 2013 #35
That sounds like a lot of fun, and a really interesting/educational project petronius May 2013 #12
Some one alerted on this thread - does anyone have the jury results? hack89 May 2013 #14
Saw that, premium May 2013 #15
At least the link in ATA shows who alerted. CokeMachine May 2013 #21
Sounds like a great opportunity mokawanis May 2013 #19
Or a bunch of anti RKBA nuts CokeMachine May 2013 #20
Oh, you mean the group that bans everybody that doesn't toe the line? premium May 2013 #23
All I'm willing to say CokeMachine May 2013 #24
Welcome to the party a couple hundred years late dookers May 2013 #22
Yep and Welcome to DU. CokeMachine May 2013 #25
Indeed. People have been building firearms in smithys and barns for centuries. Nimajneb Nilknarf May 2013 #36
If it's a true AK replica...fully automatic...then it most certainly is not legal. HooptieWagon May 2013 #27
You didn't read the article, obviously. ManiacJoe May 2013 #28
I read it twice HooptieWagon May 2013 #31
It is a semi-automatic hack89 May 2013 #29
tnx, I missed it. HooptieWagon May 2013 #32
This thread generated two ATA whines. hack89 May 2013 #37
Having their own echo chamber still isn't good enough for them DonP May 2013 #38
 

Buzz Clik

(38,437 posts)
3. "Anyone have any experience with build parties?"
Thu May 23, 2013, 01:03 PM
May 2013

Don't forget your safe words.

Something like "Don't kill me!" or, "Holy shit! I shot myself" come to mind.

hack89

(39,171 posts)
6. Looks like they fabricated them - from the story:
Thu May 23, 2013, 01:13 PM
May 2013
Sales of receivers—which house the mechanical parts, making a gun a gun—are tightly regulated, so my kit comes with a pre-drilled flat steel platform. Legally, it's just an American-made hunk of metal, but one bend in a vise later and, voilà, it's a receiver, ready for trigger guards to be riveted on. Sparks fly as receiver rails to guide the bolt mechanism are cut, welded into place, and heat-treated. The front and rear trunnions, which will hold the barrel and stock, are attached to the receivers.

Xithras

(16,191 posts)
7. Yes.
Thu May 23, 2013, 01:18 PM
May 2013

A stamped AK-47 receiver blank is incredibly easy to make...it's just a flat piece of steel with a bunch of holes drilled in it and a couple of bends. You can download a printable template showing you where to put the holes and bends off of the Internet. In less than 30 minutes and for less than $10, anyone with a garage and a decent set of tools can make one.

They make these things by hand in electricity-free dirt-floored workshops in Pakistan using only hammers, chisels, and hand drills. A $100 trip to Harbor Freight and a $10 steel purchase at Home Depot will let you do the same thing here in a fraction of the time.

 

rl6214

(8,142 posts)
9. I have built a dozen or so ARs, one from an 80% lower
Thu May 23, 2013, 03:16 PM
May 2013

I think I'll have to try my hand at an AK.

Howzit

(967 posts)
16. This guy made an AK receiver from a shovel
Fri May 24, 2013, 06:56 PM
May 2013
http://www.northeastshooters.com/vbulletin/build-yourself/179192-diy-shovel-ak-photo-tsunami-warning.html


[img][/img]


Pakistanis have been making copies of guns by hand for a very long time - guns cannot be uninvented and banning them raises the price, creating incentive for smuggling and local manufacturing:




virginia mountainman

(5,046 posts)
8. Gun Control advocates really have no clue.
Thu May 23, 2013, 02:58 PM
May 2013

I know several folks, that build their own semi auto, AK's, AR's, and FN FAL's all the time, its a hobby to them. You would not believe just how well made some of these homemade rifles are.

I, by trade, am a CNC machinist... and I cannot wait to get one of these, for my kitchen table.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/otherfab/the-othermill-custom-circuits-at-your-fingertips

Yes, the possibilities are endless..


virginia mountainman

(5,046 posts)
34. Very useful..
Sun May 26, 2013, 03:24 PM
May 2013

Use slow cutting speeds, and you can make lots and lots of intricate small parts with it..

You know the kind you need to make legal semi-auto firearms. Strangely the illegal full autos, are very much simpler to make at home. The bigger parts are much easier to make than the smaller ones.

ileus

(15,396 posts)
10. I wouldn't mind having an AK as a range plinker.
Thu May 23, 2013, 03:56 PM
May 2013

Could be a fun little rifle for the whole family to go plinking with....iron sight fun time.

Straw Man

(6,613 posts)
13. Yes.
Fri May 24, 2013, 12:33 AM
May 2013
ak-47, available in different chamberings? .nt

Although none of these is, strictly speaking, an "AK-47," Saiga makes AK-pattern rifles in .223 and .308, as well as .410, 20-gauge, and 12-gauge smoothbores. And, of course, the standard 7.62x39mm.

derby378

(30,252 posts)
17. There are also AKs chambered in 5.45x39mm and 5.56x45mm
Fri May 24, 2013, 09:11 PM
May 2013

5.45 was the Warsaw Pact standard for a long time, up until its dissolution in the early 90s, and Russia still uses it as its primary infantry round. When some former Warsaw Pact nations like Poland realigned themselves with NATO, they started designing AKs that could use the standard NATO 5.56 round.

Straw Man

(6,613 posts)
18. Yes again.
Fri May 24, 2013, 09:39 PM
May 2013
When some former Warsaw Pact nations like Poland realigned themselves with NATO, they started designing AKs that could use the standard NATO 5.56 round.

Just to clarify, the Saiga version is capable of shooting both .223 Remington and the military 5.56x45.

petronius

(26,581 posts)
12. That sounds like a lot of fun, and a really interesting/educational project
Thu May 23, 2013, 08:44 PM
May 2013

(Although I'm pretty sure that's not the message the writer was trying to convey. )

I just hope some of our more gun-panic-prone legislators don't read the article, and decide that this complete-non-problem that they'd never even heard of is actually a harbinger of the end of the world...

hack89

(39,171 posts)
14. Some one alerted on this thread - does anyone have the jury results?
Fri May 24, 2013, 01:45 PM
May 2013

I know it failed because there is a whining post in ATA.

 

CokeMachine

(1,018 posts)
20. Or a bunch of anti RKBA nuts
Fri May 24, 2013, 11:41 PM
May 2013

to wet themselves over. Not you specifically but ....

Do I hear an echo -- sorry different group.

 

CokeMachine

(1,018 posts)
24. All I'm willing to say
Sat May 25, 2013, 03:12 PM
May 2013

is it's the only group that has blocked me. Hold on, I think I hear something! Nevermind it was just an echo from somewhere else.





dookers

(61 posts)
22. Welcome to the party a couple hundred years late
Sat May 25, 2013, 02:14 AM
May 2013

Guns have been hand built from scratch since their invention hundreds of years ago and just now peoples heads are exploding.

 

Nimajneb Nilknarf

(319 posts)
36. Indeed. People have been building firearms in smithys and barns for centuries.
Thu May 30, 2013, 01:17 PM
May 2013

I noticed a bit of a ruckus in the ATA forum about this thread. A couple of individuals have taken umbrage at the sharing of technical information.

In colonial times the domestic manufacture of weapons became a matter of urgent necessity. I'm not surprised that the practice continues, as the need for firearms for self-defense has diminished little in two centuries and some.

Sharing information brings people together. It's good to see the spirit of cooperation and openness at work.

 

HooptieWagon

(17,064 posts)
27. If it's a true AK replica...fully automatic...then it most certainly is not legal.
Sat May 25, 2013, 03:57 PM
May 2013

Unless the builder/owner has a federal license, which isn't easy to get.

hack89

(39,171 posts)
29. It is a semi-automatic
Sat May 25, 2013, 05:00 PM
May 2013
Finally, we grease and assemble them, semi-automatic firing controls included. Owning a gun that can shoot full auto, like these did in a past life, is effectively illegal under federal law.
 

DonP

(6,185 posts)
38. Having their own echo chamber still isn't good enough for them
Thu May 30, 2013, 08:59 PM
May 2013

They seem to feel a burning need to shut down any and all differing opinions from their safe "haven and still come here to disrupt. Even with their haven they are arguing repeatedly with Skinner to shut down any and all points of view they don't approve of.

How very "progressive" and rude of them.

Hate the 2nd amendment and not too terribly fond of the 1st either it seems.

Oh well, at least they haven't told us "we all want more dead children" for a week or so, or did I miss one?

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