Barrel cutting

[winstonLT]

Guys, I have 2 polish underfolder kits that I am putting together right now. I would like to shorten the barrels by about 4 inches and add a 24 mm FSB with a booster or zigzag break. I want them to look like, and be the overall length of the ak 104. I have a few questions regarding this:

1. Do I really loose that much performance by way of ballistics?
2. Do I need to have a booster for reliable cycling? Will a 74 style break suffice?
3. If I cut the barrel, what is the minimum overall length that I am legally alound? ie. how short can I cut the barrel?
4. If my barrel cut is not dead square, will it matter?
5. What potential drawbacks/difficulties might I encounter in this process?

Ideally I am going for the look of the AK picture that comes up when you first type in www.akfiles.com except with underfolder stocks. I want to make sure I think this through before I do something I cant go back on...the kits have original barrels that I dont want to ruin.

Thanks in advance.

[KernelKrink]

AK104 is a shortened version of the full length rifles, always an SBR if you go with those specs. 16" min bbl length and 26" overall length are the minimums allowed before SBR status kicks in. If you weld on the brake, it will count as bbl length.

A slanted muzzle will allow one side of the bullet to exit the bore first, venting gas on one side only, this can tip the bullet as it exits, making it fly unsteadily or even tumble, poor accuracy would be the result, or even a muzzle brake strike.

[winstonLT]

Roger that. Thank you Kernal.

[bohnscot]

Dude! With the price of original barreled polish kits being what they are. I would rethink that one. I'm like the anti purist from hell but even i would'nt do that

[AKBLUE]

Kinda like this? (these are in 5.45., but the same idea)

I used barrel shrouds vs chopping the barrels. It is reversible if desired.





or this (before final finish)?

[ShotgunKirk]

Originally Posted by winstonLT

Guys, I have 2 polish underfolder kits that I am putting together right now. I would like to shorten the barrels by about 4 inches and add a 24 mm FSB with a booster or zigzag break. I want them to look like, and be the overall length of the ak 104. I have a few questions regarding this:

1. Do I really loose that much performance by way of ballistics?
2. Do I need to have a booster for reliable cycling? Will a 74 style break suffice?
3. If I cut the barrel, what is the minimum overall length that I am legally alound? ie. how short can I cut the barrel?
4. If my barrel cut is not dead square, will it matter?
5. What potential drawbacks/difficulties might I encounter in this process?

Ideally I am going for the look of the AK picture that comes up when you first type in www.akfiles.com except with underfolder stocks. I want to make sure I think this through before I do something I cant go back on...the kits have original barrels that I dont want to ruin.

Thanks in advance.

Question #2 is something i would also like to know. I've searched for answers but havent found anything much on them yet. It's confusing because Draco pistols and SBR'd Dracos dont seem to need them... so why do Krinks have em? I know not all Ak's have the same insides but it's a big "?" to me all the same. I'd like to chop a few kits down myself. I have a few other questions also.. Hope I'm not "hijacking" your thread (I think that's what it's called) but say you were to actually cut, recrown, and blind pin and weld a booster or other long muzzle device on to make it the legel 16.1 (.1 to be safe) how would you clean all the carbon or worse yet, corrosive salts off of the crown? I shoot ALOT of corrosive taking the muzzle device off for cleaning is a must (started rusting on after not cleaning it right away) how do folks get around this? P.s. good luck with your builds Winston.

[KernelKrink]

People have made pistols so short you swear the tip of the bullet would stick past the crown and they still cycle with a big enough gas port. Even with a stock gas port, most shorties with an inch or more of bbl past the port seem to function fine.

Why do Krinks have them? Who knows, they work fine without. Maybe Ivan's cousin's factory makes them and he needed the work? Extra insurance in case the thing was fired on FA for 3 days straight with no cleaning?

[AEnemaBay]

Originally Posted by KernelKrink

People have made pistols so short you swear the tip of the bullet would stick past the crown and they still cycle with a big enough gas port. Even with a stock gas port, most shorties with an inch or more of bbl past the port seem to function fine.

Why do Krinks have them? Who knows, they work fine without. Maybe Ivan's cousin's factory makes them and he needed the work? Extra insurance in case the thing was fired on FA for 3 days straight with no cleaning?

That's the reason. Jim Fuller was doing an interview about his AKSU that's gone over 10,000 rounds on full auto without a cleaning and noted that without the booster the gun wouldn't completely cycle.

[ShotgunKirk]

Well that makes alot of sense.