Arsenal SAM7K upgrade work (Part 3).

This is the third part of an article that covers the gunsmith work done by The AK Files member islandfocus2 on his Arsenal SAM7K milled AK pistol.  His work included removing and replacing the front sight block and fake booster and replacing it with a threaded, functioning version.  He also shortened and crowned the barrel.

Now, it's time to replace the top cover!  Use a Dremel to smooth out only one end of the pin.

Carefully punch the pin out.

Re-drill the center part of the pin if the pin is long enough to reuse.

Insert the pin back and use a punch to form a mushroom to prevent the pin from coming off.  The new cover is now installed!

Let's install the CNC Warrior (US Made) Bulgarian style 4 piece Flash Hider!

She's done! OH YEAH!!!  Here's the after picture with all that's been replaced and done!! 

Let's take her to the range!  This is at 25 yards.. Had to sit down to sight the SAM7K. It only took me 5 rounds to sight it in. After that, I shot standing at 25 & 30 yards.  This is at 25 yards standing using a 2 point sling to rest my cheek. As you can see no keyholing!  Yeah!

This one is at 30 yards standing.. (TOP LEFT TARGET) As you can see, it still shoots pretty good. Still using a 2 point sling as a cheek rest. Of course I'd prefer a side folder. Until, WA State allows SBR's, I'll settle with the pistol version. I'm still pretty happy with it.

 I shot at 60 & 70 yards with no problems. No keyholing what so ever. I've attached several pictures below. I start to get a little shaky at 50 yards. It be nice to have a triangle butt stock for better stability rather than using a 3 point sling. Other than that, I think I did OK in hitting the targets.

Final results…Very happy!

Parts info and links:

The 4 piece Bulgarian FH (US MADE) I bought from CNC Warrior. It's the 24x1.5 RH threads. K-Var carries the Original Bulgairan one at $102 vs. the US Made from CNC Warrior at $85. They are both identical. I'm happy with the US Made from CNC Warrior. Very high quality. 

Here's the website:

CNC Warrior

For the FSB & Top Cover is from K-Var.

Front Sight Block

Krinkov Dust Cover

As for the Bulgarian Hand Guards. I bought those at GunBroker for $46 total including S/H

Arsenal SAM7K upgrade work (Part 2).

Arsenal SAM7K upgrade work (Part 2).

This article covers the gunsmith work done by The AK Files member islandfocus2 on his Arsenal SAM7K milled AK pistol.  His work included removing and replacing the front sight block and fake booster and replacing it with a threaded, functioning version.  He also shortened and crowned the barrel.



Shortening the barrel to conform to the threaded FSB.

Smoothing process using a Dremel tool.

This one is smoothing out the barrel with a Dremel stone.

After removing the FSB with a Dremel tool.  The preferred method would have been to press the FSB before trimming the barrel.  I also used fine sandpaper to smooth it even more.

Smoothed out the edges using a file before installing the new FSB.  This will prevent burring while pressing.  After removing the non threaded FSB, be sure to trim of the sharp edges of the barrel before pressing on the new FSB. This will prevent burring.

Drilling holes in the new FSB.

I drilled two holes using a 2.7mm DRILL BIT. The image below is the old FSB that I Dremeled out (You can see where I use the Dremel to cut the old FSB in half). I thought I'd recreate the process of using the old FSB as an example of how I drilled the new threaded FSB.

Do not drill all the way through (to the other end) the new FSB until you install it on the barrel.  Drill only the first two holes until it goes through to the center.

Next, carefully press the new FSB onto the barrel and center the holes to the existing two slots that are already drilled on the barrel.  Once you align the holes to the barrel, use a hand drill to carefully drill through the other end of the new FSB.

NOTE: The 2.7mm drill bit is slightly smaller than the pins. So you may have to drill around the inside of the holes with your hand drill to widen the holes. 

Dremel/sandpaper and smooth out any small pits, dents or scratches that you may have made while hammering the pin in before re-bluing the FSB.

Touch up work.

Part three to come...

Arsenal SAM7K upgrade work (Part 1).

This article covers the gunsmith work done by The AK Files member islandfocus2 on his Arsenal SAM7K milled AK pistol.  His work included removing and replacing the front sight block and fake booster and replacing it with a threaded, functioning version.  He also shortened and crowned the barrel.

In the author's words:

"I know that some of you were skeptical about trimming the barrel because it may cause keyholing or that there won’t be enough gas pressure to push the piston back.  Well, I did a little research and compared the SAM7K vs. the SLR 107-55 SBR. They both have the same twist rate and same size gas port hole.  The SAM7K’s barrel is 2” longer than the SLR 107-55.  I figured that if I just carefully trim the barrel to the same length as the SLR 107-55, it shouldn’t be a problem.  So I did! I test fired 80 rounds today at 25-30 yards with NO PROBLEMS!  NO KEYHOLING AND NO JAMS on a 30rd rapid fire magazine dump! I’m pretty sure that the SAM7K is still accurate beyond 30 yards. BUT, it’s hard to control the SAM7K with using a 2 point sling as your cheek rest vs. a triangle folding stock. (See photo’s below with targets at 25-30 yards)

I also don't like the NEW rear sight so I went ahead and bought a new top cover with the old style krinkov rear sight from K-Var. (Which I think was pretty expensive for a top cover).  Over all, I LOVE IT! I'm very happy with the results! I've attached LOTS of photos for everyone to look at my work progress from Start to Finish.

NOTE: I would FIRST recommend pressing the unthreaded FSB loose before trimming off the barrel. I've done the opposite by trimming off the barrel first and had a hard time pressing out the unthreaded FSB. SO I END UP DREMELING THE OLD FSB OUT. Took me awhile, I didn't want to scratch the barrel. But, I succeeded! NO SCRATCHES!"

 Before Photos:

Remove the pin on the fake booster.

Lube with WD40.

Slowly start pressing the fake booster out.

YouTuber Kelteclover made a nice video about how to use the military cleaning kit that came with your AK.

Interesting Russian video demonstrating effects of various rounds on different types of armor.  Nice footage of Russian weapons (of course).

August 8th Movie

I have not seen this movie, just the clips.  The story has to do with a mother getting her son out of South Osetia during the Georgia-Russia conflict in 2008.  There is some nice footage of Russian weaponry.