Frankenov 5.56 AK74 video

Aug 2014
28
0
Boise, ID
So here's the build sheet:
Romanian 74 kit, Polish laminate wood, Tapco SAW style grip, Galil barrel, chopped to 13.5" with permanently attached 3" one piece muzzle booster made by me, Tapco Galil mags, piston made by me, akbuilder Polish 47 80% sheet metal, Texas trigger. Got a few bugs to work out, specifically smooth up transition from rail to trunnion, but managed a good run of 10-11 shots that auto loaded properly. Muzzle flash looks about double what my Norinco 84s does, but concussive blast at camera/shooter standpoint is much, much worse from the Norinco 84s-1 with the side ported brake I have. Overall it was a super fun day shooting! Anyway, here's the vid:
Frankenov 5.56 AK74 - YouTube
 
Aug 2014
28
0
Boise, ID
Here's today. Still have a few things I wanna build to add to it but this is how she sits currently:
 
Aug 2014
28
0
Boise, ID
That's what it's gonna be, an AR rear peep. Also gonna chop a slot in the dust cover for a non-reciprocating left side charging handle.
 
Aug 2014
28
0
Boise, ID
Also took 2" from the Polish buttstock to make it as compact as possible. I'll have to measure again but iirc it's about 30" total overall length. Still gotta do a tiny bit of shaping to get the steel butt plate to fit...
 
Last edited:
Jan 2009
1,684
0
s. greenlake *****
The dust covers make shitty mounts for any kind of sight or optic. They wobble around. You'll never shoot accurately with it setup like that.

I wanted to put a red dot on mine, but didn't want it mounted WAYYY forward on the foregrip.




Some guys use a side mount setup (but its not my favorite)
008.jpg




I went with a system from parabellum like this (took about 30min to install):
684ff1167587704.jpg


bb0f92167587711.jpg


large_XPPAAKARSG3a.jpg
 
Aug 2014
28
0
Boise, ID
Yeah I know, but it's just irons and that is exactly how the Valmet and Galil are, and they are still minute-of-body. Once I build on my left side charging handle it should help stiffen up the dust cover a little bit. My eyes suck so bad that even if the peep and dust cover wobble a bit it will still shoot better than my eyes can. A side mount for a scope is way cheaper than LASIK if I decide I want better than minute-of-body accuracy.
 
Jan 2009
1,684
0
s. greenlake *****
alrighty then.. good luck.

When I got my ak it had a chinsy rail on the dust cover..

I couldn't hit a pop can at 50 yrds. So i deemed it useless.. and just used the stock iron sites (which you couldn't see through with the crappy rail the previous owner put on.. The groups were 5 feet apart.. on a large piece of paper. Kinda seemed like a waste of ammo.

I contemplated putting the whole picitinny forgrip on it. But opted for the rear rail. Its pretty damn solid now. no wobble whatsoever.. and it still pops off easy like the origional cover.
 
Aug 2014
28
0
Boise, ID
Hm... Interesting... So it just hooks into the factory rear leaf mounting spot and then the rear is hooked on the recoil spring latch? I might have to copy/ integrate that into my design... I've got a foot long chunk of rail just sitting on my desk I was saving for another project, but maybe I'll use it and buy another later down the road.
 
Jan 2009
1,684
0
s. greenlake *****
Hm... Interesting... So it just hooks into the factory rear leaf mounting spot and then the rear is hooked on the recoil spring latch? I might have to copy/ integrate that into my design... I've got a foot long chunk of rail just sitting on my desk I was saving for another project, but maybe I'll use it and buy another later down the road.

pretty much.. there are a few little details..

The piece closest to your eye is hard mounted to the dust cover. It anchors the back end of the rail, but allows you to pivot the cover up and pull the rail cover off.

Then there are a few prongs in the rail that plug into the "anchor" at the back.

Then the front (where the rear site is mounted) replaces the rear site.
It stays attached to the gun indefinitely but swings up and away from the receiver when the dust cover comes off..


large_XPPAAKARSG3b.jpg



akarsmk3exploded.png


akars4.jpg
 
Aug 2014
28
0
Boise, ID
Freaking genius! I'm totally going to copy this! (Sorta, mine will use my welded on AR sight pinned to the rear of the rail, should work the same) I could see elevation changing ever so slightly (less than 1" @ 100yds probably with my setup, sight at rear of dust cover, mounted like that, to the rsb) depending on how tight your dust cover fits to your rear trunnion and spring assembly, if it can wiggle up or down just a few thousandths of an inch it could cause a little elevation change, but at least this design would drastically stiffen it up!
 
Aug 2014
28
0
Boise, ID
Well ran into the local indoor range today to do a bit more function testing. Bolt traveled a lot smoother, not so much hanging up. Bad news is it was key holing very, very bad! I had the paper set at 10 yards and the bullets consistently landed in the same area, but every single one hit perfectly sideways, oriented the same direction! So weird! Thinking its a possibility that they may be glancing off of the "baffle cone" at the exit of my muzzle booster so I will try reaming the booster exit hole slightly to ensure that isn't the problem. Wondering if it's a problem with my unknown twist rate nitrided virgin Galil barrel... If it's not the muzzle booster I'm tempted to leave it alone. If I gotta swap the barrel, I'm gonna change a bunch of things, probably swap to a one piece integrated FS/FSB and might turn it into a .300BLK... Stay tuned for more testing/wearing in.
 
Top