Refinished Wood Furniture (SAR1)

[Mike69]

I purchased this Romanian SAR1 AK Rifle a few weeks back. Someone had painted the wood furniture with brown paint and it looked horrible. So I decided to try refinishing it and figured it couldn't come out any worse that it currently was. This was my first time ever trying to refinish anything. Took about 7 days from start to finish. Lots of drying time in between coats of stain. Here are some before and after pics.

[ram57ta]

Those before pics.....look like total complete shit...what the fuck were they thinking?

After shots look fantastic!! Almost wanna do that to my 100% stock Century Arms Zastava now. Nice work.

[GhostTX]

Wow! Veeery nice!

[helosailor]

Man! That turned out great!

[GeorgeG.]

Dang that looks good!

[DON SVO]

Terrific work dude. The furniture looks like, well, furniture!

[CJ]

Not that uncommon for surplus AK's to get a coat of paint when they're in for refurbishing at their respected armory. Turned out good man.

[Mike69]

Thanks fellas. Honestly I had no idea how it was going to turn out but I'm happy with the results. Still need to thread the barrel and add a slant break. Probably replace the trigger as well.

[ELVIS]

great job!

god bless.

[CJ]

Thanks fellas. Honestly I had no idea how it was going to turn out but I'm happy with the results. Still need to thread the barrel and add a slant break. Probably replace the trigger as well.

It's a die killer, probably only get 1-2 barrels done before the die is wrecked. But luckily they're not too expensive.

[inline 6]

It's a die killer, probably only get 1-2 barrels done before the die is wrecked. But luckily they're not too expensive.

Somebody needs access to a lathe....

[CJ]

Somebody needs access to a lathe....

Might want to volunteer yourself to Mike. But me, personally... I'd rather not completely disassemble the entire gun to cut some threads.

[inline 6]

I hate even attempting to thread barrels. But one insert will last a lot longer than 2 barrels though and you could turn the OD of the barrel a hair to get it concentric to the bore prior to threading. I've seen some blanks that I swear the bore was drilled at an angle on purpose. It will be on center within .0005" at the chamber end and like .100" at the other end over 16"

[inline 6]

Might want to volunteer yourself to Mike. But me, personally... I'd rather not completely disassemble the entire gun to cut some threads.

Really all one would need is the barrel removed from the reciever. You could leave it populated if you had a live center in the tail stock. Still sucks to do it though.

[CJ]

I hate even attempting to thread barrels. But one insert will last a lot longer than 2 barrels though and you could turn the OD of the barrel a hair to get it concentric to the bore prior to threading. I've seen some blanks that I swear the bore was drilled at an angle on purpose. It will be on center within .0005" at the chamber end and like .100" at the other end over 16"

Unfortunately even if the OD is concentric, the threads will almost never be using a die and guide. To save cost 17x1 standard thread is cut right into the barrel blank, no room for a shelf. A shelf is really the only way to be certain, and AK brakes true against the front sight. Threading AK's for cans is a major bitch, trust me I know. For 7.62x39 guns you need to use 5/8x24" and 1/2x28" on .223/5.54 unless you want to blow your can up. I've seen some people use adapters but it's sketchy as fuck for the reasons you mentioned. They do make AK-specific cans which have a conical baffle, anticipating a non-concentric path. They're also inaccurate as hell.

I've never had a die last longer than two barrels, even oil with barely any cut each pass. I mean, they exist past two cuts, but the die is chewed up. It also depends on what kind of AK you're threading. When you convert Saigas you have a shitload more threads to cut compared to Mike's AK, they also have a slightly larger OD which adds to the wear on the die. I think Phaux used one of my old 17x1 dies to cut a barrel, which was after I had done two with it, I'm pretty sure he finished it, but it was already looking pretty shitty.