ST19AG_WGreymon
Ultimate Member
So at the beginning of the year I got this crazy idea of turning my AK-74 into a poor man's DMR for shits and giggles. Unbeknownst to me this would take a year to actually complete due to lack of funds from being a fresh college graduate and being on the Air Force's waiting list.
The goal of this project was to create a stable shooting platform when benched without ruining the AK's sleek and sexy lines. The way I thought I'd achieve this was through all quick-detach equipment.
The AK before all of this:
Part 1: The Shopping List
QD Scope mount
Scope
Low-cap mags
Bipod
The first two were easy to get. A local gun show allowed me to pick up a UTG double rail mount for $40. The top rail sits perfectly in the center.
I then picked up a Centerpoint 4-16x40 mil-dot scope from Wal-Mart.
For being $60 it's pretty good. It works and holds zero even on the QD mount. Has some neat features like red/green illumination for nerds, zero-reset, and turret locks too. The color does get a bit foggy at 16x but 14x is more than enough for what I wanted to do. 
And then it all went to hell.
Part 2: Broken Promises
So my next thing on the list were the low-cap mags. Low cap 5.45 mags were a bit rare when this project came to mind. Yet hi-caps are a dime a dozen. But I did eventually find them via Century Arms. But they wanted me to pay out the ass for shipping($27) if I bought only two mags. So I thought came to me why not split it with someone?
Earlier I'd been talking to MDS member "rob-cubed" about sourcing these suckers. I told him I found some on Century Arms and that they had other mags he'd be interested in. So we agreed we'd both get some mags and split the shipping. So we place an order. A few days later it comes in and my half of the order is missing, 2x 10rd 5.45 mags.
According to Century Arms they were out of stock although their website lists it as in stock. I'm not mad though, I helped out another MDS member.
So a few weeks later we try again and to our surprise. Same story. Once again not mad at all since rob got his stuff and I'm always happy to help people. I just wish Century would inform us first before waiting on broken promises.
So later on in the year Tapco decides to finally get around to manufacturing 5.45 mags and lo and behold 10 round mags are on their list! So I wait a couple of week for these babies to trickle into online retailers and $28 later I got 'em in my hand.
Part 3: The Mount
So now comes the problem of mounting a quick-detatch bipod that leaves the AK's silhouette intact without drastically deforming it. A lot of thoughts crossed on my mind on how to accomplish this. My first idea was to make use of the AK's built-in accessory/bayonet lug. Possible some sort of adapter that turns it into a small rail. A bonus would be if I could keep the bayonet lug free, since this AK has two lugs. These bayonet lug-to-rail adapters exsist for ARs and it to me weeks of searching to find that nothing like this exists for the AK platform.
Another idea was to have the adapter fabricated but that went up in smoke.
Another MDS member, Inigoes offered me a barrel clamp-on quad-rail as karma. Which was great and very nice of him, but was a bit bulky when attached. Although it's not on my AK it's getting used on my dad's AR.
Finally a breakthrough. Fellow MDS member Nemesis announces he'll be modifying AK handguards with bipod studs. The small bipod stud doesn't really mess with the AK's sexiness. I'm ecstatic and for a small price I send my handguards out to him to get the modifications done. I then met him at a local range to check out his work and his AK.
He did really great and professional work! The stud was neatly integrated into the handguard and polished. It's very sturdy once a bipod is installed. Best of all the AK still looks like an AK!
Part 4: Amazon's Free "Shipping"
Not really having any money left it took a lot of research to find a bipod that had features I was looking for without breaking whatever was left of my meager bank account. After a week of deliberations I settled on this:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002INWLY
For $29, it had just about what I needed. And hey free shipping! Who doesn't love that? I don't.
So I placed the order. And I wait. And wait. Five business days later it shipped. Yipee hooray! 
I dilligently track the package every morning. And for four business days it's stuck in FedEx Limbo with no updates. Two more business days later it's at my door step. :/
Part 5: It's Done
So a year's worth of effort and saving up pennies and selling my childhood to pay for this stuff ends up with this:
And finally a short trip to the range today before I leave for the Air Force. Mind you I only tried 50 yards due to time constraints. I have two days to spend with the family before I leave. By the way I've been told I look 14 years old I'm actually 22.
And how does she shoot?
Right off the bat, two shots into the red. And then I just decided to let rapid-fire from there. I would've loved to try her at 100 yards but there were time constraints, mainly wanting to see my dad shoot the AR I helped him put together before I left for basic training. He can't see very clearly past 50 yards and he was sighting in his rifle. I figure I'll just get to the 100 yard test when I get back.
I'd like to thank rob cubed, Inigoes, and Nemesis for helping me complete this shits and giggles project. I'd also like to thank all of MDS for the wealth of knowledge posted here and the laughs. It's been fun. My last post before basic will be on Sunday night. Hope the forum doesn't change too much while I'm gone.
The goal of this project was to create a stable shooting platform when benched without ruining the AK's sleek and sexy lines. The way I thought I'd achieve this was through all quick-detach equipment.
The AK before all of this:
Part 1: The Shopping List
QD Scope mount
Scope
Low-cap mags
Bipod
The first two were easy to get. A local gun show allowed me to pick up a UTG double rail mount for $40. The top rail sits perfectly in the center.
I then picked up a Centerpoint 4-16x40 mil-dot scope from Wal-Mart.
For being $60 it's pretty good. It works and holds zero even on the QD mount. Has some neat features like red/green illumination for nerds, zero-reset, and turret locks too. The color does get a bit foggy at 16x but 14x is more than enough for what I wanted to do. And then it all went to hell.
Part 2: Broken Promises
So my next thing on the list were the low-cap mags. Low cap 5.45 mags were a bit rare when this project came to mind. Yet hi-caps are a dime a dozen. But I did eventually find them via Century Arms. But they wanted me to pay out the ass for shipping($27) if I bought only two mags. So I thought came to me why not split it with someone?
Earlier I'd been talking to MDS member "rob-cubed" about sourcing these suckers. I told him I found some on Century Arms and that they had other mags he'd be interested in. So we agreed we'd both get some mags and split the shipping. So we place an order. A few days later it comes in and my half of the order is missing, 2x 10rd 5.45 mags.
According to Century Arms they were out of stock although their website lists it as in stock. I'm not mad though, I helped out another MDS member.So a few weeks later we try again and to our surprise. Same story.
Once again not mad at all since rob got his stuff and I'm always happy to help people. I just wish Century would inform us first before waiting on broken promises.So later on in the year Tapco decides to finally get around to manufacturing 5.45 mags and lo and behold 10 round mags are on their list!
So I wait a couple of week for these babies to trickle into online retailers and $28 later I got 'em in my hand.Part 3: The Mount
So now comes the problem of mounting a quick-detatch bipod that leaves the AK's silhouette intact without drastically deforming it. A lot of thoughts crossed on my mind on how to accomplish this. My first idea was to make use of the AK's built-in accessory/bayonet lug. Possible some sort of adapter that turns it into a small rail. A bonus would be if I could keep the bayonet lug free, since this AK has two lugs. These bayonet lug-to-rail adapters exsist for ARs and it to me weeks of searching to find that nothing like this exists for the AK platform.
Another idea was to have the adapter fabricated but that went up in smoke.
Another MDS member, Inigoes offered me a barrel clamp-on quad-rail as karma. Which was great and very nice of him, but was a bit bulky when attached. Although it's not on my AK it's getting used on my dad's AR.
Finally a breakthrough. Fellow MDS member Nemesis announces he'll be modifying AK handguards with bipod studs. The small bipod stud doesn't really mess with the AK's sexiness. I'm ecstatic and for a small price I send my handguards out to him to get the modifications done. I then met him at a local range to check out his work and his AK.
He did really great and professional work! The stud was neatly integrated into the handguard and polished. It's very sturdy once a bipod is installed. Best of all the AK still looks like an AK!
Part 4: Amazon's Free "Shipping"
Not really having any money left it took a lot of research to find a bipod that had features I was looking for without breaking whatever was left of my meager bank account. After a week of deliberations I settled on this:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002INWLY
For $29, it had just about what I needed. And hey free shipping! Who doesn't love that? I don't.
So I placed the order. And I wait. And wait. Five business days later it shipped. Yipee hooray! I dilligently track the package every morning. And for four business days it's stuck in FedEx Limbo with no updates. Two more business days later it's at my door step. :/Part 5: It's Done
So a year's worth of effort and saving up pennies and selling my childhood to pay for this stuff ends up with this:
And finally a short trip to the range today before I leave for the Air Force. Mind you I only tried 50 yards due to time constraints. I have two days to spend with the family before I leave. By the way I've been told I look 14 years old I'm actually 22.
And how does she shoot?
Right off the bat, two shots into the red. And then I just decided to let rapid-fire from there. I would've loved to try her at 100 yards but there were time constraints, mainly wanting to see my dad shoot the AR I helped him put together before I left for basic training. He can't see very clearly past 50 yards and he was sighting in his rifle. I figure I'll just get to the 100 yard test when I get back.
I'd like to thank rob cubed, Inigoes, and Nemesis for helping me complete this shits and giggles project. I'd also like to thank all of MDS for the wealth of knowledge posted here and the laughs. It's been fun. My last post before basic will be on Sunday night. Hope the forum doesn't change too much while I'm gone.
