Poor Man's Galil ARM (7.62x39mm / Stamped Receiver)
Posted: Thu Feb 20, 2020 10:10 am
Always though the Israeli Galil was a neat gun. When APEX had their Black Friday deals I grabbed one of their fair/poor condition Galil ARM kits.
I'm not a big 223 / 5.56 guy , and the milled receivers for these are $$$ pricey. There wasn't any stubs with the Apex kit, so rewelding wasn't an option either. So, a quick look in the parts bin found some usable replacement AK47 parts. Namely a large stem milled Yugo bolt and a Hungarian AK63D front trunnion. So I sold off the stuff from the Galil kit I wasn't able to use (Folding Stock, 5.56 Bolt, Flash Hider, Bullet guide) and used the funds from that to pick up a few parts and get started.
^ Made some slotted rails in the "ears" of the AKM trunnion to allow the Galil gas tube to pass through. They have "wings/tabs" to keep them aligned. A hacksaw with two blades was perfect thickness to make the slots. Had to take a hair off the tube to clear, but it fits properly.
Grabbed one of the AKBuilder bent 80% Receivers, and fitted the now modified trunnion and magazine catch to check for proper placement, looks good.
^ Spot weld the guide rails into the receiver. I used a pair without mag stabilizing tabs, as it seemed pretty tight in magazine well as is.
^ Drilled out the FCG holes (thankfully a good friend had the Recreator Blanks jig). Easy enough but doesn't locate the center support bushing & rivet. The FCG layout is exactly the same as an AK47, the selector "keyhole" is at a different angle, and the other side has a much larger hole for the AMBI lever. But easy enough to figure out.
Once I get the center support figured out, I'll go back and probably do another spot weld or two on the rails in that location.
^ Heres the cuts for the AMBI selector on the Galil. Copied them as best I could with a dremel cutting wheel. Seems OK. Plan is to take a piece of scrap AKM receiver and make another "plate" with the cutouts as well, to kind of reinforce it there. Part of me thinks that all that cut out right there puts a little stress on the pistol grip area.
^ Doubling up on the metal can't hurt. So that what I (crudely) did.
^ Now the fun part. I used two wonky bent flats for practice before doing this one. For the ARM bipod to clear the receiver, you need an angle at the front of the gun (like a real Galil). I tried a few times to get it right, and found this cut/angle to be sufficient.
So I make the cuts, but leave the flap on the bottom. I bend the front of the flap down ward, then the entire flap upwards, and it meets with the top cut pretty damn close. A couple taps with the hammer to better "form" the shape, and carefully welded the seams with tiny 1/16 rods on my little DC inverter welder. It came out "OK" looking after grinding/sanding/blending it. Didn't get too many pics of that particular part, will add some after the gun is painted.
^ Now that the holes are done and the bend is made, a quick spot heat treat for the FCG axis holes and ejector. Did the pistol grip/AMBI lever slot area too, but not quite as hot as I got the FCG holes. So its probably not as hard as it could be, but certainly better than not hardened at all.
^ Quick bead blast, and its time to move on.
^ Get the center support figured out (take measurements from another receiver) Mock up some of the parts and see how it looks.
The best option, for me anyways, to get that classic Galil style stock look was to use an ACE. Luckily, they were on sale ($60 shipped) from doublestar. I had a Saiga/AK ACE mounting block in the parts bin, but it would interfere with the AMBI selector setup the Galil uses. So the AKBuilder modular rear trunnion was perfect.
^ Get some rivets going....
^ All right. All riveted up, Barrel pressed and checked.
Mocked everything up, and pressed the gas block on. Very tight. Once in place, ran a long 1/8" drill bit through the gas chamber enough to "kiss" the barrel, hopefully marking where the gas port should be. Normally, you'd just go straight through the block and drill the port. Over the years and dozens of AK's I've had to do that on, only ONCE have I NOT snapped the bit off inside the block during the process. So, I've found it faster to kiss it, press it off, plunge/drill it at 90 degress, and just put the block back.
^ Gas port. Hoping 1/8" will do the trick. A little on the small side compared to some of the barrels I have handy, but AK's are usually overgassed to begin with. Always able to press it off and drill it out a little bigger. A lot easier than trying to put the metal back if you made it too big
^ So here we are, with most of the major components pressed on and placed properly (for the most part).
^ With the handguards on and guts installed. The APEX kits rear handguard retainer plate came cut on one side. I guess a lot of them came like that, Used to be a carry handle there I believe. Anyways, I added a large glob of weld to that area, and crudely shaped/filed it to make a hook/tab/catch that rests on the shelf near the barrel pin area of the AK trunnion. The handguard on a Galil can develop a lot of vertical play/slop, and that would just piss me off immensely so I figured I'd fix the problem before it ever started. Its rock solid...even without the tension springs.
The bipod just clears the bend/seam on the modified receiver.
^ Should be ready for test fire sometime relatively soon, then stripped back down and prepped for paint job of some type.
Parts list;
ARM Kit $275
AKBuilder 7.62 Blank $29
AKBuilder Modular Rear Trunnion $45
ACE AKFX Stock (9.5) $60
APEX Milled US Barrrel $39
Random AK47 Parts kicking around the shop $Priceless
After selling off the bits from the kit I didn't need, I'm probably around $350 for the project. Which isn't bad at all I don't think. Hoping it shoots alright and I can get it painted soon.
I'm not a big 223 / 5.56 guy , and the milled receivers for these are $$$ pricey. There wasn't any stubs with the Apex kit, so rewelding wasn't an option either. So, a quick look in the parts bin found some usable replacement AK47 parts. Namely a large stem milled Yugo bolt and a Hungarian AK63D front trunnion. So I sold off the stuff from the Galil kit I wasn't able to use (Folding Stock, 5.56 Bolt, Flash Hider, Bullet guide) and used the funds from that to pick up a few parts and get started.
^ Made some slotted rails in the "ears" of the AKM trunnion to allow the Galil gas tube to pass through. They have "wings/tabs" to keep them aligned. A hacksaw with two blades was perfect thickness to make the slots. Had to take a hair off the tube to clear, but it fits properly.
Grabbed one of the AKBuilder bent 80% Receivers, and fitted the now modified trunnion and magazine catch to check for proper placement, looks good.
^ Spot weld the guide rails into the receiver. I used a pair without mag stabilizing tabs, as it seemed pretty tight in magazine well as is.
^ Drilled out the FCG holes (thankfully a good friend had the Recreator Blanks jig). Easy enough but doesn't locate the center support bushing & rivet. The FCG layout is exactly the same as an AK47, the selector "keyhole" is at a different angle, and the other side has a much larger hole for the AMBI lever. But easy enough to figure out.
Once I get the center support figured out, I'll go back and probably do another spot weld or two on the rails in that location.
^ Heres the cuts for the AMBI selector on the Galil. Copied them as best I could with a dremel cutting wheel. Seems OK. Plan is to take a piece of scrap AKM receiver and make another "plate" with the cutouts as well, to kind of reinforce it there. Part of me thinks that all that cut out right there puts a little stress on the pistol grip area.
^ Doubling up on the metal can't hurt. So that what I (crudely) did.
^ Now the fun part. I used two wonky bent flats for practice before doing this one. For the ARM bipod to clear the receiver, you need an angle at the front of the gun (like a real Galil). I tried a few times to get it right, and found this cut/angle to be sufficient.
So I make the cuts, but leave the flap on the bottom. I bend the front of the flap down ward, then the entire flap upwards, and it meets with the top cut pretty damn close. A couple taps with the hammer to better "form" the shape, and carefully welded the seams with tiny 1/16 rods on my little DC inverter welder. It came out "OK" looking after grinding/sanding/blending it. Didn't get too many pics of that particular part, will add some after the gun is painted.
^ Now that the holes are done and the bend is made, a quick spot heat treat for the FCG axis holes and ejector. Did the pistol grip/AMBI lever slot area too, but not quite as hot as I got the FCG holes. So its probably not as hard as it could be, but certainly better than not hardened at all.
^ Quick bead blast, and its time to move on.
^ Get the center support figured out (take measurements from another receiver) Mock up some of the parts and see how it looks.
The best option, for me anyways, to get that classic Galil style stock look was to use an ACE. Luckily, they were on sale ($60 shipped) from doublestar. I had a Saiga/AK ACE mounting block in the parts bin, but it would interfere with the AMBI selector setup the Galil uses. So the AKBuilder modular rear trunnion was perfect.
^ Get some rivets going....
^ All right. All riveted up, Barrel pressed and checked.
Mocked everything up, and pressed the gas block on. Very tight. Once in place, ran a long 1/8" drill bit through the gas chamber enough to "kiss" the barrel, hopefully marking where the gas port should be. Normally, you'd just go straight through the block and drill the port. Over the years and dozens of AK's I've had to do that on, only ONCE have I NOT snapped the bit off inside the block during the process. So, I've found it faster to kiss it, press it off, plunge/drill it at 90 degress, and just put the block back.
^ Gas port. Hoping 1/8" will do the trick. A little on the small side compared to some of the barrels I have handy, but AK's are usually overgassed to begin with. Always able to press it off and drill it out a little bigger. A lot easier than trying to put the metal back if you made it too big
^ So here we are, with most of the major components pressed on and placed properly (for the most part).
^ With the handguards on and guts installed. The APEX kits rear handguard retainer plate came cut on one side. I guess a lot of them came like that, Used to be a carry handle there I believe. Anyways, I added a large glob of weld to that area, and crudely shaped/filed it to make a hook/tab/catch that rests on the shelf near the barrel pin area of the AK trunnion. The handguard on a Galil can develop a lot of vertical play/slop, and that would just piss me off immensely so I figured I'd fix the problem before it ever started. Its rock solid...even without the tension springs.
The bipod just clears the bend/seam on the modified receiver.
^ Should be ready for test fire sometime relatively soon, then stripped back down and prepped for paint job of some type.
Parts list;
ARM Kit $275
AKBuilder 7.62 Blank $29
AKBuilder Modular Rear Trunnion $45
ACE AKFX Stock (9.5) $60
APEX Milled US Barrrel $39
Random AK47 Parts kicking around the shop $Priceless
After selling off the bits from the kit I didn't need, I'm probably around $350 for the project. Which isn't bad at all I don't think. Hoping it shoots alright and I can get it painted soon.
