[BattleRifleG3]

Yup, I'm actually doing it. Rebarreling an AKM for 35 Remington. An honest to goodness freakish caliber conversion. The gas system was evaluated for a design project for a Thermal Systems optimization course. So that's what I did on a couple weekend trip this past semester. The rest is basic AK building. though I'm debating ho wto design the mag system and receiver. If I stick to 357 pistol bullets I can use AR-15 magazines, and would likely use a milled aluminum receiver of my own design with inserted steel rails. Or I might go for a Tapco flat, or a stamped receiver of my own design. Oh decision sdecisions. As much as I'm redesigning about this, I'm not even sure I can still call it an AKM. Maybe BRAK (BattleRifleAK)? Naw. AK-35? I'm open to suggestions.

In the meantime here are some pics of the front end. The barrel is from a Marlin 336, bought from Numrich. The gas block and lower section for the rear site are milled aluminum. I was hesitant to use aluminum for the gas block, but it's overdesigned enough that I think it's a safe bet. I'll shape it a little bit to match a one-piece handguard that I'll eventually design and install.

When trying to optimize the length of the gas system, it seemed that for a 20" barrel, the AMD length is best. If I shortened the barrel to 16", a Krink length system would probably be best. So if I ever go into the gun business you might see a thumbhole 20" version for hunting and a 16" Krink type with folder. Or I might do it just for myself.

 

[BattleRifleG3]

Dog gonnet, the images won't hyperlink. Here's my album, thi sproject is the last 7 photos.
http://groups.msn.com/NorthAmericanGunrunners/battleriflesarmory.msnw

 

[TEA]

Gotta give you credit for taking on some complex projects!

That buttsock for the 308, along the top side, is that horizontal line wood grain or are you planning on a FAL/M76 combo?

 

[RedStinger.308]

That's a sweet Kalashnikov! (Don't mind me, I'm just trying to earn brownie points because I'm a newb, lol). Btw, what is the base cartridge for the .35 Remington? I'd call your Ak the Akm35.

 

[BattleRifleG3]

I believe 35 Remington has no prior base cartridge. It was introduced as part of a family for the Rem Model 8 autoloader early in the century. All anemic by today's standards, but that was all that early autoloader could handle. Actually I think the others, like the 32 Rem and 30 Rem had a different rim size. I think the 30 Rem is the parent for the new 6.8mm Rem SPC.