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AK 47 WASR 10" 7.62x39 to 223

10K views 97 replies 7 participants last post by  Coils 
#1 · (Edited)
I am looking at this AK 47. It was at a good price and it comes with a lot of stuff including the original cleaning kit with oil can and bayonet. I would like to know what it takes to convert the 7.62x39 to the 223. It is a Romanian build. I have a Romanian build on a Hesse receiver, can I move the barrel, receiver and bolt to the AK 47 WASR 10?
 
#4 ·
If you didn't know it, the WASR is Romanian


I have a Romanian build on a Hesse receiver
Is this one 223?


But basically what Tommo said is correct, with most of the Com-block country AKs the parts will interchange, but with the prices the way they are right now you might be better off getting a rifle in the caliber you want.
If we aren't answering your question well enough, please give more details


Maybe see if you can get a Saiga in 223 and just convert it back to the AK configuration?
 
#5 · (Edited)
The Romanians used Bulgarian .223 barrels in their SAR3 and WASR3 .223 rifles from what I have read. Also, the Bulgarian parts from KVAR are the only ones I know of that are sometimes available.

I used a Bulgarian .223 barrel with a Romanian front trunion to build a .223 AKM. However, I used a modified Bulgarian AK74 bolt, carrier and magazines with an NDS-2 AK74 type receiver instead of the Bulgarian AKM .223 bolt, Galil mags and an AKM type receiver.

Also had to change out the bullet guide to a Bulgarian .223 type, thanks for reminding me 1biggun!
 
#6 ·
1. .223 barrel, Bulgarian,
2. .223 bolt, Bulgarian,
3. .223 magazine that would fit, possibly a Galil magazine,
4. may have to lengthen the ejector to work with .223 cartridge.
ADD A BULGY BULLET GUIDE AS WELL OR MOD THE EXISTING ONE .

YOU WILL ALSO NEED TO MOD THE MAG WELL AN MOVE THE TRIGGER GUARD MAG CATCH SOME TO MAKE YOUR FLAVOR OF MAG FIT. ID RECOMEND BULGYS BUT A GALIL CAN BE ,MADE TO WORK AS WELL ON A ROMY /WASR 7.62X39 TRUNION

YOU WILL BASICALY BE MESSING WITH THE WHOLE GUN. THE BOLT WHEN AVALAIBLE IS AROUND $100 THE BARREL CAN BE MADE FROM ANY 223 BOLT ACTION BLANK IF YOU ACESS TO A LATHE.

IF THE GUN YOU LOOKING AT IS PRICES RIGHT BUY IT ANY WAYS WORRY ABOUT CONVERTIGN IT LATTER . YOU MIGHT NO HAVE A CHANCE TO BUY IT NEXT YEAR LEGALY FOR ANY MONEY .


I am looking at this AK 47. It was at a good price and it comes with a lot of stuff including the original cleaning kit with oil can and bayonet. I would like to know what it takes to convert the 7.62x39 to the 223. It is a Romanian build. I have a Romanian build on a Hesse receiver, can I move the barrel, receiver and bolt to the AK 47 WASR 10?
YOUR THREAD IS COINFUSING WHAT CALIBUR IS YOUR HESSE RECIERED GUN??? WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO SWAP PARTS AROUND FROM IT TO A WASR 10 ? ARE YOU TRYING TO CONVERT A GUN YOUR LOOKING TO BUY WITH PARTS FROMA BUILD YOU ALREADY HAVE TO 223 ??

DO YOU HAVE ANY 223 PARTS OR GUNS NOW??
 
#9 ·
ADD A BULGY BULLET GUIDE AS WELL OR MOD THE EXISTING ONE .

YOU WILL ALSO NEED TO MOD THE MAG WELL AN MOVE THE TRIGGER GUARD MAG CATCH SOME TO MAKE YOUR FLAVOR OF MAG FIT. ID RECOMEND BULGYS BUT A GALIL CAN BE ,MADE TO WORK AS WELL ON A ROMY /WASR 7.62X39 TRUNION

YOU WILL BASICALY BE MESSING WITH THE WHOLE GUN. THE BOLT WHEN AVALAIBLE IS AROUND $100 THE BARREL CAN BE MADE FROM ANY 223 BOLT ACTION BLANK IF YOU ACESS TO A LATHE.

IF THE GUN YOU LOOKING AT IS PRICES RIGHT BUY IT ANY WAYS WORRY ABOUT CONVERTIGN IT LATTER . YOU MIGHT NO HAVE A CHANCE TO BUY IT NEXT YEAR LEGALY FOR ANY MONEY .




YOUR THREAD IS COINFUSING WHAT CALIBUR IS YOUR HESSE RECIERED GUN??? WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO SWAP PARTS AROUND FROM IT TO A WASR 10 ? ARE YOU TRYING TO CONVERT A GUN YOUR LOOKING TO BUY WITH PARTS FROMA BUILD YOU ALREADY HAVE TO 223 ??

DO YOU HAVE ANY 223 PARTS OR GUNS NOW??

Yes, a hesse build, i have a 223 ak47 with a hesse 7.62x39 receiver, receiver welded to the trunion, trunion and site welded to the barrel, rear trunion riveted in wrong, upper rails not in trunion grooves, lower rear corner of receiver cracked, and gun missfires about 1 in three rounds.
 
#7 ·
yep k-var has the barrels and bullet guides at this time, its the ejector regardless if its a 223 bolt or 5.45mm bolt,lot of work for a existing build gun easier to start with a bulgy kit 5.45mm and go from there?

big gun

copes has galil 223 mags modified to fit ak s wondering if they would work in my 223 that uses polish beryl mags

your thoughts
 
#8 ·
(lscheibenberger)
Sorry I have been distracted this week and haven't kept up on this thread, the WASR I was looking at went to a gun show and didn't come back. kind of glad. after reading the posts to my question I was in way over my head anyway. The AK47 I have is hesse (7.62x39)receiver in 223, I beleive a Romanian build straight black poly stock and and upper parts. Receiver welded to front trunion, the trunion and site are welded to the barrel. reciever cracked along back right hand side. I would like to save this rifle with a new receiver. It missfires on about every third round, headspacing is ok. Remington PMP 223 ammo. The firing pin makes a dint in the primer but does not fire. I have 1 5 round mag and 2 30s, the 30 rnd mags don't fit the gun and when I try to load them with 223 rounds the first round falls out when I try to load the second. They must be 7.62x39 magazines. To the eye they look exactly like the 223 mag but are not.
 
#10 ·
yep those builds

using a 7.62 receiver is not a problem its whether the ejector will work right, maybe the mag is 5.45 mag and 223 mag should hold the rounds

unless you are building from scratch, these conversions are complicated
 
#12 ·
Yes, a hesse build, i have a 223 ak47 with a hesse 7.62x39 receiver, receiver welded to the trunion, trunion and site welded to the barrel, rear trunion riveted in wrong, upper rails not in trunion grooves, lower rear corner of receiver cracked, and gun missfires about 1 in three rounds.
WOW that's scary sounding with all that welding, I wouldn't even try to use that.

I wouldn't even now if that would be worth fixing?
Can you post some pics of it?
 
#16 ·
when I first looked at it I though gee thats the lest of your problems the gas tube is coming out of the barrel ( long day)
never seen a welded up ak up close, are those screws or weld buttons that is hard to determine, wow its not that hard to rivet and/or screw those welds are ugly but i assume somewhat functional. I would not worry about the rear top rail not fitting its the front that is critical
get some real euro steel ak mags to see about function they are around, there may still be hope for this puppy
 
#18 ·
Thanks for the help. I amhoping together a 100% receiver and use the parts that are in this one. I'm a little worried about how to put the new receiver on the old trunion. I could just screw it to the old trunion, or take out the barrel and do it right. I did see a front trunion on one of the web sites, maybe that would be better yet.
 
#19 ·
copes has galil 223 mags modified to fit ak s wondering if they would work in my 223 that uses polish beryl mags

your thoughts
Hmmm I don't have a polish mag in 223 only Bulgy .. does a polish fit in a Bugly ?

I use weiger mags as is in my varmint gun with a 7.62x39 trunionn.

on my weiger clone that uses a rommy 223 trunion I had to add a liitle weld to the front lug on the mag to raise them slightly in the gun .

I have no idea what copes modes are Interesting . Id say buy one an try it if there cheap worst case sell it un gun broker Id like to what is modified .
 
#21 ·
Well the two worst things I see are the welds at the front trunnion, receiver to the trunnion and the trunnion to the barrel.

The receiver welds look like they're welded right to the rivet stubs left in the trunnion and the little pieces of the rivets are breaking loose.
The barrel weld to the trunnion is the nasty looking one, it does look like you might be able to cut enough away to get it back out, but your going to need to be very careful if you try this.

This is how I'd attack it
First drill those welds on the receiver out just enough to break the surface of the receiver so you can get the trunnion out.
Then coming from the bottom of the trunnion I'd start cutting on the weld that's on the barrel. Get it as close to the barrel as possible, then clean up the rest of the welds once they are seperated.
 
#22 ·
Honestly if you don't have the tools an parts to fix it I put it on Gun broker as is . let some one else fix it. someone will pay to much for it.

I would put it on a new recvier . Id cut the weld at the trunion on a lathe an press out the barrel an toss it .

if the gun can be fixed its likely worth $500 or more in todays world. Its going to be gobbled in some way no matter what you do. back when parts were cheap id have kept the bolt an carrier an what ever else is un molested an junked the rest.

your not likey going to hurt the value by demilling it so that's the first step. before you do get it head spaced an figure out why its not firing . if the round is chambering an you rgetting a primer strike it should go bang.

also the barrel looks pinned why is it welded to the trunion ?? Drive the pin out if its actualy pinned an see whats going on. it might be plug welded If its plug welded then junk the trunion IMO
 
#26 ·
Does the barrel pin go into the other side of the trunnion?
Looking in the hole you should be able to tell, most of the pins I've seen are a little short and set in the holes a little, maybe the person just stopped short.

It sounds like you have the tools to do the job. If you want to go through with this, make sure to ask any questions, we'll try to help.


I think you should be ok with those welds, it looks like the person that did them knew what they were doing, don't look like they got the parts too hot.
 
#28 · (Edited)
Wow! that baby is a mixer. Looks to be a AK47 type FSB or a smaller diameter SLR95 type FSB with the 14/1 brake welded to it.
Barrel looks to be a WASR/SAR3 style. Not sure what trunnion?
You say it headspaces OK.
The misfires could be due to an improper hammer to firing pin interface. This is common in swapped out or 7.62 style FCG's in a WASR/SAR3. Often the hammer face must be reprofiled to strike the firing pin at the proper angle. You should be able to see this visually.
If it does headspace OK and you can get the barrel pin properly seated and function and fire consistently....,
I would be inclined to just finish up the trunnion to receiver as welds and smooth them down to flat with the receiver and do the same at the rear for a flush look build. It is already a mixer so just getting it to look decent and function 100% would be a triumph. Without dumping money in it or trying to demil all thse welds and mixed parts. A challange. :)
 
#29 ·
Wow! that baby is a mixer. Looks to be a AK47 type FSB or a smaller diameter SLR95 type FSB with the 14/1 brake welded to it.
Barrel looks to be a WASR/SAR3 style. Not sure what trunnion?
You say it headspaces OK.
The misfires could be due to an improper hammer to firing pin interface. This is common in swapped out or 7.62 style FCG's in a WASR/SAR3. Often the hammer face must be reproflied to strike the firing pin at the proper angle. You should be able to see this visually.
If it does headspace OK and you can get the barrel pin properly seated and function and fire consistently....,
I would be inclined to just finish up the trunnion to receiver as welds and smooth them down to flat with the receiver and do the same at the rear for a fush look build. It is already a mixer so just getting it to look decent and function 100% would be a triumph. Without dumping money in it or trying to demil all thse welds and mixed parts. A challange. :)
Thanks, that would be better yet if it is safe. I have read about a lot of these that have no problems, maybe a little touch up will be all it needs. No doubt I will have more problems. Still haven't figured out the magazine feed and clearance issue. The mag that came with it says "made in Bulgaria" right on the side, and it works when it fires. The other two european mags feed too high and bolt catches the bullets when you try to chamber a round. The hammer and fire pin look like a good connect but the top of the bolt shows impact so maybe it's hitting the top of the bolt before the firing pin hits the primer. I will work on the a little and see.
 
#30 ·
As much Welding as there is on the Chamber of that Barrel I would not try to use it I wouldn't fire it anywhere near my face. there is no way the temper has not been affected on that barrel. it is likely harder and more brittle than it should be.

In my opinion the gun is unsafe to shoot and many of the parts are unsafe to use.
 
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