[Carb850]

Got my first AK back in 94. Egyptian Maadi RPM. At the time I knew nothing about AKs, I was just excited to get one at all. Shot it on and off for a few years before it developed a wicked case of trigger slap. Not knowing what was going on I just threw it in the closet. After finding a few message boars online I learned a little about what I had and what I wanted. I eventually decided to do a RPK clone. Below is the progression of the Maadi

Maadi as imported. Spot welded muzzle nut w/thumbhole stock. The rifle was purchased with the original furniture which was only installed to take this pic.

Maadi as purchased. I liked the sporterized black plastic look at the time I bought this. I paid extra to get a RPM that the seller had installed a fiberforce stock onto. The only other modification was the installation of the AK74 muzzle brake.



The Maadi was converted into a RPK clone and completed early this year. Pics and info can be found on the following.
http://www.gunco.net/forums/showthread.php?t=551

 

[Toten Kopf]

Nice pictures. But the problem is they're to big ......they go off my screen and I have a 21" monitor.

Need to reduce them to 640x480 or smaller.

Other than that, cool rifle.

 

[Carb850]

Toten,
They were a bit large, I use a 21" too. I reduced them about 50%. You should see the uncropped original! 1760x1168


You know, once I installed the laminated thumbhole on it, I liked it better than the fiberforce. When it was purchased my dad saw the laminated set and replied "looks like plywood to me." I think that turned me off to laminates early on. Now I really like the look of Russian and Polish laminates.

 

[Grendeljaeger]

How is the accuracy with that longer barrel? Also was that originally a Chinese barrel? Why did you change barrels? It sure is Beautiful!! I really like that Russian furniture.

 

[Toten Kopf]

Toten,
They were a bit large, I use a 21" too. I reduced them about 50%. You should see the uncropped original! 1760x1168


You know, once I installed the laminated thumbhole on it, I liked it better than the fiberforce. When it was purchased my dad saw the laminated set and replied "looks like plywood to me." I think that turned me off to laminates early on. Now I really like the look of Russian and Polish laminates.

NOW that looks real good, I hate to pan to see a picture, especically of a nice rifle. Plywood....LOL never thought of it that way. I like the laminate look myself and would love to find a complete russian set with the red stain. Maybe in the future who knows. Again nice looking rifle.

 

[Carb850]

How is the accuracy with that longer barrel? Also was that originally a Chinese barrel? Why did you change barrels? It sure is Beautiful!! I really like that Russian furniture.

I cannot speak for accuracy. I have never been too methodic with my time at the range. That is one thing I hope to change. I usually just set a target betweent 50-100 yards and blast away. As long as I am hitting the target I am happy :smile: I plan on doing some tests to see what kind of groupings I can get at 100yards in the RPK configuration.

The picture in this thread with laminated thumbhole stock is how they were imported. 100% egyptian. As I got researching I found out that some RPM's had integral bipods. I searched for the correct bipod but none were to be found. The barrel dia was too small to use a RPK bipod. As I learned about the RPK's I decided I wanted one. Also, the RPM appears to be a bastard of sorts. I do not think this barrel configuration was ever used militarily.

Thanks for the complement. The RPK is the prize of my collection.

 

[Carb850]

NOW that looks real good, I hate to pan to see a picture, especically of a nice rifle. Plywood....LOL never thought of it that way. I like the laminate look myself and would love to find a complete russian set with the red stain. Maybe in the future who knows. Again nice looking rifle.

I think the laminated furniture may be an aquired taste. At first I thought a rifle had to be all black to look cool :smile: As for the color of the Soviet furniture, it is done with tinted shellac, not stain. Not too many people can duplicate it.