AKS-74: Romanian SAR2 Conversion. Pics inside!

I don't have a digital cam, so I combined the images I took with a scanner. I hope it shows clear enough.

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The stock Romanian SAR-2 comes as a nice copy of AK-74, although the finish is on the rough side. The wood is ugly to say the least, but is quite attractive underneath the heavy varnish. I strippd the old dark finish, used Minwax Red Oak and Semi-Gloss Clear Polyurethane to redo the wood. It came out with a battle-hardened look, yet very smooth to the touch. Just the way I wanted it to look.

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I then added a AK-74 style muzzle brake from AA-OK. It uses 4 setscrews on the barrel, but I really don't want to launch the brake at the range. I decided to Dremel the barrel with 4 slots, 1 on each side for the setscrews to bite on. I also applied 600F JB Weld to the barrel, front sight block to make sure it doesnt' come off. After I set the screws, I sealed the holes with extra JB Weld. You can see the gray color on the muzzlebrake, that's the setscrew hole filled with JB Weld. Eventually I'll add abit more JB Weld to make the surface level, and then spray finish the entire gun to make them invisible.

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I also bought one of FSE's "non-folding" AKS-74 skeleton stock. It looks awesome, and easy to install too. Because of the extra US stock, I have replaced the crappy US black pistol grip with a Romanian Red grip. So far the SAR2 has been transformed into an AKS-74 piece by piece. I will refinish the metal with AlumaHyde II once it gets warm enough. It'd have a more durable and uniform finish. Overall, this project's cost me $260 for SAR2 and $80 for brake and stock, not to mention hours of labor of course, but I'm really glad it turned out as good as I had hoped. :)

I have an L1A1, a Hungarian AK-47, but I still like this AKS-74 the best. Maybe it's because of the time and effort I've put into it, I have definitely tinkered with it more than any other firearms combined, but it's just an awesome light weapon platform.
 

9mmepiphany

New member
a very nice result for your efforts...if i ever stop dreaming maybe i can start on mine.

i keep trying to explain to folks who complain about the "look" of the ak family, that part of the fun of ownership is smoothing it out and "making it right"

thanks for sharing
 

Destructo6

New member
It looks good, with the exception of the muzzle brake. Please forgive me, but JB weld shouldn't be applied to a rifle unless in a dire emergency.

Have you thought about having the front sight base replaced with a version that has threads protruding from the front? IIRC, the BATF doesn't consider this a threaded muzzle since the threads are on the sight base and that a flash suppressor is not available for this setup (AK-74 attachment is considered a brake).

With that exception, I like your AK. The wood looks the way it should on a military rifle.
 
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