dBoys AK-74 (RK-03) Refinish

[no6]

Hey all. Just picked this AK up last week. I was surprised by how well the gun shoots straight out of the box, as well as how light it was despite the length of the barrel. The only thing that I was less than enthusiastic about was the paint job. Horrible, thick black paint that made it look incredibly cheap, as did the finish on the real wood foregrip that made those pieces look like plastic. Knowing that the receiver and dust cover are made from steel, I got it into my head to blue the thing. So here we go, after four days, done! It was my first attempt at bluing metal, so not too bad for a first attempt. It's a little uneven because my surface prep wasn't the best, but I actually think it adds to the 'well used' character of the piece.

Found an authentic Romanian Bakelite grip which I am going to attempt to get to fit, but we'll see.

Anyhow, this is a relatively easy, and very cheap mod (about $30 in bluing and cleaning materials) which makes the gun look a thousand times better.

The only downside of the process is that the steel parts will now need to be regularly maintained (oiled and polished) or it WILL rust. Particularly the lower receiver. So if you don't mind the additional maintenance, I highly recommend it.

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[no6]

Close up on the receiver. dBoys used a different grade of steel on the dust cover than in the receiver. The carbon content of the receiver is much, much higher.

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[no6]

Left side. The scope mount, front sight, grip retention rings, and the rear sight block are pot metal, but Birchwood Casey Aluminum Blue works fine on it, but those parts require oiling and polishing to look good. They have a smokier color than the steel, but still look pretty good.

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[no6]

Compensator is made from steel. I tried to keep from ruining the orange plastic tip, so didn't get the paint stripper all the way out to the end. As a result, there are several spots of the original paint. I actually kind of like the way it looks. Adds character.

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[zombie]

Nicely done.

[triggs (SABR)]

I'll echo what I said before.

I've had a few DBOY AK's go through my workbench, and while the internals have been nothing short of amazing, the externals....eh they feel like they're coated in rhino lining.

Absolutely amazing work getting that "paint" off and giving it a realistic blued feel. I would say the steel looks well worn, though not worn by use (wear on the controls and common places where rubbed), but the steel looks worn like it's been out in the elements for a while. The pot metal parts look like they're professionally blued (kinda ironic given they're the weaker/cheaper parts on the rifle), but again they look like they've seen the elements for a while.

With field use I think it could be one of the nicest AK's out there, just let it wear naturally (I've noticed it takes me around 4-5 games to start seeing common wear). Great work man!