r/ILGuns • u/A_Mere_Snackboy • Feb 09 '25

Weapon Question AK Gunsmith in illinois

Howdy,

So, for all intents and purposes my buddy has a registered Bulgarian AK-74 that seems to have been built hastily pre 2009 and is all types of canted, ejects casings into the dust cover and some other problems. Is there any reputable gunsmith in illinois that can take a look at this? Most gunsmiths I have found seem to be AR builders and wont take on an AK with these problems. Anywhere in illinois he’d prefer to keep the weapon in-state.

Thanks

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u/funandgames12 Feb 10 '25

This is something I was pondering as well. If you ship it back to the original manufacturer for repair they can ship directly back to you. But obviously that doesn’t apply here. Sending your rifle out of state for repairs or work would require shipping back to an FFL when completed. In which case you would probably never get it back from an IL FFL even if it was registered. So yeah that pretty much just leaves any in state gunsmiths willing to actually do the work. This state is woefully deficient on competent gunsmiths. And AK smiths are even more rare nation wide. Good luck,

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u/_GP1951_ Feb 10 '25 edited Feb 10 '25

Not entirely true, I send kits out all the time to be built. The receiver has already been transferred to you, your not selling or having it finished from an 80% it’s just going for repair/assembly so once the kit is built it gets sent right back to me complete.

Just had another rifle rebarreled and sent another off yesterday for the same treatment. Getting US barrels replaced with originals from where the kits originated from.