Hesse RPK?

[fireguy]

I was at the gun show today saw an RPK, hesse arms reciever, russian buttstock and hg's. Heavy 23' barrel, stamped bipod. Here is my ?, did hesse make these or is it just
a hesse reciever, are the any good and what is the going rate for one or the price when hesse made them, the price was $600 includijng a romanian drum. It will be $700 after the show when I will be able to get back to the dealer to buy it what do you think? Thanks Fireman

[Blazeone1]

Yes he made them. See the welded receiver instead of rivets.

[fireguy]

Blazeone 1 are they any good? would you buy one? and were they russian kits thanks Fireman

[Blazeone1]

They are Romainan kits. I would notbuy one but overall that don't look too bad. If you can buy from a local dealer who will take it back and refund your money if you are not happy it you might consider getting it. If you have someone that is a barrel expert check the rifling and throat out, then check the action real good along with inspecting for crooked sights, etc.

[fireguy]

the dealer is not local and I don't think he will stand behind it, it is a used gun as far as he is concerned, If there is that much of a concern I think I will pass until I can build a quality one. K-var is apperently expectiong more sets. Thanks for the input Fireman

[Blazeone1]

Good idea, hold out for a k-var stamped receiver kit.

[mbakercad]

I picked up a RPK barrel assembly kit from K-Var. I was told the barrel assembly is the same for both stamped and milled recievers (I still have my fingers crossed on this one). I sent this kit and a donor rifle off to Inrange for conversion.

[fireguy]

Do you know if they still have the barrel assembly it self? or just the whole kit?

[mbakercad]

I cannot answer that question. I gave them a call when they first posted the milled RPK kit for sale several months ago. Bob told me they had put together several barrel assembly kits for sale but they were never posted on the website.

Like I said, I am not 100% sure the barrel assembly can be used for either stamped of milled. Bob consulted someone and said they could but he did not sound certain. I posted the quesiton on this site but never got a response.

If they do have these available, I would check with your prospective builder and see what they have to say. I feared they would sell out so I picked mine up immediately. I now wish I asked around more because I fear I'm going to get a call from Inrange "sir, we have a problem."

Also, you might want to ask them about some substituted parts. Mine came with the cleaning rod which is located in one leg of the bipod. I would have prefered a under barrel bipod. I now would have to spend ~ $100 to buy the necessary cleaning rod, gas block, front site, and cleaning rod guide. I still wonder if I should buy these anyway and have them sent to my builder.

[Mr. Lee]

Hate to spoil the "hate Hesse" party, but my RPK is straight, correct, functional, and looks great. Have also two Hesse-reciever FALs that work just fine, as well as another AK that does likewise. Can't complain though -- maybe that's why I got my 99%-condition Hesse RPK for $360.