Need help with a B-West AK47

[gatorusa68]

Hello everyone. I was looking for some help with a B-West. A neighbor wants to sell his but im 800 miles away. He lives next to my parents. The info he gave me was it was a pre-ban norinco B-West AK-47. I did some research and found alot of different stories about this gun hoe they were busted by the ATF and some metal shop was stamping the receivers and not heat treating them. I know its a stamped receiver and he he told me the markings were B-West made in USA with a serial #BWC000xxx. My question is is this serial number a kit or one that was imported complete. I read that some had serial #'s with 999xxx made in USA. How can you tell if this serial # I have could be one that may or may not be heat treated. He also told me he has put about 2000 rounds through it and had no problems. Any help would be great as I have an SLR95 and a Polytech Legend and know these guns are build with no problems and last and will not blow up in your face. Thank you all very much.

[imanaknut]

Welcome to the group !!! :welcome:

You actually answered your own question. The rifle cannot be a Norinco import if it is stamped "Made in USA". As far as I know, Norinco never built AKs in this country. Any Made in USA B-west rifle would be questionable. You do have it right that they stamped their own receivers, hense the USA on it, and most weren't prepared correctly and turned to junk very quickly. They distroyed their imports per ATF and then reassembled the parts on their receivers, so if you were able to get the rifle for a really good price, disassemble it, and rebuild it on a proper Nodak Spud receiver. Edited since I missed you mention it has had around 2K rounds through it. Would guess it would be right where the problems start to show up.

See you already have two of the top of the line AK variants, a good old Post-Bush1 SLR95 and the next best thing to a real deal AK Type 3 in semi-auto only, the Legend.



By the way, purple is internet sarcasm. :D

[Schuetzenman]

I concure with imanaknut, that it says Made in USA says it all. I had a Mak 90 that was a B West Import, but it didn't say Made in USA on it. If the owner has really put 2K of rounds through it I would like to inspect it in detail to check for any signs of a soft receiver stretching. However you are 800 miles from the weapon, therefore I would say no thanks to buying it ... unless he's selling it for a rediculous low price like $200 ish. In that case it might be worth getting looking at it as simply a Norinco parts kit to rebuild on a quality built No Dak Spud receiver.

[Durangokid]

This is one of three B-West AKs. The B-West has fired 1,000s of rounds no problems. I have never seen a B-West failure. I would be interested in seeing a B-West that failed due to soft metal. The BATF after all made the claims concerning B-West problems.







http://i798.photobucket.com/albums/yy262/redwing340/IMG_0289.jpg

[imanaknut]

Is that a "Made in USA" B-west or a "Made in China" B-west import?

[Durangokid]

It is a very well made in the USA B-West. I changed the pistol grip other wise stock. This rifle has fired piles of ammo with no problems. The claim back in the day was that some BW AKS had soft ejectors. I have owned three never a problem. Cerrosafe chamber cast after 5,000 rounds showed no change. The ejector has never failed.

[TB215]

Hello everyone. I was looking for some help with a B-West. A neighbor wants to sell his but im 800 miles away. He lives next to my parents. The info he gave me was it was a pre-ban norinco B-West AK-47. I did some research and found alot of different stories about this gun hoe they were busted by the ATF and some metal shop was stamping the receivers and not heat treating them. I know its a stamped receiver and he he told me the markings were B-West made in USA with a serial #BWC000xxx. My question is is this serial number a kit or one that was imported complete. I read that some had serial #'s with 999xxx made in USA. How can you tell if this serial # I have could be one that may or may not be heat treated. He also told me he has put about 2000 rounds through it and had no problems. Any help would be great as I have an SLR95 and a Polytech Legend and know these guns are build with no problems and last and will not blow up in your face. Thank you all very much.

Like all other say here, if it says Made in China imported by B West then it's good to go.

But if it says B West Made in the USA then you non heat treated receiver.

[Durangokid]

Have you ever seen a failure in a B-West? I would like to see a picture of any B-West AK that failed. The BATF used this propaganda to close the company. I have been amazed at the gun owners who repeat this line.

[Durangokid]

http://www.ak-47.net/ak-47/bwest.php. The BATF went after B-West. They finally got them for making sheet metal parts off campus. The BATF used the quality issue to close the company.