The end is near

We're in the home stretch now.  With the receiver complete and barrel installed, all the other parts can be installed on the AK.  Everything is still unpainted, I wanted to get it test fired before paint just in case I had to tweak anything.  Here's how it looks when it's all assembled except for the front hand guards:

Since I want it to look nice when I'm done, I started reworking the stock too.  The Polish plywood is much better than some of the other AKMs from other countries, but still leaves a lot to be desired too.  My kit is based on a 1970 rifle, so it's got 40 years of dings and scrapes to take care of.  Here's the wood(minus upper handguard) all sanded up and ready for some polyurethane:

With everything assembled, it was ready for test firing.  Now, I may look stupid, but I'm not dumb.  There was no was I was going to hold what amounts to a home made gun in my hand and pull the trigger.  While I didn't expect any trouble, I was still minorly concerned about the headspace being wrong, and the gun blowing up.  More specifically, I was concerned about the dust cover being blown off the top and into my face.  On an AK, all that stands between you and the bolt slamming back and forth is some sheetmetal.  So out came the ratchet straps and a very long rope...