Neck of casing flat spot?

[warped]

The AK under $600 in 6.5G could be done, the problem is that there would have to be a lot of them purchased to justify the effort.

A stamped receiver could be used and would be an excellent choice done correctly, I would modify the magwell opening and weld on an AR style magwell.

In fact the bbl could be made to be a "thread in" instead of pinned.