Hakim info, may need a smith

[SKS Ray]

I finally got around to tinkering with the Hakim I picked up at the last Marlboro show. I stripped it down, not thoroughly, just enough to inspect for wear and damaged parts. The rifle is in overall very good condition but what I found was that the gas valve is frozen in one position.
What I heard was the most comon position, pointing directly towards the receiver at 6 o clock, was considered a little too open for most ammo. People on other forums have told me they set theirs to a 7 o clock position to close it a little to avoid excess gas pressure being released. Mine unfortunately is in the 6 o clock position and won't budge no matter what I try. I made an adjustment tool out of a socket that I notched after reading info on a home built tool on surplusrifle.com. What I wound up doing was tearing a small piece of the tip of the arrow on the adjuster off after trying to free up the mehcanism.
When I mentioned elsewhere about the possibility of the screw rusted in place and that I couldn't turn the adjuster, some Hakim shooters there mentioned soaking it in Kroil penetrating oil. Its been soaking for about 6 hrs and is still forzen in place. I'm hoping that overnight the Kroil will do its trick and get in there so I can free it up, take the screw out and clean out the valve really well.
Butttt, just in case it doesn't work, does anyone know a smith nearby that could handle working on something less comonm like an Egyptian Hakim? I can probably shoot the rifle ok the way it is with the valve set as is now, but i'd like to be able to adjust the pressure and use it corectly.
I'm wondering if this is the reason I only paid $250 for the rifle.

 

[BigBill]

No problem i had 6 hakims at one time and repaired them and some had frozen gas valves too. After soaking it with no results. You need to take a propane torch and just under the lip of the gas port put a little heat and with the wrench it will all of a sudden come free. Remember just a little heat not much will do it. After its freed up clean out the gas port and i use a moly anti-seize to keep it free.

On the adjustment this is an important part of the hakim's functioning and your safety too. Fully clockwise is closed and at 6 oclock its fully open. With the gas screw adjusted from fully closed then open it one click counter clockwise and then load one round at a time and test fire it. If the bolt carrier locks open last round fired empty mag your good to go. If not open it one more click counter clockwise at a time till the bolt carrier locks open last round fired empty mag. Once you achieve this i load 2 or 3 rounds to test the cycling. If it goes ok then try a full mag.

Remember the gas screw adjusts how much gas goes thru the system to operate it so less is better. After adjusting the gas valve to your ammo the hakim is set to the ammo your using at the time and it must be readjusted when you change to a different ammo. This is where most hakim owners get into trouble. If the gas port is too far open the bolt carrier can actually pull out the just fired empty case while the breech pressre is still present in the barrel. Yes the bullet is just passed the gas port when the bolt carrier opens up the breech. The shooter gets hot gases in the face and you will think its an out of battery firing but its not. Its because there is too much gas, and too soon so less is better. I have found out that 1 to 2 clicks open seems to be the norm with most ammo's but your gun may differ so i adjust every gun the sameway going thru the gas adjustment ritual. Checkout the rim of the fired case too it will tell you if it has too much gas too if its ripped just to be safe it pays to double check it. Its an awesome gun and will give you many years of shooting pleasure enjoy.

BTW; This 8mm egyptian hakim is a beast, its a great gun to shoot, and has very little recoil too. Its very loud with the muzzle brake and if you benchrest it at the range you will see the grass on the ground move in front of you when you shoot it too. The Hakim will attract crowds too.

Some shoot turk ammo on a regular basis but i don't. They put an extra gas port notch or two on the top of the gas port so it has a lesser adjustment. It seems to work but the hot turk ammo does mess with the cycle timing of the semi-auto. I have shot the new PMC 170gr Soft Point ammo with good results with accuracy too.

Make sure you give the hakim a full G.I. cleaning too. Take it all apart and clean it good and clean out the safety block too i have found sand in most of them and inside the stock too.

If you need replacement parts go to www.gunboards.com and go to the message boards and to the egyptian section and ask for jb573 he has new parts for the hakim. I purchased a lot of extra hakim parts just to stock them it was worth the $100+ to have them since no one else has them. It pays to have springs, firing pin and extra extractor's which are prone to break because of the wrong gas adjustment.

Now you need a Egyptain Rasheed 7,62x39 and a Swedish Lungman 6,5x55 to go with your hakim there all the same swedish design.

If you need more hakim help feel free to email me.

 

[JonJ]

I soaked mine for about a week with Break Free and it was still stuck. Hit it with just a little heat from the torch and it broke free.
Do yourself a favor, buy the $12 adjustment tool that JB573 sells. I made one up by cutting a socket but it was kind of hinky. JB's is the right tool for the job.

 

[SKS Ray]

Thanks for all the tips and info. Definitely a sigh of relief to know I wasn't the only one with a stuck valve.

 

[BigBill]

Its lack of maintence is why the gas adjusting screw is stuck in the first place.

I'm going to post this for everyone to learn and i'm sure most of us know this already so its for the newbie or guys who want a semi-auto. The way they operate can get confusing on how to adjust them properly.

The Egyptain Hakim, Egyptian Rasheed and SVT-40 Russian Tokarev gas systems are alike with the way they operate. These gas systems have adjusting valves that adjust how much gas goes thru the system to operate it and make it function with the excess gas going down the barrel it only allows the gas metered thru the gas port to operate the semi-auto cycling. So the "Less its open the better". My hakim's operates between 1 and 2 clicks open on the gas port adjusting valve. My SVT-40's seem to be ok with the setting on 1.3 it seems to be the norm with the ammo i'm shooting. If its a little sluggish when it cycles to achieve reliability and dependability you may have to open it up one more click or to the next higher number to allow more gas to operate the system.

Warning; If your SVT-40 seems to have too much recoil your gas valve needs to be readjusted correctly. On the SVT the scribed lines must be lined up perfectly so the little holes in gas ports are lined up perfectly or the svt won't function in semi auto. If the svt setting is too far open its like getting wacked in the shoulder with a baseball bat when you fire it with the recoil thats a clue that something is wrong. Don't shoot it because the bolt carrier is slamming the rear of the receiver inside thats not good its hammering itself.
All you have to do is to adjust the gas valve to correct it.

Now on the FN49 its a totally different gas system. The gas port is adjusted by a sleeve that opens up the port or closes the port.

NOTE; The FN49 gas port is an exhaust port so "the more its open the less gas the system sees to operate it". You adjust it the sameway you adjust the hakim but its all the way open and you shoot one round at a time till the bolt carrier locks open last round fired empty mag. You close the exhaust port a little at a tile till the bolt carrier locks back in the last round fired empty mag position. You shoot one round at a time till its adjusted properly them try 2 or 3 rounds to see how it cycles. You may need to close it a tad to achieve reliability and dependability if its a little sluggish when it cycles so more gas is saved to operate the system.

Please make sure you know which gas system your semi auto has and you understand how it operates before you try to adjust it. These military surplus semi-auto's will give us many years of shooting pleasure if we keep them maintained and adjusted properly in good working order. Don't get the open and closed mixed up this is where accidents can happen when there adjusted wrong. Please besafe do it right.

A few years ago when everyone was screaming its an out of battery firing i figured out its not having the gas systen adjusted correctly thats causing the hot gases from the breech. The bolt carrier is moving too soon by having too much gas pressure. The semi-auto needs a dwell time between the fire and extraction so the case contracts little after it expands when its fired. This causes the ripped case rims too because the case is being yanked out too soon while its still expanded. Once you figure your gas setting is set right you can double check it by inspecting the rim of the case for extractor marks. If the case rim is clean your setting is ok after you reset the gas valve. If it has extractor marks your gas valve is set wrong it still has too much gas in the system.

Sorry if i bored anyone........

 

[BigBill]

Thanks for all the tips and info. Definitely a sigh of relief to know I wasn't the only one with a stuck valve.

Just use a little heat under the flat on the top of the gas port in that little rounded area and it will break free right away. Do not heat the barrel or near the barrel. Just a quiet flame on the propane torch will do the job.

 

[SKS Ray]

Good info, maybe the semi auto stuff should be made a sticky for anyone else buying one of these.

 

[BigBill]

Something else about military semi-auto rifles its reloading for them. I use CCI #34 Nato Primers because they have a thicker wall so the floating firing pins in the military semi-auto's won't slam-fire. I also use the IMR4895 powder because it has the correct burn rate for the semi-auto cycle timing too. We also have to watch what bullet weights we use in some of these rifles too some are bullet weight finiky too. I try to stay within the limits the rifle was orginally designed for. We also must be aware about fluted chambers too like the Cetme has, its for using thicker wall nato ammo because of the thicker brass. The thinner brass can cause split cases and the breech pressure can blow back. It has happened too already in a few cases. Again its knowing all about your weapon. Its just an awareness i want to share.

I don't know it all but safety is a big thing with me.

 

[SKS Ray]

Well I received the gas tool from the guy you folks refered me to on gunboards and I also ordered a replacement screw (which looks like an original Hakim screw to me) from him to replace mine that I broke the tip off. The order arrived Monday and last night I was all set to break out the torch and get to work. Then I figured... let me try the tool first. I put a phillips head screw driver through the hole of the tool and positioned it on the screw. I was amazed that with just a little pressure I heard a slight squeak and the screw came free. I didn't even need heat.
I removed the screw and saw a bunch of carbon in the hole which led me to believe thats what caused it to stick because there was no rust. I cleaned it out well, put a small amount of anti seize on the threads and it looks like it did when I took it home. The spring/plate that has the striker for the clicks was a little tricky to get right but after some fiddling its all set.
I'm just wondering... if I shoot corrosive ammo through the rifle am I going to have to take down the gas assembly and clean it out after every range trip? If thats the case I may invest in some Federal or other comercial non corrosive 8mm ammo just to avoid having to fiddle with the spring under the screw.