Saiga 5.45x39 Rifle Mod Thread

Blitz1 said:
Nice!!

Are there pre-ban mags for the .308? Is it .308 Winchester or the 7.62x54?
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.308Win, idk about prebans, I know there are some old metal 20 round mags that work in the gun but not sure how old they are. I am looking to getting it to the range this weekend, I have some East German surplus to burn through.
 
josh2600 said:
Hey guise, I purchased the Ace clamp on front sight for my 5.45 due to a muzzle break disaster that I'm not going to get into that left me short a FSB.
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Why not just attempt a new FSB? K-Var and other sites have them that can be tapped onto the barrel and notched/pinned in place.
 
SKS Ray said:
Why not just attempt a new FSB? K-Var and other sites have them that can be tapped onto the barrel and notched/pinned in place.
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that's a good idea, perhaps out of the question for some due to minimum necessary equipment issue.
Plus I remeber him mentioning that he wanted his FSB galil style on the gas block.
I had similar idea, installing HK sights on my first Saiga. Got a special Kit for it, but now I don't think i'll ever get around to doing it.
if anyone interested here is the pic i can let it go for something like $60 hksightes.jpg
 
SKS Ray said:
Why not just attempt a new FSB? K-Var and other sites have them that can be tapped onto the barrel and notched/pinned in place.
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Well I now have a brake that is welded in place, so I'd have to remove that first. Certainly not out of the question, but this just seemed the easier route at the moment.
 
thehoyt said:
Excellent looking! The pic in the background really brings out the black in the rifle! You bring that to the pumpkin shoot? If so, I was wondering if I could give it a whirl; been thinking of doing up one of those .308's.
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Absolutely. I have an unopened East German battle pack just waiting for those evil gourds.
 
Not quite a pic, but that's all I have to show for my latest conversion. this is 5,45 in case someone's wondering.

[video]http://www.youtube.com/user/dnepr0mike#p/a/u/1/qdI0k1-iUVY[/video]
[video]http://www.youtube.com/user/dnepr0mike#p/a/u/0/_OH8WXgtRpg[/video]
 
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i'm putting together a lil' shopping list for my next build and had a question. do i need a lower handguard retainer for Tapco style handguards?
 
thehoyt said:
What style Tapco hand guards? Some do and some don't. I know the Galil style one comes with or without.
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I don't know about all tapco handguards but at least these two below do need a retainer.
http://saiga-ak.com/gal/c01/02.jpg - this Intrafuse
http://saiga-ak.com/gal/c03/02.jpg - this Galil-style

Also handguards that are 2-piece require AK-style gas-tube with baffles. Saiga gas tube doesn't have such baffles to hold upper handguard in place.
see here: http://saiga-ak.com/images/f1_k-var_warsaw_upper_hand_guard_8.jpg
 
How do I install the kvar upper handguard on the gas tube? I dont wanna force it on cuz i dont wanna break it. Another issue, i cant get the lever to close after putting in the new ak gas tube..Wtf!! Im getting frustrated cuz ive been waiting to do this for weeks.
 
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millcitysux said:
How do I install the kvar upper handguard on the gas tube? I dont wanna force it on cuz i dont wanna break it. Another issue, i cant get the lever to close after putting in the new ak gas tube..Wtf!! Im getting frustrated cuz ive been waiting to do this for weeks.
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Use the Youtube Luke.

I'll give you the gas tube furniture info:




After this you either search here on NES (its been posted before), Saiga 12 forums, or Youtube like the rest of us did.
 
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Ok. After finshing the convetsuon of the handguard something was slightly different from the original gas tube. With the new gas tube, when i pull the gas piston back and let it go back slowly itll get stuck but all i have to do is push it a little and its free. If i just rack it real quick its not an issue. I just dont want it to get stuck while im shooting it.I think its because the gas tube doesnt sit all the way down but not sure. Anyone else had this problem? Is it even something i should be concerned about? How can it be fixed?
 
millcitysux said:
Ok. After finshing the convetsuon of the handguard something was slightly different from the original gas tube. With the new gas tube, when i pull the gas piston back and let it go back slowly itll get stuck but all i have to do is push it a little and its free. If i just rack it real quick its not an issue. I just dont want it to get stuck while im shooting it.I think its because the gas tube doesnt sit all the way down but not sure. Anyone else had this problem? Is it even something i should be concerned about? How can it be fixed?
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The bolt carrier is probably a little snug against the rails in the receiver. That sometimes makes it feel like the gas piston is hanging up. You should be able to look down inside the tube from the back of the receiver and see in there with a flashlight. Have you tried moving the piston with the original gas tube?
 
along with ray's advice- look for contact points by looking for paint wear.

I have a few AKs that the carrier/piston kind of jam into the rear sight block and gas tube funny. But they run just fine.
 
millcitysux said:
Ok. After finshing the convetsuon of the handguard something was slightly different from the original gas tube. With the new gas tube, when i pull the gas piston back and let it go back slowly itll get stuck but all i have to do is push it a little and its free. If i just rack it real quick its not an issue. I just dont want it to get stuck while im shooting it.I think its because the gas tube doesnt sit all the way down but not sure. Anyone else had this problem? Is it even something i should be concerned about? How can it be fixed?
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I had a similar problem. The end of the new piston was getting stuck at the end of the (original) tube. I just sandpapered down the end of the piston a bit. Didn't take much to create enough clearance. The crappy SS on the Tapco USA made (yeesh) piston sanded down easily.
 
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SKS Ray:2145758 said:
millcitysux said:
Ok. After finshing the convetsuon of the handguard something was slightly different from the original gas tube. With the new gas tube, when i pull the gas piston back and let it go back slowly itll get stuck but all i have to do is push it a little and its free. If i just rack it real quick its not an issue. I just dont want it to get stuck while im shooting it.I think its because the gas tube doesnt sit all the way down but not sure. Anyone else had this problem? Is it even something i should be concerned about? How can it be fixed?
Click to expand...


The bolt carrier is probably a little snug against the rails in the receiver. That sometimes makes it feel like the gas piston is hanging up. You should be able to look down inside the tube from the back of the receiver and see in there with a flashlight. Have you tried moving the piston with the original gas tube?
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It works fine with the original tube.
 
millcitysux said:
It works fine with the original tube.
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I'm guessing you filed down the back of the new gas tube to allow for the locking lever to close. You can probably do a few file passes on the bottom where it sits against the trunnion if it seems to high. Compare it to the Saiga gas tube and see how much extra metal is there.

Any time you're doing file work, always remove a little metal, check the fit, repeat if needed. Its easy to get carried away and take off too much.

As long as it doesn't feel like its really binding it'll probably run ok.

Sent from my Ally using Tapatalk
 
SKS Ray:2146183 said:
millcitysux said:
It works fine with the original tube.
Click to expand...

I'm guessing you filed down the back of the new gas tube to allow for the locking lever to close. You can probably do a few file passes on the bottom where it sits against the trunnion if it seems to high. Compare it to the Saiga gas tube and see how much extra metal is there.

Any time you're doing file work, always remove a little metal, check the fit, repeat if needed. Its easy to get carried away and take off too much.

As long as it doesn't feel like its really binding it'll probably run ok.

Sent from my Ally using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Yes i did file the top of the tube. I filed the bottom paart completely off and its still getting stuck. Also tried sanding down the end of the piston but that didnt do anything either. I believe the end of the piston is getting hung up on the front part where the tube slides on to. Ive done enough sanding and filing foe tonite. Tomorrow i will try to file some more off the bottom cuz when i squeeze the lower n upper handguards together while its stuck it rekeases rite away. Thanks guys for the help. Hopefully it will work after a little more filing.
 
Both of my Saiga's bolt carriers are hitting something. I assume its the front sight post block. Oh well.
 
anybody put a cleaning rod setup on their Saiga? it seems that i need to replace the FSB but i just wanna know for sure. anybody ever do something other than replacing the FSB? something custom?
 
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Blix666 said:
anybody put a cleaning rod setup on their Saiga? it seems that i need to replace the FSB but i just wanna know for sure. anybody ever do something other than replacing the FSB? something custom?
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I was curious about this as well. I stuck my Saiga rod into the foregrip on mine, and other than it being 6-8" too long, it seemed pretty secure. I am thinking of picking up a regular length AK rod and just sticking it on there.

It would be great if there were a muzzle brake with a built-in bracket, or some other easy way of securing the end of the rod without replacing the FSB.
 
I saw that some guy at my range just braised or maybe welded two small nuts to FSB and gas block and put regular length AK rod in. he also had mounted threaded block under trunnion to where cleaning rod is being screwed in. it looked pretty good if you ask me. It's not really a simple way but still easier than swapping FSB. Just FYI
 
You can always grab a cheap FSB or gas block off an auction or parts site, cut off the part that has the cleaning rod holder and JB weld it to your existing Saiga block.
Saiga cleaning rods are too long and are made to actually use for cleaning your Saiga. You'll need a standard length AK cleaning rod and may have to still cut/profile it and re-thread for the tools in the Saiga cleaning kit. This is the OCD step in completing your Saiga conversion and is not recommended for the meek.[wink]
 
Blix666 said:
would like functionality, but considering doing something permanent for asthetics if it's that big of a PITA to do the FSB
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it's not THAT big of a PITA, it's just you need some equipment for it that not all people have.
watch a video to get a sense for it
here is a good one
 
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