GOYABEAN
.950 JDJ
Kalashnikov Rifle !
- Thread starter GOYABEAN
- Start date
meketrefe
.450/400 Nitro Ex
So much for eye protection! ...nobody has a couple of bucks for shooting glasses? lol
Thanks for posting.
This is a great thread to learn more about the AKM style firearms.
I would ask anyone to post anything they know about the rifle, perhaps something that we learned
ourselves or somewhere that is not part of this video.
Did you know that General Kalashnikov was most proud of one particular part? That was the safety/select fire and
dust guard. It seems like a simple part but it is not. It does all it does in one piece and it goes in and comes out easily
in one rotating move.
He also added that anyone can make something difficult. Making something simple is 1000 times more difficult than
making something complicated.
Thanks for posting.
This is a great thread to learn more about the AKM style firearms.
I would ask anyone to post anything they know about the rifle, perhaps something that we learned
ourselves or somewhere that is not part of this video.
Did you know that General Kalashnikov was most proud of one particular part? That was the safety/select fire and
dust guard. It seems like a simple part but it is not. It does all it does in one piece and it goes in and comes out easily
in one rotating move.
He also added that anyone can make something difficult. Making something simple is 1000 times more difficult than
making something complicated.
Marine Cpl
.577 Tyrannosaur.
Did you know an AK will still fire with Twinkies in the action?
meketrefe
.450/400 Nitro Ex
Wow! very important to know! lol
GOYABEAN
.950 JDJ
Here's another AKM building video
carpediem
.338 Win Mag
I knew a Vietnam veteran who said they captured an AK and brought it back to their base. Every once in a while they took it out and shot it, and they had to kick the bolt handle to free it up but then it ran fine. I also worked with a Russian immigrant who did time in the Russian army. He said they used to sharply strike the stocks on the deck of the BMP to get the action to cycle and load the rifle.
Last edited:
Bananabandit
.338 Win Mag
Is this what heaven looks like?
FRANKIE
.308 Win
That is interesting to know. I have never read that anywhere.
The following is a safety rant;
The safety is an excellent subject to bring up for those who use these rifles.
Hence the name "safety". If your safety goes up and out with no binding or contact with the disconnect,
your in good shape that's how you want it.
However as far as "up and out easy" is not true in it's original design. The trigger pin would have to be removed,
and trigger manipulated while simultaneously rotating the safety down. This is due to the "evil" tail on the original FA disconnector. And "full", unmodified paddle on the safety selector.
Although the G2 trigger we all use has no tail, if your safety selector paddle is not correctly modified (or not modified at all) a caution in our land of fixed magazines on some of these rifles where we remove machine cover to load. Especially in these fixed magazine configurations, Please check your safety lever. many of these rifles still have the full paddle on the safety lever.
The trick is, is to cut the paddle enough to COMPLETELY clear the disconnect while still engaging the trigger when on safe. Failure to do any of this will result in an accidental discharge if for some or any reason the safety was pulled counterclockwise above the safety position.
GOYABEAN
.950 JDJ
FRANKIE
.308 Win
Haven't watched the piece in it's entirety, very informative. But two things jumped out at me.
First off at 17:07 sec in video. Wouldn't ever recommend installing or removing barrel pin this way.
I have seen some barrel pins so tight when demilling that a 12 ton press had to be swapped for a 20 ton.
How ever more or less pressure the barrel pin requires (@ minimal for cosmetic purposes) as far as installing or removing the barrel pin, pressure on the barrel should have nothing to do with the process. A truly installed pin should require a press to install. Remember this is your head space. A hammer can cause mushrooming of the barrel pin.
The trunnion should take all the load evenly and a perfectly dedicated support backing plate with a receiving hole provision for when pressing a barrel pin out.
Long story short;
Second as seen @ 22:27 sec. on video, as far as barrel population alignment, The builder gave a true analysis
of the inconsistency's of factory AK parts and barrels.
You can use all the T-squares, framing levels, electronic levels, laser bore sights, string method etc, etc, and still be way off.
Solution?...
Tried and true. (perfect alignment every time however there are some cons on different variant, caliber, applications)
Now if an A to Z build is not your concern, you can simply avoid all this bullshit and tool investment simply by sticking with AR-15 builds or, buying a pre-barreled kalashnikov type parts kit for a few dollars more!
FRANKIE
.308 Win
Thank you brother
FRANKIE
.308 Win
As far as hopes of Century arms using a jig, that is the most correct statement on this thread so far!
Prudii
.357 mag
The safety on my saiga does not rotate up and out. It has the full paddle on the selector. I bought a krebs ambi safety to replace it with but im not sure how to go about getting the original safety out.
FRANKIE
.308 Win
Not a Saiga guy myself but this is according to Krebs;
To install your Krebs Custom Enhanced Safety:
Remove magazine and cycle the action several times, then visually check to make sure your rifle is unloaded.
Field-strip your rifle in the usual manner
Rotate the safety tab upward to a "vertical" position.
If the safety doesn’t rotate to the vertical, withdraw the trigger pin from the left side of the receiver, BUT NOT ALL THE WAY OUT. Move the trigger forward as far as you can to clear the disconnector so it can disengage from the safety. Remove the safety by pulling it straight out of the rifle to the right. Push the trigger pin back into place, making sure the "shepherd’s hook" retaining wire is back in its proper place on the trigger pin.
Insert your new Krebs Custom safety into the rifle in the same "vertical" position. Be sure the "pin" part of the internal section of the safety is inserted either through the end of the "shepherd’s hook" pin retainer, or through the end of the Trigger Pin Retaining Plate (depending upon what’s in your rifle) before inserting it into the appropriate pin hole in the opposite (left) side of the receiver.
Note: The safety must be installed so that the external plate is "flush" with the receiver side. There may be minor interference from the powder coating on the safety. If necessary, this can be removed carefully with fine sandpaper.
Rotate the safety forward and down into its standard position.
Re-assemble your rifle. Cycle the action to insure the hammer is cocked. Place the safety into the up ("ON") position, and pull the trigger. Push the safety down ("OFF") and pull the trigger. Place the safety up again ("ON"), and pull the trigger. If the hammer falls when the safety is up, or when the safety is then pushed downward (without pulling the trigger), contact Krebs Custom immediately so that we can correct this matter.
INSTALLATION VIDEO: Krebs Custom Guns | Facebook
To install your Krebs Custom Enhanced Safety:
Remove magazine and cycle the action several times, then visually check to make sure your rifle is unloaded.
Field-strip your rifle in the usual manner
Rotate the safety tab upward to a "vertical" position.
If the safety doesn’t rotate to the vertical, withdraw the trigger pin from the left side of the receiver, BUT NOT ALL THE WAY OUT. Move the trigger forward as far as you can to clear the disconnector so it can disengage from the safety. Remove the safety by pulling it straight out of the rifle to the right. Push the trigger pin back into place, making sure the "shepherd’s hook" retaining wire is back in its proper place on the trigger pin.
Insert your new Krebs Custom safety into the rifle in the same "vertical" position. Be sure the "pin" part of the internal section of the safety is inserted either through the end of the "shepherd’s hook" pin retainer, or through the end of the Trigger Pin Retaining Plate (depending upon what’s in your rifle) before inserting it into the appropriate pin hole in the opposite (left) side of the receiver.
Note: The safety must be installed so that the external plate is "flush" with the receiver side. There may be minor interference from the powder coating on the safety. If necessary, this can be removed carefully with fine sandpaper.
Rotate the safety forward and down into its standard position.
Re-assemble your rifle. Cycle the action to insure the hammer is cocked. Place the safety into the up ("ON") position, and pull the trigger. Push the safety down ("OFF") and pull the trigger. Place the safety up again ("ON"), and pull the trigger. If the hammer falls when the safety is up, or when the safety is then pushed downward (without pulling the trigger), contact Krebs Custom immediately so that we can correct this matter.
INSTALLATION VIDEO: Krebs Custom Guns | Facebook
FRANKIE
.308 Win
An even more fascinating study of a full auto receiver would be none other than the function and innards of the WZ 88 Polish Tantal receiver.
Aside from single fire, full auto, it also had 3rd burst.
GOYABEAN
.950 JDJ
Prudii
.357 mag
The paddle on the safety hits the trigger mechanism. Even with the hammer disengaged.
This guy on ar15.com had the same issue and had to remove the whole trigger assembly to get the safety out.
Safety Lever Removal on an AK (Saiga) - AR15.Com Archive
The consensuses on the saiga forums is there is no what to remove the trigger on UNconverted saigas with the OEM trigger in place.
Last edited:
Toecutter
.308 Win
Some great videos.
Snappo
6.5 Creedmoor
Had one Saiga in my life. Worst piece of shit I ever owned. It was the Saiga-12. Over a 5 year period I have never - not once - shot a full magazine with less than 2-3 fail-to-fire / fail-to-eject events. Not once. The thing is an absolute piece of shit and not even worthy of being a door stop for a man cave. I gave it away. I didn't feel it was worth even asking someone for one dollar in return. Saiga should go bankrupt and disappear from the annals of small arms history.
meketrefe
.450/400 Nitro Ex
@Snappo,
lol ... I know exactly what you mean. The thing is the Saiga shotguns need some work on them. Trigger group, gas pug or regulator,
condition mags, new magwell, etc.. and then they become reliable guns.
So I don't get why don' they just release the gun the same way they do for service and charge a little more and be done so one can actually use them
reliably consistently out of the box w/o having to reinvent the wheel?
In terms of the carbines they are actually pretty robust for AKM type but the type of "sporterizing" they do is useless and it screws everything up.
They do not need to move back the trigger group to make them compliant. With what they save in the trigger group long and useless wishbone extension,
they could have a slant receiver and a molded stock that fits just in that angle "beneath" the action. Molot (VEPR) have done that with some of them plus they make a stronger receiver.
Anyway, with the 522r people will find something they want to improve and when one starts then one has to dance the whole 5 parts compliance tango.
It would be nice to have the compliant stock in a fully funcional line of them with nice triggers all reliable out of the box. Perhaps both in wood like the
VEPR and also polymer. And they could also use a better finish w/o increasing cost too much. And that goes for any of these AK type actions.
They are not that cheap anymore.
lol ... I know exactly what you mean. The thing is the Saiga shotguns need some work on them. Trigger group, gas pug or regulator,
condition mags, new magwell, etc.. and then they become reliable guns.
So I don't get why don' they just release the gun the same way they do for service and charge a little more and be done so one can actually use them
reliably consistently out of the box w/o having to reinvent the wheel?
In terms of the carbines they are actually pretty robust for AKM type but the type of "sporterizing" they do is useless and it screws everything up.
They do not need to move back the trigger group to make them compliant. With what they save in the trigger group long and useless wishbone extension,
they could have a slant receiver and a molded stock that fits just in that angle "beneath" the action. Molot (VEPR) have done that with some of them plus they make a stronger receiver.
Anyway, with the 522r people will find something they want to improve and when one starts then one has to dance the whole 5 parts compliance tango.
It would be nice to have the compliant stock in a fully funcional line of them with nice triggers all reliable out of the box. Perhaps both in wood like the
VEPR and also polymer. And they could also use a better finish w/o increasing cost too much. And that goes for any of these AK type actions.
They are not that cheap anymore.
Bananabandit
.338 Win Mag
They are definitely more tinkerer friendly firearms.
Snappo
6.5 Creedmoor
I had heard that too (after I tossed it). That apparently there is a cottage industry of some small arms machinists that tinker and get the thing to become reliable. It was cool to look at, but I think if you are planning on saving your ass in a firefight or going out in the field to get some turkey to put on the table you are better off with the Mossberg 9200. If the USMC trusts them, they must be reliable. I have one of those and it never failed even once. I also have a Mossberg 535 that is a tank like the 9200. I heard that Izhevsk Machinebuilding got sold to private investors 2 or 3 years ago so maybe the Saiga-12 is a better product now? Unless something profound happened though I consider the Saiga-12 to just be a safe queen.