BS1066

Not that there's anything wrong with that, sometimes a bigger hammer is the only way to get the job done.

I haven't put it back yet, right now I'm more interested in making another adapter to press out the barrel itself. The hot/cold trick may get the gas block back in position, if not I can use the adapter and press it back in place on a shop press.

I've flattened out the rear half of my original trigger guard with the intention of rebending it to fit. As far as tools I'll make a "finger" for my box and pan brake to bend a bigger radius. So far I've bend a couple of "test" guards out of mild steel to create a pattern. Once I have that I can rebend the original without (hopefully) screwing it up.

The jig assembled on the weapon. I'd already pressed the block off when I took the pic, I actually started with a shorter bolt, pressed the gas block about 1/2", then removed the bolts and swapped out to a longer bolt. I used a 3", a 3 1/2", and a 4" bolt to press the gas block off. During the operation I held the coupler nut with a wrench and turned the short bolt with another wrench. The gas block pressed off with little effort, without damage to either the gas block or the barrel.

Mods to the shorter bolt. I drilled a 3/8" hole in the head of the bolt, this corresponds with the dimple in the face of the gas block adapter. A short 3/8" diameter pin fits between them, keeping the bolt in place while pressing off the gas block. The washers let the bolt's head turn against the adapter without galling. I used 5/8" course thread bolts and a coupler nut. I had grade 8 bolts on hand, but the coupler is grade 5 and I figure grade 5 bolts would hold up just fine.

Dimensions on the gas block adapter.

I then made an adapter to fit the bottom side of the gas block. The small hole is just larger than a 5MM bolt, which is used to attach the adapter to the gas block via the fore grip bolt hole. When mounted, an 11/32 drill bit will fit through the larger hole in the adapter and the corresponding hole in the gas block. Between this and the shoulder milled into the adapter, little force is placed on the 5mm bolt so it won't shear off.

Dimensions on the "horseshoe" that slips over the barrel and sits against the reciever/front trunnion. I used a piece of scrap steel 1/2" thick. The barrel measures 1.127" in diameter, I cut a 1" hole and ground away the inside till it fit over the barrel.

I hate resorting to WECSOG methods, so rather than hammering the gas block off I made a jig to press it off. The attached pic shows everything used in the jig.

I made a jig to press the gas block off my Saiga 12. If there's interest I'll post more pics and shop drawings you'd need to make one. Butch...