Darth AkSarBen

Glad it worked out, SovietGinger!!! BTW I was curious on what barrel length you have? You did not mention it.

Would be nice if there were a book on AK assembly/disassembly or a place to see how things are taken aprart. Would also be good to know if there are some schematics on them as well.

I hate to disagree with you, Jeff, but nearly all hanloaders know the barrels on rifles 'whip', even the .223. They make target barrel .223 barrel rifles thicker to help minimize that whip that happens. On youtube.com I downloaded a video of an AK firing in slow motion. It has the dust cover off and exposes the hammer and rebound spring and the bolt carrier. What I found interesting in that video, was the rear sight on that rifle literally moves up enough you can see underneath it. Watch it sometime. I have also seen videos of the AK-47 (7.62 x 39) slowed down and you can see a violet whipping

FWIW, 5whiskey, my Tapco Intrafuse fore grip does not contact the barrel except at the pin at the front. The back is secured to the rear frame (body). So, I don't think that it really has a lot of pressure or influence on the barrel, and, if anything, it's consistent pressure at the front pin. The handguard I refer to at their site: TAPCO INTRAFUSE HANDGUARD and a link to this thread of 3 shots I did with this handguard on the rifle: http://forum.saiga-12.com/index.php?showtopic=40409 Come to think of it I have had better groups even with some of my other reloads after I had changed out

I use a small gun cleaning rod that will work for .17 cal and .22 as well. I start it straight at the muzzle end with a small square patch with the Barnes CR-10 copper cleaner and a small pointed jag. I am really careful getting it started in the muzzle end. This is a chrome lined barrel and unless you are using some type of abrasive steel rod, you chrome lined rifling is much harder than anything you push down though it. I go almost all the way to the bottom and back up nearly out again with the copper cleaner. Then I let it set for a few minutes. Another saturation with a patch and let

Now Brian comes by just the other day and shows me a couple of other goodies. One I really took notice of was a triple flue tap he had. Had the regular 3 flute design but behind that it was smaller diameter for doing deeper stuff. But, what really took my attention was the 3/8" plate of 304 stainless steel he had and had tapped it not perpendicular, as all the holes were drilled perpendicular to the piece, but...had tapped it at a 30 deg angle to the hole. He done it with a regular hand drill to boot. Makes me wonder what a tap like that would be for putting in those threads for the bull

Looks very nice. SN is on the left side, so I don't t think the pics will show it much, but always a good suggestion Rhodes. It must have give him heartburn....there's a box of Arm&Hammer baking soda in the second pic. LOL Thanks for posting the pics!!

Why those rotten Russians! Put out a unique rifle with a raised bolt face to center mark around the primers. So, even an AK-101 bolt face would be different then?

Nope, Greg, the .223 shot by Saiga leaves a deep impression on the brass around the primer. Notice that the Federal Cartridge round was shot twice. Once was from the factory loading and the second was from me reloading and shooting an additional time. Marks on the right part of the case head are ejector marks. The deep impression around the primer is left from that raised bolt face idea specific to Saiga I wold presume. I don't think a regular .223 or 5.56 NATO rifle would have such an impression, but I don't know if they made this rifle (Kalasnikov) in .223 aka 5.56 x 45mm for regular

Thanks, GregM1 !!! Does it say anyting in the manual about the .223 version?

The safety comes out fairly easily only after putting in the new FCG moving the trigger forward. One other thing I'll add. I shot that 3 shot group with just 3 bullets. Started out with a clean barrel and did my best to repeat each shot exactly. I use a magazine loaded with 3. I pull the bolt all the way back and let go, just like it would if it were cycling by itself. FWIW

Welcome to these forums, 5Whiskey!! Pardon my manners. There are a lot of oddities about these rifles. They are shooters, but are loosely assembled. Remember the old adage about a helicopter? Definition of a helicopter is a collection of spare parts loosely assembled around an oil leak. Well, the Saiga and AKs are somewhere in between that and the Garand actions. They designed these to be cheap to build and and easy to teach. Accuracy is a often sought out quest for these rifles. One thing I did, and this seemed to make a lot of difference, is I kept cleaning my barrel every few round

Is there something in your Saiga .223 manual or even the 7.62 x 39 that lists the fact that they put the raised area on the head of the bolt for their .223 rifles to distinguish the spent brass from that from the military? I had another gunsmith and another forum site that was curious if this was actually a "Saiga" firearms condition, or one of those internet made up things that has been repeated so often as to be taken as gospel. A good picture in jpeg or even a scanned image of any manual page that lists it would be great!

or, perhas here in this Saia-12 forum at this thread: http://forum.saiga-12.com/index.php?showtopic=42586

SovietGinger, I had the same issue. I installed that new hammer main spring and had miss fires and miss fires. PMC had indents on primer, Federal Cartridge had same and was about to take it over to a guy that has a .223 AR when I tried going back to the original main spring, you know... that funny coiled thing that it came with. Never had another issue. I even fired those rounds that refused to go off before. I have one of those main springs in the desk drawer, and there is where it is setting. Sometimes "new" is not always best. My spring in my drawer says JT Engineering from Palm Springs

One other thought that came to mind when I was shooting reloads. On fresh, unfired, undinged-by-the-primer-raise brass, the headspace is good. I also had the headspace on mine checked at the local gunsmith with Go, No-Go, and Field headspace gages. However, the headspace gage is a solid piece of steel and measures whether the head space is correct on a closed chamber. Now, with once or twice fired brass your cartridge is no longer flat on the head near the primer. It is now indented and now fits into that button of raise material on the bolt face. Wouldn't the headspace be off NOW that t

Probably a lot of work. The barrel would have to be remounted further back to compensate for loss of headspace on the bolt face.

Well, I consider myself fortunate to have the .223 and enough magazines for what I will need. I have reloading dies and powder/primers and plenty of bullets to choose from. Cheapest and most accurate ammo I can think of, and in a bullet style that suits me for getting rid of coyotes, raccoons, wood chucks and other pests on our farm. Next one will be the .308 Winchester Saiga. A truly fine caliber!

Go read post #2, and I agree. Went to Midway-USA and there are no bullets in 0.214 configuration, or 5.45mm spire point or otherwise. "...so how does a soft point 5.45 stack up against soft point 5.56? " Can't really do a comparison, as the reloading manuals I have don't have it listed, and if there are no bullets for it, reloading is kind of moot, hence, so is trying to compare it to the Spire Point bullets of the .224 class, aka 5.56 NATO. 5.45 x 39 is a military round, specific to Soviet Union, and because it was created to tumble upon impact, it probably won't find a standing in the sport

Excellent group, phoglund!! Was this a 16" or a 22" barrel rifle? Some excellent photography as well, and it really shows the craftsmanship. Next time, try a white target with a small 1/2" center dot to shoot at. You would be surprised at how much that will improve a group, getting a tiny target for the cross hairs.

This is one for sale at Gunbrokers right now (8-8-09 for another 21 hours....note put in date and time to make this post meaninful for future visitors). Here is the GunBroker link: http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=136669553 Also here is another link of some more detail: http://www.ammoland.com/2009/04/24/ati-22-...shnikov-rifles/ And, from the importer site first hand: ATI Kalashnikov AK-47-22

Not sure about the Airsoft, but German Sport Guns have been making and exporting to the U.S. a neat little MP-5 clone that shoots .22 long rifle. Buds Gun Shop has one for sale. http://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/product...oducts_id/55260 I have seen and handled these rifles over at On Target in Kalamazoo, and would not mind getting one. The .22LR in a Kalashnikov AK-47 style would be intersting to see. Cheap shooting too!

While searching for a time of the History Channel piece on Kalashnikov, I stumbled across these links about the German Sports Guns maker and Kalashnikov signing up a deal to make it in a .22 LR caliber rifle: http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2008/01...is-famous-name/ Pictures of the rifle made by GSG and imported by ATI here: http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2009/05...nikov-22-ak-47/ and here: http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2008/10...kalashnikov-ak/ So, looks like there might be a new player in the AK style in .22 LR, which, if the same designs are applied, would make for a

10-4. I experienced some "belling" of the case neck by trying to get a nice crimp on it, and decided just a slight "kiss" is all I need.

Primers are pretty sealed with factory ammunition. A little oil on the firing pin won't ruin a primer. Don't worry about that. The Bolt that you have needs to have some regular cleaning. I spray mine with Mass Air Flow sensor cleaner from the auto section and then lightly oil it when done. Really cleans out old residue that way. Watch your eyes!