s2thalayer

So I've got some "middle of the build" questions. Trunnions are both installed, turned out great. Barrel is installed. I've got the rails clamped now. So my first question: The rail with the round inset, not the ejector. Should the trigger pin pass through that in the dead center, or could my hole be drilled a little off? Because mine is a little off. The only other issue, the 7mm end of the trigger pin is slightly too low, I can tell by looking down the receiver from the back...and by looking at one of my Saigas. We're talking slight, as in....maybe a 16th. Should I weld it up

Shoot, you guys are right. Rivets are not as complicated as they're made out to be. I just crushed my center support, and honestly, I just used a regular ol claw hammer without a set. Just put the rivet head down on the tool desk, and hit it like a nail. It wasn't a clean, pretty crush by any means, but it's secure. I'll shape it with a dremel, but the crushed end is on the side with the selector so you won't see it anyway. It bent going in, but i'll grind part of it off. I don't see an incredible amount of stress being put on that particular rivet, so I'm not worried. Like I said, nothing is

I am absolutely going to do that. Already planned on making a video. When I did my first Saiga, there were so many precise videos on how to do everything, it was all made easy, and taught me a lot about the rifles. This on the other hand, if you don't have a press or knowledge on jigs and how they work, a thread like this is the best you can do. I searched AR15.com, these forums, akfiles, google, everything for solutions, but all I found were specific issues from different people. Since I have 3 builds, I'll likely take my time on the first and get the hang of everything. The second I

Nevermind. I believe i have everything I need now. Going to just bolt the guide rails rather than weld, since a lot of people are saying that it gives me a little more of a margin for error. Though that does make me wonder if I should heat treat the guide rails before or after they are bolted in place. My welder said he could get all the spots I need treated cherry red, and he could bend a flat I have if I mark it for him. So looks like I'm ready to go. Thanks for all your help.

Right. So basically, if the welding isn't done professionally, don't do it at all...and even if it is done professionally, you'll never really be sure if it's going to break on the next round. Does anyone rivet or screw their guide rails? Or is welding really the only method there? If I have to, I'll just get a welding shop to spot weld that, because I'm not buying a welder just to weld on 3 or 4 sets of rails. May even consider screwing or riveting them.

The bolts are used as bucking bars. I use an aircraft 3x rivet gun (a fancy air hammer with a more controllable trigger) with an AN430 rivet set (available from US Tool for a few bucks) on the outer, round head of the rivets. The inner (aka the "shop" head) head of the rivet is what is actually formed when riveting, against the bolt clamped in a vise to give backing to the whole process. Grind bolt heads as needed in order to reach what you need to. I will try to remember to post pictures of my bolts in a couple of days. The trigger guard rivets are kind of a booger. I use a jig in my pr

so removing the barrel is something anyone could do with a couple cheap tools? No need for a press or a lathe?

AH! I get it now! Haha. Trying to visualize all this without having any rivets or parts in my hands. I get exactly what you guys are saying now. The only rivets you can't get to from both sides of the receiver are going to be the front trunnion, which is where the bolt cutters come in, which would require barrel removal. If I have to do that, I guess I'll just have to, but would just plug welding that be an option? Most of the welding complaints I hear have to do with the rear trunnion, not the front. As for refinishing, the receiver is a blank, not heat treated or anything...so it's gotta be

Ah, so you're using the bolt as a makeshift punch. Figured that. What's the angle grinded on the bottom for? You're saying to drill an angle away from the concave spot you modified for the rivet head? Then the steel plate under it, you need some clearance for the rivet to crush though, right? The way I understood it was the rivet head needed to be flush with the receiver when crushing the rivets. Is that not so with a hammer? Thanks a lot for your help. Also, I'm looking on the HF site, and wondering what would be better for this...an impact hammer with chisels, or a "1/4 inch air hydrauli

So from what I read there, make sure the heat treating is done right, and do my research about how different metals react and make sure I'm not getting anything too hot. If I'm not confident in that, take it to a pro, which is likely. haha. Also maybe considering at least riveting the rear trunnion, if nothing else. If I can figure out how to rivet everything without removing the barrel or using a press, after reading that post, I'd really rather go that route. After doing a lot of googling for about a month though, I'm still not all the keen on how riveting works. I get that you are putti

I use a vise, a hammer (an air hammer), and a couple of ground down bolts. What are the bolts for? can it be done with the barrel still attached?

Indeed, I only digress as we have had people come back with cracked receivers from welding trunnions. some areas on the gun were made to have a little bit of flex or wiggle. Well, we are talking a rifle here that will never see full auto, and out of the 10 or so rifles I have, I can't say I believe any of them have hit 1000 rounds yet. Probably only a couple are past 500. Don't know if that makes a difference.

Sounds good man. Haha, will do. I think I can probably handle the three of em, but if not, they'll definitely hit the classifieds. haha. Well, the difference here like I said is I have welder friends, and worst comes to worst I can take it to some of guys I sub welding out to pretty often and probably get a good deal. Rivets on the other hand, I'd be on my own other than forum advice. There are no reputable machine shops around here if any at all, so I wouldn't have a backup plan either. I have heard about the splattering issue, and strangely enough, someone told me to spray "Pam" on th

Ordered 3 kits when the panic happened. A Bulgarian AK74, Hungarian AMD65, and an Egyptian Maadi. The kits and three polish blank receivers are supposed to arrive this week at my door. I have already decided they will all three be weld builds, it's just down to finding the right welder. But anyway, I've never been one for traditional, nor repetitive builds. I have a long barrel Saiga .308. Then I've got a 7.62 more traditional with the tapco T6 set. So now my plan is to make one of the kits into a Magal, one of the kits into a DMR, and one kit into a traditional wooden furnitu

Would love to hear more in detail how you managed to rivet like that. If it can be done and look right and efficiently, I have 3 kits to do that I would like to put out quickly, so that would definitely work.