DanTheEldest

I'd been wondering how I was going to prep it for a brake, but I was a little hesitant to use a dremel. Yet another time I'm glad this place exists.

Much obliged. I figured having a little slop might help with reliability, but this AK stuff is all new to me and I don't know what's normal yet.

I recently finished my conversion and took it to the range for testing. It ran 100% with all my mags and I'm totally happy with it, but the question arose when I got home. I disassembled it and started cleaning and when I was wiping down the piston, it felt "odd". I realized that there is a slight amount of looseness (wobble) where the piston threads into the carrier. I had an extra pin so I removed the piston and examined everything just to make sure nothing was cracked. Both the piston and the carrier are fine, but I took a pair of dial calipers and checked the threading diameter on the

Thanks for all the suggestions. Just because it was something the Mrs. could pick up at the grocery store, I went ahead and tried the nail polish remover. I used a little bit on napkin corners and it did the trick, but I didn't linger in any one spot for long. The finish seems okay; I'd like to get the whole rifle parked and Gunkoted later so I wasn't too worried, but it's nice that it didn't dissolve the factory black right away.

I figured I'd see you here. I've been lurking around here for quite a while gathering info from other people's posts, but then when I finally got all the parts accumulated for mine I figured I'd go ahead and register. There's a ton of good info here at your fingertips. The super glue is more very thinly smeared rather than "dropped' on the finish, which I think is actually going to work against me in getting it off. I might try some acetone or just leave it for the time being and see if it wears off with regular use and cleaning. The stock is nice and snug with just the top two, s

There are some fantastically original projects on this thread. I was going for more of a slimmed-down "everything you need, nothing you don't" theme on this one, it being my first. Further plans still include a '74-style muzzle brake to complete the AK-103 cloning process, and a fast-acquisition optic like a Kobra or similar, but the major work is finally finished. I think I filed the mag catch just a hair too much (there's just a little forward-to-back mag wobble), but some range time to make sure all is well will answer that question. All in all it was fun, and it's time to go shooting

Two quick questions: 1) I'm doing final assembly of my conversion and used a little super glue to secure the hole plugs in the old trigger pin holes. They look good, but in the process a little super glue got wiped onto the side of the receiver. What can I use to get super glue off the painted metal without damaging the paint? 2) This is my first conversion; is there a place where you're supposed to use the third buttstock screw from the OEM stock on the underside of the receiver? I see the two locations in the upper tang, but I don't know if there's one that goes on the bottom so

I went ahead and bumped this thread after running into this issue myself, and I used basically this method to get it installed. Mine was too tight to hold by hand and I really wanted to avoid shaving any material to help guarantee a tight fit when finished, so this is what I did: I have some 1/4"-thick sheet black rubber that works really well as vice pads, so I got the assembly situated in the vise with rubber on both sides. The rubber both protected the parts involved and added a "no skid" effect like a jar opener, and combined with the pressure from the vise compressing and deforming the

Thanks for the quick help--particularly yours, Tony.

Pretty self-explanatory. This is my first project using threadlocker on a firearm--do you folks use ordinary blue or the red stuff? Or is there a different brand that works better? Thanks.

^^^This. I played with aircraft sheetmetal for a few years (commercial heavies) and this is sound advice. The only thing I did differently from normal with the Saiga is I took a small file and flattened the tops of the manufactured heads and then center-punched them to start the drill. When I was working with aluminum I could start the drill with no prep and walk it as described to stay on center, but the steel rivets are tougher and I included an extra step or two to deal with it. I also found I had to remove more material than usual before I could break off the heads; I bent one of my pi

^^^Thanks for the details. After sleeping on it I've made a decision: my original idea for this Saiga was actually to make an AK-103 clone complete with a '74-style brake, and after seeing all that's involved with this furniture I think I'm going to go back to that idea. I'm going to put the Timbersmith set up for sale and pick up a K-Var black poly set. Does K-Var offer a buttstock in the Warsaw length with the proper mating surfaces to fit snugly for a Saiga?

Appreciate the responses. I'm no stranger to fitting things and "make it work" projects, but the size of the gap caught me off guard. I've made my peace with it and now I need to find some sheetmetal or a thin piece of hardwood or something to make the shims out of.

Before I post my issue I just want to say hello to all the Saiga folks here. I'm familiar with some of your members (especially Nalioth) from other boards, and now that I'm doing my own conversion I naturally came here for some answers. My issue is this: I'm doing a conversion on a 7.62x39 Saiga and I really liked the looks of the Timbersmith black laminate furniture, so I ordered a set. Now that I'm actually doing the work I did a dry-fit to see how everything lines up and found (much to my dismay) that there is a very large difference in height between the inside dimensions of the rece