roscoe

Hmm - the picture he posted at thehighroad.org showed only a sight, not a dustcover.

You mean that you have actually held one, or that you think this based on the websight photo? Because, my impression is that it looks like a pretty good setup, and Krebs has a good reputation. But, the price is more than I paid for the rifle, so I will wait for the Tech-Sight.

Well, I took apart the trigger group, and the spring in the trigger group, holding the rear hook up, had sprung away somehow. Therefore, the thing would fire as long as the trigger was depressed, or the hammer would lower onto the firing pin too slow to slam fire. Apparently one or the other. Weird. Anyway, I will take it to the range this weekend to make sure this fixes it, and to see if the new spring also sproings away.

The gun was well-lubed, it just had not been cleaned. It turns out the strings had nothing to do with the firing pin (see above); rather the new disconnector was the problem.

Here at the house, when cycling by hand with the receiver cover off, it looks like the hammer is easily caught each time, but I could clearly see the hammer resting forward on the back of the bolt/firing pin when looking through the slot at the range. I guess there could also be a problem with the spring on the disconnector. Kind of wish I had a double disconnector. Strange. I will first replace the parts back to original, then try working on the new parts. Yes about firing out of battery = bad. That is why I am anxious to get it working again.

UPDATE OK - I took the unchanged Saiga out to the range (here in southern Arizona - 60 degrees or so) and it gave me bursts of two and three, and occasionally failed to fire. However, I think that it has nothing to do with the bolt. I think it is the new trigger group I installed. I noticed that the hammer was not resetting when looking at the receiver cover slot behind the charging handle. When I pulled out the bolt, the firing pin appeared to move easily and the spring was strong. I have come to the conclusion that it must be the result of the new Tapco/BattlerifleG3 trigger group so

I had my .223 Saiga up in Colorado and on a cold day took it shooting (10 degrees F or so). The firing pin regularly either would not reset, requiring hand cycling and tossing live ammo out each time I did it, or a couple of slam (or stuck pin) repeat fires. I have been giving it the old 'never clean it' AK test to see how long I could go without cleaning it. I guess I have hit the limit. I figure the gunk in the bolt got so cold the firing pin was getting stuck. Here in southern AZ it is no problem, but up in the cold - watch it! The double-firing was fun, however.

Holy cow, you need more pads. I think I saw an open space. Are you from the internet?

Over on thr.org, the guy who makes the SKS TechSight says he will have an AK peep sight out this spring. It won't have the sight rail, but it will almost assuredly be much cheaper than the Krebs rail. I love the techSight on my SKS, so I am hoping it happens. His pictures:

Yeah, that is pretty cool.

That is righteous, but I don't see them listed anywhere yet. Price?

Will those followers and base plates fit Weiger/Surefire .223 mags?

A scratch on an AK! Outrageous!

Why don't they sell the sight without the cover?

Neither the Mojo nor the Williams do what is most important for any AK - increase the sight radius by mounting the sight back on the receiver cover. There are a couple that do - or will. The Krebs is the best I have seen, but it is not out yet. Tromix will install a G3 style, but I prefer the M16 style. There is someone else who sells one that mounts on the receiver cover, but I can't remember the company name. I am waiting for the Krebs version. They will sell a million of them.