Sunset_Va 2 Posted May 20, 2006 Report Share Posted May 20, 2006 (edited) Hey forum members. Long story behind this conversion...I bought this rifle back in 2003 as a 22" bbl wooden stocked Saiga. Never fired it. Then converted it to pistol grip , and using the stock handguard. Next chapter: Right after that (in early 2004) strip rifle down to convert it to AK style handguards by cutting off the front sight and removing the gas block, totally dissassembling rifle again. Still never fired. Middle of book: Along the way fight a battle with cancer in 2004 , delaying this work, but tinker with it when i felt like it. Pronounced cancer free in fall 2004, medical bills prompted me to sell much of my firearms collection, but I kept my project saiga 308 Final chapter: In 2005 start back work on the saiga project ordering parts, and getting local machine shop to lathe the end of barrel down to fit a Flash suppressor . I cut the barrel down to 18" length , installed the handguard retainer (custom fitted), and fitted a set screw Vortex flash suppressor. The machine shop that did the lathe work , didn't do like i requested and thread the end of the barrel, they just turned it down. I sandblasted all the parts,and refinished in Norrells Moly Resin (gray) but didn't like that color and its qualities. so I ended up going the paint route using Duplicolor High Heat Black, leaving some parts the Moly resin gray . At first I wanted to mimick the light gray parkerized finish, but it didn't work out, so I just painted over the Moly resin for an unbeatable undercoating. This week I finally finished this project, put all the pieces back together as was amazed at the balance of the assembled rifle. The choice of the 18" barrel both for handiness and the optimum length for the 308 cartridge was studied a long time. and it sure balances and swings up much better than the longer barrel did, and looks like the "pointability" is super! I installed a Mojo peep sight, and some Choate handguards for now, I may change them later. But for right now, I am just thankful I got the SOB finished! I am going to test fire it this weekend, and will let the forum know how the cut down and re-crowned barrel does. I am going to try to post some pictures of this project in this topic. Hope they come through. Thanks for all here that love their Saigas to give me the inspiration and determination to keep grinding away at this for so long. I would look at the converted photos and say...hey....mine is gonna be like that..... If my pictures don't get posted, would some more experienced forum members email me and post them? I would love to see them posted here. I do have a question? Should the firing pin break in my 308, is it a regular 7.62x39 firing pin? Regards sunset_va Edited May 20, 2006 by Sunset_Va Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cobra 76 two 2,677 Posted May 20, 2006 Report Share Posted May 20, 2006 Kick ass man! It was definately worth the the wait. I tink that's the first .308 done AK style I have seen. I have a VEPR stock I'm saving for my long bbl .308 whenever I find that sweet deal on it. Gonna set it up like a Dragunov/Vepr sniper rifle. That one makes me question my plan. Hmmm maybe I need a shorty too lol. Looks great man and congrats on winning that other battle too! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
chris410 0 Posted May 20, 2006 Report Share Posted May 20, 2006 Right on man, Saiga looks sweet, Krebs has the 308's converted with a chopped 18" barrel, seems to be a happy medium, they look very handy. I want one!!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kyrinn 0 Posted May 20, 2006 Report Share Posted May 20, 2006 Super-nice! Congratulations on both struggles, won. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
O.S.O.K. 0 Posted May 20, 2006 Report Share Posted May 20, 2006 Awsome! Excellent job. I've been wondering about cutting down the barrel and how that would affect accuracy. It looks great - have you shot it yet? How'd it do accuracy-wise? And congratulations on being here to enjoy it! Thanks for sharing Quote Link to post Share on other sites
IndyArms 10,186 Posted May 20, 2006 Report Share Posted May 20, 2006 I think it looks sweet just the way it is!!! The choate handguards look just fine! Well done! and congrats on beating the other bug too!! That was the tough one!!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dinzag 31 Posted May 20, 2006 Report Share Posted May 20, 2006 Well done! and congrats on beating the other bug too!! That was the tough one!!! Couldn't have said it better! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sunset_Va 2 Posted May 21, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 21, 2006 Thanks for all the support, I only pray that no one goes through what I did having cancer, looking back right now, I can't believe I endured many of the things I did during the treatments. I know this is a gun forum, but just a short bit of advice,when you are near death, you will honestly look back at your life and ask yourself...."Why the hell didn't I take better care of myself?" Trust me, if you live, you will most certainly take care of yourself better afterwards. My bloodpressure is perfect now, and so is my weight, and I will never smoke again. Some people say smoking, has nothing to do with cancer, I won't go into that arguement here, but ask yourself.....How does it HELP you? Okay, got that out of my system, didn't get to fire the Saiga today,and have to go to Richmond tomorrow...but I will sure test fire it first of the week. I thought you forum members would enjoy seeing the saiga prior to the handguard conversion. The wooden lower handguard on my saiga 308 in the picture, believe it or not is the factory wooden handguard that I converted to look like a PSL style lower handguard. I still have that handguard, it took hours of work to get it like that, it fits right onto the stock mounting pins of any Saiga 308. The picture shows the early conversion and also shows the SAR-1 I had prior to selling it when I sold most of my gun collection....boy, I liked that SAR-1, and had just installed FCG to get rid of the trigger slap. I wish now I had also kept the skeleton stock and AK-74 handguards, but when I was selling all that stuff, I really didn't care , I had other things on my mind more important. Now when some one tells me "Have a good day", I tell them EVERY day is a good day. Regards sunset_va Quote Link to post Share on other sites
vjor 2 Posted May 21, 2006 Report Share Posted May 21, 2006 Hey nice work on the .308, like the cutting of the barrel to 18 inches and front sight, what can any one say when you see something done right. any way talking business dealing and wheeling, do you still have your old front hand guard, and are you willing to sale it, if you do send me a PM please., Quote Link to post Share on other sites
G O B 3,516 Posted May 22, 2006 Report Share Posted May 22, 2006 Nice work! And having had a dissagreement with a sycamore tree a couple years ago, I can tell everyone that EVERY day on the GREEN side of the grass is a GOOD one! G O B Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Unknown Poster 5 Posted May 23, 2006 Report Share Posted May 23, 2006 (edited) Some of us are really lucky because as we get older we get things thrown at us at times and we make it threw the worst and regroup and live on. I do have a new out look on life now too when i became disabled I realize when i wake up each day its a good thing now, I live for each day, I enjoy each day completely and get out and do what i can each day that i'm still here. We just never know what can happen and it can happen at anytime. My only complaint is I worked very hard all my life and probably too hard thats why i'm disabled today. I forget my 20's, my 30's and my 40's I just can't remember anything but working while my wife raised the kids. My point is for you younger guys stop and smell the rosies, tell your kids and wife you love them often they need that support. And don't work so hard and save some of your body for tomorrow. Life isn't about having money its about family. This hobby is good too it could be worse I could be collecting women. YUP GOB the green side is always good. I have two older brothers who passed on and paved the way for me already and there waiting for me but i just ain't ready yet. Edited May 23, 2006 by Unknown Poster Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kyrinn 0 Posted May 23, 2006 Report Share Posted May 23, 2006 Some of us are really lucky because as we get older we get things thrown at us at times and we make it threw the worst and regroup and live on. I do have a new out look on life now too when i became disabled I realize when i wake up each day its a good thing now, I live for each day, I enjoy each day completely and get out and do what i can each day that i'm still here. We just never know what can happen and it can happen at anytime. My only complaint is I worked very hard all my life and probably too hard thats why i'm disabled today. I forget my 20's, my 30's and my 40's I just can't remember anything but working while my wife raised the kids. My point is for you younger guys stop and smell the rosies, tell your kids and wife you love them often they need that support. And don't work so hard and save some of your body for tomorrow. Life isn't about having money its about family. This hobby is good too it could be worse I could be collecting women. YUP GOB the green side is always good. I have two older brothers who passed on and paved the way for me already and there waiting for me but i just ain't ready yet. U.P., Stick around, we still need you on this side. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
chapperjoe 0 Posted May 23, 2006 Report Share Posted May 23, 2006 very very very nice. glad to hear you're ok! where in VA are we? I have the same exact rifle looking to either convert into a tactical monster or sell. Conversion is looking better and better everytime one of these threads pops up? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sunset_Va 2 Posted May 24, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 24, 2006 'chapperjoe' where in VA are we? <Central to South Boston,Chatham and Danville > Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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