macbeau 902 Posted January 17, 2007 Report Share Posted January 17, 2007 (edited) Originally, I had wanted to set the forend up with a spare Galil AR handguard and rear retainer I had laying around. However, upon close scrutiny, I would have needed to remove a bunch of metal from the right side of the Galil retainer to clear the "hump / bluge" on the R-side of the Saiga receiver. I opted to use the Galil stuff on my Norinco BWK-92 (see pic's at the bottom) and go with some TDI furnature I had laying around on the Saiga. Almost there... Modified G3 flash suppressor tig welded to FSB (Thanks to 32ndGeorgia!) It works VERY well. Vulcan top cover with adjustable rear sight, FBMG 20-round mag, Tapco SAW grip & ACE folder... (Not shown: FSE fire control group) Yep - almost done. AK-74 gas tube, TDI forearm & conspiciously missing Dinzag lower handguard retainer....Hmmmmm. (UPDATE - Dinzag emailed me this morning (1/18/07) to let me know that I could go ahead and send funds for my retainer. Problem is, I won't have the scratch 'til next Friday However, I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.) When it's finally done, it'll make a nice compliment to my .223 Norinco (converted with Galil AR forearm and S-308 stock gas tube...). The happy family (L-R : Saiga-308, Norinco BWK-92 .223, Action Arms Galil 392 .223, Argy-Izzy Franken-Fal .308) another view... (T-B : S-308, Norinco BWK-92, AA Galil 392, Argy-Izzy-Imbel Franken-Fal) Norinco BWK-92 with Saiga factory gas tube. This required a little bit of fitting, but it was not too tough. Norinco BWK-92 with Galil AR forearm and rear retainer. This required no fitting at all. Macbeau Edited January 18, 2007 by macbeau Quote Link to post Share on other sites
shaneman153a 39 Posted January 17, 2007 Report Share Posted January 17, 2007 That's a nice collection you've got there macbeau Quote Link to post Share on other sites
O.S.O.K. 0 Posted January 17, 2007 Report Share Posted January 17, 2007 Nice job! I guess you like the "galil" look huh? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
macbeau 902 Posted January 17, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2007 Nice job! I guess you like the "galil" look huh? Guilty as charged FNC's and that Galil were my first "black" guns in the mid to late 80's. I guess the look has just stuck with me as being very 'professional" and business-like. The funny thing is, I have never owned an AK in 7.62x39 or 5.45x39. shaneman153aThat's a nice collection you've got there macbeau Thanks - I am working on it... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Steve in Allentown, PA 5 Posted January 17, 2007 Report Share Posted January 17, 2007 The Vulcan top cover with adjustable sight is intriguing. What's your evaluation of it? Does it fit snugly? Does the sight have positive click adjustment for windage and elevation? After zeroing the rifle does the rear sight still have plenty of adjustment left or is it maxed out in one direction or another? Does it hold zero after removing and reinstalling the cover for cleaning? The thing costs somewhere around $100. Is it worth the asking price? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Shellshock1918 1 Posted January 18, 2007 Report Share Posted January 18, 2007 COOL Quote Link to post Share on other sites
micah360 6 Posted January 18, 2007 Report Share Posted January 18, 2007 Very nice looking .308. I like that TDI stuff on the Saiga! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
macbeau 902 Posted January 18, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2007 (edited) The Vulcan top cover with adjustable sight is intriguing. What's your evaluation of it? Does it fit snugly? Does the sight have positive click adjustment for windage and elevation? After zeroing the rifle does the rear sight still have plenty of adjustment left or is it maxed out in one direction or another? Does it hold zero after removing and reinstalling the cover for cleaning? The thing costs somewhere around $100. Is it worth the asking price? I am glad someone asked about that. I haven't seen too many of these around, but given Vulcan / Hesse's reputation with other products & services, I suppose I am not too surprised. First, however, I'd like to offer some background info for context. As I established earlier, I really like the Galil and just about all of it's features and functions. The sight set-up is one of the things I really like. The Galil ARM I have is one that I have owned since '88. In that time, I have removed and replaced the top cover numerous times and I have always been back on target. All sight adjustments are done off of the front sight and, except for the flip-up "L" for long and short range, there is nothing to adjust on the rear. I thought about getting a spare Galil top cover to use on my Saiga project, but the sight plane on the Galil is about 1/2" higher that the Saiga sight plane so you really can't mix & match front and rear sights. Another option is the HK rear sight, like Tony uses, but again, I think they are of dissimilar sight heights to the factory front. The Vulcan sight is designed to function on the plane with the AK / Saiga front sight. In fact, when I first tried it on my Saiga, it cowitnessed with the factory tangent sight on the front post. It matches so well, even the "ears" on the factory rear sight base "framed" the apature on the Vulcan and I found it kind of annoying. Having removed the factory rear sight, I went ahead and ground-down the base (and filled the remaining hole) so as to not interfere with the sight picture. One more thing of note. When I ordered that sight, the web sight only showed the sight itself, but the description mentioned it was attached to a top cover. Lo and behold, when it arrived, it was infact welded to a top cover. I don't think Vulcan sells them that way anymore. The web sight now mentions that "you can solder, weld or rivet" the sight to your existing cover. Now - on the an eval of the sight and top cover. The top cover - is a typical AK cover (no AKM ridges stamped into it) and was finished in a green-ish phosphate. (what mine looked like before re-finishing) The square hole for the guide rod is too small for the Saiga rod with the step on it. You either have to open the hole up, grind off the step on the factory rod, or use a different rod. I went with the latter. (I used an AMD-65 guide rod without the step on the "button".). Also, I have to file just a bit off of the front of the cover to get it to seat nicely in the rear channel. I am not sure if the cover is too long or the Saiga recever is a tad short, but it wasn't a tough job and I rather grind, cut or file that have to weld. When I refinished it with Dupli-color high temp engine paint (the 1200 degree stuff), it took the paint well. The Sight - The construction is very stout, IMO. As mentioned earlier, mine arrived already attached to the top cover by two sturdy welds from inside the cover. The body, apature and knob seem to be heavy castings that are machine (milled) finished and covered in a black phosphate finish. The windage knob is serrated around it's circumference and marked "1" thru "5" on it's face. There is a roll pin driven through the outside edge of the knob to retain the apature axis pin/screw. It is windage adjustable with about 10 MOA worth of adjustment to the left or right (about 20 MOA total). Each "click" is about 1/2 MOA. It does have a quasi-click adjustment on the knob, but it is not a very positive locking mechanism. (I am working on a fix for that.) There is no provision for elevation corrections. The apature is a typical flip-up "L" for long and short range, but it is not marked. Going from the short range apature (sight flipped forward) to the long range (flipped back) apature adds about 3 - 3.5 MOA to the point of impact at 100m. I am not sure as to the apature diameters, but there are of two slightly different sizes. Impressions - This is not a sub-MOA (or even an MOA) rifle. Something in the ballpark of 3" - 4" at 100 yds/m, given decent ammo, is acceptable to me. I know many of you will say you can beat that with the factory sights and crap ammo, but my groups shrank considerably by switching to this sight. This arrangement will easily do 3" groups a 100m with SA ammo, if I take my time. Another thing. On my 16.3" Saiga, the original sight radius was about 15" with the factory set-up. Adding this sight makes it about 22.5". It actually has about 1.5" more sight radius than my 21" barreled Franken-para-FAL and, given the same ammo, the Saiga will out-shoot my FAL, within the 100m public range I am constrained to use locally. I also like the sight picture of an apature (peep) better than a "U" or "V" notch blade as it is more natural and familiar to me - being more like my Galil sight and the AR-15 / M-16 sights I used in the Army. The cover fits snuggly on my receiver and the sight does return to zero (or close enough to zero) after repeated removal and replacement. To zero it at 100 yds/m, I moved the rear apature to "short range" and center it in the base. I then zero by adjusting the front post as much as possible (windage and elevation) and then making fine windage corrections off the rear. Remember - make all major sight adjustments off of the front sight. Otherwise, you may quickly run out of windage on the rear just to get zeroed. $99 seems a bit steep to me too, but I have no regrets in getting it. Once I get the "clicks" to more positively lock, it will be just about ideal for what I want. It may not be for everyone, but overall, I like it. Edited January 20, 2007 by macbeau Quote Link to post Share on other sites
macbeau 902 Posted January 20, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2007 I weighed the rifle this morning on a postal scale (with an empty FBMG 20-rounder) and it comes in at 7.48lbs. That's .39lbs heavier than my Norinco BWK-92 (.223) was with the same forearm set-up and an empty steel 30-rounder. This may work well as a "Scout Rifle".... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
5thShock 0 Posted January 21, 2007 Report Share Posted January 21, 2007 "(I used an AMD-65 guide rod without the step on the "button".)" My understanding is that the Saiga 308 recoil spring assembly includes a mechanical buffer at the rear, the pinned and pivoting part. If this is true you may want to modify the cover to fit it. Good looking rifle, the longer sight radius must be nice. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
macbeau 902 Posted January 22, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2007 "(I used an AMD-65 guide rod without the step on the "button".)" My understanding is that the Saiga 308 recoil spring assembly includes a mechanical buffer at the rear, the pinned and pivoting part. If this is true you may want to modify the cover to fit it. Good looking rifle, the longer sight radius must be nice. I thought about that when I made the swap. I went with a Blackjack buffer (green) and have had no problems in +/- 500 rounds. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
macbeau 902 Posted February 2, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2007 Here is the spring guide and buffer I used. (AMD-65 rod and BJB green buffer) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
macbeau 902 Posted February 2, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2007 I got my Dinzag retainer yesterday and things are moving along nicely, but I have some issues that I am discussing with Dinzag before I post about them here. Nothing big, but I want to get his input before I "fix" it. Here is what I have now with some close-up's on the fill I did on the old rear sight base... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
macbeau 902 Posted February 2, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2007 another of the rear sight and flash hider. Hopefully, these will show up better than my earlier ones... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vermiform 26 Posted February 2, 2007 Report Share Posted February 2, 2007 Awesome job Comrade!! I am truly jealous! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
getitat 609 Posted February 2, 2007 Report Share Posted February 2, 2007 Hello I, too just received my Dinzag HG retainer and gas tube, and feel that my .308 finally has that genuinely sinister look it deserves. I've detested the factory front handguard since I opened the box on my .308. Now, she has been transformed! Greta, my alpha bitch, likes it too. She's on guard. Dinzag is Da Man!!!! Thanks, Dinzag! Respectfully posted, Guido2 in Houston Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dinzag 31 Posted February 3, 2007 Report Share Posted February 3, 2007 Nice looking setup macbeau! Sorry 'bout the fitment issues, it has been addressed. Also my offer stand to all you guys if you need any re-work, send it along, I'll fix 'em up. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ledfarmer 0 Posted January 21, 2009 Report Share Posted January 21, 2009 Is this sight still available? Do you have a link? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
macbeau 902 Posted January 21, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2009 Is this sight still available? Do you have a link? Wow! Talk about a blast from the past! The sight (mounted on a top cover) is still for sale and they've added some picatinny rail in front of the sight base on the current model. The price has even come down to $75. Apparently, Vulcan (formerly Hesse) now defers all accessory sales through BlackThorne Products. It is listed on the last page (page 5, I think.?.?.?) on their AK-47 accessories pages. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ledfarmer 0 Posted January 21, 2009 Report Share Posted January 21, 2009 I did notice that this post was old, but still good info. Thanks for the info. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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