The conversion begins...

[RooK 0]

Well, went down to the mailbox this morning and got a nice surpise... My Tapco G2 FCG (double hook) arrived!

 

 

So, I got out the tools and disassembled the rifle. Taking out the stock FCG is a piece of cake done in a minute or two. Here's what the stock FCG looks like:

 

 

You can look down in the receiver and see the pistol grip nut hole and trigger hole for a single hook (I bought a double hook, so we'll fix that later).

 

 

Here's what it look like before the action involving a Dremel/Drill in good ol' WESCOG fashion:

 

 

And after:

 

 

Notice I've already painted the bottom (some standard black paint from a distance), though it's still a bit glossy compared to the stock paint job and I doubt it will last very long. I'll deal with that later. Here you can also see the 2nd hook cutout, no big deal freehanding with a Dremel carbide cutter. The spot welds were PITA. I got sick of trying to drill through them and went at it with the dremel.

 

Ok, for those wondering about the G2 hammer conversion, this pic says it all:

 

 

The hump on the G2 (yellow arrow) has to go because it hits the cross-member. I haven't gotten around to it yet, but a simple dremel, bench grinder, or belt sander work should get the job done with a little patience.

 

Update: 10-5-04

 

OK, got the hammer grounded. I used a belt sand with course grit and ground it down similar to the old hammer. Didn't take long and turned out fine.

 

 

Then I had to enlarge the holes in the hammer/disconnector to accept the stock disconnector spring. The spring is also too long to fit, so I trimmed it until I could compress the disconnector and get the slave pin/bushing in.

 

 

More to come later...

Edited October 6, 2004 by RooK

[glitch308 0]

Hey Rook, take a look at my post under "Saiga specific COMPLETE conversion kit " dated Oct 2 2004, 10:14 PM and tell me what you think. Did your disconnector spring fit in the Tapco part? Planning to keep the BHO? I've shortened my BHO lever so it's still useable but not in the way.

 

When I installed the trigger guard, I used a 1/8" panhead screw at each end. The nut inside the magazine release housing interferes just a bit with the mag release; the next size smaller might be better.

 

I ordered Tapco's compliance kit which includes the AK SAW pistol grip. I'm not at all happy with the fit of the PG.

 

Keep us posted.

[RooK 0]

No, the disconnector spring didn't fit at all. Like you, I had to drill the disconnector (and trigger) and cut a few coils off the spring to get it to fit. No big deal, only took a few minutes. I'll post pics later tonight so everyone has an idea of what needs to be done unless they want to pay $5+ including shipping for a "normal" disconnector spring. Something else I thought I would mention... My trigger, upon installation, conflicted with the piece protruding between the hooks on the receiver. I had to grind it down about 1/16" for clearence. Not a big deal by any mean, just forgot about it. It's already completed in the "After" photo.

 

Haven't gotten around to dealing with the trigger guard yet, no idea how I'll go about attaching it. I think I'll opt for the Ace Galil grip or make my own (low on cash and have plenty of wood). I've also contemplated making my own Galil style forend, so we'll see about that. BHO? Not really considered it. I might if I feel like installing it, no big deal either way. I'll definately grind the tip if I do put it back in though.

 

I currently have no other compliance parts beyond the FCG, so it'll sit around without a forend or stock until I can scrape up the cash. Either way, I'm glad to have the trigger plate cover off, that was the worse part yet. Why did they have to spot weld it.

Edited October 5, 2004 by RooK

[glitch308 0]

I used a single hook trigger. It was the only piece that fit without modification.

 

The trigger guard is easy. Cut off the rear of the original guard between the rivet and buttstock holes, turn it around backwards and stick the end under the mag release, drill a 1/8" hole and use a panhead screw and nut. The hole for the rear of the trigger guard needs to be halfway between the rear of the trigger hole and the front of the PG hole. You'll need to bend the existing guard quite a bit to get it to fit, but it turns out pretty well, and it's cheap.

 

Around here you're expected to have the bolt locked open when not in use, so a BHO is a natural.

 

I'd love to make my own wooden furniture, but can't figure out how to attach the front of the forend. There's no metal in the front of mine, just some slots in the synthetic stuff to catch the pin. I don't think I could make it hold in wood. The stock's the easy part. Laminate cabinet plywood to a 1 1/4" thickness and it fits the receiver like a glove so designwise, you're wide open here, straight stock, Dragunov, whatever.

 

BTW Tapco's gas piston is a fourth compliance part, but you'll need to mill/grind off the front of the bolt carrier about 1/8" for proper length/fit. With that out of the way, your parts count should be good if you make your own furniture

 

I'm thinking of mixing up some JBWeld to fill in the extra holes in the receiver. Anybody tried it?

[RooK 0]

Glitch, I just grinded the hammer, installed the FCG and it works fine... but the saftey doesn't work! It doesn't extend down far enough to prevent the trigger from moving forward like it did the stock unit. Mind checking this on yours and making sure the saftey works? I don't know if another saftey would fix it, the hole might be off. So it would be a great help if you could check (plus to make sure yours isn't unsafe).

[RooK 0]

Update post with additional info/pictures on FCG.

[glitch308 0]

My safety works the way it always did, that is, full up is safe but somewhat less than halfway down and it will fire. (Remember the original AK was a selective fire weapon and there must have been a middle position where the gun would fire.) I did NO grinding on my single hook trigger, or on the safety. Maybe your double hook is different? Is there any slop? It went by me when you first mentioned drilling the trigger. Drilled where? I can't imagine the receiver holes are in the wrong place, or we'd have heard about that by now. I know it's a pain, but could you re-install the original FCG and check the safety with the original trigger? If it worked before, it should work now! I'm assuming the FCG could be tested without the disconnector in place, and hoping there is enough of your sleeve left for this test. I'd like to know. Thanks.

[RooK 0]

Slop? Nope, goes in perfect, hammer lines up right and everything. The little flat portion of the saftey is about 1/8" or less too short to stop trigger movement in Safe. It works fine on the stock trigger, but the stock trigger has to move further to disengage the hammer. Go figure. I think I'll try extending it with some JB Weld and test for durability. If that fails, I'll be hunting a welder.

 

The drilling I did on the hammer coincided with the disconnector, I widened the hole the spring set in. It's pictured above. No big deal and it has no effect on saftey engagement.

[joltash 0]

Rook, what kind of PG did you get and where did you get it and the nut? I just wanted to know because I have seen different PG nuts and wasn't sure which one you guys were using. The one pictured on K-VAR seems to be more rectangular with different levels rather than being just one, square nut

 

Glitch308, how do you go about attaching a SAW styple PG if it has the trap door? If its got the trap door, do you just use a regular bolt or screw instead of the long one? Where did you get your PG nut, because I don't see it on Tapco?

[glitch308 0]

Joltash, the SAW grip in Tapco's 5 piece compliance kit came with a bolt about 1 3/4" long, a lock washer, and a smallish metal bar with a hole in it. There was no grip nut, but since I was there in person they let me buy one for 50 cents. (Tapco is strictly mail order; no showroom, and they do NOT like you adding to your order when you come pick it up.) The PG nut is a cast piece about 7/8" by 3/8". The top has an angle on the bottom to match the PG angle, and the center protrudes down into the PG. The SAW grip has two different ways to hold it on. The first is an angled hole at the back of the grip, but that hole terminates in the middle of the old trigger slot. The second hole is at the front of the grip, perpendicular to the receiver and hits the PG hole dead center, so you could use any regular bolt, washer and nut to hold it on BUT being at the very front of the grip and way up inside, you can't get a straight shot at it with a screwdriver, so use a hex head bolt and a flex socket to hold it. I slid the small metal bar into the slot on top of the grip at the front, assuming it belonged there, and it seems to add strength to the whole thing, but it can still slide back and forth on the receiver 1/8" or so even though I tightened the snot out of it.

 

The heck with it. I bought some fine 1/4" birch plywood yesterday and I'm making my own Dragunov this weekend. I'll keep you posted.

[BlenderWizard 12]

bump

[RooK 0]

The conversion ends...

 

 

 

 

[txn 0]

SWEET

[Doerdie 0]

Very nice!

[BlenderWizard 12]

Good job, Rook! Hey thanks for all the good advice, I finished mine today, too

[RooK 0]

Hope you like yours, mine fits like a glove. It feels great to shoulder, helps balance the gun, and get rid of the akward factory grip.

[brian33x51 1]

So that's with the tapco ring to hold the front handguard?

 

I do like that galil one.

And I'm jealous of the OD furniture...

[RooK 0]

Yep, Tasco (not tapco ) scope ring with the mount cut off. It holds the forearm on. I still might have to make some small changes to it, but it'll be essentially the same.

[BlenderWizard 12]

Yep, Tasco (not tapco ) scope ring with the mount cut off. It holds the forearm on. I still might have to make some small changes to it, but it'll be essentially the same.

Hey, when you get through, you might post a how-to about that