Jump to content

FTE issues and the King Armory Gas Piston


Recommended Posts

If you have a vodka special, try the King Armory gas piston and see if that solves your problems. Not too expensive and counts as 1 922 part. The first S12 I bought was a 2 holer, cycled nothing at all, but the dealer let me exchange it for the only other S12 in stock which happened to be a 3 holer. I brought that home and had the same issues. I did the gas port mod in the stickies and it helped, but I still had about 50% FTE's. I about gave up, but saw the KA gas piston looked different and gave it a shot. I have now gone from 50% FTE to 3% FTE (shoot 100 rounds of Federal Wally World ammo and had 3 fail to eject). I ran these cheapo rounds through a Surefire, an AGP and a ProMag and all cycled flawlessly. It does make a difference.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Hmmm, thanks for the report, I've been thinking about getting the KA puck myself. Not having any problems with my Saiga but I like the ideas that went into the design and it's a compliance part to boot.

 

 

 

Shep

Link to post
Share on other sites
so will this add on gas piston definately improve the relability of the Saiga 12? How much does it cost?

 

It helped mine a ton. I did the gas port mod and it helped some, but not near enough. I would still FTE every 2nd or 3rd round, instead of every round. Also, when the low brass rounds would eject, they almost dribbled out of the gun. Now the low brass flies out the ejection port. As I said, I only had 3 FTE's after 100 rounds of Federal low brass from WalMart. I really did not want to pull the gas tube off again to file more or drill out the holes more. It wasn't too bad getting the tube off, but aligning the pin getting it back on was a pain. I figured the KA piston looked different enough and was inexpensive enough to give it a try. It made a HUGE difference. I wish I would have tried it first before I pulled the tube off to see if it made a difference.

Link to post
Share on other sites

What is the gain in performance attributed to? Is it dished on both sides, or just one? How does it compare to you OEM plug in terms of diameter and width (can you put a caliper on them)? Are they coated or plated with something?Considerable difference in weight/mass?

Just wondering what it is that makes this one work so much better than the rest.

Link to post
Share on other sites

KA could answer this more accurately, but I'm thinking that the shape of the front of it captures the gas and directs it towards the center of the puck rather than letting it slip around the edge. That's just a guess though.

 

 

Corbin

Link to post
Share on other sites
What is the gain in performance attributed to? Is it dished on both sides, or just one? How does it compare to you OEM plug in terms of diameter and width (can you put a caliper on them)? Are they coated or plated with something?Considerable difference in weight/mass?

Just wondering what it is that makes this one work so much better than the rest.

 

The relief in the face of the KA-SG01 tappet increases the initial volume of the gas cylinder. When the shotwad passes the gas port it allows a larger amount of propellant into the cylinder. As the tappet moves rearward, the volume of the cylinder increases and the pressure decreases, by starting with a slightly greater volume the pressure decrease as the tappet moves back is going to be less and will result in stronger cycling force. Our tappet is also designed to run a lot cleaner so that it doesn't have to be stripped down and cleaned every 200-300 rounds.

Link to post
Share on other sites
So if you used this on an already over-gassed gun, wouldn't it just over-gas it more?

 

Not really, as is also the case with heavy loads, when the gun is pushing more propellant into the cylinder you're not going to have much pressure drop-off anyways. Basically the tappet's 'boost' is going to make more difference for low-power rounds, not so much on over-gassed setups or with regular hi-brass loads. Hotter rounds have a longer gas impulse than the light loads, so the initial volume is much less of a factor on the hotter rounds, but for the low-power loads the increased volume provides a little extra cycling to make the most out of the shorter, weaker gas impulse.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Ran the KA puck, Gun fixer knob, and MD Drum this morning. The KA puck seems to really increase the recoil. Used both the factory gas knob and the GF unit. I may need a buffer with the KA, especially the 3 inch mags. It was hurling spent shells 10 feet away. Note I used this on my chopped 24 to 19' barrel that had the ports opened up. Have not used the KA on the stock 4 hole 19" gun yet. Strangely, there were some issues with cycling the Remington #7 shot. It would only cycle the low brass somewhat on the GF #3 setting. But, there was also an improvement with the use of that sorry Wal-Mart Universal stuff.

 

Too bad I didn't bring the old Tromix puck during the test. Getting hard to find 2 3/4 00 Buck off the shelf these days at Wal-Mart. Anyone else been playing with the Drum/KA/Gun Fixer combos?

Link to post
Share on other sites

Check and see if you are getting any impact where the bolt carrier is hitting the rear trunnion. I've seen some of the 3-gun guys open those ports up too much and have the bolt carriers slamming into the rear trunnion hard enough to do damage. Opening ports is something that should be approached with a lot of caution.

Link to post
Share on other sites
Check and see if you are getting any impact where the bolt carrier is hitting the rear trunnion. I've seen some of the 3-gun guys open those ports up too much and have the bolt carriers slamming into the rear trunnion hard enough to do damage. Opening ports is something that should be approached with a lot of caution.

 

Yep, I need more quality time trying different combos. The KA boosted the compression in the gun with the use of Gunfixer's and the factory knob. Even if I have to use a buffer that'd be fine if the gun will cycle all loads better than with flat puck. The I'd definately recommend the KA for any undergassed gun before going into the gas block.

 

Wished it would have been available when I chopped down my 3 hole 24" barrel.

It may have saved a lot of work. A better solution for me maybe to get a KA barrel for the modded gun when they finally come out. :D

I gotta keep working the kinks out of low brass consumption while not overgassing the gun when 3' Mags are spit out.

 

The real test will be on my factory 4 hole 19" gun.

 

Ouestion: Would it be a bad thing to install the KA plug backwards(flat side forward) if the reverse dome side over gasses that particular gun??

Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Chatbox

    Load More
    You don't have permission to chat.
×
×
  • Create New...