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Saiga .308 replacement bolt carrier Help!!


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I searched for a topic covering this, and they all seem to be outdated, or linked to sold out bolt carriers. Anyway, here is my problem : I was tired one night, and instead of waiting to have access to a drill press at work, I decided to drill out the bolt carrier divots by hand, to install the tapco gas piston. The trouble is, I drilled the holes a bit too large. I purchased a few 3mm ak pins, but I'm not sure they will hold in the larger holes. So, the question is : Where in the hell can I buy another bolt carrier? as it turns out, with my FBMG mags and aftermarket stock, I don't need the gas piston for compliance anyway. I emailed EAA, and the polite, one line response was "No Sir." Anyone order directly from izhmash? If so, how? All the sites that carry the AK-74 bolt carrier don't seem to have any in stock. Thanks for any help. Below is a picture of my shame. For now it's held in with red loc-tite, but the piston seems to be a bit too tight in the carrier. I have not had the nerve to fire it like this yet.

post-1183-1237810375_thumb.jpg

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Is that the Tapco piston you have in there now?

If you can find some kind of pin that is long enough to stick out on both ends, you can peen both sides so that it mushrooms out in the holes and will not come out. Then just grind or file it smooth.

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Is that the Tapco piston you have in there now?

If you can find some kind of pin that is long enough to stick out on both ends, you can peen both sides so that it mushrooms out in the holes and will not come out. Then just grind or file it smooth.

 

Yeah, I just now drilled a second hole through the top of the carrier and pinned it that way. The other holes were just too big, unfortunately. I hope this doesn't weaken the carrier - it doesn't seem like a high stress area. Thanks for your reply, though.

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ace

 

im sure it probably wont matter b/c the saiga pistons are screwed in tight anyway, but one thing to keep in mind is as the carrier cycles it "jumps" vertically. the pistons are pinned through the "sides" so that as the carrier cycles and flexes with the receiver the piston will be able to ride in the gas tube without any interference.

 

watch this video you'll see what i mean. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9p5YZLICfyM

 

by you pinning through the top it will now have side to side play and no up and down play, but like i mentioned above, the pistons are screwed in so tight that they don't flex anyway. i don't know how they do it on the saigas and not have any blow by.

 

i had this problem with a mak90 years ago. the piston not flexing caused serious blow by!

 

i had to back the piston off a couple threads so it would have some play in it. i guess to seal in the gas block properly.

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i've also read a long time ago that a carrier that had it's piston screwed too tight caught the rear sight block upon cycling and actually cracked the carrier. or maybe it was too loose. hell i can't remember it's been a few years. i believe it was on this forum though.

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i've also read a long time ago that a carrier that had it's piston screwed too tight caught the rear sight block upon cycling and actually cracked the carrier. or maybe it was too loose. hell i can't remember it's been a few years. i believe it was on this forum though.

 

 

Yeah, I'm not worried about it. It does seem to have both side to side and up and down play. I'll be putting 40 rounds or so through it this weekend, so we'll see. I think I may have noticed what appears to be a hairline crack, but it could just be a casting mark. I really hope not, given the lack of availability for carriers. If it survives 40 rounds with no changes, I'll rest a little easier.

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