The Replacements 0 Posted February 12, 2005 Report Share Posted February 12, 2005 I am a long time lurker but have never posted. I bought 2 Saigas (12 ga.) from CDNN about 2 months ago somewhat based on what I read on this forum. I consider myself relatively mechanical but have never worked on firearms. I am not planning on doing any radical conversions. After reading this forum religiously for the last couple months, I determined all I really wanted to do my Saigas was install a recoil buffer and a bolt hold open. Installing the recoil buffer took all of 2 minutes and about 1.5 minutes of it was trying to put the dust cover back on. However I am having difficulty trying to remove the old safety lever. It looks like I have to remove the trigger before I can take the old lever out. Is that correct? If that is the case how do I remove the pin that holds the trigger in. I have gone to the"Saiga Conversion Bible" and it looks like I am going to have drill one side of the pin. Any suggestions to avoid that much work? Thanks, Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rusty 0 Posted February 12, 2005 Report Share Posted February 12, 2005 I'm also interested in the answer. I've been eyeing some of blackjack's safety levers, but I'll just stick with what I've got if I've got to drill out the trigger assembly to install it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
chris410 0 Posted February 12, 2005 Report Share Posted February 12, 2005 Take your reciever cover off, rotate safety lever up vertical and pull out Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rusty 0 Posted February 12, 2005 Report Share Posted February 12, 2005 How do you get it to rotate past the point where it locks the hammer/trigger down? Mine gets to that point and will not rotate any farther in that direction. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
The Replacements 0 Posted February 12, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2005 Rusty and I are at the same point. The original safety lever won't rotate to straight vertical because it catches on the hammer. Something has to be removed in order to get the original out. According to Dave with Elite the new one can be removed without taking the hammer out. I was thinking of just cutting the original and taking the pieces out but that seems drastic. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rusty 0 Posted February 12, 2005 Report Share Posted February 12, 2005 I've tried rotating it backwards (used a knife to pop it up over the safety stop tang), and it almost makes it. It's hanging up on the reciever in the back. Other than cutting the thing out, I'm stumped. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
G O B 3,516 Posted February 13, 2005 Report Share Posted February 13, 2005 Take the bolt out. with the hammer forward (pull the trigger) rotate the selector (safty lever) up untill it binds on the disconnector. Push the disconnecter back with a screwdriver or simular. Rotate the lever a little more and pull it out. G O B Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rusty 0 Posted February 13, 2005 Report Share Posted February 13, 2005 The safety lever on my 20 is still catching on the disconnector. I'm at a loss, but maybe the guys from Elite (or somebody with a better knowledge of saiga20 internals than me) will be over at the Ft Worth gun show tomorrow. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
IndyArms 10,186 Posted February 13, 2005 Report Share Posted February 13, 2005 Its really a pain in the arse sometimes... I just drilled, and knocked the two rivet pins holding the FCG in place... yanked the retainer spring out... pulled the two main pins out and DUMPED.... then it rotated out real nice and easy like! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
The Replacements 0 Posted February 13, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 13, 2005 G O B, I tried as you suggested but the safety lever still catches on the disconnector. The disconnector will only move down by about 1/16". It will move up about 1/4" but moving it up only puts the disconnector more in the way. Any other ideas out there? Thanks, Quote Link to post Share on other sites
The Replacements 0 Posted February 13, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 13, 2005 IndyArms, What did you use for the replacement pins? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
The Replacements 0 Posted February 13, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 13, 2005 Here are some photos. The first photo shows the safety lever hitting a piece of the receiver when I rotated the safety lever down. This photo shows the safety lever hitting the disconnector. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
IndyArms 10,186 Posted February 13, 2005 Report Share Posted February 13, 2005 (edited) I DID NOT use replacement pins... I did a FULL FCG conversion... I used E clips to retain the two pins for the hammer and FCG... and then I used 3/16th black nylon hole plugs for rthe two holes I drilled out in the receiver....( check the thread in 20 gauge section on them) FOR YOU, however, The pin your trigger is sitting against doesnt need to be drilled out ... it is retained by the spring clip... Unfortunately to get THAT ONE out, you need to DRILL and knock out that rivet pin...( 3/16th drill bit) which then, you must replace as you DO NOT WANT to do a full conversion, correct??? I would recommend, LOWES... get the screw type binding-post. that will allow you to do what you want with minimal hear tearing. you will just want to get some black touch up for it, as they are usually silvery grey in color... Its pictured on the Saiga conversion web page... obviously you arent doing the conversion... but you can see the post hes using, so you know what to get.... heres the link.... http://www.cross-conn.com/Saiga_Conversion/Step_7.htm Its down near the end... scroll till you see them.... That *SHOULD* hook you up... will allow you to put a post back in for your retaining spring!! Edited February 13, 2005 by IndyArms Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TonyRumore 1,332 Posted February 13, 2005 Report Share Posted February 13, 2005 The disconnector needs to come out in order to get the safety out. Just pull the shepherds hook out and knock out the trigger/disconnector pin. Then pull out the disconector and rotate the safety up and out. Once you have the safety out, you might as well modify it so you never need to remove the disconector to remove and install it again, ala Galil style. Machine/grind/file a notch out of the safety where it strikes the disconector. This will leave the right side foot to still block the trigger so the safety still works. All Tromix conversions have this mod completed. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
G O B 3,516 Posted February 14, 2005 Report Share Posted February 14, 2005 My unconverted S-12 sticks on the disconnector. However the disconnector will push BACK to allow the lever to rotate up and come out. The wifes S-.410 is converted and works the same way, both before and after I converted it. G O B Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ed Anderson 0 Posted March 4, 2013 Report Share Posted March 4, 2013 Hi Folks, I am new to the forum and recenty acquired my first Saiga - a 20 guage and decided I wanted the notched safety lever for bolt hold back. But rather than notch the stock safety lever I purchased a KREBS Mark VI-S lever with the bolt hold back notch. The information on how to replace the stock safety lever on the SAIGA 12 makes it seem simply, but with the Saiga 20 you know or will find, you can not rotate the safety lever vertically to align it with the notches in the receiver for removal. The lever's internal protrusion hits the disconnector assembly and no matter how you stage the trigger or hammer position - I (and a number of others) could not get the protrusion of the safety lever bar rotated past the disconnector. I found this disassembly video that provides the key. By pressing down a small spring leg on left side of receiver, you can push the one pin holding the disconnector assembly out and left the disconnector out of the receiver. It is then simply to rotate the safety lever until you can align and pull it out. Hope this helps you folks that were dealing with the same problem I was. You must push down on the spring leg while pushing the pin out - trying to knock it out with a punch simply did not work (tried that before this video showed me the correct was) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sej4DugRvG0 Best Regards Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gunfun 3,931 Posted March 4, 2013 Report Share Posted March 4, 2013 At the risk of spamming every time that comes up, do not do any of the gas modification steps in the video linked above. It is horrible. I hate to think of all the guys who bought guns from that guy or took his advice who get gas blocks full of crud and plastic from 90* ports... Grinding off the sight and leaving a hole in your gas block that needs filled rather than punching out two pins is indisputably stupid. It's about like having your dentist work on your teeth via your colon to avoid the inconvenience of making you open your mouth. Also the stuff he says about sticking your safety in a vice and beating on it works, but it is dumb because you can simply apply a bit of outward pressure to the safety while it is in the gun without beating on it. As Rumore and others said, with many S12s including mine, there is no way to remove the safety with the OEM FCG in place. It hits either on the tail of the disconnector or on the front of the trunion. Just as pictured in post #12. The only way is to remove the retaining wire and remove the axis pin for the trigger allowing the disconnector to move out of the way. That little step on the disco is supposed to limit safety travel and keep the consumer from messing up the gun. I did the mod that Tony suggests, but be aware that once you do this, the dust cover will be what limits the movement of your safety unless you provide some other solid stop, such as a notch on the trigger body leg. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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