Something new on the '09s?

[555JM 10]

Received my latest .223 from Peachstate yesterday. Looked pretty good. Front sight is straight and all. Cute dimples. Serial # starts with '09' so I believe it was made last year.

 

Was surprised to see a pair of 1/16th inch (or thereabouts) holes drilled in the aft end of the gas cylinder (or gas block - Part #4 in the breakdown shown in the manual) right where it mates up to the gas tube and just above the top edge of the handguard. Looking through the holes (one on each side), you can see the piston and watch it move when you pull back on the charging handle.

 

These holes are absent from my first .223 which is an '08'. Neither of my x39s have them either. Took a quick look around the site here, and didn't see any mention of this; but I may have missed it.

 

So the questions are:

1)is this feature on all current .223 Saigas, or a 'fix' for some that have issues when tested?

2)is this something that might've been introduced to deal with problems resulting from high-pressure military 5.56 ammo?

3)is the '08 .223 susceptible to damage if fired with mil. 5.56 ammo?

4)can anyone think of other ramifications or possible reasons for this?

5)has anyone else received a Saiga with these holes drilled in the cylinder?

 

Sorry if this has been addressed before. If it has, just feed me a link and I'll settle down with it.

Thanks.

Bob

Edited January 17, 2010 by 555JM

[Alexc.s. 25]

My 09 has NO holes in it. But I saw a 7.62x39 in the shop that had 1 hole in the gas block(part 4). It was a bit odd so I passed on it.

[555JM 10]

Maybe the gas port in the barrel was drilled oversize in my rifle and the holes are to bleed off excess gas.

Edited January 16, 2010 by 555JM

[saigafreake 27]

most every ak ive seen built with a military parts kit has 4 holes in the gas block this is a standard feature on them. the saigas generally use one with out the holes but when they run out they just use a military one.

[101_feind 1]

never thought of it, I thought the holes in mine were standard.

[nalioth 405]

There are many variants of gas block.

 

None of the described are "special".

[Paulry 50]

As the AK platform is an Impulse type of gas system, the gas force is done by the time the piston clears the gas chamber. In my view the holes (most mil spec have 4, 2 on each side) help vent gas out of the gas piston tube (upper hand guard tube). I think it's good to see they added it to the Saiga and this might mean that Izhmash is using more and more mil spec parts to help reduce costs.

[into_the_knight 22]

My '08 223 has gas vent holes in gas block.

 

My '09 7.62 has no holes in gas vent block.

 

Things are completely hit or miss with features it seems.

 

My 223 has dimples and vent holes.

 

My 7.62 has no dimples, no vent holes, but has threads.

 

You won't know until you unwrap it.

[russiangunrunner 10]

personally, i like the holes, either the ak47 gas tube or the akm and ak74 style gas block drilling.... it forces crud out the vents while the piston is still there instead of blowing most of it past the piston. not that it matters, and it's hit or miss with saigs parts anyways, like christmass, u never know.

[555JM 10]

Not having seen them before, I didn't know what the holes meant. Was thinking the gun had been reworked because it had problems when tested. Thanks to all for straightening me out on this.

Bob