Nailbomb 10,221 Posted June 18, 2010 Report Share Posted June 18, 2010 Not all saigas are created equal. Neither are all saigas created at equal tolerances and lengths. I've noticed a few members have mounted quads that are sitting a little "off" and i've talked to more than one member that didn't understand why the set screw was there. I'm making this to help users get the most out of their product, as its of great importance when your mounting your primary AND secondary sights off the same piece of metal. First and foremost the bottom of the gas block where your handguard screws into probably is irregular. A flat bastard file is all you need to flaten these surfaces, and make the outside surfaces level to each other. This can go a long way to both increasing mating surface area, and correcting top rail angle. Extended Quads offer further problems in consistancy. When I first mounted the extended quad the top rail came into contact with the raised lip that the dust cover locks into. I carefully and slowly removed material in the area to give ample clearance but attempting to not degrade structural integrity. The bare metal area is decieving as to the amount of metal removed, it wasn't that much, and its ramped. If anyone cares to measure their S-12 from face of gas block to dust cover locking rib, I would enjoy more measurements to compare mine to. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Nailbomb 10,221 Posted June 18, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2010 I found the best area to eyeball the quad off of for alignment was the dust cover. When the holes in the quad above the dust cover are even, your probably good. Once everything is sitting right be sure to assemble with some blue thread locker, and tighten down the small set screw on the rear bottom of the rail. This will place some stress on the bottom of the rail to hold everything in place. Thats about it, I've been meaning to post this for a while. I hope someone finds it helpful. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Coils 2 Posted June 18, 2010 Report Share Posted June 18, 2010 If anyone cares to measure their S-12 from face of gas block to dust cover locking rib, I would enjoy more measurements to compare mine to. Sorry, no measurement right now but that looks like the same area & amount I had to remove too. I was going to start a thread to ask this but if you don't mind. Anyone else having trouble field stripping and reassembling with the extended rail? I can't get the cover back on with the rail installed. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
theplastik 67 Posted June 18, 2010 Report Share Posted June 18, 2010 Awesome tutorial. To be honest, to get my dust cover back on, I simply pry up on the top rail by hand and it slips back in to place. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Nailbomb 10,221 Posted June 18, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2010 Anyone else having trouble field stripping and reassembling with the extended rail? I can't get the cover back on with the rail installed. I can remove my dust cover and put it back on, its just a bit of a trick. try pushing in the recoil spring locking tab thats holding the dust cover, gently lift the back just out of the notch holding it and let the spring push it back and free. reassembly is just the opposite. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cvhanh20 1,052 Posted June 18, 2010 Report Share Posted June 18, 2010 Not all saigas are created equal. Neither are all saigas created at equal tolerances and lengths. I've noticed a few members have mounted quads that are sitting a little "off" and i've talked to more than one member that didn't understand why the set screw was there. I'm making this to help users get the most out of their product, as its of great importance when your mounting your primary AND secondary sights off the same piece of metal. First and foremost the bottom of the gas block where your handguard screws into probably is irregular. A flat bastard file is all you need to flaten these surfaces, and make the outside surfaces level to each other. This can go a long way to both increasing mating surface area, and correcting top rail angle. Extended Quads offer further problems in consistancy. When I first mounted the extended quad the top rail came into contact with the raised lip that the dust cover locks into. I carefully and slowly removed material in the area to give ample clearance but attempting to not degrade structural integrity. The bare metal area is decieving as to the amount of metal removed, it wasn't that much, and its ramped. If anyone cares to measure their S-12 from face of gas block to dust cover locking rib, I would enjoy more measurements to compare mine to. Jake, you have one of the first extended top rails, the new top rails are .060 taller and doesn't require filing anymore. We redesigned our top rail extrusion to eliminate that problem. Your right about the gas block mounting surface needing to being flat, plus make sure the gas block is straight as well, a crooked gas block can cause the rail to setup funny. Over all great tutorial. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cvhanh20 1,052 Posted June 18, 2010 Report Share Posted June 18, 2010 I thought it would help if I post these pics to show the 0.06 difference between the old and the new top rails. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
6500rpm 670 Posted June 18, 2010 Report Share Posted June 18, 2010 What was changed to give the additional heigth? I was actually thinking about going the other way with things when my second rail comes in and dropping it as low as possible. My thought was to mill the interface in the tri rail deeper, but if anyone has a old style extended top I might be willing to trade. Good write up so far, and Cameron, thanks as always for spending time outside your section to answer questions. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Nailbomb 10,221 Posted June 19, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2010 Well, thats news to me. Thanks Cammeron for letting people know that my info is out of date Like I stated in the original post, I just noticed a few members with crooked rails in the S-12 pic post, and wanted to show what I did to correct it on mine. As always its great to have buisness members in direct contact with their market like you do. obviously someone else(or you) noticed the small issue and the correction was made. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Coils 2 Posted June 19, 2010 Report Share Posted June 19, 2010 (edited) Thanks & thanks for the info. I didn't try to pull up on the back of the rail, but no matter what I tried I couldn't get the top cover back in the groove at the front without loosening the 4 bolts that hold the ext rail on. I don't want to shim it, so if I took a little off the underside at the back, would this weaken it to much? I don't think it would but want some opinions before I do anything. Edited June 19, 2010 by Coils Quote Link to post Share on other sites
theplastik 67 Posted June 19, 2010 Report Share Posted June 19, 2010 Thanks & thanks for the info. I didn't try to pull up on the back of the rail, but no matter what I tried I couldn't get the top cover back in the groove at the front without loosening the 4 bolts that hold the ext rail on. I don't want to shim it, so if I took a little off the underside at the back, would this weaken it to much? I don't think it would but want some opinions before I do anything. I removed a bit off the back on mine to try to alleviate the problem but it didn't help, although it makes removing the bolt much smoother. I think you'd have to remove a bit of material under the whole underside to get a clean seating every time. I don't see anything wrong with prying up the top rail, the metal can handle it. It doesn't take much force. I got fed up with taking out the 4 screws each time and wearing down the coating/paint on the rail so I'm perfectly content with just the prying method. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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