kresk 10,063 Posted September 9, 2010 Report Share Posted September 9, 2010 Saiga-based Polish WZ96 Beginning with a sporterized Saiga .223/5.56 we tried to recreate as closely as possible (with whatever information available) a Polish WZ96. Points of interest include: - custom proper flash hider - squared-off front sight - barrel sleeve for bipod - squared-off gas block - Tantal style hand guard retainer - modification of rear sight block to accommodate gas tube, create hinge mechanism, and removal of gas tube lever - extended magazine release - Tantal style ambidextrous safety - custom scope rail, hinged, silver soldered to receiver cover/modified receiver cover rear with dog ear to affix rear screw. Unlike available Beryl rails, this one maintains the integrity of the rear sight leaf, and is low enough to allow use of the standard AK sights - furniture from Lucznik-Radom, including folding stock and railed hand guard The rifle was parkerized then finished with Brownells baking lacquer. The sling and bipod are also Polish. This was not a weekend project and required mucho skill on the part of my gunsmith (hey, I helped.) Don't think I've seen one of these done with a Saiga. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
essohbe 47 Posted September 9, 2010 Report Share Posted September 9, 2010 Nice. What'd you do for the ambidextrous safety, just have to weld/attach the selector to the pivot pin on the left side? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kresk 10,063 Posted September 9, 2010 Author Report Share Posted September 9, 2010 Nice. What'd you do for the ambidextrous safety, just have to weld/attach the selector to the pivot pin on the left side? Yep--it's got a pin through it. The knob was also made from scratch. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nalioth 405 Posted September 9, 2010 Report Share Posted September 9, 2010 Nice, but you forgot the top rail. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kresk 10,063 Posted September 9, 2010 Author Report Share Posted September 9, 2010 Nice, but you forgot the top rail. No, there is a top rail. 'custom scope rail, hinged, silver soldered to receiver cover/modified receiver cover rear with dog ear to affix rear screw. Unlike available Beryl rails, this one maintains the integrity of the rear sight leaf, and is low enough to allow use of the standard AK sights' There are several slightly different rails on different versions of the rifle--this one is very low so the iron sights can still be used. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kresk 10,063 Posted September 9, 2010 Author Report Share Posted September 9, 2010 Forgot the bipod............ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
protected static 19 Posted September 9, 2010 Report Share Posted September 9, 2010 Outstanding. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cobra 76 two 2,677 Posted September 10, 2010 Report Share Posted September 10, 2010 Wow Doc that really did turn out fantastic! I like your top rail MUCH better then the original in the pic nalioth posted. Way more sleek and without all that bulky mess hanging off the back that's characteristic of most beryl style rails. Very nice all around. That Saiga ROCKS and I know you had a lot of hands on action in it too! Y'all went Full Otto on that baby for sure. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Paulry 50 Posted September 10, 2010 Report Share Posted September 10, 2010 Looks good to me! Good job. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kresk 10,063 Posted September 11, 2010 Author Report Share Posted September 11, 2010 Wow Doc that really did turn out fantastic! I like your top rail MUCH better then the original in the pic nalioth posted. Way more sleek and without all that bulky mess hanging off the back that's characteristic of most beryl style rails. Very nice all around. That Saiga ROCKS and I know you had a lot of hands on action in it too! Y'all went Full Otto on that baby for sure. Thanks Shannon! The rail was the biggest challenge, since after looking at a bunch of pictures there were several versions in use, and I didn't have any engineering drawings or detailed pix of the rear receiver cover area or the hinge. Started out with about a 20 pound block of steel and at the end only about 1 1/2 pounds is in the scope rail. The hinge is riveted on the inside of the sight block. The rear of the receiver cover has a 3/16" plate silver soldered to it that was ground and polished to match the contour of the cover, and has a tab for a screw, although the cover locks very solidly on the recoil spring retainer itself as it was originally intended. Yeah, even Otto was very pleased with the outcome. If he's happy, I'm happy. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dumptruck82 0 Posted September 16, 2010 Report Share Posted September 16, 2010 I know many folks (myself included) who would pay someone to convert their Saigas into Wz96 clones. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dobravery 49 Posted September 16, 2010 Report Share Posted September 16, 2010 "- furniture from Lucznik-Radom, including folding stock and railed hand guard" Was getting that stuff from Poland a pain in the ass? I love the folding stock. Does the hassle and cost of getting it here, make it a worth while alternative to the ACE and Galil folding stocks? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kresk 10,063 Posted September 16, 2010 Author Report Share Posted September 16, 2010 "- furniture from Lucznik-Radom, including folding stock and railed hand guard" Was getting that stuff from Poland a pain in the ass? I love the folding stock. Does the hassle and cost of getting it here, make it a worth while alternative to the ACE and Galil folding stocks? Well, I know a guy in New Zealand, who knows a guy in Poland...........so getting the furniture could have been worse. I wanted the conversion to look as authentic as possible, so I went that route. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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