Basic13 3 Posted March 18, 2011 Report Share Posted March 18, 2011 (edited) I would like to thank this website for helping me put this rifle together myself. Without it, I would have likely sublet the work out to someone else. After it is all said and done, I am very pleased with my efforts and happy that I did not have someone else do this. So, without further delay, here are the photos! P.S. The scope is a POSP 6x that I purchased from Kalinkaoptics.com. Super fast shipping (ordered at 6pm friday and had it in my hands monday at noon). 1. First thing I did was grind off the "sporterized plate" which was extremely simple using only a screw driver, electric hand drill and a dremel tool with sanding drums, etc. 2. Took the neutered rifle carcass over to a friend who has a lot of experience welding. He is a bodyman who does a lot of restoration, so needless to say a TIG welder was close at hand. -I had him weld the 2 holes in the bottom of the rifle. -I had him weld an extra "piece" of material onto the safety selector. 3. Once I was home, I grinded the safety selector extension to shape and grinding/sanded the receiver welded holes. 4.I used "self-etching" automotive primer and "low-gloss black" duplicolor engine enamel which was an absolute dead-nuts color match.I used 500 grit sandpaper and brake cleaner to prep the surface of the metal. I painted the receiver and the safety lever. While I waited for these items to dry I went out in search of some parts (I waited 5 days before assembling parts to let the paint cure 5. I found a local guy on backpage.com who did saiga conversions and he sold me the following: *US made Tapco trigger group ($30) *US made Tapco pistol grip ($11) *US made Tapco pistol grip screw and bushing ( I know it doesnt count as a US part) ($8) *US made K-var Warsaw pact length fixed stock ($45) I placed an on-line order for the following: *1 Carolina Shooters supply trigger guard (by the way, the only reason I ordered this was because I was not satisfied with the "reshaping" of the original trigger guard. I also did not feel that it was sturdy enough with it just "tucked" under the magazine release. I also didnt want to try and drill a hole inside the magazine release as I really couldnt get a good handle on how and where to drill. My thought are that a person with a drill press could easily make this hole and save themself $17.00 for a new trigger guard. 6.Once my parts were purchased I began to modify the Tapco fcg. I grinded off the "hump" on the back of the hammer due to the crossbar which would not allow the hammer to release fully. I shortened the right side of the hammer so I could utilize the factory "bolt-hold open" device. I then painted the fcg and waited at few days for it to dry. 7.At this point I went to assemble the Tapco fcg. Low and behold a snag in my plan. The factory disconnector spring is too long and TOO FAT to fit in the tapco disconnector. This was a huge dilemma as I didnt want to pay $10 shipping for a $1.49 part and have to wait another 3 days. Thanks to another website forum member I was able to get 2 disconnector springs face to face for the sum of $5.00 cash. After I had my disconnector spring I installed the other parts including the CSS trigger guard that went on without an issue. 8. Once my parts were installed I reinstalled the "bolt-hold open" device and the "shephards crook". The combination of these two components about gave me a heart-attack. No joke-I spent a solid 2 hours f*cking with these two little components. I wanted to use the "shephards crook" as I felt it was much more solid then any of the aftermarket plate retainers and I wanted the BHO device since the hole was there. It wasnt until I went on "youtube.com" and watch a video where the guy used dental floss to thread the BHO down into the receiver area that I was able to FINALLY get the damn thing in there. So, Let me know if there are any questions at all. A guy with few hand tools was able to make this thing in less than a week and spend less then $150 to do it! Edited March 18, 2011 by Basic13 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
paprotective 362 Posted March 18, 2011 Report Share Posted March 18, 2011 how were the 2 welds to get off under the plate?? I know mine were a PITA.. Good job... you gonna try to thread it and 'FH' or 'Brake' it??? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rockina 60 Posted March 18, 2011 Report Share Posted March 18, 2011 Beautiful.....I eliminated the BHO on mine and notched the safety selector, just for the reasons you mentioned, that and the fact in doing so I eliminated one more potential problem. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Basic13 3 Posted March 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2011 how were the 2 welds to get off under the plate?? I know mine were a PITA.. Good job... you gonna try to thread it and 'FH' or 'Brake' it??? I plan on it. Just need to find a threading die and a brake I like. I was thinking of an "ak-74 copy". Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Basic13 3 Posted March 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2011 Beautiful.....I eliminated the BHO on mine and notched the safety selector, just for the reasons you mentioned, that and the fact in doing so I eliminated one more potential problem. If I have any problems whatsoever I will pull that little bastard out of there and have my buddy weld up the hole. I was so close to having him do it and that thought passed through my head about a million times while trying to install the BHO. haha Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BrutalGardener 205 Posted March 18, 2011 Report Share Posted March 18, 2011 Do you have a washer/spacer on your trigger axis pin? If not, your trigger will move from side to side quite a bit. It's obvious from the second pic, that your trigger hole is much wider than the trigger, which is typical with Saiga 308s. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
paprotective 362 Posted March 18, 2011 Report Share Posted March 18, 2011 Its a 6mm flat washer from the HDepot.. its $0.49/4 pk... you just need one on the BHO side.. LOL I did mine that way and it also helps keeping the hammer-spring from jumping in the FCG also.. I also have my BHO still intact as my range requires that, or something holding it open.. Al Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Basic13 3 Posted March 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2011 Its a 6mm flat washer from the HDepot.. its $0.49/4 pk... you just need one on the BHO side.. LOL I did mine that way and it also helps keeping the hammer-spring from jumping in the FCG also.. I also have my BHO still intact as my range requires that, or something holding it open.. Al Does the washer sit between the trigger and BHO or some other location to the right side? A picture would be great if you have one. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BrutalGardener 205 Posted March 19, 2011 Report Share Posted March 19, 2011 Here you go: 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Basic13 3 Posted March 20, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2011 Here you go: Thanks for the photos. I ended up going to Ace Harware. They had black #10 washers that fit perfectly. I also bought some black screws and replaced them with the bright, shiny ones that came with my carolina shooters supply trigger guard. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
chcooper2002 0 Posted June 1, 2011 Report Share Posted June 1, 2011 Basic, I have a CSS trigger guard for my conversion and have hit a snag. The cutouts on the bottom of the receiver don't look like those from other conversion threads. The instructions say I only need to drill one hole for this tg but it appears I need to drill 2. Did you have this problem? Mine has no hole behind the opening for the new trigger and the one in front is too close to the mag release to work. I don't know if this is a new design or if CSS sent the wrong guard. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance. I hope my conversion looks as good as yours if I ever finish it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jimdigriz 580 Posted June 1, 2011 Report Share Posted June 1, 2011 Very nice. Simple and effective choices. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
555JM 10 Posted June 3, 2011 Report Share Posted June 3, 2011 Hmmmm.... Have you shot it yet? Doesn't look there will be much room between the scope's ocular and your eyebrow. Probably not an issue for .223 or 7.62x39, but there might be for .308. 3 inches of eye relief should be enough. On hunting scopes, the optically correct eye relief will result in the entire illuminated image field completely filling the ocular's field of view. That usually gives 3" to 4" of eye relief. Not sure about the POSP. I've got a scar above the right eyebrow from misjudging scope eye relief on a hard kicker, so I might be a little overly sensitive. Nice looking conversion. Thanks for the write-up. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mephis 82 Posted June 5, 2011 Report Share Posted June 5, 2011 Use the POSP's eye piece, it's a must for these guns because it's actually more of a training aid to always have the same chin weld and find eye relief quickly. The eye relief is so long that there's little to no concern about getting ringed even with the heaviest loads through a saiga 12, 555JM. The saiga 308 is a soft shooter anyway, I don't feel a whole lot of difference in recoil from it to a typical AK in 762x39. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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