AK-74 front sight block...done!

[Dorky_D 8]

Ok, I took a look at the 5.45 corner and there is that tutorial on swapping the old FSB for the threaded AK-74 FSB. I read it over several times and chickened out several times. I finally jumped in and did it. It was not too bad! I took my sweet time drilling out the dimples. I took even more time cutting along the sides of the FSB. I finally stuck a screw driver in the slot I was working on and applied an adjustable crescent wrench to help break the gash open so as to avoid cutting too deep. I smacked the sight with a mallet and it came off.

I slid the new one on. I did spend a little time with a bore brush getting it good and clean on the inside. I tapped it with a mallet to get it started and to lock it a bit. I spent several minutes with some denal floss and a bore sighter getting it straight. I checked, rechecked and even slept before finishing. I smacked it the rest of the way with a mallet and not very hard either.

I chucked up an 1/8 drill bit and drilled one pin. Go slow it takes forever and I went through 2 bits. I cut a piece of 1/8 rod and tapped it in. I used a punch and an anvil to smash the pins. I rechecked the position.

I am leaving 1 pin out until after I shoot it to be sure.

Not too bad!

[timy 1,185]

Glad it turned out well. I know how hard it is to start something when you're afraid of screwing it up. I think the key here is to take your time as you said you did.

[MrSaiga223 1]

Sounds nice, do you have any pics for us to really appreciate you dedication to detail?

[Dorky_D 8]

Here are some

[MrSaiga223 1]

That is some good work man, have you shot it yet?

[Dorky_D 8]

Yeahm I have gone twice. The first time it was really windy/gusty and I could not zero. The second time, I spent time zeroing in my scope (not necessarily the best choice to do that first, but I wanted to see some results). I started to work on my irons, but ran out of time (needed to leave) and I did not get it. I was moving the barrel the wrong way. It should be pretty easy the next time. I was getting on paper, but to the left about 6 inches or so. I will get it next time I go.

I want to touch up the paint just to the rear of the FSB. I think some Duplicolor Engine paint and a Q-tip will do the trick.

I may end up getting a Mojo peep sight, but I want to shoot my buddies AR with the peep, before I plunk down the money for one and possibly not like it.

It was not really too bad. I would not do it without a drill press for the pins. I only have 1 pin in at the moment, but as soon as I have it sighted in, I will put the other one in. I just want to have a backup in case I majorly messed up getting it on straight.

 

 

[Dorky_D 8]

BTW - I looked on the 5.45 area. There is a tutorial there. He talks about beating it with a hammer. I did not do that much beating. Perhaps it was the way I read it, but it sounds like he beat the pins in and beat the FSB block more than I did.

[Slugger 1]

Hey Dorky D,

It's always a good plan to leave yourself a backup. I've been toying with this for a while. I'm tempted to buy a slip on retainer, but if it was doable, I'd rather do the gas block and fsb so I could throw on a standard retainer. I've heard a bad report from a smith I know about how hard it was to press the parts on and off. He's done a lot of other AK, FAL and HK but said he would not do the job on a Saiga again, but I wonder if he didn't drill out the dimples first or something stupid like that. Maybe he's not as "qualified" as I thought.

 

From what you and others have said, splitting the Saiga fsb as you would a FAL receiver stub, is the way to go for removing. If the pressing back on can be done with a mallet, that sounds promising. Now your base had existng poin holes correct? How close were you to hitting the hole on the opposite side during the drilling process? The drilling is a serious concern. I've got a press but it's a horrible frieght bench top job. I hope it's good enough but this job has me a bit freaked.

 

I've also heard of some opening up the fit between the barrel and the pressed part. While not such an issue with a fsb, I would be concerned about a loss of gas pressure on the gas block and lining up the gas vent hole.

 

Thanks for sharing your experience with us! Please keep us in the loop on how the windage testing goes and GOOD ON YOU for having the big brass ones to give it a whirl!!

 

Slugger

[Dorky_D 8]

Hey, I have not been on here for a little bit. I started following this thread again, since it has been a while, so i will get notified if you have more questions.

 

I was pretty scared to drill for the pins. It was actually a non-event for me. I would love to say that it will be for you, but since I have only done it once, I cannot say for certain. There is quite a bit of metal "meat" on the pn holes. The metal is pretty hard. It is certainly harder than your regular steel like you would get from the hardware store. The good news is that for me this acted as a guide to drill out the pin holes. I did take my time. That barrel is hard hard hard. I took my time and did not rush it. I am actually suprised it only took 2 bits to do. I would have thought it would take more. I tried to be careful and tried to make sure the FSB was parrallel to the ground. I did not level it or spend a whole lot of time "leveling" it. I actually held the gun with one hand and the drill press wheel thing with the other. That is not a combination for precision, but it worked for me. I may have used a drill press vice. I did not clamp the FSB into the vice, but I may have had the jaws open a bit to serve as a rest. It would rest on the sight side and bayonet lug. I think I took a popcicle stick to elevate the sight side a bit to match the width of the lug. It has been a while. I also tried to choke up on the bit with the chuck. My intent was to keep the bit from bending by getting the chuck as close to the tip as possible. I am not a machinist, so that may not be an awesome technique or not.

As for the gas block, I did not do that. The stock handguard is fine for most things. I did end up replacing the handguard. I made my own bolt on retainer out of one that came with the set I bought. I bought a rear sight base, front sight base, gas block, brake and handguard retainer in a package deal on gunbroker.com. It came as a set with cut up pieces of barrel still in it. I mailed some of the bits to a guy in the Indiana area that pressed out the barrel pieces. I sold the parts I was not using to him at a discount for his services. You can make your own HG retainer pretty easy if you have your dremmel fu up to snuff. My .223 had the barrel notches. Watch this video. It helped me. You can make this out of a $10 part. You need to cut the top out of the HG retainer. You need to cut some slots almost half way down. It took me FOREVER to get mine one. I bent the stew out of it, beat it and had a lot of trouble, but once I cutslots down farther toward the middle of where the barrel would be, it made it much easier to get on. This guy in the video talks about meal fatigue. Well, I can tell you I fatigued the stew out of mine and it is fine. I beat on it, clamped it, bent it, vice gripped it, pliered it and it is still fine. If I were to do it over again, it would be easier. I took an allen screw and a nut with the white locking plastic (I am sure there is a cool name for them) to hold it on. I was a little scared to dremmel a notch in the barrel, but it was not too bad. You should have your handguard in place when you position the notch for the screw. You can see my work on a different thread. If you are going to error on one side error by making your notch closer to the butt end rather than the other. You can always file the handguard. You can also make your notch a little deeper, use a bigger screw and "move" the center of the notch while deepening (just a little) if you had to.

A couple pics, but not on the cut parts.

http://forum.saiga-12.com/index.php?/topic/67881-hogue-ak-forendhandguard-w-rails-on-sale/page__fromsearch__1

I was able to get it sighted in. I may not have gotten it centered. The front post is a little to the left. I would say it is close to 1/8" off of center once I got it sighted in. It kind of drives me nuts as I like to have things centered, but it is fine. I have thought of getting a mojo rear sight that has windage adjustment there. I could split the difference and have a little adjustment at the front sight and a little at the rear to hide it a bit. Really it is fine. It is going to be a little off center even if it was perfect. One thing you can look at if you are doing it is to pull out the bolt carrier, and take off the gas tube. You can then use hole that the bolt goes through to use as a massive rear peep sight. It can help you as annother reference point for alligning everything. This is by no means a reliable reference point, but it could help you affirm your findings. Just as an FYI - My FSB, gas block, rear sight base, and rear sight are all on slightly different axis. This is fairly typical for AKs. I believe I saw a video on Youtube for it, but I could not find it quickly.

I hope that helps. If you have other questions, just let me know. I am not an expert, but I can tell you from my experience.

[Sim_Player 1,939]

Anyone else thought of laying the rifle upside-down on it's front and rear sights to check fsb alignment? This is what I did (on the kitchen counter). I tapped mine on too, with a hard rubber mallet.

 

When it comes time to put rounds on paper, fine tuning can be done through the windage adjustment barrel.

Edited January 25, 2012 by Sim_Player

[blfuller 2]

Anyone else thought of laying the rifle upside-down on it's front and rear sights to check fsb alignment? This is what I did (on the kitchen counter). I tapped mine on too, with a hard rubber mallet.

 

When it comes time to put rounds on paper, fine tuning can be done through the windage adjustment barrel.

 

That's the way I do mine. But I use the flat steel surface of a tablesaw. Either way it works.