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Tapco G2 has damaged my Saiga 223 bolt


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I took apart and inspected my saiga 223 after a range session and I noticed that the rear of the bolt (where the hammer strikes the firing pin) has been deformed. I noticed that the Tapco g2 hammer face has a rounded hammer face to it, and is not flat.

 

Now the "butt" of the bolt has an inward bulge/ deformation to it that matches the rounded hammerface of the G2.

 

What can I do to correct this, or is this not a big deal at all?

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I took apart and inspected my saiga 223 after a range session and I noticed that the rear of the bolt (where the hammer strikes the firing pin) has been deformed. I noticed that the Tapco g2 hammer face has a rounded hammer face to it, and is not flat.

 

Now the "butt" of the bolt has an inward bulge/ deformation to it that matches the rounded hammerface of the G2.

 

What can I do to correct this, or is this not a big deal at all?

 

Sounds like your bolt is defective. I'd see if the warranty could get it taken care of, or you might buy another bolt from K-Var.

Edited by Jim Digriz
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The Tapco G-2 is supposed to be a drop in part for the AK. The Saiga isn't an actual AK though, and it requires a few mods for it to work best in a Saiga. Whether it's a rifle or a shotgun, determines what mods are best to do to end up with the best trigger possible. All the triggers I sell are modified to work best in the particular Saiga rifle or shotgun they are being bought for.

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Re-profiling, i.e. flattening the hammer's face, will allow it to strike flat on the blot's tail, and stop it's current effect.

 

I think it looks OK, but others may/do disagree... YMMV.

 

Thinking it through... If the metallurgy of the bolt was bad (soft), I would think the bolt might've shown wear from the original hammer.

So I think it is simply the hammer's profile, correct it.

 

 

 

:2c:

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The Tapco G-2 is supposed to be a drop in part for the AK. The Saiga isn't an actual AK though, and it requires a few mods for it to work best in a Saiga. Whether it's a rifle or a shotgun, determines what mods are best to do to end up with the best trigger possible. All the triggers I sell are modified to work best in the particular Saiga rifle or shotgun they are being bought for.

Wait...what?

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Could you please take a picture of the hammer? I am wondering if it is the same model as mine, as I have seen two different types of tapco g2 hammers.

 

Yes, I noticed there is two kinds of Tapco G2's

 

I got this one. You can see the curvature on the hammerface in this picture, it's not perfectly flat.

 

1002121q.jpg

 

 

 

Then there is this one

AKTG.jpg

 

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Yes, I noticed there is two kinds of Tapco G2's

 

Interesting. Gabe Suarez said on his forum recently that the latest batch of G2s he got from Tapco were out of spec, and that he sent them all back.

 

It took me a while, but I finally decided that Tapco produces junk along their whole product line. The only thing I have left from them in my rifles are the pistol grip screw and bolt. And even that may turn out to be a mistake.

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I too have had Tapco triogger problems. I put a brand new Tapco G2 on a Saiga 12 and the hammer broke in the middle of the Ironman 3 gun match. It literally broke into two pieces in the middle of a stage. I'm now installing Red Star Arms triggers on all the S-12s I build. These are machined, not cast like Tapco triggers. Also they adjustable for pre-travel, overtravel, disconnector engagement, and disconnector spring tension, It's more expensive, but far superior.

 

 

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I just received my Arsenal single stage trigger in the mail. The hammer contacts the rear of the saiga bolt 100% flat.

 

I'm throwing this Tapco G2 s*** in the trash, and never ever buying a Tapco product ever agian.

Edited by Wallabing
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  • 1 year later...

I haven't used the G2 hammer in my S223 since almost the beginning, since I read this thread when I started doing the conversion. It has a Bulgarian AK-74 hammer. You can also reinstall the factory hammer with a spacer shim (the right side of the hammer pin channel is too short), or reinstall the BHO.

 

Bulgarian/Russian hammer is also significantly smoother than the G2 hammer. They work fine with the G2 trigger and disconnector - no issues, though some other people reported short disengagement and potential fire-when-safe geometry problems.

 

Keep in mind 922r. You lose one part by dropping the hammer.

 

You can also just reprofile the G2 hammer so that it more closely matches the factory hammer. This would take a bit of grinding. I seriously doubt that the G2 hammer will ever DESTROY the .223 bolt. It's still going to make adequate firing pin contact even if the bolt tail is peened.

Edited by mancat
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that was a common problem with the SAR3s (.223 AK), the .223 bolt has a shorter "tail" on the bolt then 7.62 bolt, so the US hammer which was fine for the 7.62 hit the back of the bolt "tail" at a angle and caused deformation.

 

you can do 1 or 2 things, re-profile the US hammer, so that it strikes square on the bolt 'tail" or put the original hammer in.

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that was a common problem with the SAR3s (.223 AK), the .223 bolt has a shorter "tail" on the bolt then 7.62 bolt, so the US hammer which was fine for the 7.62 hit the back of the bolt "tail" at a angle and caused deformation.

 

you can do 1 or 2 things, re-profile the US hammer, so that it strikes square on the bolt 'tail" or put the original hammer in.

so i reprofiled mine as ive posted a couple times already and im sorry if im starting to get on any bodies nerves; i just wanna make sure my rifle will last a long time. i put some masking tape on the end of the bolt where the hammer makes contact and its better now but still not 100% flush. should i shoot for 100% flush or will i be ok. and how could i tell if the bolt was softer than it should be? i do have close to 2000 rounds through the rifle and the wear is not that bad at all. would take pics but my camera sucks. what do you guys think?

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