Conversion vs "Tapco Conversion" (pics)

[Drinking Beer 12]

This was my previous Tapco "conversion", I thought the stock trigger was good enough and advised sanding the trigger hooks and contacting hammer points to smooth out the crappy pull of the stock trigger. Sanding the stock trigger assembly honestly made a huge difference and smoothed everything out. So I sanded a little more off and made the trigger pull as crisp as a Smith and Wesson. Yet after enough time at the range things started fu*king up bad.

 

I came to realize it was a serious mistake. That was bad advice for me to post on this forum so don't make this same mistake! Polishing parts is one thing, yet never sand the trigger components with rough grit paper or remove a substantial amount of metal . The original trigger assembly is rough for a reason and by over sanding the contacting points I caused malfunctions. When I releasing the trigger after a complete pull and recycle of the bolt, the trigger catch would not engage and the gun would fire on a trigger release. Sometimes the catch would not engage at all and cause the hammer to hit without warning causing failures to fire and other "issues".

 

 

 

 

Needless to say, I had to junk the original stock trigger components and learn my lesson the hard way. Heres the new and improved girl, I call her Olga.

 

 

In the end, I was cynical about you conversion freak but you guys where right all along....just convert the thing and don't wast your time screwing around.

[jimdigriz 580]

Good advice, DB. The gun looks much better and obviously functions much better now.

 

In the end, I was cynical about you conversion freak but you guys where right all along....just convert the thing and don't wast your time screwing around.

 

To which I would add, install a bullet guide and buy some milspec magazines. ;-)

[hutchsaiga 93]

If you like the new trigger and balance point. (Like Jim said) install a bullet guide and you'll just love $8, steel, rock solid magazines.

 

Everyone on here that is a "conversion freak" has just eaten some of the grass on the other side of that fence. And in this instance, it is incredibly more tasty!!

[Drinking Beer 12]

This was what happened to the tapco handguard setup after I finished off a drum ....

 

 

I only chose this tapco setup so I could mount a forward pistol grip to better handle the front end weight of a loaded drum.

 

Would maybe a Romanian style wood handguard grip have been a better option? Anyone have suggestions on a mil spec forward handguard grip mod that wont melt off? Or maybe I'm expecting to much out of these materials to hold up to excessive heat?

[jimdigriz 580]

I only chose this tapco setup so I could mount a forward pistol grip to better handle the front end weight of a loaded drum.

 

I would avoid regularly blowing through a drum in a hurry. Yea, you can do it, but it's not necessarily good for your rifle.

 

K-Var handguards + Dinzag retainer would be a durable option, but you would have to forgo the foregrip. Foregrips are superfluous on an AK when you have the mag. I know you like your drum, but drums are not usually part of a regular combat load-out.

Edited September 9, 2011 by Jim Digriz

[TX-Zen 287]

Other options for railed HG's are the LHV47 polymer lower though I can't remember for sure if this works with Dinzags HG retainer. While it doesn't have a heatshield I and others have found to be pretty resilient to heat. I also don't recommend dumping a drum on any HG but I've run 4-5 mags through the LHV in quick succession and it seemed to hold up ok.

 

The Russian company STK tactical makes a nice railed lower HG that does have a heat shield but it's also the heaviest one I've seen and one of the most expensive. Not sure it's worth the weight but the polymer seems to be really high quality, tougher than Izhmash or KVar from what I can see.

 

LHV47 on the left and STK on the right

 

 

 

 

 

Z

[Drinking Beer 12]

I suppose your right Jim, heating up the barrel and piston assembly just to send lead down range is like punching the petal to the metal. It's not good for the wear and tear of the machine, but I was just testing the new conversion and the drum to make certain everything was reliable and dependable. Everything functioned 100% so I was happy except for the melting handguard bracket. I suppose the lessoned learned from the test is clear, unless there is a D-Day zombie invasion, there is no need for excessive hardly aimed abuse on this gun. This design might be the greatest military rifle in creation, yet it still has its limitations.

 

I appreciate the info fellows I'll look into those handguards. Its certainly excessive to blast through a drum, yet I dont think its to much to expect the handguard brackets to stay intact without melting off.

Edited September 10, 2011 by Drinking Beer

[dieb4iwake 60]

the hogue AK forend has a heatshield and works with dinxags lower retainer i like the feel of it too.

it has a rail that you can attach but i havent pm if you want a link to one for a good price (i dont want to post links to non forum vendors)

[pjj342 632]

http://forum.saiga-1...__fromsearch__1

If you want to use a normal AK handguard, youll need the HG retainer, and since their expensive as hell for what they are, Heres an option that may work for you. This is with a 10 dollar surplus ak HG retainer.

 

If you arent trying to go that route, or if your barrel doesnt have the retainer slots, I would go with the SGM tri rail/ quad rail. Its tough as nails and isnt blow your mind expensive, although not cheap(about 70 for the tri rail and 90 for the quad rail). You can also use your forward pistol grip with this one, and it wont melt after a drum, or probably two. Im pretty sure carolinashooterssupply has the best prices on these, the quad rail is just the tri rail with the gas tube cover. This is my future handguard, hopefully around christmas.

Edited September 11, 2011 by Boomsick42