Safety lever? Saiga 7.62 conversion question

[DirtD4er 1]

What is the part shown at 7:24 of this video called?

 

My Saiga did not come with this part. The manual does not show it in the exploded parts view. This AK47 exploded parts view does not show it either. http://www.gunreports.com/media/newspics/3-19-AK-47-SEMI-AUTO.jpg

 

So I do not have this part on my Saiga. I was hoping to take it to the range for the first time tomorrow but right now it is sitting on my bench unfinished. Can anyone tell me if I need this part, or what it is, or what it does? It seems unnecessary because all it appears to do is hold the safety lever in place by using the two pins, when my receiver has a hole drilled in the side of it for that very reason. I would post pictures but my camera broke.

[gunfun 3,931]

That is the retaining plate. You can also use several wire retainers instead such as the shephard's crook. It keeps the pins from sliding sideways while you shoot, so it is kind of important.

 

I highly recommend the plate,

 

Here is a diagram of the shephard's crook (bulgarian) and others for comparison, and a stock saiga has a L shaped wire.

The shephard's crook is a pain.

 

 

This image shows the retaining plate at the top.

 

Edited April 20, 2012 by GunFun

[DirtD4er 1]

Thanks, that's very helpful. Can you let me know if the first video in that series shows them taking out the L-shaped wire? A longer straight one is what came out of mine, it looks like it could be bent into the shape shown here:http://www.mississippiautoarms.com/ak-lshaped-wire-retaining-spring-tapco-p-403.html

 

But I'd like to be sure.

[G O B 3,516]

The Chinese L wire is the easiest for me. The loop goes over the safety lever axle and that allows you to get it over/under the axis pins pretty easy.

[DirtD4er 1]

This part is killing me. I ordered it and it came in this week; trying to install it now.

On the pin at

7 in the video cannot for the life of me get mine to go all the way through. It goes flush with the receiver, but not the 1mm past it that it needs to go for the recessed area to be in the right spot for the pin retaining plate to catch it. Any ideas? I've tried jiggling it, hitting it, trying to see if the springs on the hammer had expanded and were catching it.

Edited April 28, 2012 by DirtD4er

[Demento 0]

I had the same problem the first time I used the retainer plate. It must of taken me 45 minutes to get it installed. You might want to check for any burrs on the plate where it goes over the axis pins, just in case. I found it helpful to file a shallow bevel on the end of the safety where it goes into the left side of the receiver. That's what I did and it made it easier to insert the safety into the receiver. Good luck. Believe me, I feel your pain, LOL! BTW, mine is an S-12, but it looks like the fitment is the same.

Edited April 29, 2012 by Demento

[gunfun 3,931]

This part is killing me. I ordered it and it came in this week; trying to install it now.

On the pin at

7 in the video cannot for the life of me get mine to go all the way through. It goes flush with the receiver, but not the 1mm past it that it needs to go for the recessed area to be in the right spot for the pin retaining plate to catch it. Any ideas? I've tried jiggling it, hitting it, trying to see if the springs on the hammer had expanded and were catching it.

 

you may have to file on your retaining plate a little to get the holes to line up. However, my bet is that you don't have it locked into both of the grooves of your axis pins correctly so it is holding the back out of line.