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Saiga to AK-103 (everything minus full-auto and folding stock)


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So here's the deal I am taking one of my Saiga's that I recently converted (normal conversion) and wanted to take it a step further. I am going to do a full conversion minus side folding stock and full auto capability. I am starting with a 7.62x39 saiga converted with pistol grip and bolt on handguard retainer I will build this rifle at home with mostly hand tools, a dremel, and a drill press. I have already started on it and will post pictures as I go along (bare with me the photo's will be off my cell phone).

 

List of what needs to be accomplished:

_Fill in sporter configuration holes ( 4 trigger pin holes on side of the receiver, forearm screw hole, sporter trigger hole, 2 sporter trigger guard holes)

_Importer marks, Saiga, CANTA, F, and S stamps on receiver will be filled. (It is a 09' and has the extra "velcro" mark where RAA was laser etched out)

_AK 103 full auto and semi auto selector marks will be made and I am going to find a way to mark the russian characters for full auto and semi. I am thinking of electric salt water etching the russian characters seeing that I do not have a press.

_Replace Saiga selector lever with original selector.

_Remove stock FSB, GB, and bolt on handguard retainer. Replace with Bulgarian 74' 24mm FSB, 90 degree GB, and handguard retainer.

_Silver Solder 74' style 2 piece half moon muzzle brake. (I am in NY thus the silver solder and no side folding stock)

_Replace Saiga 300m rear sight with 7.62x39 1000m half slash rear sight leaf.

_Furniture will remain wood but I will cut out lightening slots on the rear stock.

_Stock will be stripped, sanded, and refinished with Minwax China Red water based stain and low gloss Tung Oil

_Rivet on dimpled magazine catch/trigger guard

_Riveted original bullet catch (mag catch and bullet guide might not be possible without a press if anyone has any ideas let me know)

Finish:

_Clean and degrease rifle components

_Abrasive blast with 80-120 grit Aluminum Oxide

_Manganese Phosphate coating (parkerizing)

_KG Gunkote in bake on AK black (any suggestions on other colors/coatings would be greatly appreciated)

_Highlight markers marks and serial number

 

Okay so lets get down to business I have already started on this build so I will start where I left off. The gun has been stripped, all internals have been taken out. I have removed the FSB and GB. To remove the barrel components I had to drill out the holes where they were pressed on then I dremelled one side almost all the way though and took a flat head and twisted until it broke. Then hammered them off. I have the Bulgarian FSB, GB, and HGR on the way. They should be here on thursday or friday. In the mean time I started to fill in the excess receiver holes and import marks.

 

ak1.zipI did not tig weld these seeing that I do not have a welder or access to one at this time nor do I feel like paying someone to do it for me. I know I know I am going to get people that say there is no place for jb weld on a firearm. And I do agree with them to some degree. If these points ever fail then I will get them welded, actually I probably will get them welded eventually. First I took the dremel out with a sanding drum on it to smooth the import and velcro mark. Once they flush to the receiver I started sanding the marks and the area around them same with the extra holes until bare metal was shown. Then I took acetone and cleaned the areas. I masked off the inside off the holes with the non sticky side of packing tape. I filled the holes and filled the laser etched marks like you would filling scratches in drywall. I shoved the barrel/receiver assembly in the oven at 170F to cure for 30 minutes, I then sanded until smooth.

 

The stock still needs 5-10 more coats of Tung oil (Im on my 9th) and sanded inbetween with 1000 grit sandpaper inbetween. Two of the receiver holes that were filled need another layer of JB to fill in some bubbles.I haven't done the "SAIGA, CANTA, F and S" marks yet. Next step will be to install barrel components. Questions, comments, and tips are always appreciated.

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This is definitely an ambitious project.

 

Depending on what price you could get, it might be a better idea to sell your current rifle and buy one of these: http://www.atlanticfirearms.com/storeproduct1018.aspx It could save you a fair amount of time and effort. On the front end; the only thing these don't come with is an accessory lug on the gb, and that's something that most people wouldn't even notice.

 

Something to consider, anyway.

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Going the IZ-332 route would make it much harder for me seeing that they do not come with receiver dimples and I do not have a press. I am embarking on this project more so because I enjoy doing it than actually wanting a ak-103. I'll keep you posted.

 

Also it seems that my barrel components will be here tomorrow!! So I will be installing those tomorrow!

Edited by themadhatter196
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Ok, cool.

 

I figured that they varied like the other "sporter" Saigas; i.e. some rifles have magwell dimples and some don't. I know if you ordered through Atlantic, you could specify that you want a dimpled one.

 

I've never seen someone successfully introduce dimples to a receiver after production, whether they had a press or not. I'm honestly not sure it'd turn out well or even be a good idea to attempt that... so it's a good thing that yours came with em from the factory.

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I recently did mine minus a few items on your(wood finishing,riveting bullet guide etc)

 

Like I said in other threads. Just

Make sure you have your fsb and gasblock straight and aligned, drill one

Hole, pin, zero the rifle to confirm then do

Your second pin. I actually had to drive out my first pin after I zeroed becuase the fsp was pushed to far one side for my liking.

 

You can see my thread here http://forum.saiga-12.com/index.php?/topic/75449-changing-a-welded-on-fsb/page__pid__750826__st__30#entry750826

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Update! I will post pictures tomorrow. But here's where I am now I have installed the lower handguard retainer and have polished the GB/FSB and have polished the two barrel journal's for them. They are both around .002-.003 difference between them. I tried to install the gas block with a hard rubber hammer and a normal hammer with a piece of wood for protection. I could get the gas block almost half way on the journal and then it would stop. I tried polishing and lubricating but no luck. I would really like to be able to get the gas block on without finding someone with a press is there anyother methods people use to get a stubborn gas block on? I am contemplating polishing the inside of the gas block a little more with 1000 grit sandpaper I gotta check but there might be spots where the inner diameter is .004 smaller than the barrel. And also I have polished down the journal's so that there is no finish left on them they have a mirror like finish. My plan was just to rub some grease on the before I pressed the GB/FSB on for good. Should I parkerize these before hand or blue them? It looks as though they were blued once I took the stock FSB/GB off.

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I'll that a try although I did find out that I can use my friends workplaces' 12 ton hydraulic press. I also have a gasless mig welder that I can use to weld up the holes and factory markings/import marks. Should I go this route or just keep the jb weld. It has been awhile since I've welded anything so I was going to pratice on a 1mm sheet of steel but suggestions would be awesome.

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I have never welded holes and cannot find a tutorial on how to do so. I am using a flux cored arc welder without gas. I know i need to clamp on a piece of aluminum/brass/copper on the inside of the receiver but other than that I have no clue. All I have ever welded were simply joints and that was along time ago.

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I have never welded holes and cannot find a tutorial on how to do so. I am using a flux cored arc welder without gas. I know i need to clamp on a piece of aluminum/brass/copper on the inside of the receiver but other than that I have no clue. All I have ever welded were simply joints and that was along time ago.

 

I suggest sending Nailbomb a PM about this. He's not only a great moderator here on the site, but a pretty damn good pro welder as well. ;)

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I have never welded holes and cannot find a tutorial on how to do so. I am using a flux cored arc welder without gas. I know i need to clamp on a piece of aluminum/brass/copper on the inside of the receiver but other than that I have no clue. All I have ever welded were simply joints and that was along time ago.

 

You are going to need too take the paint off the area around the hole, and somewhere else for

Your ground as well

 

Welding holes is pretty straight forward. Find a 1mm piece of steel to get the hang of it first(like you said earlier) your heat won't have to be all that high but you'll need to have you're wire speed fairly fast. Start in the inside edge of the hole and work around in a circular motion,around the inside edge of the circle, if you have your wire sped fast enough, you should have a sufficient plug to grind down flat. Make sure you Try on a scrap piece of steel first though, after three holes you'll have the hang of it

Edited by hutchsaiga
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Thanks Hutch I've been practicing a lot but still do not feel confident enough to go ahead with it. I am going to take it to a local muffler shop to have them fill them with tig. In the mean time I purchased a 20 ton hydraulic press from harbor freight to press on barrel components which went on great but I did have to polish down the gas block journal some more for it to fit without bending my barrel. I pressed the fsb and gas block on and drilled and pinned the holes. I also wanted to take the stock trigger guard and cut and weld it to place on the mag catch. I did that but it didn't look close enough to the original trigger guard for me to keep it so I ordered a new mag catch/trigger guard and rivets.

 

I ordered all the parts I need to finish (almost)

-AK 100 series roundTrigger guard and pin (I will reuse the mag catch and spring)

-Trigger guard rivet set

-74' bulgarian selector

-74' gas tube with retaining spring

-Full polyamide stock set US made pistol grip and stock, russian made upper and lower handguards

-LCW Manganese Phosphate parkerizing solution 1 gallon

-Gunkote 2400 series in AK black 8oz

 

I still need to get a russian cyrillic stamp set and 7.62 cleaning rod.

 

On the right are the fsb and gas block that came off the rifle and on the left are the 24mm FSB, Gas Block, Handguard Retainer.

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These are the components after they have been pressed on and drilled and pinned and the handguard notch made and installed. These have been test shot and function great.

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This was before I attempted to weld the cleaning rod together (this didn't turn out well so I am just going to buy a new cleaning rod)

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This is after I fitted and cut the stock trigger guard to fit on the mag release. I welded it in place and ground down the welds to make it flush. It looks decent but I decided to go with riveting on an ak 100 series trigger guard.

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I have had a problem with my gas tube that I had on before it is an older style akm gas tube without retainer spring it would hit the new handguard retainer and wouldn't latch anymore because of it not being able to go down all the way. I purchased a new 74' style gas tube and hope this will resolve the problem. Also when I was putting on the gas tube it was to small and wouldn't press on at first and I think I might have bent the barrel a little. I cannot tell if it is bent now but when I was pressing it looked as though it was starting to bow.

Edited by themadhatter196
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Nice work. You got the parts from markw I take it?

 

I doubt you bent the barrell.it may have flexed slightly but they are thick and very hard. How did it shoot when you took it out?

 

The ak74 gas tube works perfectly on my rifle do I think that should solve your issue. I got mine from markw as well

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Yes I did get my parts from markw he's great, very friendly, quick shipping, and great prices. Some of the other parts like the stock set I purchased from kvar. When I took it out I only did a couple of short 25 yard shots into the ground the sight was pretty much dead on so I drilled and pinned it I will zero once everything is complete. I just finished taking off the mag catch/trigger guard the same way you drill the rivets on the normal conversion. I will keep and reuse the selector stop.

 

Starting to drill the rivets out. You can see the new selector mark on the side of the receiver. This is where I will need to put the new selector divets.

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Viola! The trigger guard/mag catch is off and awaiting the arrival of the new one! I will make a homemade jig to do the rivets.

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UPDATE:

 

My new 74' style selector and gas tube came into from Markw. I fitted the gas tube and it was very easy to install with not much filing unlike match an akm gas tube to a saiga. It also solved the problem of the older akm gas tube not being able to lock in place because of it hitting the lower handguard retainer. I also had to take a little off of the selector to be able for it to fit which was no problem with the dremel. After I had the selector fitted I marked the spot where the semi auto selector notch should go. I took a dremel with a cut off wheel and slowly went to work constantly stopping to check the references I had on correct size and placement. I decided against putting the full auto selector notch because of having to push the selector past that point to fire. I actually found out that it fires just fine when the selector is where the full auto notch would be but I still am not going to put it on there for the time being. I still will stamp the full auto and semi cyrillic markings AB, and OA respectively. Or cyrillic DB, OD. I will update with pictures tomorrow.

 

Question: When I pressed on the new gas block I lined up the bulgarian rear pin hole with the original rear pin hole for the stock saiga gas block. Then I drilled the front pin hole and pressed it in. I thought this would be a perfect placement because the two gas blocks look almost identical in size. I also didn't have the gas tube I was going to be using at the time so I couldn't test fit it. Now there is a gap between the lip of the gas block and the end of the gas tube ~3mm in length. Is this okay or should it be closer? Seeing that the gap is close the 3mm I don't think it would be wise to move and re pin. Also it has been test fired and the barrel hole and gas block lines up.

gas tube.bmp

Edited by themadhatter196
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UPDATE:

 

My new 74' style selector and gas tube came into from Markw. I fitted the gas tube and it was very easy to install with not much filing unlike match an akm gas tube to a saiga. It also solved the problem of the older akm gas tube not being able to lock in place because of it hitting the lower handguard retainer. I also had to take a little off of the selector to be able for it to fit which was no problem with the dremel. After I had the selector fitted I marked the spot where the semi auto selector notch should go. I took a dremel with a cut off wheel and slowly went to work constantly stopping to check the references I had on correct size and placement. I decided against putting the full auto selector notch because of having to push the selector past that point to fire. I actually found out that it fires just fine when the selector is where the full auto notch would be but I still am not going to put it on there for the time being. I still will stamp the full auto and semi cyrillic markings AB, and OA respectively. Or cyrillic DB, OA. I will update with pictures tomorrow.

 

Question: When I pressed on the new gas block I lined up the bulgarian rear pin hole with the original rear pin hole for the stock saiga gas block. Then I drilled the front pin hole and pressed it in. I thought this would be a perfect placement because the two gas blocks look almost identical in size. I also didn't have the gas tube I was going to be using at the time so I couldn't test fit it. Now there is a gap between the lip of the gas block and the end of the gas tube ~3mm in length. Is this okay or should it be closer? Seeing that the gap is close the 3mm I don't think it would be wise to move and re pin. Also it has been test fired and the barrel hole and gas block lines up.

gas tube.bmp

 

My gas block is the same way. It functions fine and I think it looks fine too. It's the easiest way to get it aligned too

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Sounds good thanks. I received my manganese phosphate solution today from LCW (makers of duracoat). And wanted to try it out so I choose a blemished slab mag and started. Here's my procedure.

 

-Degrease all components with non-chlorinated brake cleaner

-Sand blasted with 80 grit garnet

-Degreased again with brake cleaner

-Air blasted to get the garnet out

-Threw the parts in a hot water bath

-Then placed in the mixed parkerizing solution

-Waited 15 minutes at 180 F then removed

-Placed parts back in hot water bath to stop parkerizing reaction

-Wiped dry with a cotton towel as quickly as possible to avoid flash rust

-Air blasted with compressor to get water out of the nooks and crannys

-Put parts in 5w-30 motor oil

-Wiped dry with cotton towel

-Found out I couldn't get most of the oil of so I rinsed everything down in wd-40

-Wiped again until dry with cotton towel

 

Parkerizing......

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And finally here is the finished product!

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My gunkote will be here tomorrow I decided against painting the mag because I only ordered 8oz of gunkote. I will degrease and paint if I have any leftovers. Procedure for the rifle will be the same but instead of oil it will get a fresh coat of Gunkote!

 

Here are some updated pictures of where I left off. Gunkote arrives tomorrow and the new polyamide furniture from K-Var and mag catch/trigger guard and rivets will be here Monday. I am going out tomorrow to resturant supply stores to see if I can find a stainless steel steam tray or anything similar that will fit my receiver/barrel assembly. Hopefully I will have everything installed and painted by Tuesday. It will all depend on finding the stainless and making a trigger guard jig. I might opt to parkerize and paint the rifle before installing the mag catch/trigger guard and end up putting down a quick touch up with Gunkote if required.

 

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Went out today to a local restaurant supply store looking for a stainless steel insert pan to fit my barreled receiver. I couldn't find a insert pan so I settled for a 32x5x5in bartending speed rack made out of stainless. I will have to make it water proof with either jb weld or silicon sealant. I also purchased a chinese black polymer bayonet. Seeing as I will not be able to keep the wings on my bayo lugs it will just be for show. I also didn't care about looking for a 100 series bayo for this reason. I also found a foreign made black polymer front handguard set for 5.99 I purchased them instantly even though I am getting hanguards from kvar it was just to cheap to pass up. Here are some updated pictures.

 

Selector notch

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Front end

post-41495-0-21365200-1337391558_thumb.jpg

 

Handguards

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Bayo

post-41495-0-45366500-1337391578_thumb.jpg

 

Here is what I purchased for parkerizing

 

post-41495-0-38487100-1337392000.jpg

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It's not too bad it does have a little play to the left and right but thats it. About a half mm of movement to either side. In the mean time I did a little parking and painting. I parked the dust cover, selector, and the mag that I parked a couple days earlier. I'll put some pictures up to show the new color. I choose KG 2400 series AK black. The paint is a little on the glossy side but I like it, it makes it look fresh and clean.

 

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I put the dust cover, selector, and mag on to give everyone a comparison to the stock finish. The way I finished these was I blasted with 80 grit garnet, degreased, parked with LCW manganese phosphate at 180 F for 15-20 minutes, dryed and heated parts in oven at 170 F, took to the airbrush and painted very lightly around 5 coats remember these were very light, then threw in the oven for 1 hour at 325 F, removed parts from the oven and bam cured and ready to go.

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Thanks a lot Krinkle, I wish I could post more pictures of the actual process but it hard to by myself with only a camera phone. So anyway here is another update. I was hoping to get it all finished by yesterday but that is not going to be possible. I have work off tomorrow and friday so hopefully it will be done by tomorrow or friday at the lastest.

 

The trigger guard came without a hole drilled for the pin to hold the mag catch. The pin is 5mm I locked it on a drill press and went to work. Then I assembled the mag catch/trigger guard assembly. Everyone says these are a bitch to get together and take forever but this only took 5 minutes. The key was a pair of vise grips to compress the spring. I reused the actual mag catch and spring from the Saiga and installed those on the trigger guard that I purchased. I stripped the paint off the original mag catch until the original park was left and I degreased the trigger guard which came already parked. I painted them before I assembled them to be able to get the nooks and not paint the spring. After assembled I had to smoosh the heads of the pin to lock it in place. I accomplished this by taking it to the press and pressing either sides against blocks of steel until the heads mushroomed out. These will then be riveted on after the gun has been parked seeing that it won't fit in the park tank with the trigger guard.

post-41495-0-16856000-1337824777_thumb.jpgpost-41495-0-15390000-1337824786.jpgpost-41495-0-15879300-1337824798.jpg

 

Next I decided to start sand blasting the gun because it will take a bit of time. I finished most of it but need to finish inside the receiver and front trunnion and sight block. Tomorrow I will get to parking and painting. Then I will need to park and paint all the small parts (trigger group, bolt carrier, bolt, etc). Last but not least I will have to rivet the trigger guard on to the receiver and then do a quick touch up with some paint on the rivets.

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Can't even see the velco mark can ya?!?!

Edited by themadhatter196
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OKAY UPDATE: The gun is finished, well almost. Yesterday I finished sandblasting everything and parkerized and painted everything. Sandblasting went smoothly until my blasting gun broke and I had to go out to tractor supply and buy a new one. A hint for anyone looking at getting into abrasive blasting, go with either a siphon fed gun or a pressurized tank, do not buy the hopper fed ones unless you are only doing a extremely small amount of work. Then came parkerizing,this took forever the solution wouldn't come up to temperature so I had to switch burners. Then came painting, this was the biggest pain in the ass. A couple of parts fell to the ground after being painted and had to get degreased and repainted. The gun actually fell off the rack that was holding it in the oven and screwed up the paint which then had to be taken off stripped and refinished. But boy after this stuff has been cured for a hour it will not wipe off with any solvent, acetone, toulene, etc. Today I made a trigger guard riveting jig which took a hour or so, it worked but not all the way. I am now looking for a trigger guard riveting jig to finish off the rivets if anyone has one for rent or sale. On another note it turned out great, you cannot see the old trigger holes, markings, and so on. I ended up filling in the word saiga but not canta just in case. If I ever repaint it it will be filled in along with F and S. I decided not to stamp the cyrillic markings as my option was to use a metal stamp which isn't made for hard steel. Someday I might send it out to get that completed but at this point I am happy. Another positive not I did completely fill the infamous velcro mark with no hint of it at all after parking and painting. Also if anyone decides to use JB weld anywhere on anything that is going to be sand blasted be sure to do it after sandblasting or it will eat the JB. I ended up painting everything including trigger assembly to make sure it matched the rifle. LAST BUT NOT LEAST HERE ARE THE FINAL RESULTS.

 

Sandblasted

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Parkerizing

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After parking

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After paint, oil, and assembly

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That looks nearly identical to my SGL Saiga rifles. I have to say that you did a great job, man! 032.gif You were much more thorough in your build than 99.9% of the Saiga sporter "103" conversions I've seen.

Edited by post-apocalyptic
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