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Saiga .223 unloading live bullet from chamber


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As I mentioned, find a AK builder you trust or a true AK smith. I recently bought a 'professionally' put together kit, but when I got it, it was obviously out of spec (selector plate). So I lost faith in the build, and tracked down a builder/smith in AZ that knows what he's doing to correct it and check overall integrity. Long story short, anyone willing to work on your rifle can call themselves a gunsmith, but that doesn't mean much.

 

Between my 1911 and the few rifles I've had worked on, most 'smiths' I've spoken to are best at drop in parts and installing quad rails on AR's.

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And buy the way he only need to polish the face of the bolt and did nothing else,

 

 

crikky, is your area full of incompetent fucks who pass themselves off as gunsmiths?

 

first you take it to one person, he tells you, no problem.

 

then you take it to another and he trailer park hillbill it and calls it "fix", by polishing the face of the bolt. I mean really, where the hell are you finding these yahoos?

 

 

dude, the only way to PROPERLY fix a out of spec (too tight chamber) is to take out the barrel pin, reposition the barrel using a GO gage, then check with a NO-GO, and then re-drill the barrel pin hole to accommodate a oversize barrel pin.

 

I bet this yahoo didn't even have any gauges, he probably just buffed the face of your bolt and said, "yep, that thar be good 'enuff, I dun fix it"

 

that sounds like a job that costs more than his gun. if a minor fix is a minor fix, and it runs with no incident thereafter, i would think this OP saved himself some big bucks.

 

Of course, I'm eager to hear if gauge tells him its good or not.

im also eager to hear how it fires down the road again.

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Matthew Hopkins is correct in thats the way a headspace problem really should be fixed, but yes that is basically a rebuild of the rifle.

 

Mis-matched bolts are headspaced to assembled rifles by unit armorers using the methods I mentioned earlier - rear lug face clearancing. This method is recommended by several experienced builders as well.

 

Still is suggested to have an experienced AK builder do this work. It's not Dremel time, but very fine work with jeweler file set and emery cloth.

 

Personally I find it tough to believe that Izhmash botched the headspacing of a rifle, and that there is something else going on with the it.

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Yes they are pretty much black and white. GO is the minimum safe headspacing for the gun to operate. A gun is considered safe to fire if it closes on this gauge. If it does not close on it, the headspace is too tight.

 

NO-GO is sized to the maximum specified headspace value. A properly headspaced gun should not close on this. If it does, the headspace is excessive. Though a gun may appear to operate correctly with excessive headspace, it's an indicator that the rifle may be worn or improperly assembled.

 

There are situations where a gun may close on both gauges. For this reason you cannot verify headspace with only one.

 

You may also at times hear of a field gauge. The field gauge indicates that the gun should not in any circumstances be fires at all if the bolt will close on it. The field gauge indicates extremely excessive headspace.

 

Headspacing is a complicated subject and I encourage you to do some more research beyond the basics above. Headspace is an important safety issue, but many people will tell you that some designs are more sensitive to out of spec headspacing than others, depending on both chambering and overall design of a given firearm. Everyone has their take on it.

Edited by mancat
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Knowing the headspace is off, I couldn't be comfortable shooting again. Find a COMPETENT smith, prefereably one who knows a little about AK's, who can correct the bolt. If that means shipping it to someone who knows AK's, then that's a small price to pay for a safe weapon..........

 

..........safe weapon, is that an oxymoron?bad_smile.gif

 

+1000. I, also, found this out. First (and VERY well known) gunsmith I took mine too could not find a problem with mine. Next I took it to a COMPETENT AK smith who immediately found the bolt/carrier fit to be out of spec, thus causing the ejector not to hit the case base. He was stunned that any smith could not have found this.

What I learned: AR "gunsmiths" are usually "parts replacers"... AK gunsmiths tend to understand the dynamics of the platform and understand any issues. It's kind of like "old school" mechanics who actually know how an engine works, and can fix it by understanding it...vs "new school" mechanics who only knows how to read a diagnostic code and replace (not fix) parts.

The right tool for the right job. AK guy for AK.

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