Master Lemon, your responses as requested..

[bhi curamach 2]

Hello sir, I'll attempt to address your questions even though it would appear Ive missed the deadline.

 

Im kidding.

 

I started with a standard 7.62x39 Saiga rifle. I then purchased a kit from kvar, a 74 Bulgy to be specific.

Id researched that this was indeed compatable and an excellent way to get closely to the current AK in service to the Russian Army.

While this was my first kit purchase I have seen pictures ofn other kits and I must say mine seemed to be in great condition on two fronts.

The parts themselves showed little use(mostly) and all parts were broken down into their various componets.

So no populated barrels for me.

 

This means that the mag release parts consisted of four parts, the housing, the shim( for lack of a better word, it fits directly underneath the trigger guard/mag release housing) the nasty horrible spring and the pin that goes through the side of the mag release holding the spring, lever and housing together as one unit.

I used some rivets from the rivet kit i purchased along with this kit at KVARs suggestion.

I was able to rivet these parts into nplace but the view from inside the receiver is not nearly as pretty as a factory job.

I had no real jig.

I used a large vice, a drift/punch or two and a hammer. They work, no play in that assembly but as I mentioned the mag catch lever does seem to show the most use out of all the parts in the kit.

 

Yes, to and fro, forward and aft, back and farward, pick your expression sir, this is the direction it would seem the majority of my mag play exists in.

Not a huge deal really, just thought the dimpled Saigas were mostly free of this.

 

I do appreciate your response and the time it took to post. Ive read many of your responses and you seem to be fairly educated on this forum topic.

 

I will get pics, soon, I swear. However i the meantime if one should visit the KVAR site and search the kit section they could see what I have furniture wise.

I believe the add copy state bulgarian parts with russian plum furniture excepting the US grip.

As an aside I also installed their (KVAR) 922R fire control group.... not too bad, seems a bit better than the Tapco G2 units Ive dealt with in the past.

Cheers sir!

[Fallschirmjager667 729]

are you using a saiga specific mag or a surplus ak mag?

[bhi curamach 2]

Sorry for the delay.

I am currently in possesion of the following magazines.

generic Euro metal mags, Bulgy slab side, smooth poly (no circle 10 stamp, just a sticker/paper saying made in bulgaria) and the circle 10 marked waffle poly mags.

The factory mag will go in. This has the least amount of wobble which seems somewhat odd to me.

 

Id never even attempted it before finally reading your response.

[Agent Lemon 157]

So you riveted the mag catch latch into the mag catch housing using a vice and a punch? I ask because I want to start using new mag catches, but I hear that the brand new ones need a hole drilled and the rivet formed, and I have no idea how to form that rivet.

 

As for questions from other thread:

I never heard of 7.62x39 versions feeding without a bullet guide, I have only heard of the 5.45.x39 versions doing this. You mentioned that you were able to cycle a mag without one, but that you had some hiccups and that the casings were scratched a bit. They were getting scratched because of the sharp edge on the trunnion I think. Bullet guides scratch the casing a little bit too, but the bullet guides usually acquire a little bit of wear at the sharp edge, which smooths it out, stopping the casings from getting scratched.

 

If you install a bullet guide, then you will not have any hiccups and the feeding will be reliable. You can get a couple of em and just superglue one in temporarily to see how it will affect function. You can use this method to also test out which position the bullet guide works best in.

 

The reason why WASRs wobble is because, I hear, they come in the country as single stacks, and then Century widens out the magazine well, sometimes making it too wide, causing wobble. All my Saiga rifles have a little bit of wobble side to side, and this is normal. All my Saiga rifles also have AKM catches on them, and those also allow for a little bit of up/down movement on the rear side, which ends up looking like a back and forth movement. This is all normal as long as the up/down movement isn't so large that you can predictably make the gun either jam or feed properly by either pulling down, or pushing up on the mag.

 

Hope it helps.

 

P.S. did you use the single stage or double stage Arsenal FCG? I prefer the single myself, but it seems hard to find these days. Did you make sure to use the 74 style rivet in the rear of the trigger guard to stop trigger slap?

Edited December 7, 2012 by Agent Lemon

[bhi curamach 2]

So you riveted the mag catch latch into the mag catch housing using a vice and a punch? I ask because I want to start using new mag catches, but I hear that the brand new ones need a hole drilled and the rivet formed, and I have no idea how to form that rivet.

 

Ah, sorry. I wasnt clear. The lever is retained in the housing by the cross pin and that devil designed spring. I placed the flat end of the pin on the anvil portion of my vice and formed the other end of the pin with the ball end of a ball peen hammer.

 

 

The housing itself and the underlying safety lever stop were rivited in using the bag of bulgy 74 rivits.

I dont recall having to drill them, Im somewhat certain the original saiga mag lever housing rivit holes were already there. though its possible I had the drill the rear holes, i dont seem to recall at the moment.

 

As far as forming goes all I did was use a dremel with a cutting ball to make rivit head sized 'bowls' in the top of the jaws. I then sized said jaws so the receiver laid in between them with the rivits resting in their little holes on top of the jaws. Then I smashed the crap out of them using random punches. I believe the largest brass drift worked the best. They are not pretty but i dont image they will be shown off alot.

I purchased the double stage FCG, purely by that being the first one I saw on the website. KVAR part number is AK-922DS. I ordered this on 10/17/12 so perhaps they still have some.

Im not certain I know if I used the trigger guard anti slap rivit or not. I used all the rivits in the kit that applied to the mag release, trigger guard and the two blocks on the barrel, though I suppose those are actually pins not rivits.

i guess i will find out once i order the bullet guide and go fire the thing.

Thanks for the replys and on the off chance i somehow can be of assistance feel free to ask.

 

oh, the vice had tape and feft on the jaws to minimize any damage to the rifle. Luckily i realized this just before I begin bashing the rivits. So I got to set it up in the vice twice, repetition is always fun.

Edited December 8, 2012 by bhi curamach