S-308 Threaded front sight blocks

[cpileri 0]

Some have modded and/or suggested candidate front sight blocks, already threaded, for the 308. But is there any consensus on which, if any, threaded front sight unit fits the saiga-308?

Or, barring that, if any is easy to modify and solid!

I reference the launching of a brake/adapter unit downrange in this post:

http://forum.saiga-12.com/index.php?showto...view=getnewpost

 

as the need to step up to a threaded front sight, one step away from a threaded barrel.

Thanks,

C-

[chapperjoe 0]

Some have modded and/or suggested candidate front sight blocks, already threaded, for the 308. But is there any consensus on which, if any, threaded front sight unit fits the saiga-308?

Or, barring that, if any is easy to modify and solid!

I reference the launching of a brake/adapter unit downrange in this post:

http://forum.saiga-12.com/index.php?showto...view=getnewpost

 

as the need to step up to a threaded front sight, one step away from a threaded barrel.

Thanks,

C-

 

 

according to AK USA there is ZERO way to get muzzle attachments on. Something about how the end of the muzzle is constructed...

 

He's converting my 308 and I begged and begged, but he said no chance no matter how much cash was involved! (felt shady saying 'I don't care what it costs" wcause they're nice people, but had to try....)

[vulcan762 0]

I think the big problem with the .308 is that the front site post is dimpled onto the barrel. That means no pins to remove. I think the solution is to cut the site off and file off anything thats left over. Now with a clean barrel you can figure out a muzzle device.

 

I plan on cutting off my front site and soldering or welding it onto my front gas block along with adding a Galil type rear sight to the dust cover. Then I will thread the barrel and install a decent flash hider. Here is a picture of what Im talking about. Or, I may just pull the original gas block altogether and install an L1A1 adustable gas block so I can adjust the gas AND have a site that sits further back.

 

Edited November 28, 2005 by vulcan762

[grizzlybigbore 0]

on mine the front site block is pinned on, not dimpled. that is how rick-16 was able to make pin-on flash hiders and thread adapters

[G O B 3,516]

+1 for pinned. I am looking at a Bulgy donor sight. Haven't gotten around to pulling the Bulgie off the barrel yet. If they are the same ID I will just swap them. The Bulgie is shorter by enough to thread the barrel. Also it has the detent pin for the muzzle device.

 

G O B

[vulcan762 0]

The Bulgarian AK74 front sight wont fit on the heavier .308 barrel. I have seen where people have used "some" RPK parts successfully but I didnt see a swap specifically of the front sights.

 

 

 

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QUOTE(G O B @ Nov 28 2005, 07:08 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

+1 for pinned. I am looking at a Bulgy donor sight. Haven't gotten around to pulling the Bulgie off the barrel yet. If they are the same ID I will just swap them. The Bulgie is shorter by enough to thread the barrel. Also it has the detent pin for the muzzle device.

 

G O B

 

 

Well they must have used both processes. It would be helpful if you could post a closeup picture of your front sight so we can see the difference.

 

 

on mine the front site block is pinned on, not dimpled. that is how rick-16 was able to make pin-on flash hiders and thread adapters

[IndyArms 10,186]

Vulcan.... where did you get that picture from??? Thats BADASS!! :up:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[cpileri 0]

I guess i dont know if I have a dimpled or pinned one.

I used a rick-16 threaded 'slip-over' adapter and it fired fine when left with nothing attached. i.e.just the threads by themselves. But i attached that brake and it flew downrange, shearing off both extended sides of the longer crosspin that came with the adapter.

it also bent both sides of the notch in the adapter sleeve itself where the crosspin sits, so it cant be held in again by the crosspin, if i should get anothr one.

 

I am wondering about drilling a few more holes in it, and threading them for pins AND using epoxy or welding it to the front sight.

 

Is Devcon Steel Putty a better, more secure hold for something like this than a soft solder?

 

THIS TIME my front sight wasn't functionally damages, only scracthed some paint. I am wondering if i really attach the thing to the front sight, could it then pull the front sight off with it?

 

Also, rick-16's slip-over sleeve is 1-inch in diameter, so i am also considering getting a 1 inch ID tube to slide over it past the rear and down the barrel a few inches. Then using another tube/shim that slides around the barrel behind the front sight to take up the space between the barrel and my '2nd sleeve'. All this to create more attachment points to thread/pin to the barrel.

I would have to commit to dremelling a few dimples into my barrel for these new pins. but thats the best I can come up with here at home.

 

I am taking suggestions now!

 

C-

[steve467 0]

Carl bring that bad boy over and we'll see if we can fit a 24mm threaded FSB on, or if we can just replace yours with a Saiga 410 screw-on FSB and thread the barrel as normal.

 

Oh and bring your flat bending jig....heheh

[vulcan762 0]

I just measured my .308 16" Saiga just behind the front sight. Its 17.55mm OD. The Bulgarian AK74 barrel is 14.68mm OD measured at the same point. Now, I would assume that the long barrel Saiga .308 tapers down to a slightly smaller size but I doubt its down to 74 barrel size. Either way your not going to get a 74 front sight on a .308 Saiga. It just wont fit without turning the barrel down considerably which I think is a bad idea.

 

I mentioned this earlier but no one picked up on it. A FAL / L1A1 front sight block is just a few thousandths over the Saiga barrel size. It also lines up nicely with the gas tube. WINNR over on Gunco stuck one one his AK, after sleaving it to fill the extra space, and now has an adjustable gas sytem on his AK-47. I think it would fit right onto the Saiga .308 with very little fitting. Hmmmmmm.

 

Indy, Thats a stock Saiga .308 that I photoshoped the front sight back to the gas block. I was trying to see if I would like the looks. I think it looks cool and doable. I just need a Galil rear sight so I can set the height.

[cpileri 0]

Carl bring that bad boy over and we'll see if we can fit a 24mm threaded FSB on, or if we can just replace yours with a Saiga 410 screw-on FSB and thread the barrel as normal.

 

Oh and bring your flat bending jig....heheh

 

Plan to! i was talking about you today, sent you an email to your work address.

Do you have a FSB to try, or should i order one before i come over?

C-

 

 

I mentioned this earlier but no one picked up on it. A FAL / L1A1 front sight block is just a few thousandths over the Saiga barrel size. It also lines up nicely with the gas tube. WINNR over on Gunco stuck one one his AK, after sleaving it to fill the extra space, and now has an adjustable gas sytem on his AK-47. I think it would fit right onto the Saiga .308 with very little fitting. Hmmmmmm.

 

The end of the front sight of the saiga is about .78 inches- I have it exactly somewhere. behind the front sight is not too much bigger, but it does taper.

 

I wonder if the FAL/L1A1 FSB would slide back far enough and wedge over the barrel at some decent lenght, and leave some free barrel end to thread?

Thanks fo rth eidea.

C-

[Burboy 0]

Hi guys. First post. Thanks for the great forum.

 

Has anybody welded a muzzle brake directly to the front sight block on a 308.

I bought a G3 brake from JLD, the PTR91 people, and was looking at doing this. It's about the

right size for the barrel and has a skirt that I can cut off making it extremely compact.

After some careful thread searching I am concerned that the 308 is powerful enough to

pull the FSB off the barrel. My 308 has the double pin retention on the FSB. I have welded

on a muzzle brake on an AK74 and it's done 1000 rnds and doing fine.

Big difference in blast though.

 

Any thoughts or old threads to point me to?

 

Thanks,

Burboy

[IndyArms 10,186]

Shouldnt be a problem.... Weld away...

 

Just gotta be sure its true to the bore....

 

Keep it true, and weld it, it should NEVER come off...

 

 

[Sct1886 0]

I welded mine. I bought an AK74 type pin on brake for the SKS from CDNN for $10. Hogged it out a little. Tack welded, aligned with a section of drill rod to insure aligment and welded away.

[Burboy 0]

I finished welding and grinding, etc. I've put 140 rounds of Portuguese surplus thru it so far with no measurable shift or movement of the FSB. I think it's going to hold just fine. It looks pretty good too, IMHO.

 

Burboy

[vulcan762 0]

Very nice build. Tell me about the Galil mag. Did you need to make any mods to the rifle to accept the Galil mag? What about a bullet guide?

 

Thanks.

[Burboy 0]

Thanks for the compliment on the build. It's my first and only but I do like to tinker. As for the Galil mag... absolutely no mods to the rifle and no bullet guide. It functions 100%. I cut down the sides and front of the mag body to fit in the factory mag well, relocated the front locking tab further down in order to raise the front of the mag, (this puts the bullet tip at a straight shot into the chamber, no bullet guide necessary), and built up the rear tab for a tight fit. It looks silly I know but it works and it looks great in the rifle. I have included some pics to help illustrate what I did. I apologize for the pitiful welding, just not my forte.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hope this is helpful.

 

Burboy

[vulcan762 0]

Very clever! The mag does look a bit strange with the follower so visible. But if it works...what the heck.

 

I would love to find a good source for Galil mags as I think that is in deed the way to do these rifles. I may be able to come up with a bullet guide system if it means less cutting on the mag. I would like to see a picture of the mag loaded and then loaded and installed in the gun. Maybe a picture looking down into the receiver with the dust cover removed.

 

Again, you did a real nice job.

[Burboy 0]

Vulcan,

 

A bullet guide isn't going to alleviate much of the cutting on the mag. All of the metal removal around the front and sides of the mag was necessary to fit the mag up into the mag well without any alteration to the gun (i.e. trunnion). A guide would allow you to seat the front of the mag a little lower in the gun because you wouldn't be trying to get a straight shot into the chamber as I did. That would allow you to leave an equal amount of metal around the front of the mag that didn't need to go up inside the mag well, but what would that be... 1/8" or maybe 3/16". If I were doing a second one I know now that I could cut away a bit less on the sides and still make it fit. But it wouldn't be that much less.

 

I'll post some "loaded" pics tomorrow.

 

Burboy

Edited December 20, 2005 by Burboy

[vulcan762 0]

I think I see now. The Galil mag has the typical metal reinforcing around the top of the mag. Essentially another layer of steel.

 

I have a spot welder and Im wondering if after I cut the mag down to the correct dimensions if I could spot weld on a new, narrower, reinforcing plate. I will have to get my hands on a Galil mag so I can see how much room I have to work with. The Galil is an AK platform and not that different dimension wise from the regular AK.

 

If you have a chance and the cameras handy, perhaps you could also post some side by side pics of the Galil mag and the Saiga mag too.

 

I really think your onto something here and I have a suspicion that .308 Galil mags will show up on the market eventually.

 

Remember $30 HK91 mags? I just bought 50 brand new alloys for $1 each. Who would a thunk it.

 

 

 

Vulcan,

 

A bullet guide isn't going to alleviate much of the cutting on the mag. All of the metal removal around the front and sides of the mag was necessary to fit the mag up into the mag well without any alteration to the gun (i.e. trunnion). A guide would allow you to seat the front of the mag a little lower in the gun because you wouldn't be trying to get a straight shot into the chamber as I did. That would allow you to leave an equal amount of metal around the front of the mag that didn't need to go up inside the mag well, but what would that be... 1/8" or maybe 3/16". If I were doing a second one I know now that I could cut away a bit less on the sides and still make it fit. But it wouldn't be that much less.

 

I'll post some "loaded" pics tomorrow.

 

Burboy

[Burboy 0]

Here's the other pic's you asked for.

 

 

 

 

 

Hopefully this will give you a decent idea of how it lines up.

 

Burboy

[AK-treO8 0]

Very nice on the mag...and brake/site. I've got an AK74 brake on mine, workes great. As for the mag, I think I'd try the conversion on a $20 12 round before cutting on a $90 25 round one though.

 

Yours definitely looks good.