FilesCreekMafia 6 Posted April 13, 2013 Report Share Posted April 13, 2013 I just finished the conversion on my .308, I took it to the range this week to try it out. Out of 40 rounds I had 10 light primer strikes. Before the conversion I ran about 100 rounds through it with no issues. I reused the factory main spring during the conversion. I unloaded the weapon removed the dust cover and cycled the bolt to get an idea of what was going on. When the hammer is released and strikes the firing pin It has about a 1/16th of travel left in the pin. I am going to remove the bolt and check the firing pin for obstructions. Beyond that any ideas? I thought of getting an aftermarket main spring but from what Ive read they are softer than the original. Thanks for any advise. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Shandlanos 1,470 Posted April 13, 2013 Report Share Posted April 13, 2013 Compare the shape of your replacement hammer to the original. It may be a manufacturing defect in the hammer. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sdustin 578 Posted April 13, 2013 Report Share Posted April 13, 2013 What FCG are you using? Can you substitue for the factory hammer. Is there enough cough cough American made parts to do this? I'd try that use your tapco trigger or whatever it is and try the factory hammer with all factory springs and do a safety check. I used the factory hammer on my conversion and it works great. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
FilesCreekMafia 6 Posted April 13, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2013 I'm using the Dinzag modified FCG. I didn't compare the 2 side by side but the new one is highly polished and obviously has had some material removed. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jdub23 21 Posted April 14, 2013 Report Share Posted April 14, 2013 What hammer are you using? Is it hitting the crossbar/rivet? I would use the original shim it with a washer if you leave out the BHO. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
FilesCreekMafia 6 Posted April 27, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2013 After checking the hammer was hitting the cross bar, a little work with the dremel and problem solved. I put 100 rounds down range the other day with no more issues. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Havoc308 3 Posted May 5, 2013 Report Share Posted May 5, 2013 Looks like a regular ak hammer, doesn't really have the notch for 308. You can see where it was hitting the crossmember. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
netpackrat 566 Posted May 6, 2013 Report Share Posted May 6, 2013 Looks like you also have a problem with the hammer and trigger surfaces not making very good contact. This can happen sometimes in the .308 because many of them have an overly wide, out of spec trigger cutout in the receiver, that can let the trigger drift sideways. Mine actually locked up the rifle entirely once because of this. About the only ways to really fix this, are to add metal to the sides of the cutout through welding, or use some sort of spacers on the pin on either side of the trigger to locate it more positively. Both are kind of a pain in the ass but the first is a one time, permanent fix. Following are before and after pictures of my .308 showing the gap, and then where I tigged in a little extra metal on each side to eliminate the slop. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sdustin 578 Posted May 7, 2013 Report Share Posted May 7, 2013 Mafia I would at a min take a dremel to that hammer and cut down on that crossmember contact. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
FilesCreekMafia 6 Posted May 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 8, 2013 Yeah I took a dremel and took a little off of the crossmember pin and the front of the hammer where it was making contact.Then I took a sharpie and went over the pin and hammer where it was hitting and put the bolt and recoil spring back in and cycled it several times to make sure it wasnt hitting anymore. After that I had no more issues with it. The trigger group I used came from Dinzag and it came with a washer I placed on the right side of the FCG in between the trigger and BHO lever. Hopefully it is straight now. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sdustin 578 Posted May 8, 2013 Report Share Posted May 8, 2013 Cool. If it were me I wouldn't have ground the cross member. That's HARD to replace. Hammer easy to replace. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
netpackrat 566 Posted May 8, 2013 Report Share Posted May 8, 2013 Cool. If it were me I wouldn't have ground the cross member. That's HARD to replace. Hammer easy to replace. It's just a rivet in a tube. Piece of cake. 8^) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sdustin 578 Posted May 8, 2013 Report Share Posted May 8, 2013 Piece of cake compared to changing a hammer? I would t think it was be nearly as easy. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jdub23 21 Posted May 9, 2013 Report Share Posted May 9, 2013 Ohh man, your rifle do as you please. But, newbies DO NOT GRIND ON YOUR CROSS MEMBER, unless you can put another rivet in on your own when it was a pointless avoidable action in the first place. Good luck with you rifle Mafia :facepalm:..... 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
netpackrat 566 Posted May 9, 2013 Report Share Posted May 9, 2013 Piece of cake compared to changing a hammer? I would t think it was be nearly as easy. I was just being sarcastic. Of course the hammer should be relieved to clear the cross member, not the other way around. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
VR762Shooter 838 Posted May 10, 2013 Report Share Posted May 10, 2013 Yeah the hammer is very easy to grind down. You really shouldn't be grinding on structural parts of the rifle when removable parts can easily be altered Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bahnburner 0 Posted June 18, 2013 Report Share Posted June 18, 2013 I'm also having a problem with light primer strikes. I checked to see if the hammer is hitting cross member and it seems clear. The hammer is also flush with the firing pin housing (don't really know the technical term for this) I will attach some pics. Any chance the firing pin is to short? There is a little abnormal wear on the firing pin where the hammer hits. Can anyone provide me with precision measurements (using something that can read in .001 in) of their pin? One thing to add its has gotten progressively worse (misfire almost every other round). Running tapco FCG and a JTE power spring. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cguiro 29 Posted June 18, 2013 Report Share Posted June 18, 2013 (edited) Tune your jte spring. I had the same issue initailly in my .223. I needed to bend the arms of the springs about a 1/4 of an inch. I made the bend in the middle of the spring arms. Post better pics of your firing pin.(if you can remove it) .. if its deformed it maybe to short. If your still having issues after tuning spring take it out and replace with your oem one. Hope i helped Edited June 18, 2013 by cguiro Quote Link to post Share on other sites
netpackrat 566 Posted June 18, 2013 Report Share Posted June 18, 2013 There is a little abnormal wear on the firing pin where the hammer hits. Can anyone provide me with precision measurements (using something that can read in .001 in) of their pin? One thing to add its has gotten progressively worse (misfire almost every other round). Yeah, that sucks. How much that sucks cannot possibly be overstated... My Romy kitbuild rifle developed an identical problem and I changed out all manner of springs, and even installed a high zoot Red Star trigger kit before I discovered that the rear end of the firing pin had been peened over like that. When I inspected my brother's rifle ("sister" build of the same year Romy kit on same brand receiver) I found that it was well on its way to having the same problem, although it was not yet misfiring. We were able to fix both rifles simply by installing new surplus Polish firing pins. Unfortunately, to the best of my knowledge, nobody sells a replacement firing pin for the Saiga .308... See my first statement above. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sdustin 578 Posted June 19, 2013 Report Share Posted June 19, 2013 If I can figure out how to easily pound out the retaining pin on my bolt I'll get a good measurement. I've only fired about 200-500 rounds from my gun and other than that's it's new. If you must do something you could weld up some material onto the back of the pin and mill it down. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cguiro 29 Posted June 19, 2013 Report Share Posted June 19, 2013 Why not remove the firing pin and slowly remove some material to the collar so that the hammer can push the firing pin further. I have done this on a 308 ar that was giving light primer strikes to milsurp Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sdustin 578 Posted June 19, 2013 Report Share Posted June 19, 2013 That would be easier. Especially if you only needed a few thousandths. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bahnburner 0 Posted June 21, 2013 Report Share Posted June 21, 2013 Thanks for the replies guys. Why not remove the firing pin and slowly remove some material to the collar so that the hammer can push the firing pin further. I have done this on a 308 ar that was giving light primer strikes to milsurp This is what I'm leaning towards, seems like easiest route. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
csspecs 1,987 Posted June 21, 2013 Report Share Posted June 21, 2013 Remember that the firing pin is an inertial type. Meaning that it is made to sit below the bolt face when the hammer is lowered on it. Only a solid strike will fire the round. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cerephim 3 Posted February 6, 2014 Report Share Posted February 6, 2014 There is a little abnormal wear on the firing pin where the hammer hits. Can anyone provide me with precision measurements (using something that can read in .001 in) of their pin? One thing to add its has gotten progressively worse (misfire almost every other round). Yeah, that sucks. How much that sucks cannot possibly be overstated... My Romy kitbuild rifle developed an identical problem and I changed out all manner of springs, and even installed a high zoot Red Star trigger kit before I discovered that the rear end of the firing pin had been peened over like that. When I inspected my brother's rifle ("sister" build of the same year Romy kit on same brand receiver) I found that it was well on its way to having the same problem, although it was not yet misfiring. We were able to fix both rifles simply by installing new surplus Polish firing pins. Unfortunately, to the best of my knowledge, nobody sells a replacement firing pin for the Saiga .308... See my first statement above. I sell replacement pins for the S308. Contact me at Cerephim at gmail dot com Quote Link to post Share on other sites
netpackrat 566 Posted February 8, 2014 Report Share Posted February 8, 2014 (edited) Been meaning to order one from you for a spare. I got the pics you sent, looks good. Edited February 8, 2014 by Netpackrat Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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