SVD rivet/ Rear trunnion

[Mountain Man 20]

So I finished the step one in my first Saiga 223 conversion. Drilled the shouldered trigger pins out, as well as the trigger guard rivets, and while I was at it I removed the SVD mount, since I knew I would never want to use it and it would shave off couple ounces. It was going well till I had a "Oh Crapt moment" when I was on the last rivet and it was taking a super long time... I realized that the third rivet closest to the rear trunnion is actually serves a dual purpose and is one of the four rivets securing the rear trunnion as well...

 

I talked to a few other people who had done the same thing and they just said you have to put on a new rivet. I know AK builder has a rivet machine for the rear trunnion put I really do not want to dish out $200.

 

Can anyone offer some ideas on the best way to keep that rear trunnion secure and avoid a catastrophic failure...Thanks!!!

[mancat 2,368]

The cheapest way to crush AK rivets is with a modified Harbor Freight bolt cutter.

 

http://pookieweb.dyndns.org:61129/AK/rivet/boltcutters/boltcutter.htm

 

It can also be done with a hammer or bench vise with some patience and appropriate tools.

 

The hammer method is done using a modified flat-nose punch that is drilled out on the nose to give you the desired head cup shape of the rivet. You then gently punch it into shape, making sure to support the receiver to prevent damage.

 

You can also slowly crush the rivets by hand using a bench vise. Again the receiver will need to be supported, and you can use aluminum plate on both sides with drilled rivet head cup indents to form the heads.

 

If you don't care about using rivets at all, the rear trunnion is an ideal place to use the threaded screws that are used in screw-build AKs. The rear trunnion doesn't take a lot of force, and these screws would be very likely to ever come loose once loctited in place. You can get the screws from AKBuilder, but they are basically blued allen-head cap screws more or less.

 

IMO removing the mount is way more effort than it's worth. I have one in my hand from a parts kit, and I can barely tell how much it weighs. OH well, you're already too far down that road to turn around.

Edited July 31, 2013 by mancat

[Mountain Man 20]

The cheapest way to crush AK rivets is with a modified Harbor Freight bolt cutter.

 

http://pookieweb.dyndns.org:61129/AK/rivet/boltcutters/boltcutter.htm

 

It can also be done with a hammer or bench vise with some patience and appropriate tools.

 

The hammer method is done using a modified flat-nose punch that is drilled out on the nose to give you the desired head cup shape of the rivet. You then gently punch it into shape, making sure to support the receiver to prevent damage.

 

You can also slowly crush the rivets by hand using a bench vise. Again the receiver will need to be supported, and you can use aluminum plate on both sides with drilled rivet head cup indents to form the heads.

 

If you don't care about using rivets at all, the rear trunnion is an ideal place to use the threaded screws that are used in screw-build AKs. The rear trunnion doesn't take a lot of force, and these screws would be very likely to ever come loose once loctited in place. You can get the screws from AKBuilder, but they are basically blued allen-head cap screws more or less.

 

IMO removing the mount is way more effort than it's worth. I have one in my hand from a parts kit, and I can barely tell how much it weighs. OH well, you're already too far down that road to turn around.

Live and learn, yeah I won't be doing this to future conversions... Thanks for the info. I was wondering you said "The rear trunnion doesn't take a lot of force, and these screws would be very likely to ever come loose once loctited in place" I assume you mean would not be very likely to come out, right? Thanks!

 

I am pretty compulsive, so when I finished the trigger pins and trigger guard rivets, I just did not want to stop...lol.

 

Okay though serious question though I do have mild OCD and if I go with a screw on the SVD mount side, would I compromise the integrity it I drilled out the hole on the other side and replaced it with a screw as well. I know it seems stupid, but I have to ask.

 

Lastly, is the front end conversion more of an aesthetic or functional conversion? Thanks!!!

[mancat 2,368]

Yeah sorry, I meant the screws will likely never come loose.

 

The nice thing about screws is that if you change your mind, you just unscrew them and install a rivet. All you have to do for the screws is thread the rivet holes.

 

The only reasons to really do the full front-end conversion is if you want a full AK-74/AK-101 look, want to use the 24mm FSB without strange thread adapters, or if you want the accessory lugs on the FSB/GB for some reason. Otherwise it's just easier to leave the parts there and use a 14x1LH thread muzzle device.

 

I did the full front-end conversion on mine because at the time I wanted a SAR-3/SLR-106 lookalike, but the former was impossible to find, and the latter was at or near $1k when the Saiga was $300 + $100 AK-74 parts kit for the parts.

Edited July 31, 2013 by mancat

[Mountain Man 20]

I can't find those screws on AK builder

[mancat 2,368]

http://www.tapco.com/products/ak/index.php?_a=viewProd&productId=266

[Mountain Man 20]

I think that is what I am going to do, none of the websites that sell those talk about threading those rivet holes to fit the screws. Do they need to be threaded? I just can find what size tap I would need to use...I looked all over the web this afternoon for info but I keep getting all of the cross references for "what do I do with the rivet holes after the conversion" junk.

[jerry52 893]

I think that is what I am going to do, none of the websites that sell those talk about threading those rivet holes to fit the screws. Do they need to be threaded? I just can find what size tap I would need to use...I looked all over the web this afternoon for info but I keep getting all of the cross references for "what do I do with the rivet holes after the conversion" junk.

 

http://www.tapco.com/products/ak/index.php?_a=viewProd&productId=266

Got mine at the local hardware store