I think I just messed up a perfectly converted Siaga 7.62 x 39

[Joe6801 2]

After doing a conversion and having over 800 with no failures, I decided to smooth some bolt areas  because I had trouble cambering the 1rst round on a Tapco 30 round mag and the G2 trigger I had installed, similar to a S12 polish job. Long story short, my Saiga 7.62 x 39 will now fully chamber rounds when facing upward and horizontal. When facing downward, sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. The bolt is on the rails like is is supposed to be. Dont see why the bolt would jump over a round vs not doing so when facing up are sideways. Any ideas?

[thebuns1 4,323]

Got pics?

[Joe6801 2]

Got pics?

Taking pics now. Give me a few mins.

[Joe6801 2]

Reason why even started messing with the Saiga. Carrier was doing this to the 1rst round on top and made it hard to chamber the first round. Was trying to alleviate this. 
http://forum.saiga-12.com/index.php?/gallery/image/9368-dsc02081/
 

The outcome. Crap dremel job, I know.
http://forum.saiga-12.com/index.php?/gallery/image/9369-dsc02082/

http://forum.saiga-12.com/index.php?/gallery/image/9370-dsc02083/

http://forum.saiga-12.com/index.php?/gallery/image/9371-dsc02086/

http://forum.saiga-12.com/index.php?/gallery/image/9372-dsc02087/

 

http://forum.saiga-12.com/index.php?/gallery/image/9373-dsc02088/

http://forum.saiga-12.com/index.php?/gallery/image/9374-dsc02090/

http://forum.saiga-12.com/index.php?/gallery/image/9375-dsc02091/

 

Edited November 1, 2013 by Joe6801

[Joe6801 2]

I forgot to mention I was also filing the mag release to accommodate this Tapco 30 round mag and I think I over did the mag release. Found the problem. Ugh, installing that RAM extended release is a pain! 

[mancat 2,366]

you removed way too much material from the bolt.

 

additionally, if the mag catch allows the rear of the mag to sit too low, the rifle may fail to strip rounds.

 

unfortunately, by removing an excessive anount of material from the bolt bottom lug, which is responsible for stripping rounds from the mag, you may have just impacted the reliability of the rifle.

 

all that is required to alleviate the case gouging is a very light chamfer of the bottom lug sharp edges with a jewler's file. you went way overboard.

 

if you are lucky, replacing the catch will fix the problem. otherwise you will need a rather expensive replacement Saiga bolt, and the rifle will need to have headspace checked and set if necessary by a professional.

Edited November 1, 2013 by mancat

[Sim_Player 1,939]

Why a Saiga bolt? Any AK bolt, of that caliber, should work.

 

Head-spacing would still be required.

 

If your mags are sloppy, you over did it and you will have to replace the catch.

Edited November 1, 2013 by Sim_Player

[dashowdy 141]

I thought saigas used a modified 74 bolt with a 74 carrier? K-var has them at the moment I think.

[thebuns1 4,323]

Yeah you now have bolt over base ftf. That sucks. The only time I had them was with mags seating too low, and I replaced the catch. Good luck.

[mancat 2,366]

dashowdy is correct, the Saiga will not take a standard 7.62x39 bolt.

[canoecanoe 63]

Too bad for you, Joe. I really hate it. This is an example of what was an evidently perfectly good and functional rifle being fubared by the attempt to make modifications to utilize crapco mags. I hope this is a lesson to others to stick with reliable combloc surplus mags.

[dashowdy 141]

Mine works great with tapcos no complaints here, they require some slight fitting dependent on rifle but I always set up my catches for com blocs and then file the tapcos to fit. The 20 rounders are my favorite.

[thebuns1 4,323]

Mine works great with tapcos no complaints here, they require some slight fitting dependent on rifle but I always set up my catches for com blocs and then file the tapcos to fit. The 20 rounders are my favorite.

 

This is the important part.

[Joe6801 2]

you removed way too much material from the bolt.

 

additionally, if the mag catch allows the rear of the mag to sit too low, the rifle may fail to strip rounds.

 

unfortunately, by removing an excessive anount of material from the bolt bottom lug, which is responsible for stripping rounds from the mag, you may have just impacted the reliability of the rifle.

 

all that is required to alleviate the case gouging is a very light chamfer of the bottom lug sharp edges with a jewler's file. you went way overboard.

 

if you are lucky, replacing the catch will fix the problem. otherwise you will need a rather expensive replacement Saiga bolt, and the rifle will need to have headspace checked and set if necessary by a professional.

I think I am still in the safe zone (no bolt replacement needed) because if I apply upward pressure on the magazine (taking up the gap I created by over filing) all rounds chamber. THANK YOU LORD! Now if you all would care to read my new post about the magazine spring, that be great. I thank you all for your input on this matter. You all rock!

http://forum.saiga-12.com/index.php?/topic/91317-replacement-magazine-latchrelease-spring/

[Tool_of_Society 15]

Too bad for you, Joe. I really hate it. This is an example of what was an evidently perfectly good and functional rifle being fubared by the attempt to make modifications to utilize crapco mags. I hope this is a lesson to others to stick with reliable combloc surplus mags.

I use "Crapco" mags all the time at the range. They are my go to mags for hunting too. I've never had a problem with them. Now if I was pretending to be a soldier or something like that and dropping magazines I'd definitely use my combloc surplus mags but there's no reason to put wear and tear on those when I'm simple range shooting or hog hunting..

[Matthew Hopkins 1,065]

this is a lessons learned, boys and girls. when modifying, always modify the thing that is easily replaceable and cheap.

 

example for me, I bought a SLR-106UR within the last week, for a super great price. didn't want to spend a fortune for Bulgarian mags. I had TAPCO GALIL mags that work great in my SAR3, however when trying to insert them into the SLR, the mags were  too thick to go into the mag well. easy fix, file down the thickness of the mag. worked like a charm, and for 12.99  bucks a pop, I can afford to buy more TAPCO mags for my SAR3. or just say F--- it and just use my modified E. German  5.45 mags that I converted for .223

 

I certainly wasn't going to hack away on the mag well for them to fit it, I never know when I might come across some  real cheap Bulgarian mags, then the thing would just wobble around in there.  

Edited November 4, 2013 by Matthew Hopkins

[Rhodes1968 1,638]

Yeah thats a bit more radical than polishing a bolt.

[SGL 530]

Edit: Whoops...sent suggestion for cheap 5.45 mags....see now you are talking about 5.56....my fault.

Edited November 4, 2013 by SGL

[Bigtwin 219]

WOW Joe! You did a number on that bolt! Far from a polish job, more like a grinding job.

 

What bit did you use on the dremmel tool? I used my dremmel on my bolt, but I used a polishing wheel and red jewelers rouge, it shines like chrome and is smooth as silk(well as far as an AK goes), I couldn't be happier with the end result. But my method takes off no measureable amount of metal!

[Joe6801 2]

WOW Joe! You did a number on that bolt! Far from a polish job, more like a grinding job.

 

What bit did you use on the dremmel tool? I used my dremmel on my bolt, but I used a polishing wheel and red jewelers rouge, it shines like chrome and is smooth as silk(well as far as an AK goes), I couldn't be happier with the end result. But my method takes off no measureable amount of metal!

Used a green colored grinding tip stone.

[pjj342 632]

 

you removed way too much material from the bolt.

 

additionally, if the mag catch allows the rear of the mag to sit too low, the rifle may fail to strip rounds.

 

unfortunately, by removing an excessive anount of material from the bolt bottom lug, which is responsible for stripping rounds from the mag, you may have just impacted the reliability of the rifle.

 

all that is required to alleviate the case gouging is a very light chamfer of the bottom lug sharp edges with a jewler's file. you went way overboard.

 

if you are lucky, replacing the catch will fix the problem. otherwise you will need a rather expensive replacement Saiga bolt, and the rifle will need to have headspace checked and set if necessary by a professional.

I think I am still in the safe zone (no bolt replacement needed) because if I apply upward pressure on the magazine (taking up the gap I created by over filing) all rounds chamber. THANK YOU LORD! Now if you all would care to read my new post about the magazine spring, that be great. I thank you all for your input on this matter. You all rock!

http://forum.saiga-12.com/index.php?/topic/91317-replacement-magazine-latchrelease-spring/

 

I also took a bit too much off my mag catch on my iz132 (im very anal, so the 1/2mm of slop I had created was unacceptable).  

 

I feel this guy in the vid left alot out.  What kind of rifle was he working on?   What kind of catch was he using?  Obviously they match because he did not include the fitting process that is required if they didnt.

 

I bought a normal ak mag catch, which looked alot different than my saiga catch.  Likewise, the length was way longer, and the 'stop arm' was longer too.  This fitting job took me around 4hrs to get absolutely perfect.  

 

With any catch you use (hopefully the one you get is closer to saiga spec than mine was), first pop it in with the pin through, without the spring, and see what you need to do.  Work on the 'stop arm' first until you get the right angle, then work on overall length if either steps are needed.

 

Im not sure what kind of catch is a close fit for a saiga x39 rifle, and maybe thats why i had to do so much fitting on mine,  someone here may know the right catch to use....

 

Good luck to you man, if you need any help at all, just let me know.

[Fishbed77 3]

Too bad for you, Joe. I really hate it. This is an example of what was an evidently perfectly good and functional rifle being fubared by the attempt to make modifications to utilize crapco mags. I hope this is a lesson to others to stick with reliable combloc surplus mags.

 

This!  ^^^

 

Politicians should focus on banning "Assault Dremels" rather than "Assault Weapons". 

 

You know, since Assault Weapons don't actually exist. 

Edited January 11, 2014 by Fishbed77

[Padrooga 55]

 

Too bad for you, Joe. I really hate it. This is an example of what was an evidently perfectly good and functional rifle being fubared by the attempt to make modifications to utilize crapco mags. I hope this is a lesson to others to stick with reliable combloc surplus mags.

 

This!  ^^^

 

Politicians should focus on banning "Assault Dremels" rather than "Assault Weapons". 

 

You know, since Assault Weapons don't actually exist. 

 

Yes they do!!!  They're all black!!  @__@  ...And should always be fired from the hip. 

 

Makes me want to paint everything black.