imarangemaster 315 Posted September 14, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 14, 2014 Ugh! Bad news! The money order for the vented Chinese gas tube and polymer upper handguard is lost in the mail. I sent it Tuesday to Washington state from Northern CA, and it has gone poof! Mailed it from in the Post Office, at that! ARGHHHHH! WIthout the gas tube and crush washer for the Muzzle brake, I am at a standstill. At least I got the K-Var Nato length stock modified and fitted. I am too old and impatient for all of this waiting! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
imarangemaster 315 Posted September 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 18, 2014 (edited) Hurray! Tomorrow it comes all together. K-Var stock with 1" extender recoil pad is mounted, barrel cut back and threaded, Tactical Tri-Delta comp and crush washer installed, Tapco gas piston installed, Tapco G2 FCG modified for stock, Tapco Intrafuse handguard with fabricated aluminum liner is on, Bulgarian cotton AK sling mounted. The final piece will be the vented Chinese gas tube and top handguard, which are due in the mail tomorrow. I even had some Tapco bakelite orange slab side 30s I bought as repair kits a couple years ago buried in the safe (as kits). I got them out and used the orange bodies and their floor plates to rebuild some of my bent or rusted mil-surps (repair of existing 30s is allowed in CA). Should be a cool setup. I will take pictures this weekend. Edited September 19, 2014 by imarangemaster Quote Link to post Share on other sites
imarangemaster 315 Posted September 21, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 21, 2014 (edited) Hurray! It's done!!!!! Everything is great. The only hitch I had was the vented Chinese gas tube (NOS) had very sharp edges areound the hole on the face of the tube toweards the BCG. It was scrapuing and binding a little. I relieved the top edge where the lock engages it, and beveled the inside of the mouth of the tube with a dremel. Slick as snot. I even put a recoil buffer on it. My .308 PTR-91 (HK91 Clone) has a built in rubber reecoil buffer (all HKs and CETMEs do), and the AR15 has a rubber recoil buffer on the end of the buffer. AKs beat the hell out of the end on the reciever channel with the BCG, so why not add one. I even fabricated the heat shield for the Tapco Intrafuse handguard. VERY SWEET build. I could not take pictures (I like outside, daylight ones) as the smoke from the 90,000 acre "King fire west of Tahoe kleft visibity 40 feet in my yard. I could not see the fence at the back of my 1/2 acre. It si probably less than 60-70 miles from me as the crow flies. As soon as I get some better conditions, Edited September 21, 2014 by imarangemaster Quote Link to post Share on other sites
imarangemaster 315 Posted September 22, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 22, 2014 Pictures! 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bigtwin 219 Posted September 23, 2014 Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 So how does that trigger pull feel using the straight comb stock? I know the factory Saiga buttstock was more of a Monte Carlo stock with some curvature. Does it feel odd for the reach of the trigger is what I am asking? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
imarangemaster 315 Posted September 23, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 It's like shooting an old straight stock 03 Springfield or Mauser. Not bad. Not quite as good as the factory stock, but it looks better! 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
imarangemaster 315 Posted September 23, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 I also added a Russian AK103 1000 meter rear sight. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Protectandserve 6 Posted September 23, 2014 Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 Looks slick. The muzzle brake looks nice as well. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
imarangemaster 315 Posted September 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 24, 2014 Arghhh! Finally got a chance to try the build with the K-Var stock. I thought it would be alright from first feel just trying it dry firing- BUTTTTTTT... (Let me preface this by saying I am 62 years old and have had three surgeries (2 complete rebuilds) of the right shoulder) After a few shots, my right arm started to cramp because of the unnatural angle. Dang! After all that effort, I just had to go back to the factory Saiga buttstock. I know it works well, as I have had fired hundreds of rounds with the factory rounds. I still don't want to restore this one with a pistol grip like prior saiga I have had, as I am not a fan of kydex paddles. VERY hard to do a secure one-handed grip while changing mags. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
imarangemaster 315 Posted September 25, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 25, 2014 I have had questions about why I don't do a full "restoration" and use a Solar tactical paddle. I have RH Solar Tactical paddles for my PTR91 (HK clone), my AR15 retro build, and have had them on prior AK builds and a VZ58 I had. On the AR, if it is a build with a carbine stock, I prefer the Hammerhead (which I also have) as it allows a one hand, secure grip, that feels sorta like an FN P90 PDW grip. On my retro rifle, I use the paddle. Anyway, since the Saiga comes featureless, it seems silly to me to restore it, only to have to install a paddle to use my pre 1-1-2000 high-caps.. Sort of like taking a perfectly good M1 Carbine, M1A, or Ruger Mini, and putting a pistol grip on it, only to have to use a paddle.Besides, my favorite long gun IS the USGI M1 carbine. Light, handy, and very deadly at PDW ranges (150ish or less). I took 200 pound deer at 100 yards with one 110 grain JSP Carbine round (1970 FPS @950 lbs ME). Carried it for years as my LEO trunk weapon, and my dad carried one on Iwo Jima and it served him VERY well. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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