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Magpul Zhukov Handguard


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Didn't fit on my 16" Saiga .308.

 

Hopefully this is useful information.

 

The barrel was too wide at the base.  The heat shield has two sets flanges, forward and rear) that come up over the left and right side of the barrel, behind the m-lok holes.  The rear flanges are too tight to fit around the barrel and sight block barrel band that is there.  The forward flanges are OK because the barrel is more narrow there.  So, if I took a mallet to the heat shield and bent the rear flanges to fit around the base of the barrel, the rear flanges would then no longer be aligned with the front flanges and I don't know if the plastic would be able to bend enough to accomodate both sets of flanges.

 

That's a shame -- plum would have looked good on that gun.

 

I wonder if it'll fit on my VEPR...

 

 

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Ugh, I knew I should have checked before ordering. That said, I too can confirm that the handguard will not fit the 308. I also had to slightly modify the wedge block on the stock to clear the screw for the trigger guard. Other than that, all is well and the black stock matches the stock handguard pretty well. This with the MOE grip allowed me to shave 6/10 of a pound off my previous setup using the ATI Dragunov stock. Total empty weight with a 1-6x30 on an MWI side rail is 10.4 pounds.

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I have it on my Vepr 308.  My next one is the Saiga 308.  It can be done.  I would show pics but I dont know how to post them.  I can email them to someone if they care to post them.  Caveat: my Vepr is not a finished product and nowhere near that point.  Just making that clear.    

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I have it on my Vepr 308.  My next one is the Saiga 308.  It can be done.  I would show pics but I dont know how to post them.  I can email them to someone if they care to post them.  Caveat: my Vepr is not a finished product and nowhere near that point.  Just making that clear.    

 

20150512_173730.jpg

 

 

20150512_173641.jpg

Edited by Dad2142Dad
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I used Auson pine tar, tried and true varnish oil and finished it with some Howard's feed n wax polish and conditioner.  I have better pics of that Vepr 54R but just posted them so that people could something to compare it with the 308 Vepr.  

 

I definitely need to get a different butt stock on that 308 though.  I am leaning towards a PRS.  I have a Saiga 308 (21" barrel) that I am also mounting a Zhukov handguard.  I just cant decide on the rest of the furniture.        

 

Dad, thanks for helping me posting the pics.  

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I used Auson pine tar, tried and true varnish oil and finished it with some Howard's feed n wax polish and conditioner.  I have better pics of that Vepr 54R but just posted them so that people could something to compare it with the 308 Vepr.  

 

I definitely need to get a different butt stock on that 308 though.  I am leaning towards a PRS.  I have a Saiga 308 (21" barrel) that I am also mounting a Zhukov handguard.  I just cant decide on the rest of the furniture.        

 

Dad, thanks for helping me posting the pics.

 

The PRS would look very nice and function well with that .308. Just be forewarned, it is very heavy and is better suited to bench rest type shooting. If that is what you are going for, the PRS is an excellent choice.

Nice job on the pine tar finish as well. I read a nice tutorial on the web about doing that with the RA furniture when I was trying to figure out what I was going to do with mine. Was that your tutorial by chance? I ended up going a different direction with Aquafortis, but what you have done looks great. Good luck on getting them the way you like 'em.

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I used Auson pine tar, tried and true varnish oil and finished it with some Howard's feed n wax polish and conditioner.  I have better pics of that Vepr 54R but just posted them so that people could something to compare it with the 308 Vepr.  

 

I definitely need to get a different butt stock on that 308 though.  I am leaning towards a PRS.  I have a Saiga 308 (21" barrel) that I am also mounting a Zhukov handguard.  I just cant decide on the rest of the furniture.        

 

Dad, thanks for helping me posting the pics.

The PRS would look very nice and function well with that .308. Just be forewarned, it is very heavy and is better suited to bench rest type shooting. If that is what you are going for, the PRS is an excellent choice.

Nice job on the pine tar finish as well. I read a nice tutorial on the web about doing that with the RA furniture when I was trying to figure out what I was going to do with mine. Was that your tutorial by chance? I ended up going a different direction with Aquafortis, but what you have done looks great. Good luck on getting them the way you like 'em.

 

I encountered the pine tar while reading up on Mosins.  I have a Russian and Finnish Mosin I would like to restore some time in the near future.   

 

I know how heavy the PRS can get, which is why I am only considering it for now.  Quite frankly, I am not sure what buttstock would work as well on the Vepr 308 or the Saiga 308 with the Zhukov handguard. 

Edited by Lou the Jew
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  • 2 weeks later...

Ugh, I knew I should have checked before ordering. That said, I too can confirm that the handguard will not fit the 308. I also had to slightly modify the wedge block on the stock to clear the screw for the trigger guard. Other than that, all is well and the black stock matches the stock handguard pretty well.

 

It looks to me like the barrel clamps would be too small for the larger S308 barrel?

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From Magpul's site:

 

Mounts to most AK-47/AKM/AK-74 rifles with barrels between 16.75-18.25 mm in diameter under the hand guard and greater than 13" in length*

 

My barrel is 19.40mm. The clamp would have to be bored out at at least 1.15mm to work. I'm not sure how it mounts at the receiver end so that may be an issue also..

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  • 4 months later...
  • 2 weeks later...

I just finished installing a Zhukov on my 308 - it was not easy but now that I am done it does look very nice. I started with the instructions that are out there for adapting it to the VEPR, all of which is indeed necessary. The rear end of the metal heat shield does need to be notched in order to fit but in a different way than the VEPR. If you try to put one on you'll see what needs to be relieved. Even afterwards the heat shield is a very tight fit. You will need the longer screws as well.

 

 

Since the Saiga barrel is tapered, and the front barrel clamps fits, have you considered drilling two holes in the bottom of the metal heat shield a few inches closer to the front clamp?

 

That will help, but you do still need to notch the rear of the metal shield, and the barrel taper introduces another problem: the barrel clamps provided by Magpul are the same size. If installed on a tapered barrel, the front one will close up more than the rear which causes the handguard to point upwards when installed. So you end up having to increase the diameter of the opening in the rear barrel clamp so it moves up tighter against the barrel to align the handguard properly parallel to the bore. Also, depending on how far rearward you want the handguard to extend you may have to relieve some material from the inside of the back of the handguard itself.

 

Once I had all the parts modified the way I wanted them, I painted them all Duplicolor DE1635 to match the Saiga paint because the grey Magpul finish looked terrible next to the rest of the gun. After it was all assembled the parts look like they belong and the handguard looks right at home. All in all it took way more work than I expected or wanted but it can certainly be done. I wanted something to match my MOE stock and now I have it, so I'm satisfied.

 

fSAsMH4.jpg

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Nicely done! Good to learn that just like with the Vepr, the heat shield must be modified to fit on a 308 Saiga. Thanks for the info.

However that has me now leaning towards going with the standard Magpul MOE AK handguard. 

Edited by Belloc
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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 4 weeks later...

 

Ooh, thanks for that link.  I didn't know they started to make one for the .308....  That should find some application for use with other custom AKs.  Too bad they made it clamp on instead of solid and pinned.

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  • 3 years later...

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