Another 308 Conversion Complete Thread

[BrutalGardener 205]

I've been working on this rifle over the period of several days in my friend's shop. It took me longer than it does most of you, because even though I did my S12 before, I'm still not experienced with tools and also ran into a few snags along the way.

 

Conversion parts:

• 
   
  
• Tromix modified Tapco G2 FCG - comes a shepherds crook and a disconnector spring
  
• Tapco AK pistol grip bushing and screw
  
• Tapco Gen 2 retaining plate
  
• RAM bolt-on Saiga trigger guard
  
• ATI Dragunov-style skeleton stock I had lying around
  

 

Notes and observations:

 

1) Removing the old FCG was extremely easy. Just pulled the retaining spring away from the hammer pin using a pair of thin-nosed pliers and it all came out after that.

 

2) Removing the stock was easy too. Took out the three screws and gave it a little whack with a mallet. Done.

 

3) The handguard was more difficult. It was sitting in there pretty tight. I had to stick a flat head screw driver in between the receiver and the handguard and give it a number of good whacks with a mallet, until it finally popped out.

 

4) After removing the handguard, I noticed that there's some kind of rather long pin sticking out from both sides on a horizontal plane from where the barrel and the gas port connect. It's longer on the left side. WTF is it?

 

5) Ground down the trigger guard rivets with this cylindrical metal grinding dremel bit. Worked well, but took some time. Ground down the two spot-welds at the back until the plate separated from the receiver. Tried to drill out the central spot-weld with a hand drill and ended up breaking the trigger guard after yanking on it. Finally, ground it down until the whole plate came off. After that, I just ground down the remaining welds on the receiver until they were flush.

 

6) My receiver came with an existing pistol grip bushing hole. Nice!

 

7) I tried to fit the RAM bolt-on trigger guard, but I couldn't see any friggin' way that it would properly attach to this rifle, no matter how many extra holes I drilled and what I did to the trigger guard itself (cutting, bending, etc). Lame! This thing is being sold as fitting all Saiga rifles. I hope I can get my money back.

 

8) As I mentioned before, I broke the OEM trigger guard in the process of removing the Clinton plate. Luckily, I still had the one that I took off my Saiga 12 lying around. I was able to use it. Had to drill a hole in the receiver between the trigger and bushing holes, as well as one inside the mag release assembly. Used my buddy's drill press and a quality 3/16" bit to do that. Was easy.

 

9) I refinished the bare bottom of the receiver by applying three layers of low gloss DupliColor 500 Degree Engine Enamel. First, I degreased the surface by wiping it with a DupliColor prepping wipe. Then, I roughed it up with fine sand-paper, wiped it with a rag soaked in aceton, dried it with a clean rag and use a can of compressed air to blow away any debris. Did the same things to the trigger guard. After prepping, I sprayed them both with three light layers of paint, with 10 minutes between layers. When I came back after letting it sit for 4 hours, everything looked great - very good match for the factory paint! From previous experience, I know to keep DupliColor Enamel painted surfaces away from acetone, as it will take it right off. I don't plan to bathe my rifle in nail polish though.

 

10) Attached the trigger guard to the receiver using a couple of black allen screws and some nuts that I had lying around. Getting a screw into the mag release assembly and lining it up was a bitch. After securing the front of the trigger guard, I had to bend it using a clamp, in order to line it up with the back hole. I ground the tops of the screw flush with the nuts.

 

11) Followed the instructions in Carolina Shooters Supplies' YouTube video to install the FCG. BHO lever and spring weren't too difficult this time around. I ran into a snag when the safety lever wouldn't properly align with the safety lever hole in the Tapco retaining plate. While messing around with that, my pins popped out and I had to redo the BHO, etc. I took out the Tapco retaining plate and filed the hole in order to expand it a bit. That worked.

 

12) One of the hammer springs would not sit on the trigger properly. It would slip towards the other spring every time I pulled the trigger. I probably spent like over an hour experimenting with bending it in different ways, until I actually got it to sit correctly.

 

13) The trigger moves a bit from left to right on its pin. Is this a matter for concern?

 

14) After assembling everything, I noticed that the safety wasn't working. The safety lever isn't tall enough to strop the trigger. I searched this forum and discovered that the 308 safety lever is shorter than the other AK/Saiga ones, which causes problems with unmodified G2 triggers and the Tromix modified ones. Do I understand correctly that Dinzag's G2 triggers have mods which take care of this problem? Luckily, I had an East German AK safety lever sitting at home. I put that in and it works.

 

15) The ATI skeleton stock wouldn't fit right. When it was pushed all the way into the receiver, the hole in the Tapco pistol grip bushing would not align with the screw hole in the pistol grip. This had me perplexed, but I was really tired that evening. I came back to it the next day, with a fresh head and it became very clear exactly what I needed to do. Just had to remove a little bit of plastic from the space where the pistol grip bushing goes into the stock, towards the back of the stock. That made the bushing sit in there at a slightly different angle and align properly. I used this metal dremel cutting bit to do it.

 

Any way, I am very satisfied with the results of the conversion and excited about taking this Saiganov shooting and sighting in the POSP this weekend. Thanks to everyone on this forum for providing so much useful info, advice and moral support. Cheers.

Edited January 21, 2010 by SpetsnazGRU