Show me your AK

mclina said:
View attachment 21815

Just finished this Saiga conversion yesterday.

Hey, I got a question for you guys. Has anybody done one of these conversions and then had to change the sights? I cannot get my face down low enough on this stock to get a decent sight picture. I am considering adding a scope mount and a red dot, but I'd really like to have iron sights that I can use.
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that looks awesome, about how much time/money did you spend on that whole conversion? i wanna do a saiga myself i just gotta do some research on it.
 
PowerJoker6.0 said:
that looks awesome, about how much time/money did you spend on that whole conversion? i wanna do a saiga myself i just gotta do some research on it.
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Thanks. This is only about a half day project. I think it took me about 3 hours total, but working in the shop does tend to speed up the passage of time, so it may have been a little longer.

I spent $289 on the rifle, through the current group buy, which is still going on. These are the parts I used:

Tapco TimberSmith black laminate stock set ~$115
Tapco G2 trigger group ~$25
Axis pin retainer plate ~$8
Bullet guide kit (round trunnion) ~$20
Lower Handguard bracket ~$50 (pricey, but it's a nice, solid piece)
Gas Tube ~$30
30 round pre-ban mags $20 each

So, the total cost of the rifle was probably around $550, which is about what a MA legal WASR-10 would cost, but I think it's a better rifle.
 
mclina said:
Thanks. This is only about a half day project. I think it took me about 3 hours total, but working in the shop does tend to speed up the passage of time, so it may have been a little longer.

I spent $289 on the rifle, through the current group buy, which is still going on. These are the parts I used:

Tapco TimberSmith black laminate stock set ~$115
Tapco G2 trigger group ~$25
Axis pin retainer plate ~$8
Bullet guide kit (round trunnion) ~$20
Lower Handguard bracket ~$50 (pricey, but it's a nice, solid piece)
Gas Tube ~$30
30 round pre-ban mags $20 each

So, the total cost of the rifle was probably around $550, which is about what a MA legal WASR-10 would cost, but I think it's a better rifle.
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thats awesome, i am definitely going to do this, i thought it was a lot of work to get them to look like a traditional AK but if its something i can do for that cheap in a few hours, totally. where did you buy your parts?
 
2011-11-05_08-50-50_716.jpg


Love the looks of the Wire stock so put one on my Maadi even though its a shame i had to Neuter it for MA.
 
mclina said:
I got everything through Carolina Shooters Supply, except they were out of the gas tube. I got the gas tube from Danzig.

There are several Youtube videos on this, but these guys are the best by far. They have great lighting, great camera angles, and they explain everything nice and clearly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waj8aLz-xY4
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how big of an ordeal is it to swap the forstock? if i do the conversion i want it to look identical to your traditional AK. could i swap furniture from a WASR onto a saiga if i wanted to? are the stocks the same? i guess i really need to just get a saiga in my hands so i can figure it all out for myself.
 
PowerJoker6.0 said:
how big of an ordeal is it to swap the forstock? if i do the conversion i want it to look identical to your traditional AK. could i swap furniture from a WASR onto a saiga if i wanted to? are the stocks the same? i guess i really need to just get a saiga in my hands so i can figure it all out for myself.
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Changing out the forestock was a piece of cake. You just need to buy the $50 handguard retainer bracket, and it bolts right on. There are some other brackets out there for a little less money, but I have heard that the aluminum ones can crack. The one from Carolina Shooters is solid, and it has a sling attachment and a hole for a cleaning rod.

To do the upper foregrip, you need to replace the gas tube with one that has the channels that hold the wood in place. I had to do a bit of sanding to get mine in, it was a tight fit, but it's not hard either.

I can't say if the WASR parts are a direct fit, but I suspect that they are. If anything, the rear stock attachment may be different.
 
PowerJoker6.0 said:
how big of an ordeal is it to swap the forstock? if i do the conversion i want it to look identical to your traditional AK. could i swap furniture from a WASR onto a saiga if i wanted to? are the stocks the same? i guess i really need to just get a saiga in my hands so i can figure it all out for myself.
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Some stocks need a little fitting. Thats just basically filing or sanding a little wood or plastic here and there. If you pay close attention when assembling you can see where parts such as the lower handguard are binding or where an upper gas tube needs to be filed down at the oppening. Check some of our Saiga build threads in the Build It Yourself section here. I've done several and have addressed many of the problems you may run into during a conversion.

These days I can do one bullet guide and all in about 2 hrs. My latest which involved swapping out the gas block/sight block and cutting grooves in the barrel for a lower handguard retainer took several hours longer.

Heres a quick cell phone pic of 4 Saigas ready to be put away after unpacking today. Two 7.62x39s, one 5.45x39, and one .308

20111106194938.jpg
 
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SKS Ray said:
Some stocks need a little fitting. Thats just basically filing or sanding a little wood or plastic here and there. If you pay close attention when assembling you can see where parts such as the lower handguard are binding or where an upper gas tube needs to be filed down at the oppening. Check some of our Saiga build threads in the Build It Yourself section here. I've done several and have addressed many of the problems you may run into during a conversion.

These days I can do one bullet guide and all in about 2 hrs. My latest which involved swapping out the gas block/sight block and cutting grooves in the barrel for a lower handguard retainer took several hours longer.

Heres a quick cell phone pic of 4 Saigas ready to be put away after unpacking today. Two 7.62x39s, one 5.45x39, and one .308

20111106194938.jpg
Click to expand...

Nice looking rifles, Ray.

Do you remove the bolt hold open levers from your Saigas? Any particular reason?
 
OK, now it's done.

I had some left over parts that I didn't need, and I returned them to Carolina Shooters, and used the credit for a scope mount and a red/green dot. The service from Greg at CSS is awesome!

I just couldn't get comfortable using the iron sights while wearing muffs. The red dot fixes that, and it really helps with fast target aquisition. I just put ~60 rounds through it and it works great.

The sling is a $7 ebay job, but it's very secure, if a tad short.

AK47 004.jpg View attachment 22206 AK47 006.jpg AK47 007.jpg
 
mclina said:
OK, now it's done.

I had some left over parts that I didn't need, and I returned them to Carolina Shooters, and used the credit for a scope mount and a red/green dot. The service from Greg at CSS is awesome!

I just couldn't get comfortable using the iron sights while wearing muffs. The red dot fixes that, and it really helps with fast target aquisition. I just put ~60 rounds through it and it works great.

The sling is a $7 ebay job, but it's very secure, if a tad short.

View attachment 22205View attachment 22206View attachment 22207View attachment 22208
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Greg at CSS is indeed a great guy to deal with. That sling looks like its Romanian. Nice find for $7.
 
mclina said:
I just couldn't get comfortable using the iron sights while wearing muffs. The red dot fixes that, and it really helps with fast target aquisition.

View attachment 22205View attachment 22206View attachment 22207View attachment 22208
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i've got the same problem, but can't bring myself to attach optics to my AK (obsessed with the traditional look). prolly gonna switch to plugs for when i'm firing it, but another build is gonna be soon, one with poly furniture that won't look bad with optics and a mount.
 
I tried a couple different plugs and they just didn't cut it. It was still way too loud. I'd have preferred to have no optics on it, but I couldn't sight worth a crap without it. My kids shoot it as well, and I wouldn't let them do it with just plugs.

I think a longer buttstock would have helped.

I am also tempted to buy another one and make it more modern looking, or even keep it in the Saiga configuration. If there's another group buy after Christmas, I'll probably do it.
 
is there anywhere you can get genuine wood furniture for these things? i just love the look of the old russian red wood but i cant find it anywhere
 
mclina said:
If by 'genuine' you mean Russian, then that would be a no-no in terms of 922r compliance. You generally need US made furniture to hit your parts count.
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Don't be like that. Dishing out off base information like you're doing right here. There are many US replicas of gas pistons, muzzle brakes, and pistol grips that when combined with a US FCG, can get you to 922r compliancy. You can also use US magazine followers and floor plates, which put you in the happy place of using foreign furniture and pistol grips. Come on dude.

As far as sourcing genuine russian furniture, Ebay used to be a prime source. But you mostly find Ukranian refinished wood on gunbroker and ebay. It's still russian, probably, but it's been molested and sometimes doesn't quite look "right" after the refinish job. Try the marketplace of www.theakforum.net. That's your best bet for reasonably priced russian wood with decent visual representation before you pull the trigger.

I've picked some up from gunbroker and it turned out to be Ukrainian refurb. This is a good example of it:

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=259501756
pix147989238.jpg


The shelac is uniformly darker, orange, and opaque. You can also see a refurb proof (square with horizontal line through it) on the stock. Russian shelac varies from blonde to orange red to dark red, but never dark enough or opaque enough to cover the grain of the wood like this example. It's probably still russian wood, but it just looks funny now.

I've got "refurbed" russian wood that came with a kit, but there are also other proof marks on it indicating Izhevsk refurbished Tula wood.
Tula proof marks tend to be circular. The "hammer and anvil" in a circle indicates Tula without a doubt. It's also sometimes called the "Circle K" proof mark:

tulawoodstamps.jpg

IMG_3633.jpg


I've seen this on my Tula Krinkov handguard, which is not refurbished at all. Those proofs are very distinct. My Tula AKM kit has tula proofs, but they are faint as they've either old and somewhat worn, or a very thin layer of shelac was applied in refurb land, which is Izhevsk as I can see distinct izzy proofs on the wood, too, which look fresher than the older Tula proofs.

Diamond / triangular proof marks indicate Izhevsk. The more common Izzy proof, often found on handguards, is the "PB" in a diamond mark:

DSC_9230.jpg

pix332083379.jpg



It's really difficult to get your hands on non-refurb russian wood. But it's not too difficult to get your hands on russian wood furniture that has been refurbed in Russia. Shelac color and proof marks can help you identify if it's been done in Russia. Russian wood will have a square and line proof mark, but will also be complimented by the proof marks that I listed above. If there are no proof marks except for the square with a line, then it's probably Ukranian.
 
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Sorry about that. I was sort of talking out of my ass.

I am glad that you were able to provide better information than me. Those old Russian stocks do look really good.
 
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interesting, i definitely want mine to have wood furniture but i cant stand the idea of having a recoil pad on an AK. flintoid, awesome info dude. mclina, thanks for helping out man
 

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