5.45 Saiga Goodness... (56K DEATH!)

[Blackhawk2001]

Where did you get the Romanian side-folder?

 

[windellmc]

Did you end up getting a flat trunnion? For some reason it looks round in the pics, but I am wondering if I even know the difference.

 

[gunman41mag]

Mr. JAG you have TALENT !!!

 

[Clay]

hey Ive got another question for you. Im digging the paint job you did. How does the semi-gloss match the factory paint? It looks like you did paint the dust cover, and the semi-gloss may be just a touch to shiny. Let me know what you think on that.

Also, how bad was the stink when you baked it? Did it clear out pretty easily? My wife is going to be gone for 1.5 days this weekend. Im wondering if I can get this done and the smell cleared out before she gets back

 

[Dorky_D]

I used the semi on mine as well. I did not re-paint the entire thing, and it still looks good. I am sure you can tell a difference if you look real hard, but it is pretty darn good. I even sprayed a Q-tip and applied a little touch up here and there. It works pretty darn good. It dries real real fast!

 

[Mr.JAG]

Where did you get the Romanian side-folder?

I picked it up from another INGO member in the classifieds some time ago. I will be replacing it as soon as the east-german folder I have on order comers in. I'm not a fan of the push-button style. I have a Romanian lever action folder on my 7.62 Saiga, and it locks up TIGHT. No amount of pressure side to side will cause it to collapse. This push button folder locks up just fine, but it you apply about 30lbs of sideways pressure to it.. it will fold without pushing the button. Not good. I'm not sure if this is inherit in the design, or if this folder is worn out. Also don't know of any way to fix the issue. Either way, its getting replaced so I'm not worried about it too much.

Did you end up getting a flat trunnion? For some reason it looks round in the pics, but I am wondering if I even know the difference.

Yes, this Saiga has the flat trunnion. Here is a picture that shows the difference....

hey Ive got another question for you. Im digging the paint job you did. How does the semi-gloss match the factory paint? It looks like you did paint the dust cover, and the semi-gloss may be just a touch to shiny. Let me know what you think on that.

Also, how bad was the stink when you baked it? Did it clear out pretty easily? My wife is going to be gone for 1.5 days this weekend. Im wondering if I can get this done and the smell cleared out before she gets back

I ONLY painted the receiver. I did NOT paint anything else (dust cover / safety selector is still sporting the factory job). IMO the paint matches the factory color very closely. In person, it looks perfect. There is, however, a difference in the texture of the finishes. The factory Saiga is a little rougher in texture, so it reflects the flash of the camera a little differently. I could have better matched the texture if I put a final mist across the receiver from 4-5 feet away.. just to give it that "parkarized" look. I choose not too because I didn't think it was necessary, and I was concerned about making my finish HARD and scratch resistant (neither of which a mist finish would help with).

The smell from baking was almost non-existent. I waited about an hour after the final coat before putting it in the over. Most of the fumes were dissipated by then. Of course, I painted the thing in my kitchen... so I obviously wasn't worried about fumes anyways. If you wait for the paint to dry for an hour or so before baking, your wife isn't going to be able to tell you had anything in the oven.

 

[sartwell]

I like it !

 

[Mr.JAG]

UPDATE: Ak74 FSB Installed

Finally got my Bulgarian AK74 FSB in from Dinzag. He is pretty notorious for taking a while to ship things out (in my case 3 weeks), but the package came with some flame printed foam ear plugs and extra plastic hole plugs for the original saiga trigger group holes. So I'm cool with it.

This was my first time attempting a FSB swap, so there was a lot of hesitation on my part because I wasn't real sure of what to expect. After getting it done, I can't really tell you anything I really should have been worried about (save for dremel-fu mishaps I had).

Ok, on to pics.

Original FSB dremeled off. I did nick the barrel a bit on the one side, but nothing too bad and nothing that won't be covered by the new FSB anyways.

New FSB pounded on, and first pin hole drilled.

Both holes drilled and pins hammered in.

K-Var/Arsenal US made 74 muzzle brake (chromed lined it seems). I thought the red markings were kinda cool. They are position on the bottom side when attached.

FSB painted to match everything... brake installed.

Just another pic.

By far the most difficult part of this entire swap what getting the original windage drum out of the original FSB. By GOD those things are in there tight! I must have been messing with that tiny detail for at least an hour.

Having one HELL of a time finding a cleaning rod that will pass through the diameter of the bayo lug on this Bulgarian fsb. The 47 rod I have is way to thick in diameter, and it seems every online retailer wants to charge more for shipping than the 74 rod even cost. 9 bucks for rod but 12+ for shipping, HA right.

Well, that's all folks.

 

[Fenway]

Rep

 

[Clay]

Lookin good!

 

[tradertator]

Looking good dude. Those rear sights are a real booger to change out.

 

[Mr.JAG]

Rep

Ah thank ya!

Lookin good!

And one day, in the distant future, I will be able to close those extra trigger pin holes in the receiver like you did on yours.

 

[Mr.JAG]

Looking good dude. Those rear sights are a real booger to change out.

Rear sights?



But yea, it wasn't super easy... but no where NEAR as difficult as I had been anticipating. It was doable enough that I will most likely be swapping the 7.62 FSB over as well in the near future.

 

[Clay]

And one day, in the distant future, I will be able to close those extra trigger pin holes in the receiver like you did on yours.

Just remember one thing, a file is your friend! Stay away from the air tools and angle grinders until you have filed down the weld to nearly receiver level. To much heat and they warp easy.

 

[Steven]

Good work, both the rifle and your post.

 

[paperboy]

ABSOLUTELY BEATIFUL!!!!!!!

 

[JettaKnight]

So I'm converting my 5.45 now and I've partially sanded down the receiver. The question I have is does it have to be perfectly clean or can it still have some paint? Getting it sanded down around those rivets and optics mount is really hard.

 

[Clay]

You can leave some paint. I only had the paint removed on mine where I welded holes up for the old trigger parts. You do have to do a pretty good job of blending the old paint into the unpainted part though or you will get very noticeable lines in the finish when you spray the new paint.

Also be sure to wash and degrease everything, and dry it off, before you paint.

 

[Bane_FTW]

Wow, that is one good lucking gun

 

[jimmyw86]

Looks amazing