AK piston replacement (cant remove pin)

[Jackal]

I have a saiga bolt carrier and piston and I need to remove the pin, so that I can add a US made piston and be compliant. Only thing is, the damned pin wont come out.

I have tried a cobalt bit, titanium bit, and various stainless bits. I hear tungsten carbide drill bits are good but I've never seen one in a local store, and usually they are for routers and woodworking.

I am using a makita drill that is rated to go through a 1/2" of steel, 2800 rpm. Seems like I just dont have the right bit to drill through.

I also tried a putting the carrier on a concrete floor and supporting it with wood. I then used a sledge hammer and an iron spike to try and pound the pin out...nothing.

So what is the best option here? All I have is a hammer, various hand tools, a dremel, a drill, and not much money to spend on this.

[deth502]

the rivets holding the pistons in are by nature very soft maleable steel, it shouldnt be a problem getting through???

are you sure your on the rivet??

you do realize that the heads are flared out in order to hold the rivet in??? if your using a punch the size of the visible rivet head, youll never be able to drive it out. iirc, it souuld be an 1/8" punch to remove the shank.

[deth502]

and btw, to answer your sig line, copes has ventilated ak hg's for $30

http://www.copesdist.com/ak47.htm

go ALMOST all the way to the bottom on the right.

[Jackal]

Originally Posted by deth502

the rivets holding the pistons in are by nature very soft maleable steel, it shouldnt be a problem getting through???

are you sure your on the rivet??

you do realize that the heads are flared out in order to hold the rivet in??? if your using a punch the size of the visible rivet head, youll never be able to drive it out. iirc, it souuld be an 1/8" punch to remove the shank.

Saw them for 30, I'm waiting for someone to put one on sale for less though....its a luxury right now as my gun is complete minus our dilemma below. Saw someone had one for 18 a while back. Anyway...

Thanks for the quick response. I drilled the divet out on both sides where the flared part of the rivet heads would be. So now I can only assume that i am just drilling into the pin. It seemed like the punch either compressed the rivet on one side or moved the entire rivet but ever so slightly and then it stopped moving altogether.

I have seen bits that where tungsten carbide but have a very abrasive tip on them....like sandpaper almost. I came across them for drilling through spot welds.

Should I just keep hitting it then?

[JayBell]

the saigas dont have a pin , they are peened...meaning they dent each side of the bolt carrier by the gas piston threads so the piston wont unscrew.

to remove the peen, you just drill in the dimple on each side of the bolt carrier until you are into the piston, then unscrew the piston.

screw in the new piston, and drill and pin it, or re-peen the carrier.
Make sure there is a little play so the piston can move a tiny bit, thats how both mine were.

both my Saiga 223 and Saiga 12 had the pistons peened.

you can beat on that sucker all DAY and youll never drive a pin thru

[Stooperzero]

My SAR-3 was like this as well...



Crank Dat Gas Piston......

[Jackal]

Originally Posted by JayBell

the saigas dont have a pin , they are peened...meaning they dent each side of the bolt carrier by the gas piston threads so the piston wont unscrew.

to remove the peen, you just drill in the dimple on each side of the bolt carrier until you are into the piston, then unscrew the piston.

screw in the new piston, and drill and pin it, or re-peen the carrier.
Make sure there is a little play so the piston can move a tiny bit, thats how both mine were.

both my Saiga 223 and Saiga 12 had the pistons peened.

you can beat on that sucker all DAY and youll never drive a pin thru

I guess I misunderstood some info over on saiga-12.com then. It sucks to feel like a douche but if I don't have to push out a pin I must be done and just need to unscrew, which is good and I am now finally done minus B-guide and muzzle break pending thread kits. Thanks.

I'd be nervous to put too much play into it....how does one go about having a little play, maybe a pin a little bit undersized but still secured on both ends?

[JayBell]

you dont want the pin to be able to move at all, or it will work its way out from side to side and jam the gun up.
I just blind pinned mine on, then ground it flat, and added a dab of weld.
a little bit of side to side play, say a millimeter or so is fine, you want the piston to be able to self align as it cycles.

[deth502]

i havent dealt with saigas before, i assumed they would be pinned in like the std ak piston ??

and yes, jaybell is correct,there is supposed to be play in the piston, it was designed to be that way, but i have seen many replacements that were tight (including one of my own) that never exibited a problem, but, as always, ymmv. the procedure for installing an ak piston it to tighten it in all the way, then back it out about 1/4 turn to get the "slop" in it.