How do you like to install your Gas Blocks and Front Sight Blocks? I'm doing a fore end conversion on a SAIGA, and I have already removed the old blocks. I don't have a press, and I don't have room to put one. How should I install them, and what's the best way to adjust for any cant? Should I use any type of lubricant for sliding the pieces on?
How do you install Gas Block & Front Sight Block?
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Yeah, that's a pretty good question. Whatever you did to get them off will get them on.
But to answer the original question, I used a rubber mallet and a hammer and brass punch. Careful on the corners of the pieces, if you do that. I messed up the corners a little with the punch (even tho it's softer than steel, if the steel is really thin, like at the edges, it'll still mush it down. No biggie, but something I would watch for next time).
To aid them sliding on I used some penetrating oil as I slid it on. I also heated up the blocks in a toaster oven outside the house (half hour at 300°? maybe less, not super high), and froze the barrel/receiver in the freezer (for like an hour?). Oh, and I had already gotten the barrel to within .001" tolerance. They were tighter at the start and would've been even harder than they already were.
Moral of the story, it's certainly possible to do a perfectly functional job without a press. It's just harder.
But to answer the original question, I used a rubber mallet and a hammer and brass punch. Careful on the corners of the pieces, if you do that. I messed up the corners a little with the punch (even tho it's softer than steel, if the steel is really thin, like at the edges, it'll still mush it down. No biggie, but something I would watch for next time).
To aid them sliding on I used some penetrating oil as I slid it on. I also heated up the blocks in a toaster oven outside the house (half hour at 300°? maybe less, not super high), and froze the barrel/receiver in the freezer (for like an hour?). Oh, and I had already gotten the barrel to within .001" tolerance. They were tighter at the start and would've been even harder than they already were.
Moral of the story, it's certainly possible to do a perfectly functional job without a press. It's just harder.
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go here.
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=124196
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=124196
Thank you all! I will make sure to polish the gas block and FSB contact areas. I will try to find aluminum, brass, or steel piping with some brass washers then.
Any suggestions on how to support the receiver/trunnion/barrel while hammering the parts on? I have a horizontal vice attached to a hard plastic workbench that is too flimsy for sledge hammering, and a concrete patio. Apartments suck. I was thinking about installing an old buttstock that I don't care about, and holding the butt to the concrete. I'm not sure how difficult it will be to remove the buttstock afterward though, haha.
Any suggestions on how to support the receiver/trunnion/barrel while hammering the parts on? I have a horizontal vice attached to a hard plastic workbench that is too flimsy for sledge hammering, and a concrete patio. Apartments suck. I was thinking about installing an old buttstock that I don't care about, and holding the butt to the concrete. I'm not sure how difficult it will be to remove the buttstock afterward though, haha.
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i've used the buttstock method for re-installing barrels.... cept i'd use the original stock, prop it against a 2x8 and use a sacrificial muzzle device and tapped it one with a 10oz hammer....
oh, yeah, here's one, use a smaller faster hammer, you might have better results with it, some smaller than a framing or even an electricians hammer...
oh, yeah, here's one, use a smaller faster hammer, you might have better results with it, some smaller than a framing or even an electricians hammer...
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Yes, I took off the buttstock, took a 2x4 (or something) and screwed through the screw hole into the wood. That way the receiver is just hitting wood, and (hopefully?) the tang is not touching anything hard.
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