The Home Machinist!

I have a Saiga 12 shotgun. The flash hider I bought won't screw onto the barrel threads. I am told this may be because the Russians use crappy dies to thread the barrels. People are suggesting I get an M22 x .75 die and clean it up. That would cost me the princely sum of $23 plus shipping.

Is there a better (i.e. cheaper) way?

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People who say, "Google is your friend" need to talk to a Chinese dissident.

Steve,

How about a set of die files, and manual labor skill's

Ken.

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One must remember.
The best learning experiences come from
working with the older Masters.
Ken.

If you can't borrow one, $23 plus shipping is a cheap way not to repeat the prior mistake. Hey the Chinese will ship it for free!

Enco used to stock the square thread files in both metric and sae, I have both and they are pretty handy for situations like yours.
James

What's wrong with your lathe?

Harold

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Wise people talk because they have something to say. Fools talk because they have to say something.

You have checked that it has an M22 x .75 thread, haven't you

Richard

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Primrose Engineering

The lathe is fine, but I don't know of any way to chuck a shotgun, and locating the tool precisely in the threads is beyond me.

_________________
People who say, "Google is your friend" need to talk to a Chinese dissident.

Looks like you should have bought a larger lathe!

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Glenn

Operating machines is perfectly safe......until you forget how dangerous it really is!

_________________
People who say, "Google is your friend" need to talk to a Chinese dissident.

23$ for a tool you can turn around and sell on a gun forum does not sound bad at all! I once payed over 60$ for a set of go no/go gauges for a FN-FAL rebuild. Resold them for around 40$. Your total cost of ownership is what you should look at... And yes, you should have a bigger lathe.
Oh just on a side note, I noticed your in Miami, I used to live in Miami when I was a flight instructor... This may be of interest to you...

"A M Metalmaq invites you to visit the following links for the
upcoming auction closing on November 29. KJCO has decided to
close his business after 30 years. Shop has many CNC and manual
machines and lots of accessories, tooling, etc. This is an on-
line auction. Please visit http://www.ammetalmaq.com/back2.pdf
and/or http://www.ammetalmaq.com/inside2.pdf for complete
details. Please contact us at 305-883-9200 with any questions.

George Alves
A M Metalmaq
320 E 10th Ct
Hialeah, FL 33010
VOICE: 305-883-9200
F A X: 305-883-0660
http://www.ammetalmaq.com
Email: george@ammetalmaq.com

Thanks for that link. I will check it.

I went to AM Metalmaq a long time ago, when I was looking for a mill and lathe. Nice people, but the prices were INSANE, to crib from Crazy Eddie. They had a very rough Bridgeport with a DRO for $4950. That should give you an idea. They probably can't get prices like that at auctions. You can get a really nice Taiwan mill from Eisen Machinery for less than that, new. It was discouraging to see that they preferred to lose business to cheaper out-of-state dealers, but I guess I won't complain, since I ended up paying nearly the same amount for a new Chaiwan mill which has served me well.

_________________
People who say, "Google is your friend" need to talk to a Chinese dissident.

I ordered myself a Chinese die off Ebay. It should be here by Groundhog Day. I don't know a whole lot (okay, anything) about thread files. Looking them up. I am going to make a wild guess that it's not much fun fixing ten or fifteen fine threads with a file.

To get the barrel of the gun into the lathe, I would need to remove the barrel from the receiver. I would need a hydraulic press, plus probably 20 to 30 more IQ points, so that's out.

Yes, I need a hydraulic press. Don't encourage me.

Ironically, the headstock of the Clausing I sold was short enough to allow threading this thing without removing the barrel. But the threads are metric, so it would have been impossible without a die.

It's irritating to get stuck with this problem. Part of the appeal of Saiga shotguns is the low price, but when you add all the parts required to turn them back into weapons, plus the tools required to do it, the bargain part sort of disappears. Next time: VEPR.

I don't understand why it has to be so difficult to prepare to slaughter hordes of zombies.

_________________
People who say, "Google is your friend" need to talk to a Chinese dissident.