AK to HK sight Installation

[Act2325]

Hi all! I am doing some custom work on my WASR AK47. I am going to put on these HK sights from Robert RTG www.robertrtg.com/hkaksightset.html,

It says that the front sights have to be cut and welded and the rear sight have to be welded to the dust cover. What kind of welding would I have to use for this delicate kind of work? I have an arc welder but i dont think it will adjust low enough to not burn through the barrel or dust cover. I have a friend with a mig and tig welder. I have been thinking about a spot welder at some point...would that be a better option?

Are there any other options for installing these sights? I am going to durakote the whole gun when im finished. I dont think jb weld or any other epoxys will hold up to the high temperature. What about soldering?

Full of questions haha

Anthony

 

[Act2325]

Come on guys. Someone out there knows the best and or easiest way to do this!!!

 

[56hawk]

I'm kind of surprised these are being sold as conversion sighs, since as far as I can tell they are just stock HK-91 sights. How were you planning on doing the front sight? I could do some measurement if you want, but I'm pretty sure the hole in the HK sight is way bigger than the AK barrel and would require a lot of filling. Not to mention that it might not be anywhere near the right height.

The other option would be to mill the top off the AK sight, the bottom off the HK sight and weld the two parts together. Then you wouldn't be welding on the barrel.

I'm also curious how close the curve on the rear sight is to the AK dust cover. It might also require a lot of cutting and filling to get to work. Also mounting the rear sight on the dust cover isn't going to be the most accurate setup.

A mig and a tig should be able to weld those parts without any problems. I really only have experience using a mig welder. Don't think a spot welder would work at all though.

Sorry if I'm sounding negative, but this just sounds like a lot of work to me for basically just a cosmetic change.

 

[Act2325]

for the front sight I was thinking about removing the whole front sight block and placing the new front sight over the gas block. That would give the two lower circles in the sight something to be around, the lowest circle around the barrel and the middle circle around the gas block.

As far as the rear sight on the dust cover I had two ideas. I would shoot just with the normal dust cover and see how well that will hold zero (my dust cover is actually really tight and has zero wobble) Or if I didnt like the accuracy I could get one of those dust covers that have the screws to tighten it to the receiver.

Haha your not the first one to say that! I figured the increase in sighting radius would be a plus and I like the looks of the HK sights. I love to tinker and am always thinking up new project ideas!

 

[56hawk]

Okay, I think I understand what you are talking about. If I have this right, the front sight will install over the back of the gas block. In other words between the gas block and the gas tube. In which case if the holes were close you could just tack weld the sight to the gas block and be fine.

Be sure to post some pictures when you get the parts. I'm curious to see how your build goes.

 

[Act2325]

Haha I'm curious too. Will post when they get in.

 

[Act2325]

Update

Here is an update on my project so far.

I have decided to go a different route with the front sight. I removed the front sight block (thank you harbor Freight hydraulic press!) and I am going to place the front HK sight in place of the front sight block. Now I run into two issues:

1) The diameter of the bottom loop of the sight is larger than the diameter of the barrel.

2) I want more stability to the sight than just the bottom loop.

My Ideas:

1) I can make a kind of compressed bushing to fit around the barrel/ inside the bottom sight loop to take all the "play" out of the sight.

2) For more stability I am going to silver solder a piece of tube steel to the middle loop of the front sight and run the tube back to the front of the gas block. I feel better heating the gas block than the barrel.

The solder I have came from Brownell's and it is the Hi-Force 44 silver solder. I know everyone uses the comet #4 flux but i didnt want to pay the extra for the haz shipping. Anyother satisfactory substitutes for the Comet #4?

 

[guntotingfool]

I just received my HK91 sights in the mail and am planning on cutting the front sight down and welding it to the gas block, for the rear sight I am worried about welding on the thin metal of the dust cover, for this I am thinking about brazing with bronze. I was wondering if you all had any thoughts on this like if it would be strong enough. also i purchases a dust cover that tightens down because I read that there are issue with the dust cover being loose and not holding zero. I will post progress and pictures as they come.

 

[guntotingfool]

photos of progress

the AK front sight is now removed, the dust cover is shaved down, and the front HK91 sight is cut down to fit on the gas block. I used a bore sight to line up the sights and they are dead on. Next step is to weld on the front sight and then braze on the rear. also I need to remove the AK rear sight, then I will duracoat the whole thing and it should look pretty sweet.

 

[56hawk]

guntotingfool - Have you laser bore sighted this setup? Hard to tell in the picture, but it looks like the rear sight is too high. Also for the rear sight I would drill holes in the top of the dust cover, and then weld the sight on from the bottom. This way you can start the weld on the thicker metal of the sight and let it flow onto the dust cover. Then if you want to fill any gaps on top brazing would work great.

 

[guntotingfool]

The sights line up dead on, they are just sitting on duct tape to hold them on for the photo, I had to grind down part of the dust cover to get the rear to line up. I am going to do some solid tack welds on the sights then take it out and put a couple rounds down range and make sure they work well before I commit to fully brazing them on.

 

[56hawk]

Sounds good. Must just be an optical illusion on the rear sight height.

 

[Rail Driver]

How much elevation does that rear sight get off the dust cover? Would it work on a Saiga 12 that has a rail mounted HK front sight as in this picture?