AKM wire retainer and heat treat?

[David Sinko]

I'm looking to make my own Chinese style L wire retainer for my AKMs. I plan to get some .045" music wire from Brownell's. I made a fixture to properly bend the wire. Is it necessary to heat treat the final product? If so, at what point would it be heat treated and can anybody provide any details on how this would be done?

And no, I don't want to use a retaining plate.

Dave Sinko

 

[dfariswheel]

Music wire is already heat treated.
It's springy, so all you need to do is bend it to shape.

 

[David Sinko]

Thanks.

I already made one out of a paperclip that measures .050" thick. I heard that a paperclip can be used as a "temporary" replacement so I figured I'd give it a try. So far it has held up for about 100 rounds without damage or slipping. How long can I expect this to last? In what way would it fail? I realize that once the pins slip out of the receiver, all sorts of bad things can happen, such as out of battery firing. I intend to make it right, but these stopgap measures are somewhat intriguing.

Dave Sinko

 

[rcmodel]

You can by K&S music wire at about any hardware store or hobby shop in a multude of sizes.

rc

 

[dfariswheel]

A paper clip has no tension.
This will probably allow the hammer and trigger pins to rotate. This can, over time cause the holes in the receiver to wear egg-shaped.

A paper clip will last as long as it lasts, which could be 5 minutes or a long time.
If an ordinary piece of wire would have done the job, the Russians would have used it instead of the better music wire.

 

[rcmodel]

My question is why you want to try to make them yourself if you can buy them already properly shaped and tempered for 4 bucks a pop??

http://www.sa-arms.com/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=5&products_id=143

rc

 

[David Sinko]

I like to be able to improvise and do this myself. It doesn't seem too difficult to do it the right way. I know that the paperclip is not satisfactory and plan to replace it as soon as possible.

If pin rotation causes the receiver holes to be egg shaped, aren't the retaining plates equally unsuitable for this same reason? I'm hearing that the plates also allow pin rotation. Could this be the reason the Russians went with a wire and not a plate?

Thanks for the link. All I have ever seen for sale are the other wires that are much more difficult to install and remove.

Dave Sinko

 

[Ditchtiger]

I like to be able to improvise and do this myself. It doesn't seem too difficult to do it the right way. I know that the paperclip is not satisfactory and plan to replace it as soon as possible.

If pin rotation causes the receiver holes to be egg shaped, aren't the retaining plates equally unsuitable for this same reason? I'm hearing that the plates also allow pin rotation. Could this be the reason the Russians went with a wire and not a plate?

Thanks for the link. All I have ever seen for sale are the other wires that are much more difficult to install and remove.

Dave Sinko

AK Retaining Plate
http://www.tapco.com/products/ak/index.php?_a=viewProd&productId=59
Latest new and improved

 

[dfariswheel]

Depending on the pin plate, it may or may not allow the hammer and trigger pins to rotate. Some do, some don't.
Considering that there's seldom any need to ever remove the trigger unit, the plate is an expensive solution to a non-existent problem.

The reason the Russian's used the wire retention are:
It was cheap.
It was fool-proof and did a great job of retention and prevented pin rotation.
It worked well because the Russian soldier wasn't allowed nor did he need to remove the trigger unit. Easy removal wasn't needed or desired.

Bottom line, the wire retention is an "Elegant engineering solution" to the problem of pin retention. It's simplicity at it's very best.