Tell Me About the AK Safety Lever.

[SuperNaut]

I was shooting my Saiga 12 this morning and I got to thinking about the safety lever.

When up halfway, it blocks the trigger but allows the bolt to be cycled. When up all the way it blocks the bolt and the trigger, and covers the chamber.

My question: Isn't blocking the trigger enough? Couldn't you affix a sliding chamber cover (or something) and replace the huge stock lever with a small one that just blocks the trigger? That way you could operate the safety easier with your thumb.

I don't know enough about the design to know if there is a reason that the bolt needs to be blocked.

 

[nalioth]

It's not there to block the bolt.

It's there as a dust cover when the weapon is not in use.

 

[SuperNaut]

So the actual "safety function" is just blocking the trigger? Cool, thanks.

So if I can figure out a spiffy way to cover the chamber, I could fab a new safety too.

 

[4thPointOfContact]

Pretty much, but covering the ejection port Does block the bolt carrier from going back far enough to pick up a round from the magazine so that is a part of the safety's function.

 

[nalioth]

Pretty much, but covering the ejection port Does block the bolt carrier from going back far enough to pick up a round from the magazine so that is a part of the safety's function.

That only works as a safety with an empty chamber.

 

[4thPointOfContact]

I have not examined every AK variant in existence but I'm pretty sure the safety works with the chamber either empty or loaded. When applied, it both blocks the trigger and prevents the bolt carrier from being pulled back to pick up a round from the magazine whether the chamber is loaded or not.

Perhaps you would explain how the safety only works when the chamber is empty, or am I missing the point of what you wrote?

 

[nalioth]

Perhaps you would explain how the safety only works when the chamber is empty, or am I missing the point of what you wrote?

You're missing my point.

The blocking of the bolt carrier to keep a round out of the chamber only will keep a round out of the chamber if the chamber is empty.

IOW, (in theory) you could have a safety lever that is bent internaly and not blocking the trigger. At that point the rifle would fire no matter what position the safety lever was in. If the safety was "on" (and blocking the bolt carrier), it'd fire and probably bend the safety lever up really good.

The Kalashnikov safety blocks the trigger.

The blocking of of the bolt carrier is not considered a "safety function", but a byproduct of the design.