Every time I go out, I notice that my elevation stays correct, but the windage seems to go wherever it wants. This has been driving me nuts, so today I had myself a real good look. At the back (where my kwik pin goes), there is a substantial gap between the receiver and the rail on either side. Hmmmmm, that would explain some things... so I take up the space with some aluminum tape. Nice and snug now. Here's the best part, while the rail was flipped up I noticed I had some movement at the front where it's pinned. It would appear that the holes in my rifle (that would have been used to pin in the rear sight) are slightly larger than the roll pin provided with the kwik rail by about 0.2mm. I'm thinking if everything was the same size it would be perfect and completely movement free. So, a worthwhile adventure to find a slightly bigger roll pin (or something else suitable) or do you think the spring pressure is enough to hold things in place?
Problem with my MagWedge Kwik rail
- Thread starter weasel1
- Start date
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...here's a pic of mine ...is the gap about the same on yours? ...i haven't noticed windage problems with mine but i can see how it might happen ...perhaps just gently bending one or the other of the rear legs in might suffice? ...as for the front pin mine is very tight ...but a roll pin should be a thousand or two larger than the hole in which it is seated
...here's a pic of mine ...is the gap about the same on yours? ...i haven't noticed windage problems with mine but i can see how it might happen ...perhaps just gently bending one or the other of the rear legs in might suffice? ...as for the front pin mine is very tight ...but a roll pin should be a thousand or two larger than the hole in which it is seated
By the looks of that pic, I think I have a little bit more gap. I'll see how the aluminum tape holds, a slight bend will be the next step there. I can certainly see how a well fitting roll pin would mask any fitment issues around the receiver.
- Location
- BC Lower Mainland
Bending the welded ones might stress the weld and lead to breakage. The best bet would be the tape as suggested above or perhaps a washer of the right size.
Just a thought, but how many would prefer a rail that is meant to be fitted rather than drop in? I am thinking that the back end could be left fairly thick and filed down to create a perfect fit with your receiver cover.
Too much trouble or the ideal solution? Let me know.
Just a thought, but how many would prefer a rail that is meant to be fitted rather than drop in? I am thinking that the back end could be left fairly thick and filed down to create a perfect fit with your receiver cover.
Too much trouble or the ideal solution? Let me know.
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For me, if I were to do it again, I'd rather file to fit. I don't mind the little bit of work to make it just right. It would be perfect for MY rifle and it would solve some problems for you as well. We all know the wide variety of tolerances with these rifles. After some measuring, it looks like a 3.5mm roll pin will fix things at the front. Now I just need to find ONE.
On mine (Gen2), I put the rear fork in a vice, and gently tightened the vice to nudge it in a bit, which created a nice tight fit on the rear receiver.
For the front, I ended up creating some "U" shaped shims out of aluminum to take up the play where it fits in the rear sight.
I don't consider either to be faults in the product or manufacturing issues. There's just so much variance in the SKS's that there's bound to be some fitment issues.
One thing to consider is that the dust cover itself often has a slight bit of overhang past the lower receiver (on one of my SKS's, the difference is visible), which is a tough issue for you to solve from a design/manufacturing standpoint, and still have the fork be able to slide cleanly over the dust cover but be able to maintain a firm contact with the lower receiver, which would be needed to prevent windage issues, as the dust cover itself can slide side to side slightly, so that isn't where you want the point of contact to be.
Just spitballing what's going through my head on a Saturday morning.
Love the product, by the way. Glad to see a Canadian manufacturer step up to the plate with such quality machining and attention to detail. Keep it up.
- Location
- BC Lower Mainland
Thanks ...
With the Gen2 what you have done will be just fine.
The Gen1 rail is welded and the action of bending might stress the weld, so I do not advise bending rail parts in that situation.
- Location
- BC Lower Mainland
Mine holds zero quite fine even after lifting the rear of the rail and re attaching. Within 1/4" of the previous shot at 100yds. Mine will smack the 300yd gong all day long.
- Location
- Vancouver Island BC Canada
I had no gap between the rail fork and receiver. Every production line has its variation. It could be variation in the rail specs or it could even be the variation in receiver specs. The only problem I had was not with the rail itself but with the screws in the receiver pin loosening up much too quickly. So I used a bolt instead. Problem solved. To be honest I didn't even give the roll pin a chance. Again, I used a bolt. To be specific a hex bolt from an ATI ruger stock. A barrel shroud / hand guard bolt, I think there are 6 or 8 of them. It works great. If you do this note that you need to tighten it fully after the rail is lowered / closed into position. Do not fully tighten the bolt while the rail is raised open, you will have issues closing it because of the sight mount leaf spring. The bolt may also need to be shortened.
The problem I had with empty shells jamming up in the front of the kwik rail turned out to be a leaking gas tube at the barrel mount. It had nothing to do with the rail. If you suspect this, drape a damp cloth over the gas tube barrel mount and fire a round. If you have black residue in the cloth after, you have a gas tube leak and the jams are caused by loss of pressure.
The problem I had with empty shells jamming up in the front of the kwik rail turned out to be a leaking gas tube at the barrel mount. It had nothing to do with the rail. If you suspect this, drape a damp cloth over the gas tube barrel mount and fire a round. If you have black residue in the cloth after, you have a gas tube leak and the jams are caused by loss of pressure.
- Location
- Vancouver Island BC Canada
^^^ one on each of mine...no complaints...holds zero...great product...
If it doesn't hold zero, you either did something wrong or you lack simple problem solving skills.
- Location
- BC Lower Mainland
If something goes wrong just email me.
I'd prefer a file to fit myself , but with a little imagination ( and shim stock ) they work just fine . There is a huge amount of tolerance variation in SKS 's , and a lot of other mil-surps for that matter , I expect to run into this problem on any mount for a mil-surp . I think you've developed a great product that allows the average shooter to mount a scope reliably . I've owned a lot of SKS's over the last thirty years and have tried pretty much every scope mount there is for the SKS , your mount , IMHO , is the best no drill base there is . Thanks
