| Thanks for the reply wunhunglo,
Yes, the handguard taking a short vacation is disturbing. At the bench, it seems to make it about 2" off the top of the rifle, then just land on the bench. This is with the rifle firmly tied down to an adjustable rifle rest. It does this even with the gas sleeve completely shut off. I'll see if I can put some white cloth hockey tape along the insiade of the hand guards to see if it is being marked, and where.
As to your assumptions, I have stripped (and cleaned) both the 30-06, and the 8mm in order to compare each piece side by side. Aside from the barrel of the 8mm is in moderately better condition, the parts SEEM in comparable condition. When operating the rifle with the gas plug closed, it feels very smooth and similarly firm to the 30-06. I'm not sure how else to check for binding etc. aside from that? I will gladly go through the cleaning process again though. I am completely open to any suggestions/guidance on how to further check for issues/smoothness/signs if binding/etc. beyond a side-by-side comparison. I am using Hoppe's No.9 gun oil for lubricant. I have no problem at all changing if this is not the ideal oil.
Just as a side note, I bought the rifle from the ONLY local gunsmith who had a very negative bias towards the gun because it was Egyptian. He didn't have any interest in taking a look at it when I called back to see if he would take a look. He made a comment about poor quality manufacture from the Egyptian armory. You now have an idea of the local gunsmith's familiarity with the SAFN. The best I could coax out of him was that I should buy a list of parts from Numrich (most of which are listed as out-of-stock) and start throwing parts at it until it works.
Much appreciated for your reply... I'd really like to get this one working. |