Egyptian Hakim, son of Ljungman

[Buckshot]

http://www.fototime.com/363939D04031671/standard.jpghttp://www.fototime.com/C9FDF6C5162DA2C/standard.jpg

The thing is a freaking club, but a kind of fun club! Fun to shoot anyway. I can just picture some 5'4" Egyptian trooper humping his other gear and this thing through the desert.

http://www.fototime.com/634B44EA86D9552/standard.jpghttp://www.fototime.com/B95AF80A8F3DDCD/standard.jpg

M1 thumb doesn't hold a candle to the damage this thing will do to an unsuspecting digit. Like a lot of other semi-autos the bolt rides inside a bolt carrier and that's what that is in the left photo, the bolt carrier action closed. Right photo is with the action open. Like the Swedish Ag42b Ljungman ( which the Hakim is the Egyptian modified version of) and the M16/AR15 it's a direct gas impingment system. Other then the power of the closing bolt and carrier, the killer is the cup that surrounds and encloses the prominently exposed gas port.

http://www.fototime.com/C7F7FE585531761/standard.jpghttp://www.fototime.com/E85B974B4A4B1F9/standard.jpg

Similar to a few other semi auto's like the SKS and the L1A1's the bolt tips down at the rear to lock up. In the left photo withthe dust cover retracted you can see the rear of the bolt and the bolt carrier. The bolt has the rear of the firing pin displayed. The bolt is down and bearing against the locking wedge. The locking wedge (at least in the Ljungman ) is removeable and there are 6 or 8 of them of varing widths to adjust for headspace. Looks like I really need to clean this thing!

That opening behind he bolt is the area the hammer swings up through to stike the firing pin. The right photo shows the rear of the action and the safety lever which swings horizontally. The safety and it's houseing are also the key to disassembly. With the action cocked move the dust cover forward slightly, then place the safety lever in the middle and lift the housing straight up. It has a cylindrical part that sticks straight down into the action. On the right of the dust cover sticking out on the right is a thing called a case deflector. It was thoughtfully added to make final maulings of the rapidly departing spent case before it left on it's journy to the next county. However I suppose it's better then getting a hot case in the eye, or ear. The Ljungman has one too, but the Swede's put a rubber cylinder around it.

Once it is out of the way let the dust cover move back under pressure of the dual recoil springs and remove it from the action. You can then grab the bolt carrier and pull it straight back and out of the action. You have to use a finger under the carrier to retain the bolt a bit or it will fall out once the carrier clears the action.

http://www.fototime.com/21997335ADFA851/standard.jpghttp://www.fototime.com/27DCBB2DF0B6501/standard.jpg

Front sight and muzzle brake assembly. The Swedish Ljungman has he same sight (basically) and a also a muzzle brake. However the Swedish version doesn't have an increase in barrel OD. It's barrel is the same diameter but internally backbored. The Hakim's LOOKS like what you expect a brake to look like, and it is VERY effective. The backblast and pressure wave is a real experience. Shooting this thing at the range will certainly have people looking in your direction.

http://www.fototime.com/155C0A443DEC032/standard.jpg

The rear sight is a major depature in design over the original Swedish design. The Hakim's is a pretty obviously a simple and straightforward tangent type.

...................Buckshot

[Buckshot]

http://www.fototime.com/BB6BB3D1A492941/standard.jpghttp://www.fototime.com/D02EDEC6D15BF59/standard.jpg

The magazine holds 10 rounds and really isn't supposed to be casually removed, but rather reloaded via strippers. The top front of the dust cover carries an obvious stripper guide. In the photo at the front of he magazine is a normal type magazine release. However at the rear is a rather more complex assembly, and this positively locks the magazine in place. Both it, and the front release have to be operated together to drop the magazine.

The upper right is a photo of the gas valve. This is another major departure from the Swede original which had no gas regulation. The valve requires a special key to operate, and is a bit of a PITA as it rides on a very stout flat spring. The spring has a finger which rides an arc of locating slots, and it REALLY doesn't want to turn. The gas valve is naturally a complication in manufacturing and from a military point of view if you dont need it, don't put it on. The Swedes didn't, so they didn't :-)

From my point of view, even though the Hakim doesn't crimp, mangle, partially crush the casemouth and then send the cringing case off into the next time zone like the Ljungman does, it's nice to have it even more relaxed via the gas valve.

http://www.fototime.com/B5D87B15FE386B0/standard.jpg

Since there is no cocking knob how do you initially crank her up for action? In the photo above toward the front of the dust cover are 2 serrated panels, one on either side. You are supposed to grab those and push the dust cover FORWARD. This compresses the recoil spring. There is a latch on the inside rear of he dust cover, and likewise the bolt carrier. When you've pushed it forward enough the dust cover and bolt carrier latch together.

You then pull all three components (dust cover, bolt carrier and bolt) backwards. Pulling them backwards also pushs the hammer down so it engages the sear and remains down. WHen it's all been fully retracted, if he safety is in the 'Fire' position it presents a cam face that hit's the latch, which releases the bolt and bolt carrier. They then move forward under the impetus of VERY capable dual (tandem) recoil springs. They strip a round out of the magazine, chamber it and then slam into battery with a teeth aching mind numbing crash :-) God have mercy on you if you have a finger or fleshy part anywhere around the closing bolt and carrier. If so you'll have a blood blister you could registaer at the county fair.

..................Buckshot

[BruceB]

In Canada we were the beneficiaries of a US refusal to allow AG42B rifles to be imported to the USA. At the time Guns and Ammo's "Surplus Firearms" annual was reporting the stateside price at $400-plus, I was buying them in new condition for about forty bucks, complete with a very good spare-parts kit.

They are extremely high-quality rifles, and very reliable with good ammo. At the time, I had a dealer's licence, and must have sold a score of them. Since I'd made a fantastic deal at Herter's, and bought brand-new Swedish 6.5x55 brass for FIFTEEN CENTS per 20, I sold a box or two of handloaded ammo with each rifle. Wouldn't do THAT these days!

Blood blisters...yep, I slammed one shut on the side of my hand one evening, and had the blister to remind me for several weeks. As Jeff Cooper once said, referring to the condition known as 'M1 Thumb', "Would that all fools be punished so thoroughly." Same applies to the AG42/Hakim....if you're not careful, you WILL get bitten. I do believe they slam closed harder/faster than the Garand, too.

I found the 6.5 version to be quite accurate. In those days I wasn't casting for rifles, but I suspect the long gas-tube just might give some trouble with cast loads.....but I don't know that for a fact.

They surely are ear-benders, with that muzzle brake.

[tonyb]

I like mine, had it for 20 years. The extractor is weak though. I got "bit" by mine. OUCH!!!

[richbug]

Egyptian Hakim, son of Ljungman, father of Rashid.

I'd like to have one, but as of yesterday, decided I have too many toys already.

[jonk]

I have one. Very ugly one too- someone slathered black paint on it which then cracked, and they then sealed it under in polyurethane. Some day I'll get to refinishing her.....

Reliable. Goes bang every time. One of these days I'm going to work up some cast loads that doesn't hurl the brass 40 feet, or require cleaning of the gas tube due to corrosive primers.

[Freightman]

I gave mine to my son, one of the hardest things I have done as I loved that rifle, but I wanted him to enjoy it before I died not after. I had a front sight built that was windage adjustable but also height adjustable like a SKS or AK, talk about a tack driver and power to take a wall down.
If you haven't tried cast in it you are missing some fun, with the adjustable gas system it isn't a problem to get to cycle.
I also gave my M1 Garand to my youngest son for the same reason, and my 1898 Krag to my grandson, no regrets as I want to see them enjoy them.

[tonyb]

I gave mine to my son, one of the hardest things I have done as I loved that rifle, but I wanted him to enjoy it before I died not after. I had a front sight built that was windage adjustable but also height adjustable like a SKS or AK, talk about a tack driver and power to take a wall down.
If you haven't tried cast in it you are missing some fun, with the adjustable gas system it isn't a problem to get to cycle.
I also gave my M1 Garand to my youngest son for the same reason, and my 1898 Krag to my grandson, no regrets as I want to see them enjoy them.

Umm..hello...Father[smilie=1:

[Buckshot]

................BruceB, oh I have a Ag42b also :-)

http://www.fototime.com/2E27B7325B26422/standard.jpg

I paid $140 for it plus $19 for a spare parts kit. For a brief period there were some 30 round magazines on the market (in the photo) so I got 3. However 30 rounds of 6.5x55 hanging down there made for a very ungainly rifle! So I kept one as-is as an oddity and converted the other 2 to 10 rounders.

http://www.fototime.com/21997335ADFA851/standard.jpg http://www.fototime.com/BE135D6E73B7ADE/standard.jpg

Left is obviously the Hakim again, but on the right is the front sight on my muzzle loading Rigby clone, long range match rifle. It's front sight was a spare Ljungman front sight, modified a bit to fit the octagon bbl. Back then the windage on these ML target rifles WAS taken at the front sight, and it doesn't look too far out of place.

My brother and 2 oldest nephews were once over for a visit and we decided to go to the range. I had some ammo loaded for the Garand, so took that and a couple 22's. At the time you could buy surplus Turkish 8x57 ammo at giveaway prices, and I had a bunch. At the range, about 15 feet behind the line my dad was sitting at a picnic bench. He said that every time we fired the Hakim he could feel the pressure wave russle against his pants leg.

................Buckshot

[corvette8n]

Buckshot:
You sure do come up with some interesting firearms.

[bunkysdad]

The Hakim is so much fun to shoot, but beware if you forget your earplugs! Here's the one I bought back in 1990.
http://i547.photobucket.com/albums/hh444/bunkysdad/Hakimrifle001.jpg

[Dutchman]

The Hakim is ammo-sensitive in that a slow powder will cause problems, generally, unless the gas port adjustment is closed tighter. I've been witness to a Hakim coming apart.. destroyed.. with Yugo surplus when the gas port was open too far. It causes the bolt to be unlocked prematurely and the case head blows out dumping gross amounts of gas into the action. With the Hakim as well as the Ljungman, the gas is deflected in a 90 degree direction down through the magazine which will blow the magazine right out of the rifle and destroy it in the process. The rifle stock is also usually destroyed around the magazine housing.

Many years ago it was thought that this problem was caused by firing out of battery but from the study of several Hakims coming apart the culprit proved to be slow powder. Turkish 8x57 should not be fired in semi-auto rifles.

The one on the left is the one that destroyed the Hakim that I was standing behind. The shooter's forearm was injured slightly from stock wood splinters and a slight bruise from concussion.

http://images31.fotki.com/v1050/photos/2/28344/1676633/Hakim8x57mm-vi.jpg

The Swedish military directive to oil the cartridge case of the m/41 ammo was due to the slower burn rate of the powder used in the m/41 ammo. While its very accurate ammo in the Swedish Mauser the burn rate wasn't ideal for the Ljungman. Instead of having a separate cartridge load for the Ljungman the Swedish military "brains" just ordered the army to oil the cartridges prior to loading. This was done well to the end of use of the Ljungman by the Swedish army.


Dutchman

[waksupi]

They are noisy buggers. And Hakim thumb makes Garand thumb, look like a wannabe.

[bunkysdad]

Hi Dutchman, your knowledge of the Hakim is much appreciated. I love this rifle, and enjoy shooting it very much. I have 2 70 round bandoleers of that Turkish 8mm you speak of and it broke my extractor! twice! Man that ammo is off limits and being saved for my future purchase of a K98 or vz24, or perhaps a m48. I just want a original condition 8mm Mauser.

[bruce drake]

Hakim, Ibn Ljungman, Walid Rashid...



Egyptian Hakim, son of Ljungman, father of Rashid.

I'd like to have one, but as of yesterday, decided I have too many toys already.

[Adam Helmer]

I like the 8mm Hakim and have two of them. I worked up a cast boolit load that is great. I use the Lyman #323471, a 215 grain rn bullet sized .323, ahead of 25 grains of IMR4198.

Adam

[tim338]

I have one too! My father gave it to me because I loved shooting it so much. Great rifles!

[woody290]

I have one too. Have not shot it yet, though.

[376Steyr]

A 7-year old thread brought back from the grave! Is this some sort of record?:bigsmyl2:

[krallstar]

Not mine on GB. Kinda neat. http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=551624234

[bruce drake]

Lots of threads get resurrected by folks who hit the archive to find some data for a different project. For me its research on a possible purchase of a Hakim from my local gunstore.

[james23]

I grabbed mine the other day and was shooting light cast loads (10 grains Unique) through it and cycled the action by hand. I may open the gas valve wide open and see how light of a load I can use in this rifle. With old WW2 surplus 8mm the gas valve is set on the first notch and works fine, so I may get lucky and be able to create a super light semi auto load.

[GONRA]

GONRA believes (guesses) Sweedes setup the Egyptians with the Hakims adjustable gas port
to deal with the wide variations in 8mm Mauser ammo likely to encountered. Who Nos?
When I got mine (early 1960's) showed it to a fellow student who’s Dad was a General back in Egypt.
He told me the Pharaoh’s Hats are common Corporate Symbols in Egypt.
Believe he said the one on the Hakim is Ramses. Factory was outside Cairo.
Keep an eye out for original Egyptian gas port tools (all metal) that are great for Hakim’s and Rashid’s.

[Tackleberry41]

Everything I read about the Hakim the adjustable gas system was due to the variety of ammo. Sweden made their own, and it was all the same, so they had no need. Egypt was buying 8mm from anybody and everybody.

Wish I had not gotten rid of mine, it was a really nice one. Bought it at an auction with the idea I could burn that pile of Turkish surplus thru it, but thats not recommended. It sat around alot, I needed money for another gun so sold it. That was before I got into casting and the loading that goes with it. Now I could shoot it cheap. But it was disconcerting to shoot at times, that blast of air that just barely missed the top of your head.

[bruce drake]

has anyone ever machined a steel collar to slip over the muzzlebrake of the Hakim? I'm curious about how that would change the harmonics of the rifle.

[Earlwb]

I used to own both the Hakim and Rashid rifles. Mine were both great shooters. I enjoyed shooting the Hakim quite a lot. It was heavy and bulky. But that made for a mellow recoil effect. Thus one could shoot the heck out of it all day. I regret selling mine. They were a lot of fun. Ugly as heck, but fun.

I used to reload my ammo for it. But I found you needed to be careful with the bullet seating so that the bullet didn't engage the rifling when the cartridge was chambered and make sure you had a good crimp on the bullet too. If you then decided to stop firing and ejected the round, the bullet could pull loose on you and then the powder charge gets dumped all over inside of the rifle, the powder grains then jam up the works. One grain of unburnt powder would stop it from working, if the powder grain got into the wrong place. I subsequently made a chamber casting so that I could use it as reference to ensure I wouldn't have that problem again.

Yeah I can feel for the guys that had to trudge through the deserts carrying one of these big Hakims along with their backpacks and gear.

[Adam Helmer]

I own several Hakims and consider them "Crew-Served Weapons!" My first cost $85 and the last was $175.00; all are Very Good to Excellent with mint bores. The Swedish M96 or M38 bayonet fits the Hakim in case anyone contemplates bayonet usage in future.

During a lull in farm activity last year, I went to my local gun shop in quest of 8X57MM reloadable brass. It was nearly a dollar a round for unprimed brass in those plastic bags. I observed PPU 196 grain softpoint reloadable ammo for $18.95 per 20 rounds. I bought several boxes of the PPU stuff and went home to the backyard range. The stuff shot well in my M48A bolt gun. I tried it in Hakim #2, By setting the rear sight at "400" or "E" it hit on point of aim at 100 yards. The ejected brass is nearly destroyed on ejection despite my "taming" efforts at the gas valve.

Hakim#2 is NEW in and out. Happily, it likes the PPU 196 grain ammo that chronographs only about 2,100 FPS at the muzzle. I am happy with the results and have a few boxes of PPU put by for the Hakims.

Adam

[TCLouis]

Mine has set in the safe for a long time. I guess I bought it back in the late 80s and it is still unfired.
Every time I get it out and handle it when thinking about selling it it feels so much like a M-14 I just run a patch down the bore and put it back.

I am tempted to shoot it one day, but hate to damage brass. Gotta see if I have any fuel line, surgical tubing around here to put on the brass deflector.
Going to have to find that internet article on the Hakim to get the settings for the gas valve. It is on the drive of my dead computer, lot of good it does.
Time to make a gas valve wrench for it too.

[Frank46]

Definitely does a job on a finger if you are not careful. Makes M1 thumb look plain jane by comparison. Frank

[RPRNY]

Hakim, Ibn Ljungman, Walid Rashid...

Abu Rashid.

Sent from my KFOT using Tapatalk

[bruce drake]

Abu Rashid.

Sent from my KFOT using Tapatalk

There are differences from Egyptian Arabic and Iraqi Arabic it seems ;)

[RPRNY]

Wailid means son, usually first born male, also used colloquially as "handsome". Abu is "father"everywhere that Arabic is spoken.

[bruce drake]

true, but I was told to use Walid to describe the sons of the men I was talking too in Iraq. I've known about Abu as a term for father for a long time. It's effective when dealing with local tribal leaders to use the term as a means of getting them to man up on securing their local villages.

[RPRNY]

So, I thought it was Hakim, son of Ljungman, father of Rashid:

Hakim, ibn Ljungman, Abu Rashid or,

Hakim, walid Ljungman, Abu Rashid.