I just received a Bulgy kit from Fed Ex yesterday, and everything looks great, but when I inspected the upper handguard, I notice that the "lever lock" ( I do not know the official nomenclature) that locks the upper handguard to the rifle way up in the release position.  When I attempt to push it down, the sucker only goes down a bit, then won't go down anymore.

To give you some idea, if the lever was completely vertical at the 12 o' clock postion, it only goes down to about  10 o' clock
There is the usual "drag mark" on the finish, which tells me that  the lever was at one time in its correct position resting on that small indentation nice and tight.  I put some "liquid wrench" lubricator on it overnight, with no results.

Before I do anything drastic like take a hammer and try to pound it in position, or pry the lever with a screwdriver, I thought I would ask the AK gurus.

What do you guys think?

TIA,
Alex

Not much to do but when  had my sar i just used the gas piston to knock it up and down, lol.  Its an ak it can take the abuse but i dont sugest doing that.  Get a hammer and some wood and tap it down so you dont mar the finish see what it does.

Quoted: Not much to do but when  had my sar i just used the gas piston to knock it up and down, lol.  Its an ak it can take the abuse but i dont sugest doing that.  Get a hammer and some wood and tap it down so you dont mar the finish see what it does.

Yeah, that is my next step.  It does not look bent.  Maybe the lever was knocked upwards during the demil process, and went way over the "stop" where it is supposed to rest.  I'm just a little leery because it is riveted on, not like I could just unscrew and get another one.

Before you hammer it check to make sure your gas tube is fully seated. That lever can snap off. If you can't turn it by hand use the cleaning kit tube with the slot in it as a wrench to lock it into place.