Furniture Question

[RSR]

Thanks for all the info everyone.
Didn't know the wood will crack when hot. I'll be careful to try and not get it hot.
I would love to have a matching bayonet but unfortunately my rifle doesn't have the lugs.

Don't know where you live, but it's a lot like old furniture that consists of joints rather than fasteners in the winter if you have forced air heating.  The wood shrinks and joints get loose.  If placed directly over a registered sometimes the wood cracks.

Same for these handguards, but they get much hotter, much faster, and the rapid heating affects the structural integrity of the wood.  Super dry and brittle wood combined is also more likely to crack.  A lot of semi-auto rifles have problems with wood handguards due to just barrel heat alone.  And that's before you add the gasses and heat coming of the gas port/piston to the underside of your handguard...

[Bit Hard]

I'm in the SF bay area.
I do notice my VZ handguards get hotter than my AK handguards.
I never really thought about my handguards cracking from the heat but I also do let my barrel cool down before it gets too hot.

[Sheepdog]

Oh yeah. The 58 handguards can get really hot, really fast. I've shot it since. But several months ago I burned through 300 rounds in about an hour and a half. I was letting others shoot it as well. It was smoking at some points. And after 2-3 fast mags, the gun gets hot. Even too hot to hold, even with gloves on.

[RSR]

Yeah, the gas port venting under the handguard  is the one design decision I find myself unhappy w/ on the VZ58.  Otherwise, I can't  say I have any other major complaints.   Aftermarket handguards that allow better ventilation than beaver barf help here, but don't fully solve the heat issue...
From a convenience standpoint, I would prefer an easier bolt disassembly, but everything else in the convenience realm is easily corrected w/ the aftermarket tactical bolt releases, ambi mag release, ambi safety, swapping the bolt handle to right side (I'm sure that this was required by the Soviets to mimic the AK platform mechanics), and that's about it.

[Bit Hard]

Yeah my one complaint is the dissasembly of the bolt. I lost the extractor plunger during the procedure. Funny thing is I actually found it almost a year later on my garage floor. Otherwise I love the VZ.

[RSR]

I managed to get the bolt disassembled for initial cleaning, but I stabbed myself twice when that point tool that comes in the cleaning kit slipped.  After the second time, I wisened up and put on gloves...