New DSA 58 owner's question

[LaCane]

Just aqquired a used DSA carbine rifle and am very happy so far. Took it to the range today, fired 100 rounds with no glitches. Only question I have concerns the gas regulator. it currently is set at 4. The rifle handled fine, but then again I would not know if it should feel somwhat different with a different setting. The online manual for the FAL that I downloaded shows a pretty complicated series of steps to get the "correct' adj., but then goes on to say that before leaving the factory, every rifle has been preset for correct gas settings. However, being a used rifle, not sure if it's been tinkered with or not. In a nutshell, how do I know if I need to change it if the rifle seems to be working properly? I don't want to be overlooking something that might cause damage.
Thanks.

 

[RT]

An easy way to set it is to open it all the way, then load a single round in the magazine and fire the rifle. If if the bolt carrier does not lock open, close the regulator one click and repeat until the rifle has enough gas to allow the carrier to lock open on the empty mag.
Then, some people, will add one click.

 

[LaCane]

Would this be the same as firing 10 rounds from the magazine, and after the last shot the bolt stayed open? It did do that. So would that mean that it is set properly?

 

[HiBC]

Powders/loads have varying pressure curves.A quicker burn with a 147 gr load might take a different setting than a 165 gr hunting load.
The setup method has you start with less gas than necessary to operate the action,then gradually increase it till the bolt carrier comes back far enough that the mag follower reliably holds the bolt open on the last round.No need to load 10 to check it,one is enough.One round in the mag,fire.One click at a time till the bolt stays open.Maybe one more click.Enough gas,but not so much as to beat the parts together harder than necessary.

 

[ROCK6]

No need to load 10 to check it,one is enough.One round in the mag,fire.One click at a time till the bolt stays open.Maybe one more click.Enough gas,but not so much as to beat the parts together harder than necessary.

Both RT and HiBC are correct. If your gas port is opened up too much it'll result in more felt recoil and cause unnecessary pounding on parts. Doing one round at a time will give you a good, slow measure to find that optimum amount of gas...I usually open it up one more turn after I get the bolt to lock back. Different rounds/weights will cause differences, but I've found pretty good consistency outside of the heavier bullets.

If it's cycling fine now, you can do the reverse and start cycling down on the port opening until it won't cycle and lock back...back it up a turn and you're set.

ROCK6