Adam i wish i had a SVT-38 or SVT-40, had a chance not too long ago to pickup a SVT-40 in mediocre shape, but good mechanical condition missing the magazine, but had the good ole cash-flow problem so had to pass on it.
I will have one someday, just not yet :/
My "gas" experience so far has been with the Hakim, and my Ljungman (new baby only had her home for about 2 months now)
and some research i was doing on a possible purchase of a mas 49/56. Very interesting little gem there, maybe someday i'll add it as well.
I've had my hakim about 10-12 years now, i forget exactly when i got it, except i know i got it after I ETS'd the army in '92.
She's a real sweetheart, I dearly love to take her out.
She always gets her fair share of looks at the range, what with her size and..um..er..shall we say "vocal" abilities
I'vve been pretty lucky with mine, her bore is somewhat dark, and had soem pitting when i got her, but she still shoots good.
When i got her, i was rather confused by the gas system on it, (shared by the Ljungman and rasheed, and very similar to the mas 49 gas system) but i got alot of good info both here and from the egyptian firearms forums over at gunboards.com some _very_ knowledgable people there.
The direct gas impingement system is really rather simple and straightforward, but it can be very picky and sensitive as you probably are quite framilier with.
I had my ups and downs learning the system, but luckily never had anything worse than head ripped off a case
The funniest thing i ever had happen with mine, was when i first got her, i took her out to shoot and like yours my gas port was wide open. Luckily i had some of the lower pressureYugo ammo, and all it did was rip the head off the case, sling the brass into orbit, and the remaining pressure coming to the rear popped the bottem off the magazine and dumped the ammo into the floor.
I was _really_ surprised and thought i had a bad weapon, but after some checking into it primarily at the site listed above, i found out how to straighten her out.
Glad i found out, cause she's definately my baby