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Saiga Newbie

12K views 21 replies 8 participants last post by  mtdew 
#1 ·
Hello Saiga owners, I just put a Saiga 12 on "layaway". Been wanting one for years and one popped up at the local gunstore for a decent price, so I tagged it as mine. Compleatly stock. Gonna be fun converting it. See ya!
 
#2 ·
Before you do anything to it, set the gas valve for light loads and run some bird shot through it (buy two or three brands to try).
You want to make sure it functions before doing anything to it, some had issues with light loads (but I think that has been fixed now) and they might not do any warranty work if it's been messed with.
 
#3 ·
I bought mine about six years ago in the first Obama panic to modify. After shooting it a bit, I found I liked it just fine as is. Have had no troubles & still like it in stock form.
 
#6 ·
ditto coils comment. i have seen 2 guys totally botch theirs by trying tweak it before they shot it. find the crappiest walmart bulk and shoot it. make that the baseline. mine ate it right out of the box.

otherwise its trial and error. i ouldnt get rid of mine for anything.
 
#7 ·
ditto coils comment. i have seen 2 guys totally botch theirs by trying tweak it before they shot it. find the crappiest walmart bulk and shoot it. make that the baseline. mine ate it right out of the box.

otherwise its trial and error. i ouldnt get rid of mine for anything.
 
#8 ·
If you get one that will run the crappiest Walmart bulk ammo, out of the box, you got a fluke. These shotguns are intended to function with full power ammo, and even the most screwed up of them (shoddy Izhmash QC) will usually run buckshot and slugs just fine. Either way, it's still a good idea to establish a baseline before converting, just so you know you haven't made it worse. In general you are not going to make it worse, since the conversion removes drag points and installs a standard trigger. This will mostly be seen in trigger pull quality, but it can also affect cycling in a marginal gun.
 
#9 ·
If you get one that will run the crappiest Walmart bulk ammo, out of the box, you got a fluke.
fluke..thats funny! it will, but........ if i try to run it too fast it will pinch the hulls in the hood about every third round. if i run slow and steady i have had no issues.

now its in pieces getting the royal treatment (not in a good way). the bad and only real issue with these things is the fact you CAN NOT leave them alone. always doing this or that. at this point, i am upgrading the gas block to a K version. didnt realize until it was too late that it is NOT a direct swap. oh well live and learn.
 
#12 ·
Pic of it with temporary Tapco stock stolen off one of my AK47's. RAM triggerguard, Houge grip. I'm not sure what stock I want it to end up with. I'll probly put a red dot on it, maybe some kinda evil flash suppressor.
 

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#13 · (Edited)
After you're sure it functions right,,

Three words,,,,,NEW TRIGGER GROUP !! 99% suck. And the gas issue is simple with a new stainless gas valve from one of many different manufactures. I don't have one myself, but a bud does and I helped him out with his some getting it running right. That was his first AK platform of any type so he didn't know squat about them.

I only knew slightly more,,,:buba::lol:

Brad and jimmyT, did ya forget mtdew's been here as long or longer than us,,, he's just a newbie to Sagia's ,,gezzz, brain fart guys??? :pokinit::lol::lol: Happens to the best of us,,, I do it all the time,,,,,DOWWWWW:redchug:
 
#17 ·
After you're sure it functions right,,

Three words,,,,,NEW TRIGGER GROUP !! 99% suck. And the gas issue is simple with a new stainless gas valve from one of many different manufactures. I don't have one myself, but a bud does and I helped him out with his some getting it running right. That was his first AK platform of any type so he didn't know squat about them.
If the gun is undergassed, a new gas valve will not generally make any difference, unless the factory valve is actually defective, which has been known to happen. Where the aftermarket valves come into play is in taking control of an over-gassed gun, and in fine-tuning the gun for different loads. My shotgun is very slightly undergassed, and will not run some of the lighter loads I have tried, whether I am using the factory valve, or the 5 position aftermarket valve. And it will not run heavy slug/buckshot loads on a lower gas setting than the middle position (spot 3) of the aftermarket plug; it runs those same loads on the most closed position of the factory plug. The aftermarket plug is meant for taking control of an over-gassed gun. My brother's shotgun is the exact same way. All the 5 position valve really adds for me, is a middle position between position 3 and the most open setting.
 
#15 ·
i like it!!! i may have some left-over s12 goodies. will check this weekend. i think i have a muzzie break that is collecting dust. if i can find it, its yours.

for a cheap effective rear sight upgrade, this i perfect. apex has them for $15. weld to the dust cover and walk away

CETME Rear Sight on my s410

 
#16 ·
Thanks for the comments and advise. Havent had a chance to shoot it yet. I've been doing some research, and have found that some guns (early ones?) had only one gas port and sometimes the gas block would partly cover it. I took out my gas plug and saw 3 gas port holes, so hopefully it will run on cheap low brass for blasting the shite out of some targets. I picked up some cheap stuff to try it with. Has anyone seen the lack of 12 ga ammo lately? 3 wally world stores in my area were almost out of everything exept buck. Smart, I would very much like to have that muzzle brake. I have alot of AK and AR stuff. Anything you might need?
 
#18 ·
Good info guys! I'm excited like I was in '05 when AK's were new to me. Shot it today with heavy target load. Runs like a champ. Heres a crappy vid. [video=youtube;A0PvOGpi4Bw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0PvOGpi4Bw]New toy- Saiga 12 - YouTube[/video]
 
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