[SmokinOnion]

Before I get crushed over the post I did do a search, 327 or so posts with something about the Saiga. Frankly I don't have time to read all of them so I am posting with my questions in the hopes that we can put some specific real world user experiences together.

My main interest is a .308 caliber in a Kalashnikov platform. M1 is not in the budget.

I'm not really looking for speculation, happy to read your comments but I'm looking for input from owners.

1. Have you found it likes to eat one type of ammo or another or pretty much digests whatever you feed it?

2. Did you utilize any of the conversion kits?

3. Have you had trouble with the magazines? Either reliability or finding a good source for them?

4. Are you sticking to iron sights or have you added glass? If so how did it turn out?

5. With the current climate of hard to find I'd appreciate it if you have a link to a firm with in stock quantities of the weapon and mags, accessories etc.

Pics and commentary would be great, I am considering adding a couple of these to the armory and would like to see some no BS intel regarding the weapon.

Thanks in advance.

 

[vorpal]

I currently own a Saiga In .308.

1. Have you found it likes to eat one type of ammo or another or pretty much digests whatever you feed it?

No ftf or fte at this point, 300 rounds of various manufacturers. Accuracy of various rounds differs signifacantly.

2. Did you utilize any of the conversion kits?

Not yet.

3. Have you had trouble with the magazines? Either reliability or finding a good source for them?

No trouble with stock mag. There are 2 entities working on a mag adapter to use unaltered FAL metric mags in the Saiga. I'm waiting for developments with that project.


4. Are you sticking to iron sights or have you added glass? If so how did it turn out?

I scoped it with a 3x9 3200 Elite. I was accuracy testing and wanted to minimize sighting errors caused these old eyes. I made a Galil type cover mounted peep for my 7.62x39 Saiga and will try that as well.

5. With the current climate of hard to find I'd appreciate it if you have a link to a firm with in stock quantities of the weapon and mags, accessories etc.

I found mine on www.Gunboker.com. I'll see what I can come up with for links. Mods, is it permissable to link to other gun related forums on your site?

Based on the small amount of usage that I have given mine, I am very satisfied.

vorpal

 

[SmokinOnion]

Thanks for the input.

The FAL mag adapter sounds very interesting to say the least.

Can you link to the folks working on that?

Of those 300 rounds has all of it been FMJ?

 

[Ridgerunner_1]

1. Have you found it likes to eat one type of ammo or another or pretty much digests whatever you feed it?

2. Did you utilize any of the conversion kits?

3. Have you had trouble with the magazines? Either reliability or finding a good source for them?

4. Are you sticking to iron sights or have you added glass? If so how did it turn out?

5. With the current climate of hard to find I'd appreciate it if you have a link to a firm with in stock quantities of the weapon and mags, accessories etc.

I own several Saigas chambered in .308, and I love them.

1) Mine do fine with any ammo I've used. I really like the Barnaul 168gr SP's.

2) I converted mine using a RSA FCG for a VEPR .308. Utilizing the Tapco G2 requires some work on the safety selector to ensure positive safety, and I didn't feel like doing any welding. Most "kits" have some fluff or some cheaper parts. Buy everything separate.

3) Mags are the downfall of the rifle. The stockers are flawless, but only hold eight rounds. Ten with a simple modification. The only high-caps available are FBMG's, and they aren't worth the money.

4) I added a Sightron S1 to one of mine, and I love it. Great glass for the money, and not made in China.

5) Your searching will yield the same results as mine.


As far as accessories, there really aren't many valuable things to do to these rifles other than converting them to a pistol grip configuration. Perhaps threading the barrel for a muzzle device. Other than that, the other mods, mags, etc., are, to me, not cost effective.

 

[Purplegang]

source today

www.gilbertsguns.com has long barrels in stock both plastic and wood at what I believe are good prices for today. 569 and 629. They are great to deal with and when they sell out the item leaves their web site immediately.

 

[luckyshot]

i've got a saiga .308 with 16' I LOVE IT! paid about $350 for it in 03' i guess the cost has gone up a bit since! it's accurate and EASY to control! no trouble feeding the "3" types of ammo i've fed it so far.. a damn fine rifle IMHO:thumb:

 

[Cryptkeeper]

i had a 22'saiga 308, only complant i got is you have to move the front sight back inorder to put on a muzzle break
i have had problems with silver bear(stovepipeing). you need to try differnt types of ammo to see what your weapon will like avg. grp is around 2" but if you can find the right ammo it like you can get it inside of 1"@100yrds

i had a scope 3x9 40mm but had the high rise scope mount so i can use iron sights

no conversion and still was getting my grps inside a 1" square.a conversion is NOT a have to thing ,but the trigger is something to get use to, the coverted trigger is nice. mine shot just fine as is no conversion.

never had a problem with any mag.in the beginning 25 rnd where noexistant but now they are easly found made in the U.S.A.
http://www.centerfiresystems.com/search.aspx?find=saiga+308

 

[Texas Protector]

I have 2 Saiga's in .308.
Eats everything I have fed it, SA, Port, Silver Bear, Monarch, Wolf, HIGH end .308.

 

[vorpal]

SmokinOnion,
Here's a link to the FAL mag conversion. Mike's reference to Magnolia in the first post is Magnolia State Arms. He's going to work with them to offer an injection molded product. Magnolia currently has a Saiga .223 to AR15 mag adapter. You can find info on that adapter and the material it's made from on the same forum as above.
vorpal

 

[renegadebuck]

SmokinOnion,
Here's a link to the FAL mag conversion. Mike's reference to Magnolia in the first post is Magnolia State Arms. He's going to work with them to offer an injection molded product. Magnolia currently has a Saiga .223 to AR15 mag adapter. You can find info on that adapter and the material it's made from on the same forum as above.
vorpal

The link didn't come through. I am the one working with Magnolia State Arms. The adapter is completed and works, I just have to make it into a saleable package. I also have a .223 adapter that I made before Magnolia that is based on the AR platform, and is right hand release, instead of left hand. The only downfall is mine is made of steel (weight) as that's what I can work with the best.
On to your topic. I have shot all types of rounds through my Saiga .308 with no issues. I'd post pics or the conversion, but the rifle is dissassembled for fitting the adapters and conversion. The conversion is simple and easy and takes about 3 hours if you take your time. The adapter takes about the same time, but you can still use any mags that you could use before adaptation by removing the adapter (5 seconds or so). I really love the Saiga rifles as a fairly accurate and troublefree go to gun.

 

[vorpal]

Sorry about the link. My bad. But hearing it from the inventor is way better than a link!
vorpal

 

[Cryptkeeper]

The link didn't come through. I am the one working with Magnolia State Arms. The adapter is completed and works, I just have to make it into a saleable package. I also have a .223 adapter that I made before Magnolia that is based on the AR platform, and is right hand release, instead of left hand. The only downfall is mine is made of steel (weight) as that's what I can work with the best.
On to your topic. I have shot all types of rounds through my Saiga .308 with no issues. I'd post pics or the conversion, but the rifle is dissassembled for fitting the adapters and conversion. The conversion is simple and easy and takes about 3 hours if you take your time. The adapter takes about the same time, but you can still use any mags that you could use before adaptation by removing the adapter (5 seconds or so). I really love the Saiga rifles as a fairly accurate and troublefree go to gun.

will it take a weaponsmith to put it in the weapon?

 

[renegadebuck]

will it take a weaponsmith to put it in the weapon?

I'm deffinately not one. I'm a self employed car mechanic with an Electronic Engineering degree. If you can use a Dremel, you can do it. My GF is about as mechanically inclined as a puppy, but she installed one of my .223 adapters for my brother. Never knew what a Dremel was before. The .308 adapter is a little more involved, but not much. I'm sure she or most anyone else could do it, or at least that's the way I designed it.
After you do the Dremel work, they just snap on and off. If it's not simple, it's not functional. Things usually only become complicated after a mechanical engineer gets his hands on it. A prime example is a T- model and a Focus. Workers made the T-model, engineers designed the Focus.
All the complex geometry and mechanics have been incorporated in the instructions and adapters to allow the instructions to be followed by just about anyone.
I will try to answer any questions anyone has on either one. Hopefully, tomorrow I will be able to submit the .308 design for production.

 

[SmokinOnion]

Outstanding.

Thanks for the input and I will certainly keep an eye on this for further developments. I appreciate you taking the time.

 

[vorpal]

Hopefully, tomorrow I will be able to submit the .308 design for production.

Excellent news. That's what I've been waiting to hear. Take care.
vorpal

 

[Dwind]

AR MAG ADAPTER for the S-223????

FFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU! *cries* after I spent all that time and money on promags.

the mags are fine- I just dont like the AK magazine's cam insertion requirement

 

[renegadebuck]

AR MAG ADAPTER for the S-223????

FFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU! *cries* after I spent all that time and money on promags.

the mags are fine- I just dont like the AK magazine's cam insertion requirement

I made the first one the day after I bought the rifle (over 15 months ago) and posted on several boards, but nobody was interested, so I just used them myself. I understand from a customer that the rifle mods allow you to use AK-74 mags also, so that's the ability to use 3 different mag formats.
Feel better now?

 

[Nomad 2nd]

Before I get crushed over the post I did do a search, 327 or so posts with something about the Saiga. Frankly I don't have time to read all of them .

Well then frankly I don't have time to finish reading your post...

Have a nice day.

 

[3/325]

The AR adapter MSA is coming out with looks very nice. I have a Saiga .223 converted to take AR mags back in 05. The Galil mag adapter, lugs, and magwell all had to be modified quite abit. Unlike MSA's conversion it will no-longer accept factory mags.

A great resource for converting Saigas is: http://forum.saiga-12.com/

The Saiga .410 makes a nice SHTF rifle. You can shoot birdshot, buck, and slugs. There are now 15 rd mags available. The slugs are just as effective & accurate as an AK out to about 100 meters.

**I tried to post a pic of the Saige but it is not available?? Do I have to post a certain amount of times first? or something else? I posted a thread of it on Saiga-12.com under the name "icarus" in 2005 if you want to search it.

 

[SmokinOnion]

Thanks for the info 3/325