[Diatribes]

Quote:       Originally Posted by Great Basin Ben

I realize that after 30 years of shooting normal firearms, that you're probably fine, what I meant was After ONE DAY of shooting the Saiga 12 was your shoulder destroyed and purpled??? My ONLY complaint about these guns is their recoil!!! Blackjack buffer along with Shock absorbing collapseable stock can definately help, but a day of shooting one of these is a WHOLE DIFFERENT BALLGAME than shooting my Ithica model 37 for a whole day. A WHOLE LOT MORE FUN, but a whole lot more sore the next day too...

Heh, Ive yet to fire this yet. Im expecting it to kick a little even with the recoil buffer installed. Ill let ya know if it kicks my a$$.

[pecka]

Sorry guys but I have to ask. What conversions are you all talking about for these guns? You can keep it simple with your reply. Thanks.

[Sprout47]

Quote:       Originally Posted by pecka

Sorry guys but I have to ask. What conversions are you all talking about for these guns? You can keep it simple with your reply. Thanks.

Pistol grip conversions, obviously

[ttwinsupra]

Quote:       Originally Posted by Diatribes

Heh, Ive yet to fire this yet. Im expecting it to kick a little even with the recoil buffer installed. Ill let ya know if it kicks my a$$.

ya i dont think it will be near as bad as a normal shotgun because of the long bolt travel it has, should absorb the majority of the kick. i havent shot mine eather yet but i think it will be just fine

Quote:       Originally Posted by pecka

Sorry guys but I have to ask. What conversions are you all talking about for these guns? You can keep it simple with your reply. Thanks.

ya you need to move the whole fire control group up to get the grip under the recever like a normal AK

[Sprout47]

Quote:       Originally Posted by ttwinsupra

ya i dont think it will be near as bad as a normal shotgun because of the long bolt travel it has, should absorb the majority of the kick. i havent shot mine eather yet but i think it will be just fine

I think your right. That is a pretty heavy BCG as well.

[Deussne]

Let me put it this way. My friend who is an avid shooter and has a good collection of firearms himself absolutly refuses to shoot slugs out of my S12. He is in his mid 20s about 200lbs and healty, yet he sais he does not want to ever shoot slugs after trying a few.. I love it. In fact I would load up the oem mag (5rds) with some 3" slug shells and go to town. It kicks like a mule. By the way everyone here who has an s12 and have not shot it, have you checked to see how many gas ports you have drilled in that gun before you went on converting it? If you have anything less then 3 holes drilled then you are in trouble. There seems to be a good deal of these shotguns coming in with improper gas ports. I had mine serviced under "warranty" and added an extra port in order to cycle light load shells that you buy from Wally world. BUT if you already converted your shotgun your warranty is void at this time and you would have to figure out the gas port solution yourself.

[pecka]

Will an un-converted gun accept all mags and shoot just as good? What are the advantages of comverting. Is it for show or for better function. I understand that the Saiga's come with a standard stock. Are there any after market stocks that have pistol grips attached? Im not trying to make any points here, just trying to learn more about these interesting guns.

[Madcat455]

Quote:       Originally Posted by pecka

Will an un-converted gun accept all mags and shoot just as good? What are the advantages of comverting. Is it for show or for better function. I understand that the Saiga's come with a standard stock. Are there any after market stocks that have pistol grips attached? Im not trying to make any points here, just trying to learn more about these interesting guns.

Easy answer to your post is... YES, except for the mags.. you need a bullet guide for all mags.


There... LOL


Seriously.. Converting it puts it to it's "Intended" state. the ONLY reason they're not like that is cause they can't be imported in that configuration.

They ARE AK's.. you just have to finish them. You CAN do the pistol grip stock withouth converting.. but have to comply with 922r, and moving the FCG gives you 3 needed parts. I didn't do that with my .410, used a Tapco pistol grip stock, forearm, and US mags for compliance. but it's "strange" holding it compared to my Norinko. Foregrip is further ahead with the pistol grip stock (if you have the LOP adjusted right with the butstock)

If I had a x39, .223, or 5.45.. it'd Def. be converted.

[ttwinsupra]

Quote:       Originally Posted by pecka

Will an un-converted gun accept all mags and shoot just as good? What are the advantages of comverting. Is it for show or for better function. I understand that the Saiga's come with a standard stock. Are there any after market stocks that have pistol grips attached? Im not trying to make any points here, just trying to learn more about these interesting guns.

you actualy cant use any mag over 8rnds unless its 922r legal so the conversion would take care of that. also there is better function, the added stability of a grip and the new fcg will get rid of some slap. adding a new gas plug would make it more reliable

yes ppl put grip/stocks on there saiga so they dont need to convert but that is so lame it looks horible would feel all slopy its the easy/lazy way out when i see one it makes me want to throw up lol

ps. saiga does make alot of them like this from the factory but we dont get them in the US

[Diatribes]

I fired my Saiga 12 for the first time today at the local skeet range. They have a pattern board you can shoot for free. I have also since added a Izmash factory full choke I purchased for $35. The choke looks really nice and matches the finish perfectly. I have no idea what type of pattern I was getting. I was shooting a 5'x4' cardboard at about 60' that was already shot a few times. Was very fun to shoot and rapid firing got me a few looks from the "skeeters". The ProMag operated well with the exception of 1 failure to feed. Cant wait to slay some old TVs, automobiles, vegetables and zombies.

[Diatribes]

Quote:       Originally Posted by ttwinsupra

yes ppl put grip/stocks on there saiga so they dont need to convert but that is so lame it looks horible would feel all slopy its the easy/lazy way out when i see one it makes me want to throw up lol ps. saiga does make alot of them like this from the factory but we dont get them in the US

+1 If you want a converted Saiga, DO IT RIGHT DONT BE LAZY!

[Deussne]

Just took some pics the other day.
by the way it only takes about 1 hour to convert any saiga to the "Original" configuration. Like Diatribes said. Do it right.



And the way that it sits by my wifes side of the bed to keep her company while Im not at home. I feel bad for the fool who tries to brake in. (buckshot in the drum)



some old pics.

[Sprout47]

That vented handgaurd looks really nice, kind of looking like a PTR-91 in those last few pics.

[Madcat455]

Quote:       Originally Posted by Deussne

Just took some pics the other day. by the way it only takes about 1 hour to convert any saiga to the "Original" configuration. Like Diatribes said. Do it right.

HA.. speak for yourself.. LOL. I'm too fkn nervous to take it apart like that.. especially knowing that the local AK expert has a 11mo wait to get stuff done LOL.

I'll grow a pair one day.. and attempt to convert it. but for now, it's just fine..lol.

[Diatribes]

Quote:       Originally Posted by Madcat455

HA.. speak for yourself.. LOL. I'm too fkn nervous to take it apart like that.. especially knowing that the local AK expert has a 11mo wait to get stuff done LOL. I'll grow a pair one day.. and attempt to convert it. but for now, it's just fine..lol.

I too was nervous as HELL with my first conversion. I took my time not wanting to make mistakes and it took the better part of 2 days. Now Ive converted 3 of them and can do it in about 4 hours, taking my time. It is super easy. The worst part is drilling out the rivet heads on the trigger. Even if you go a little bit over, you can get rivet buttons to go in the holes from Dinzag. They just pop in and look like the other rivets. I have them in mine and you can kind of see them in my picture. After you get those rivets out, the other 3 rivets on the trigger plate are cake. I dremmeled mine off. You dont have to worry about anything cus youre only going to grind against the plate which you dispose of anyways. Just be careful of the rivet inside the trigger guard if you reuse it. (I dont reuse mine, I use saigatech and ak-builder trigger guards) After you get the rivet heads ground down its easy enough to pop that plate off. I could see where cutting the pistol grip nut could be a little spooky. Thats why I use 3rd party trigger guards. With either saigatech or ak-builder trigger guard the pistol grip nut is underneath the receiver so you dont have to cut a hole. Saiga Trigger Guard, Selector Stop, Pistol Grip Mount and Rivets Once the trigger guard is in place its as easy as reassembling the internals on any ol' AK variant. The BHO is a little tricky at first, use floss to install the spring. After you do it a few times even that isnt difficult. Go for the conversion, you will be very glad you did it.