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SAIGA 7.62 ?

MFIMFI Member Posts: 7,899 ✭✭✭
edited July 2002 in Ask the Experts
Whats the consensus on the EAA SAIGA 7.62x39 semi auto rifles. Anything on these rifles good, bad or ugly ??

"I saw that at Walmart for $5.00 less"
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    NighthawkNighthawk Member Posts: 12,022 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    If its like their shotguns there of good quality.

    Rugster
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    110110 Member Posts: 125 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    I have had one for about six years and I have had no comlaints with it. It is relatively accurate and has given me no problems.
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    rballirballi Member Posts: 770 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I bought one last week; shot it Saturday. I got the 16" barrel version. It was a really rainy day so I went to the indoor range to function test it out to 50 feet. No hiccups or jams with slow or rapid fire. Normal recoil, but the forearm seems a little on the forward side; it almost feels like you have to reach for it. I got used to it after a few shots. I'll see what it groups out to 50 yards and 100 yards when the weather clears up.

    Seems like a solid little gun.
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    lrarmsxlrarmsx Member Posts: 791 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    They are well made. It is too bad that they don't take standard AK mags though. I have available some of the 30rd mags that have been modified to work in the Saiga 7.62. Other than their magazine situation, they are well regarded. There are no replacement stocks or many other accessories for it. They do have the scope rail on the side however. The newer ones are being offered with the 16" barrel. LRARMSX@MCHSI.COM
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    jimkanejimkane Member Posts: 1,534 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    my friend just got one of these. It is good to shoot and hasn't given him any problems. The mag modification is simple. You take a standard AK mag and (using a dremmel or similar tool) grind the tab on the rear of the mag so it is a little thinner. Not too much just enough so it snaps in all the way.

    Live for Peace, prepare for War
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    lrarmsxlrarmsx Member Posts: 791 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Unfortunately just grinding the back of the mag will make it fit, but not make it feed. I found that out several years ago. I almost had to eat a few of the guns until I figured out how to make the mags feed. If it were only grinding the back tang it would be easy, but unfortunately there is more to it than that. I explained this to a dealer a few weeks ago. I showed him why just grinding the back wouldn't work. He didn't believe me at first. After I proved to him my point, he said "Well I'm going to keep telling people that is all it takes", (so he could continue to sell the guns). He didn't want to mess up his sales by actually telling the truth. Before then he was mis-informed, now he was just going to be a liar. (To make the sale).
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    110110 Member Posts: 125 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    I have a 30rnd mag that I converted to fire out of mine. I have never had a problem with feeding or jamming with the mag. I filed down the tang and pulled up on the mag lips with pliers. No problems as of 1,00 plus rounds.
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    ATFATF Member Posts: 11,683 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I have one that I fitted a B-Square mount that belongs on an AK.Had to remove the side mount that comes with the gun.The only fault I find is if you reload the 7.62 as I do it dings the brass.The only way you can prevent this is to remove the top cover.When you do this it throws the brass so far you can't find it.

    ATF
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    lrarmsxlrarmsx Member Posts: 791 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Bending feed lips with pliers and removing factory scope bases so you can use an aftermarket one. I guess I have to question the validity of either of those actions. This is "Ask the Experts", I am concerned that the advice may be straying a bit from the side of expertise. In place of "bending the feed lips with pliers", the modified magazines that I have available have had their fronts properly welded up to the height of the sides. Thus they are configured like the original Saiga magazine. The rounds themselves need to ride higher so that they will enter the chamber rather than slam into the back of the barrel below the chamber and not feed. Bending the feed lips may accomplish this as well, but continued reliability of the mag may be in question. As for the B-Square mount, I have handled them in the past. Back when AK's did not have a mount on their side it was a viable option, but most found it to be bulky and tended to lose zero regularly. I'm curious why you wouldn't use the base that came on the gun. In addition to the Soviet scope and mount systems available, there are a number of mounts that allow you to use a weaver type sytem or just 1" rings, either way there shouldn't be a need to add a B-Square mount.

    I'm not trying to slam either of the individuals that did those things. If thats what worked for them great. I'm just trying to give expert advice to someone that is asking. I'd go with the factory scope base system, there are a lot of options for that set-up. As for the mags, if you desire anything bigger than the factory 10rd I'd advise against using pliers on a standard AK mag. In addition to giving advice, I do sell things. I would never have the guts to sell a magazine that I took a pair of pliers to the feed lips. I realize that this may sound like I am pushing the mags I have available, but if I thought that that was the proper way to modify the magazines, I'd be doing it myself, but I have been paying a gunsmith to make the modifications to the front as I have descibed. Why? Because that is the proper way it should be done for safety and reliability. That's just my opinion, some may see it differently.
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    ATFATF Member Posts: 11,683 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I used the B=Square mount because of two reasons.I had one and it was a challenge.

    ATF
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    Buck ShottBuck Shott Member Posts: 29 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    check out ak-47.net forums.
    www.gunsnet.net
    and click ak47 forums button the guys over there know alot about all aks and there are several who onw the saigas ive heard nothing but good reports form them.
    Buck
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