[H&Hhunter]

Any of you guys out there ever play with one of these AK clones and if so pros and cons?

And most importantly will this rifle accept regular AK magazines?

Thank you guys.

[Dave Markowitz]

The Saiga sporters do not accept standard AK mags. They use special mags specific to each gun. They are limited to 10 rounds, 8 rounds in the .308s.

I have one that's been converted (with the requisite number of US-made parts) to look like an AK-103. I.e., pistol grip, muzzle brake, and it now accepts standard AK mags.

The quality of the Russian-made Izhmash rifles is much better than any Rumanian, Egyptian, or Chinese AK I've ever seen. Fit and finish are much superior. That said, my ugly SAR-1 is just as reliable. :)

[MAKOwner]

I believe there are posts over on the forums at both ak-47.net, and the AK boards at ar15.com about converting the Saiga to take standard mags. Basically it requires zero effort to get them to actually fit. To feed you have to add a feedramp which can be homemade. And then to be legal with the highcaps you need to add 5 US parts, which basically means converting it to standard AK pistol grip/buttstock setup. That isn't as hard as it sounds either. Just do some searches at '47.net and you should find all the info... I've been wanting to get a Saiga myself to convert and play with for awhile now.

This post in particular has alot of good info: http://www.gunsnet.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=74113&highlight=saiga+conversion

There are pictures in the link at the very end of the thread...