Saiga-12 function test

I just bought a Saiga-12 this past Saturday at a gun show. I've wanted one of these things for a long long time, but was too chicken sh*t to convert one, and too cheap/impatient to buy/then wait for a Tromix Saiga. I finally broke down and got one and I ended up ordering all the parts for the conversion the same day. Just tonight I finally had an opportunity run some shells through it and do a basic function test and I have to say I am shocked and kinda disappointed.

Maybe this gun just requires a break-in period, but I had an absolutely terrible time with it. I ran 100 shells through it, using both the stock 5-round mag and an AGP 10-round mag and out of the two only the AGP magazine fed completely without any malfunctions... and that was just one time only, right at the end of the shooting session. I was experiencing stovepipes/failure to eject for the most part, however there were several of occasions in which my impatience/desire to rapid fire caused a malfunction because I pulled the trigger before the bolt had fully returned forward, which I assume kept the firing pin from correctly hitting the primer, if it ever made contact at all. It seemed more reliable if I watched the bolt return fully forward before pressing the trigger again. While that did work a little better, it was kinda disappointing as I was certain I'd be able to shoot faster this thing faster, especially after seeing videos of various nuts out there bump firing these things.

I'd like to hope that it was the super sh*tty ammo that I was using that was causing all of the problems. I have heard so many stories about the Saiga's legendary reliability and monotonous GLOCK-like consumption of a wide variety of ammo, so I figured I could get away with the $13 100-count box of Winchester "universal" from Wal*Mart. I guess I was wrong. I'm going to try a few boxes of something else a little bit less "bargain basement" tomorrow and see if that clears up.

So assuming that this problem continues tomorrow and ammo isn't the problem, what else could it possibly be? I cleaned this thing within an inch of it's life and generously lubricated it (not that it's supposed even to matter with an AK, I'm told) before shooting it, and I had the gas regulator on "2", which is the correct setting for light loads. I hope these problems aren't exacerbated when I convert it back to the original AK-style configuration.

All I lubricated were the rails and bolt/bolt carrier with tetra grease, and the recoil spring assembly got a little bit of gun oil. I left the gas tube, piston and other components alone. Surprisingly, even after 100 rounds through it the innards look pretty clean, a helluva lot cleaner than my AR-15 would be after the same number of rounds, that's for damn sure.

I just did the function test as Hoppy590 instructed and everything checks out, so I'm hoping and praying now that ammo is to blame. The bolt did seem to be moving pretty slowly, I swear I could watch it travel the entire motion from battery, all the way open, and then back to battery again. Being my first autoloader shotgun and first AK-based weapon however, I figured this was normal since the bolt does have a pretty long distance to travel. I'm gonna buy a few boxes tomorrow that aren't super bargain basement cheap and see how they run. I am beginning to suspect that the loads I bought were so light that they weren't providing enough energy to fully push the bolt open with the necessary authority, because the gun experienced no hangups whatsoever when I rapidly racked an entire 10-round mag through it by hand.

Also, does anyone have any suggestions for refinishing this thing? I had been entertaining thought of possibly doing it while I had it apart for the AK conversion, but there is no doubt about it I'm definitely doing it now. After just one sorry-arse trip to the range this thing has all kind paint chipping off of it from every angle.

I definitely checked the dial. In fact, I even tried putting it on 1, thinking that perhaps I had somehow got the numbers backwards. Shooting a round on setting 1 resulted in a complete failure to cycle the action, so I definitely knew right then and there that 2 was the correct setting.

I'll let you guys know what happens tomorrow after a couple different brands have gone through it.

Well I went to the store tonight and bought some Federal Game-Shok, and some Winchester Super-X. Wow, big difference. Every single damn round fed with out a single problem! Yesterday I noticed my shells (when then gun did cycle correctly) seemed to dribble off the side of the gun on to the ground right in front of me. Now the empty shells were being flung with authority, 15-20 feet away. It was definitely the ammo, I am so relieved. I ran both boxes through it, rapid firing my 10-rounder several times without so much as a single hiccup. The only problem I noticed was after I was finished I was insanely store and one of my shoulder muscles was erratically twitching a little. That being said, I hope I can find a target load that reliably cycles in this thing.

Can't wait to convert this thing!

Hopefully I will be able to find a load that is a nice compromise between a light target load and a full power hunting load. Can anyone with one of these monstrosities recommend a reliably-cycling target load? If I can't shoot anything less than full-power hunting loads, then I can't see myself shooting this thing often.

A guy on another forum said that he had good luck with Winchester AA "super handicap", so I guess I'm gonna give that a try tonight. If you've guys have any other suggestions, lets here them, I'm gonna go buy a bunch of different loads tonight and try them out.

jfruser said:

Stop it with these Saiga-12 threads! Every time I read one, I get the hankerin' to buy one and perform a DIY conversion.

Click to expand...

BWAHAHAHAHAHA! Now you've done it, I will definitely be PMing you a picture of my converted Saiga-12 now.

My dad and I have a date with the milling machine this Sunday. Oh man, this is gonna be nuts!

Navy87Guy, what kind of rail do you have on the top of that thing? Is it side-mounted or is it a receiver cover-mounted rail?

Update: My Saiga-12 is well into surgery. I have removed all of the internals and with the help of my dad the removal of the trigger plate and trigger guard were quickly dispatched. I ended up with cleanly removed parts AND a remarkably useful lesson in metal manipulation. It meets Mr. milling machine today to cut out the hole fpr the pistol grip nut.

I can't believe how insanely smooth this conversion has gone, thanks to the substantial help from my dad. He's been sloooooooooowly building an AR-15 for a few months now and I've decided the least I could do is spring for a nice match trigger for him. The low cost of conversion parts for this Saiga-12 ($96.54) + insane quality free labor from my dad ($0.00) has this conversion priced way way less than the basic Tromix conversion ($395) that I was originally going to do, so I don't feel all that bad about splurging on an AR trigger for him. Suggestions?