EAA Saiga's vs. RAA Saiga's....

[TOU]

EAA Saiga's vs. RAA Saiga's....

I realize that they are essentially the same and this may seem like a silly question, but besides importer and stamping, I was just curious if there were any real differences in the two items that have been imported by the two importers EAA and RAA? As in features offered, desirability, finish etc? (x39 specifically.)

 

[SSN Vet]

I'm no expert and no dealer....but I have a background in manufacturing and have been reading everything I can get my hands on about Saiga rifles as I prepare to do my first Saiga conversion....

From that limited knowledge base.....it doesn't appear to me that there is a distinction between the rifle specifications other than which importer's mark is on the receiver.

However, it also looks like the rifle specification only goes so deep.

What I'm saying is that I haven't seen any indication that Izmash is any where close to ISO 9001 manufacturing standards.

That doesn't mean they don't make good products. It means that the level of standardization is not exact. (Example....one batch of rifles will not have the PG nut hole stamped into the receiver, but a later batch will.)

You'll get a fully functional rifle built to a pretty decent quality standard, but they will have little differences from one manufacturing lot to another, that the factory considers acceptable.

That's my speculation.....

Manufacturing in Japan and in the west is hyper anal about standardization.

It takes a huge investment to achieve this level of standardization, which isn't always necessary and often can't be justified financially.

 

[Navy87Guy]

The only thing you may find is that since EAA used to have the import license, that EAA's are older models. I know the more recent RAA imports (7.62x39 at least) have the cutouts for the military fire control group placement already in place. That didn't used to be the case - so you might find that EAA models would require more work to convert. It's easy enough to tell when you field strip it -- you can see if there are cutouts above the trigger plate or not.

Jim

 

[aka108]

The RAA I have has a machined out area on the reciever where you can, in right light, read EAA.