The Saiga is plenty good as she comes from the factory. Putting a pistol grip on it won't make it shoot any different and you stand a chance of mucking up the whole rifle. I keep the Saiga stock and save up some money for a Arsenal.
Bullocks. It will make the rifle shoot and handle differently. By adding a G2 trigger you greatly improve the way the rifle shoots. By adding a pistol grip to where one is disgned to be you shift the balance of the rifle considerably. AKs are front heavy as it is. Sporter saigas are much worse in this respect, and balance horribly, because the grip is inches behind where it should be. The safety selector also comes within reach when the grip is where it was designed to be. The conversion is a dramatic functional improvement.
As to mucking up the whole rifle. Honestly you would have to try to ruin it to muck up the whole rifle. An AK is a pretty simple machine. If illiterate cave dwelling folks can figure out how to assemble one it shouldn't be to hard for anyone with an internet connection and a bit of common sense. Anyone who asserts you are likely to ruin a rifle doing a basic pistol grip conversion likely doesn't understand what it consists off. Honestly, if someone cannot manage do it, I'm not sure I trust them to safely handle and operate the firearm.
What is really questionable is the premise that an Arsenal is going to provide a weapon that has any functional advantage over a converted saiga (which is in essence what many aresenals are).
As to NATO length stock. One thing that I have noticed affects peoples preferences is how they stand. I have noticed a lot of folks that think the warsaw stock is too short use a bladed stance. I shoot more squared up with a stance and grip like this. I find that a shorter stock suits me better with than stance than if I were bladed off.
One option that sounds like it might serve your purposes is to use an AR style collapsible stock with an adapter. I like this setup on my AKs. I would advise not using the Tapco T6. Something like the CAA or Vltor adapter is a much much better product. They also look a lot better IMHO if that is a concern of yours.
As to the Tapco fixed stock. Quality wise it is fine. I have a few of them. One has lived a very happy life on one of my Saiga 12s. It is the Tapco folders and telescoping stocks that I think are suspect.
I'll have to consider this. I wasnt aware that I would have to mess with / remove that.
I re-installed and reshaped mine on one of my shotguns. I did this for reasons unique to the shotguns. However, on all my rifles I simply toss them. If I wanted a bolt hold open on the rifle I would notch the safety lever.
One thing that you don't strictly need but makes life easier is a retaining plate for the FCG. It will make the install much easier. Seeing as a tapco one costs $5 I would get one of those as well.
You also will likely want to get a can of paint to paint the bottom bare metal, unless you are planning a full refinish.
Another thing is that the nylon hole plugs are a nice way to fill the holes left from the axis pins for the factory fire control group. They cost about $1.
Im content with the Saiga-specific mags for now, so Im not going to need a bullet guide is my understanding.
I've PMed you something to consider with respect to mags.
