Saiga .223 dinged brass problem..

[codefour]

I do not know if I should post this in Rifle Country or the Reloading forum but here goes....

I recently bought a Saiga in .223 and ordered the parts to convert it to an AK configuration. I recently shot my NIB Saiga at my local club.

I reload all my own cartridges. I can reload competition level .223 for a little over half the cost of new, bulk, cheap ammo. Every case I retrieved had a LARGE ding in the side of the case. I full lenth resized the cases and the ding would not come out.

Is there a modification to the Saiga rifle to prevent the LARGE ding in the side of the cases.?? The case seems to strike the receiver cover after it is ejected. Does anyone know of a mod to the receiver cover that can prevent this ding.??

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I feel like I am waisting good brass...

 

[P30shtr]

I do not know if I should post this in Rifle Country or the Reloading forum but here goes....

I recently bought a Saiga in .223 and ordered the parts to convert it to an AK configuration. I recently shot my NIB Saiga at my local club.

I reload all my own cartridges. I can reload competition level .223 for a little over half the cost of new, bulk, cheap ammo. Every case I retrieved had a LARGE ding in the side of the case. I full lenth resized the cases and the ding would not come out.

Is there a modification to the Saiga rifle to prevent the LARGE ding in the side of the cases.?? The case seems to strike the receiver cover after it is ejected. Does anyone know of a mod to the receiver cover that can prevent this ding.??

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I feel like I am waisting good brass...

Modification to help? Not that I know of.(maybe play with the gas system???) And yes, you ARE wasting good brass. 9 out of 10 cases will have this dent from banging off of the top-cover upon ejection.

You say you can reload for half the price. Does that apply to steel case ammo? $5 for 20rds or $200-250/1000 rds? Or just brass?

Shoot steel case, its what the AK was designed/meant for.

I understand the hobby and appreciate it (reloading) but, how much is your time worth? Not to hi-jack but, this kinda applies to all firearms and the steel bad/brass good myth. How much do you save on ammo over time vs. the cost of a new extractor should you ever even need one? Save the brass and re-loading for your Rem 700s, hunting and match rifles. Not your AKs.

Are you guys even allowed to re-load in Kali ? You should watch what you say on these internets

 

[6x6pinz]

Every one I have played with leaves its mark on the cases. Don't reload so never bothered looking to stop this from happening. I would head over to the Saiga 12 forum, under the 223 section and see. I am sure there has to be others who reload for their saigas with the same issue. If there is a fix they would have found it by now.

 

[northark147]

Yes, the dust cover is designed to screw the brass up. Replace the dust cover with any old aftermarket one for an AK and it should stop. Of course after you fix that, if you shoot under a roof the darn things eject so hard it destroys the brass while bouncing them off the roof.

 

[Buck Kramer]

My RPK, anf both my 74's do the same thing even with steel cases. I dont know of any solution.

 

[WardenWolf]

The solution I've been told is to stick some door molding on the edge of the dust cover, as well as possibly putting a rubber covering on the bolt handle. This is a problem inherent to all AK-style actions regardless of caliber, even including the 7.62x54R PSL. The .223 cases appear to fair the worst, however. I've seen them bent so badly they're literally buckled. None of the ones I've recovered would have been reusable. The heavier cases in the larger calibers suffer much less damage.

 

[M1key]

Try the door molding idea or shoot steel only, if you don't want to trash the brass. I shoot steel exclusively in the Saigas and have gotten good accuracy with Hornady Steel Match 75HP. I buy Wolf ammo, pull bullets and replace them with copper jacket match or Vmax.

M

 

[Coax]

Welcome to the " AK KISS " As Stated above, All AK's do it, as well as the Saigas.Definitely not built with Reloaders in mind.I trimmed some of the ejection port away for more clearance and covered the charging handle and the ridge of the port in rubber channel.

 

[Darth AkSarBen]

I have used the car door molding, put it on the upper part of the dust cover that snaps down over the works and you should be in business. A little good epoxy glue also helps hold it in. Let me see if I can find a pic of this....




This is on a .223 that I had dressed up and shot a while and then sold. I did not like the ding it did to the center of the brass where the primer is. Made it harder to reload and had to clean out the primer hole a bit more.

In this picture you can actually see the door molding on the dust cover.


They do shoot very well with a good scope. Target from one of the handloads I was working on....

 

[Z-Michigan]

It's an AKM, they do that. Try the door molding trick. Or only use reloads from cases that were at the end of their life anyway. Or buy steel-cased ammo.

Ever seen what a PTR91 does to empties? If you can find them - they eject something like 20-30 yards - they are often more heavily creased than what you're seeing with the Saiga. Military rifles were not designed to enable reloading of fired cases. It's somewhat coincidental that the AR15 pattern is fairly easy on brass (a byproduct of its DI design that reduces bolt forces during unlocking).

 

[Dr.Rob]

Try a Valmet case buffer, they snap on older style dust covers but cost about $40 ea. and are hard to find. http://www.robertrtg.com/valmetbuffer.html

Fender welt is a lot cheaper, as are AKM style dustcovers with a rolled/flattened edge.

 

[M1key]

I like to pull the Wolf factory 55 FMJ bullet and seat a Hornady 55 Vmax. I get better accuracy and terminal performance.

before and after WPA 55gr round:

M

 

[codefour]

Thanks for all the responses.. I am going to try the recommended door trim piece to see if it helps at all... Then if that does not work, I will try the Valmet buffer next. Yes, You can load .223 fairly cheap.. And I load it on a progressive and crank out 400 to 500 rounds an hour. My reloads are better than factory ammo and way better than Wolf ammo.

 

[Darth AkSarBen]

Have heart. The car door trim piece works and works well and cheaply. I also used it on my Saiga (AK) .308 rifle as well and reloaded for it as well. You might get an occassional "very" slight mark but it should reload with no issues.