Lone Star Arms

Sold! I'll take it in a heartbeat. Please call me to make arrangements.

Had a KS-12 in the shop with receiver/carrier alignment issues, and although the fit and finish is generally much better than the Russian export models, KS-12s clearly aren't immune to these issues. Lynx seems to attempt to address cycling issues with generally weaker springs, a blackjack type recoil buffer at the rear of the receiver, and a couple of extra gas settings. Once again it looks like yet another manufacturer is applying band-aids and Appalachian engineering to address problems inherent in the engineering and assembly issues copied from the originals. Receiver alignm

"ive had -2-3 russian shotguns over the years that would run birdshot without futziing around. i shoulda kept 2 of them. they were just so buttery smooth! and light recoiling. not sure what made those guns so perfect. i guess they were just perfectly in sync". So true! The biggest issue with Russian shotguns and their many recent clones has always been that the way the parts fit and work together in the real world is often very different than the workings the engineers envisioned when they designed these guns. What is baffling is that with nearly every clone produced, regard

All of the parts on the KS-12s I've worked on have been top notch US Made parts. In many cases machined from bar stock, where Russian parts are cast/forged. Have swapped in Russian Bolts and Carriers to test compatibility with KS-12s and vice versa, and its always 100%.

"I was running 2.75 dram loads reliably in stick mags and 3 dram bulk pack loads in MD-20 drums. These things are winners right out of the box." Have rebuilt a number of these guns, and so far I've seen one KS-12 that ran this way out of the box. My advice to the owner was to leave it just as it is mechanically, and enjoy it. Right out of the gate, Kalashnikov USA guns have been head and shoulders above their Russian siblings in terms of build quality and performance, and K-USA appears to be continuously striving to improve the quality performance of the guns.. Still love the R

Congratulations, brother! He's beautiful!!! Mike

"Do any of yall run recoil buffers on your rigs/do you recommend them?" We don't usually install them unless a customer specifically requests it, and this is exceedingly rare. Black Jack buffers are primarily sold as a recoil reducer, and for that purpose they aren't effective at all. What they are effective for is preventing your bolt carrier from hammering and deforming your rear trunnion. If your gun is tuned properly for the ammo you're shooting, you probably don't need one.

Taking a couple of coils off the recoil spring lowers resistance, theoretically increasing low end performance. The caveat is if you like to shoot high powered stuff, without something like a blackjack buffer, you're more likely to damage the rear trunnion. What you are referring to as the 'piston' is the 'op rod'. On this platform, the puck is actually the gas piston, and a slightly off center impression where it contacts the op rod is more common than uncommon, so unless it's way off, or you start to see cracking where the op rod inserts into the bolt carrier, I wouldn't worry about it.

Without mods I doubt it can be coaxed to reliably run the stuff you're shooting. CSS sells reduced power springs that might lower resistance enough to get the 1325 - 1350 FPS shells to run without having to get into modifying the action and gas system. If it runs 1450 - 1600 FPS ammo as is, it will definitely run the lower powered ammo with correct modification, but as it's a "new" clone, no one really knows yet how well it will hold up over time.

Note: Posts advertising non-LSA vendor products which are not currently available have been removed from this thread. Brothers, if you have a truly useful or great innovative KS-12, Saiga 12, or Vepr 12 product you want to mention in relationship to Lone Star Arms high performance work , I welcome your input here, but if you advertise it to MY customers, It better goddamn well be available, and work "as advertised". Lone Star Arms does not endorse "vaporware," or allow advertisement for products which are not "as advertised" or available when referenced. One warning only.

Present... and still building extreme high performance Kalashnikov platform shotguns, and loving every minute of what I do..... What are you up to these days, brother?

"I'm fortunate enough to not lay on my death bed wishing I would have. It makes all of the things about the business that I hate worth it (paperwork, sales tax reports, the occasional customer who refuses to read and follow instructions and it leads to some sort of shipping debacle, etc.). I'm definitely not doing it for the money, lol. " Well...that's at least mostly true! There are likely (especially in the Trump economy) many other things we could be doing to make a buck, and at the end of the day, along with taking care of our customers, we do need to eat, and to feed our families.