Hoopster50

All done. I hope this picture shows up. Final steps were fitting the pistol grip, stock, and filing the mag catch to accept the 30 rounders. I think the original 10 rounder will still work as it feeds fine manually. The conversion was fairly easy and I basically did it in two evenings after my son went to bed. I thought the sporter stock felt OK so I was hesitant at first but boy does the pistol grip feel better, not to mention the lighter trigger pull. $160 well spent! Thanks to everyone on Saiga-12 that make the effort to share their expertise and experiences.

Cheaper than dirt was charging over a dollar a round for aluminum cased .380 fmj. Boycott them at all costs.

I used your bending trick on both ends and used a thin wire run through the bottom of the receiver to pull it most of the way down. Then with half of the loop showing in the hole, used a dental pick to pull the loop all the way into alignment. Then just pushed the pin that last little bit through.

I can conceal the Glock 23 very well even with jeans and a t-shirt. I carry at 4 o'clock IWB.

Nice, I wonder if that's the warsaw length or Nato length. Does that still require the receiver block and hinge? If so, that will get expensive.

I went through the same dilemma before finally letting my finances be the deciding factor. Like you said, the black K-Var just looks right and it has the trap door to keep cleaning supplies. I figure that I can always ad a nice folder if money allows in the future.

Yeah, don't even ask what I was doing messing with that part of the hammer. I thought I needed to take of some of the metal to shape it like the factory one. Now I'm just trying to get it to hit squarely on the firing pin. I think it will be fine and hopefully not much lighter. I'll consider it inoperable until it proves functional at the range, especially since it's never been fired before. I'm fairly confident in the reassembly as I've done it about 5 times now. Just can't wait 'til Friday night.

Just wanted to brag about my progress so far. In one day I basically finished the conversion, just waiting on my stock and pistol grip to show up Friday. I'm also having some issues with the BHO spring and I believe I need to reshape the face of my hammer where it strikes the firing pin. Otherwise, it should be ready to rock and roll by the weekend! I never even shot it in the sporter config. but I can tell the trigger pull is MUCH better.

I wonder if the factory sling swivel can be attached to that new Handguard. Seems like an oversight on Tapco's part.

I had the same problem with my tapco hammer due to the BHO. I think you just need to file a little more on the BHO side to allow more room on the other side for the retainer plate. Just do a little at a time.

Bingo! I love to be prepared but nobody's going to live forever so Fear God and nothing else.

I'd like to see what that looks like if you do it that way. I may do the same thing until I can afford a nice folding stock.

Looks like if I decide to go with a folder I'll need to get a receiver block and spend the money to get a quality folder because I doubt I'd be happy with the Tapco folder or anything that doesn't feel solid. Maybe a poll for favorite folder is in order.

I ordered a bullet guide from Dinzag very recently and had my order in about a week. Install with the kit was a breeze.

If I understand what you're trying to accomplish correctly, you could keep the original stock by installing the bullet guide and modifying your mag catch to accept US made 30 round AK mags (3 more compliant parts). The advantage being that the bullet guide is cheap and easy, the AK mags are cheap and plentiful.

Thanks for the replies and great pictures. Do most fold to the left side? This seems like the best side to avoid the charging handle. Anyone have experience with underfolders? I was wondering if they interfere with the magazine or not.

First let me say hi. I recently picked up a Saiga in 7.62x39 and plan to convert it. I think the stock will be the last thing I do and am contemplating using a folder but don't know much about them. Can the rifle be fired with certain ones folded? Which ones are the sturdiest? I'm a rifleman at heart and I don't think I'd like the feel of any movement when firing. Should I just stick with a fixed stock for this reason? Advantages to under vs. side? Thanks!