Steve in Allentown, PA

I had a similar problem a while ago. Here's the thread on it: http://forum.saiga-12.com/index.php?showtopic=23999&hl= I added the foam tube cover and shortened the barrel to 18". No more problems.

You are correct. I replace the front spring with an 11lb 1911 recoil spring when shooting the light, bulk pack birdshot from Walmart. It really does work.

Your fu is strong grasshopper. I replace the front factory spring with a Wolff 10lb 1911 spring when I shoot the wimpy Walmart birdshot bulk packs. "Typical" is difficult to define. Since I'm a 1911 guy I have a wide selection of Wolff springs on hand to better match whatever load I'm using at the time. So, I just swap out front Saiga springs until I find the spring that works the best. It all depends on the ammo I'm using. By the way, I always replace that 1911 spring with the factory one when I return from the range. I'd hate to make the mistake of blasting a 3" slug through the

I have one of Mike's first run drums. With just a touch of a file here and there it fit the gun perfectly and functioned flawlessly at the range. The only problem was it would not easily lock in place when it was loaded with more than just a couple of rounds. The reason for this was that the feed lips were forced apart by the pressure of the rounds pushing up. In fact, they spread apart enough that they would contact the inside of the receiver as the drum was rotated into position. The contact was substantial and I could not consistently overcome the pressure enough to lock the drum

I think that a ten round drum would be handier and less obtrusive. Maybe Mike can wash one of his MD 20s in hot water then throw it in the drier for a couple of hours to shrink it down to an MD 10.

I was just browsing through several areas of the forum that I don't normally check and ran across the discussion of Magnolia State's AR-15 mag conversion for the Saiga .223. I was very impressed. If I had a .223, I'd have one of those mag converters. If they can do a FAL mag conversion for the Saiga .308, I'll do my best to be the first in line to get one. It would solve lots of problems like magazine cost and availability as well as mag pouch problems caused by the fact that the FBMG and SureFire 20 rnd .309 mags are much taller than FAL mags. I'll be paying close attention to this

Nice little assembly/reassemby AK site. As to your question, the short answer is no you cannot simply insert the Krebs retainer plate at this point in the operation becuase the Krebs plate is held in position by the safety/selector lever. As near as I can tell, you must modify the BHO as described here to allow the insertion of the safety/selector lever after the BHO is installed. Bottom line is, you can leave the shotgun bone stock or you can add the Krebs retainer plate. If you add the Krebs retainer plate, you can either leave the BHO out of the gun or modify the BHO so you can ea

The plate replaces the shepherds crook retaining wire and prevents the hammer and trigger pins from walking out. If either of these pins walks out, your shotgun will not function. Reassemble all the "innards" but leave the safety out. Then push the semi-circular notch at the front of the retaining plate onto the hammer pin. It's easier to do this if you pry the hammer spring away from the side of the receiver. Once the front of the retainer plate is firmly engaged with the hammer pin, rotate the plate down until its bottom semi-circular notch engages the trigger pin. Finally, insert

Sorry, duplicate post.

Stngray, Don't file anymore. I have had one other customer tell me this. I'm "the other customer" to whom Mike is referring in his post. He and I have exchanged a number of e-mails in my attempt to solve the problem with my S-109 and his drum. Judging from the experince of others, my particular problem can probably be traced to the spotty quality control in the Izmash factory. My receiver probably is a few thousands narrower from side-to-side than those most other guys own. The feedlips on Mike's drum are forced to open up a bit as the rounds push up under spring pressure from

Duplicate entry. See http://forum.saiga-12.com/index.php?showtopic=30684

Mike's drum is a marvel of engineering and makes the Saiga shotgun the ultimate short range weapon. Following the fitting instructions I have achieved an easy, solid lock-up of the empty drum. In the process of the fitting I discovered that the pin on which the mag catch rotates can walk out of position. I haven't figured out a way to prevent this but I think a drop of loctite might work. In working with the drum I've discovered that it fits the gun much better when it's empty. With 20 rounds in it the drum requires two hands to rotate fully into position and some serious muscle to

I have the factory forend and the drum requires that I move my support hand as far forward as possible to achieve a good grip. A small price to pay for immediate access to 20 rounds of 00 buck. What a wicked home defense weapon. And the "cool" factor is in the stratosphere.

In fact, I'm using a retainer plate. It works perfectly with this set up. I find the plate to be the easiest and most convenient method for preventing the hammer and trigger pins from walking out. It also makes reassembly easier. During reassembly I follow this sequence: 1. Drop in the trigger assembly 2. Drop in the bolt hold open 3. Using the dental floss trick pull the BHO spring into place 4. Put in the trigger pin 5. Swear a lot while pushing the hammer and its spring into place 6. Put in the hammer pin --- a. Wipe the blood off my fingers from wrestling with the hammer and

I ordered one of Mike's 20 round drums before I had a Saiga 12 in hand. After ordering the drum I bought the shotgun. This was before the Saiga supply dried up and you could still buy one for less than $400. So I've been tinkering with the gun and doing the pistol grip conversion slowly while waiting for the drum to arrive. Wouldn't you know it. The drum arrived two weeks ago so I had to get serious about finishing the conversion. All went well until I tried to get the safety and the bolt hold open both installed. I could get either one in by itself but not both together. So I did m

Hey Mike! Job well done! I was not perfectly clear in my post. The fully loaded (20 rnds) drum will not lock into my gun with the bolt open. I haven't fully diagnosed the problem but my initial inspection leads me to believe there is a part of the gun that is contacting the top round. This part is pushing down on the rounds as the drum is inserted. After dinner tonight I will disassemble the gun and play with it and the drum to further diagnose the problem.

As did many others, I received my drum this past week. Following Mike's excellent instructions I completely disassembled the drum, dusted the inside with graphite, and reassembled it with no problems. I find the design to be ingeniously simple. I am very proud of Mike for coming up with the idea, following through to make it a reality, and persevering when things didn't go as planned. Mike embodies the true American spirit of entrepreneurship. Back to the drum. I took it to the range for the first time today. When empty it locked into the gun easily and solidly. Loaded to its max

That style of brake absolutely works on an S-308. I strongly suggest you go to Dinzag's website and check out the various muzzle brakes he offers. He worked up one of these kinds of brakes with a 9/16 LH thread per my specifications. Make sure you get a crush washer also so you can index the brake on the barrel. The recoil reduction is quite noticeable.

I thought this was a great idea so I ordered one of these sights. It arrived today and now I'm trying to figure out what you did to get it to fit because the HiViz is considerably smaller than the S-12 gas block. Did you cut away the "skirt" of the HiViz or what?

I remembered reading a post or two about substituting a 1911 recoil spring for the front recoil spring on the Saiga and thought I'd give it a try just for fun. So, today I replaced the OEM front recoil spring with an 11.5lb variable Wolff 1911 recoil spring and headed off to the range. I have a case of Winchester AA 2 3/4", 1 1/8 oz, #8 birdshot Light Target Load ammo that has never even come close to functioning in my IZ-109. Different story today. As long as I shouldered the shotgun, it ran perfectly with these light loads. It would not function when fired from the hip. Interestin

This condition is not unusual for the Saiga. Mine will not function with light target loads. It all has to do with how much gas is in the barrel and for how long after pulling the trigger. Being a semi-auto that is dependent upon gas to function it has a set of parameters within which it will function. The light target loads don't generate enough gas to function the gun even on setting two. You'll have to experiment to find which ammo your gun likes and which ammo it doesn't like. Suffice it to say the Saiga likes the the hot stuff.

So I took the brake off and went to the range. Guess what. The smack of the stock against my cheek was almost completely eliminated. All I can figure is that as the gas was directed up by the holes in the brake it forced the muzzle down (a good thing) which somehow caused the butt to jump up which then smacked my cheek. However, for this scenario to work it would mean the gun must be using my support hand as a pivot point. I will continue to experiment.

I forgot to mention that I have a Tromix shark brake installed on the barrel. I have to admit I'm more of a rilfe guy than a shotgun guy and I was taught by Uncle Sam to maintain a consistent cheek weld. Maybe it's time to learn something new. The problem is it's difficult lining up the sights without getting my cheek down onto the stock. A piece of foam might do the trick if I can figure out the technical aspects of attaching it properly.

I have converted several Saiga 308s and put several hundred rounds through them without incident or complaint so I thought my IZ-109 conversion would follow the same path. A little extra drilling and cutting was required with the 12 guage but nothing beyond the capabilities of my trusty Dremel tool. Instead of installing a Red Star trigger like I did for the 308s I put in a Tapco G2 FCG. I experienced a couple of trigger slaps with the Tapco at first but easily fixed that. I really like the fixed Ace AK skeleton stock on the 308s so I installed one on the 12 guage using the intern

I tried it on #1 first just to see what would happen. On #1 the gun became a single-shot, magazine-fed weapon. On #2 the bolt / bolt carrier came back far enough to cock the hammer but not far enough to eject the empty. Each empty made it only part way out of the ejection port before being caught by the returning bolt / bolt carrier. After reading of other's experiences with various ammo, I really had no expectation that these light target loads would function the shotgun. But it was a nice day and I wanted to get out of the house. As an aside, my son rolled up a nice sized ball of sn