wlchase

A very good start! Maybe a few touch-ups on some of the pics, but quite nice! And, fabulous work, BRG3! If I do add a grip to my 223, I know where I'm going to purchase it! (and new buttstock, I guess!) Bill

"If at first you don't succeed..... Get a bigger hammer!" OTOH... "If at first you don't succeed. Try, try again. If you still don't succeed, Give up! No sense being a damn fool about it!" WC Fields Bill

Mine too! (First AK, that is) Yes, FCG and piston will get you legal. If you're NOT going to change the configuration to include a pistol grip, then you CAN'T use a standard AK replacement FCG. BattleRifleG3, another member of our merry band, sells FCG's that have been converted to do the job. Search this forum for "piston" and you'll find out which ones don't need to be shortened. HTH! Bill

I'm interested! Anything to keep operational costs low! (One big reason I've got a Saiga and not an AR-variant in the first place!) Bill !

Woo-hoo! That's mah baby! I can hardly wait! Thanks a gazillion! Bill

I've found for the shorter distances I can use the middle of the front sight, the little "bump" where it becomes smaller, and that gets me pretty well set. Bill

OK, my take is coming from the POV of a guy who hasn't shot ANY rifle since the bolt-action .22 back when Alan Shepard was our first man in space. I had no idea what to expect. I had to wait close to a month after I cleaned the packing grease out to shoot it, and was quite impressed that even with my old eyes, I was getting on the paper at 100yds. right off the bat! Recoil was not bad at all, dodging the bouncing shell casings in the corrugated-steel-covered shooting deck was... interesting... that sucker throws it a ways! And yes, dings it up pretty badly, too, but I plan to work on a DIY

The MagLULA is your friend! The AK version works great! Bill

In that vein, will a TAPCO/G2 FCG work in a Saiga without moving the whole assembly forward? As in, if I don't want a PG? TIA! Bill

Here's a nifty worksheet from Survivor's SKS Forum, and which was actually stored on a Star Wars board . It'll help get ya up to snuff on your scary assault weapon of mass destruction! Bill ETA: Updated worksheet... I think I have it correct now! If not, please let me know! B ETAA: OK, I can't upload an xls file, how about in zipped form? Yep! Saiga_922_r_Compliance_Worksheet.xls.zip

Check AR15.com for technical discussions of this sort. Basically, their thinking is it's an expensive, unimpressive self-defense round. Bill And +1 on the CZ52; cheap gun, fairly cheap ammo, big fireballs!

Uhm.... the Saiga's pretty well munge the brass so it's not reusable. Bill

I've heard some say the 5.56 might be a tad hot, but Izmash's site calls it a .223/5.56 rifle, and the 40 or so rounds of Wolf military 5.56 M193 (3200 fps... wow!) worked just fine! Bill

Staley's Pro Shop shows $255.96, http://www.stanleysproshop.com/Saiga-223-R...649c0-path.html? Stanley's also has free shipping! Bill

The 35-rnd orlites work fine, after shaving/filing a bit of plastic off. Search for Orlites and you'll see exactly what needs to be done. About 5 minutes of work. Bill

So THAT'S where they're all going! Stanley's is down to only the 24" model! Bill

Well, the mount I got is much more crude than the Kalinka one. Just a single-piece lock held in tension by a split washer. The bulge on the "cam" of the lock is clearly too large. I removed the security screw holding it together enough to move it to the fully-locked position, and it wouldn't thread back in without cross-threading. I'm going to play with some polishing stones, but I may just cough up for the good Kalinka mount before it's all said and done. Thanks for the help, guys! Bill

http://www.gunsnet.net/forums/showthread.php?t=304554 These guys seem to have gotten the ball rolling. Bill

I never thought of the manual from Kalinka! (Well, never thought to look for one.) Mine should be AK-standard, so maybe some lube and some adjusting is all that's needed. I don't have a scope yet, but since I will use the gun in USPSA multi-gun stuff, I'm leaning toward a low-magnification "turkey" zoom, or a red-dot type. Thanks! Bill

BRG3....you finally get to see your handywork installed on my gun!.....i have yet to stain and finish them, but they fit real nice and look good to me already! Sweeet! I am (more-or-less) patiently awaiting much the same hardware from BRG3! Loverly! Bill

Was watching my TiVo'd Shooting USA last night, it was the 2006 USPSA Multi-Gun Championship, and lo and behold, in one of the transition pieces, there was Saiga probably 12, with a blue (yes, blue) 10+ rd mag and blue handguard! I thought maybe it was a rifle, so I "rewound" and no, the guy set the Saiga down to pick up an AR-variant. None of the top 3 used one, so that was the only time I saw it. tho. Bill (Or am I wrong?)

Also, you don't need to be 0.001 mm accurate in the task, either. I did mine sitting on my couch, with the rifle across my thighs (no workbench... yet... long story), and when I was done, it was clear the hole was just a tad off-center. It works fine! Bill

Izhmash calls it a "5.56, chambered in .223 REM (5.56x45)" if that helps. Bill

Amazing, aren't they?! Bill

Thanks, Railroader. They are about 200 miles from me. Great price also. Very speedy to ship and responsive, too! Bill