bartomark

Thanks I checked and most of is lead with only a couple of boxes steel. I will be sure not to mix them. I didnt think of ricochets. Thanks for mentioning it.

Thanks for the detailed response. I didn't think about steel losing velocity quicker than lead but it makes sense that it would being lighter. I guess I was worried that a gun that will run light stuff might beat itself to death with the heavy loads. Especially since some shoots use 75-100 shells to complete. I just hope that the Autoplug does its job.......

I picked up some Kent shells at Cabelas yesterday. They are 1.5oz. #6 steel shot and the velocity is listed at 1430fpm. This figures out to 4 1/2 dram. I got the shells for a combat shotgun shoot and figured that throwing 50% more ''lead'' each shot would be a good thing. I have a 4 port gun, cut down barrel with a perm. attatched Monster Brake,18.25" overall, and an Auto Plug. I also run a buffer. This gun will run 2 3/4 dram reliably and I just want some opinion if going this hot could damage it. Being it is now banned it would not be easy to fix or replace.

Thanks that is what I am looking for

I finally got my Saiga running great. After all the issues I had with it FTF, FTE, loose bolt rails , jams etc. I am convinced it was a vodka special. But now there is a new problem, after about 800 rds the firing pin has peened over on the surface where the hammer strikes it making it about .020 shorter than it originally was. I am thinking it was not heat treated correctly. This is causing light primer strikes, fail to fire. I substituted a new pin from another Saiga I had and it performes flawlessly so I am sure this is the problem. This is not the same part that CSS calls the firing pin o

Ok after dealing with this gun I am convinced I got a Monday morning vodka special. I have the gun operating at about 99%. When I checked the rails I found that I had about .035 clearance in the bolt carrier that was allowing the shell to jump the extractor. I tightened up the bolt by heating it up and closing up the rail slots till it had .005 clearance. I also beveled the ejector about 20 degrees to help the spent shell to disengage from the extractor foot. I will try to post pics of the mod I made to the bolt cover, brazing a tab to hold the front of the bolt carrier down. After I did this

I think I may have found the problem. My gas rod was loose on the bolt assy. It was staked to the bolt but had about .010 ''wiggle'' up and down. The bolt assy. when in the rearmost position, where the shell casing would be contacting the ejector bar had so much up and down play that the shell casing was missing the ejector bar . It might be a ''Rube Goldberg'' fix but I formed a .100 thick piece of steel ,contoured it to fit the top cover and brazed it to the top cover to help hold the bolt down when it is in the rearmost position and it seems to work. I shot 30 rds. tonite without a p

Yes I know I really screwed the pooch on this one. Shouldn't have messed with it but I always enjoy trying to fix things myself. Someday I will figure it out , if not I will chalk it up to experience...........

FNG here, longtime lurker only because I had nothing informative to bring to the table . I bought a Saiga 12 about a year ago at a show because I thought they were going to be extinct. Out of the box nothing but problems ,FTF, FTE Jams, etc . you name it . I read a lot of the advice on this forum, some good some not so good. It seems like whenever I fix one problem another shows up . I have polished the bolt to smooth up the action, polished the hammer , checked and drilled a 4th gas port [all .093]. Checked for blocked ports, The newest problem is that on ejection the extracted shell tabs