TX-Zen
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Posts posted by TX-Zen
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What kind of optic is that?
Thats a PK-AS red dot. Great optic, has an always on black dot and ring plus the dot can be illuminated red. It's very finicky to zero on a rifle because of the elevation screw which is under the body, but for an S12 I think it's nearly perfect because a fine zero is not necessary. I just wish I had bought 3 or 4 back in the day when you could find them.
Thanks everyone for the compliments!
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After a few months of scrounging the parts and a trip to Keith at tac47industries.com, here it is at last
New parts include CSS reduced power mainspring, CSS replica 10 slot flashhider, Russian S12 front sight post, SVDS folder on 5.5mm trunnion, Izzy PG and Russian magwell with 8 round mag.
About the only things I'd like to do to it is get a hinged krink cover with Stormwerks rail installed and possibly SBR it to about 12-14 inches, otherwise I consider this my perfect Saiga.
Also have to give a big thumbs up to Keith at Tac47 Industries. He was very thorough and did an amazing job. The man definately knows his way around a Saiga and AK's in general, plus is very friendly and easy to deal with. If you're looking for someone solid to do the more complicated conversions tricks like trunnion side folders and welding up conversion holes he's a great guy and will handle it right.
Before:
After:
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I like it, the shroud is interesting too.
Nice work
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The S12 is a stamped, straight cut receiver like most AK's on the market, but the big thing is that the barrel is so fat that most lower handguards will need to be widened internally to fit.
Additionally some of the tang on the handguard (the wood part that sticks out of the back of the HG and slots into the front of the receiver) will need to be modified also. I have gotten polymer lower handguards to fit by removing the metal heat shield and doing some work to the HG tang, but wooden ones will definately require more custom work to fit.
To get any lower HG's to stay on properly you'll need something like the Dinzag lower HG retainer since the S12 doesn't have a standard HG retainer like most AK's.
The gas tube upper HG's will fit properly, unfortunately the S12 is missing the metal slots that go around the gas tube to fit the upper HG into, and worse than that the gas tube doesn't have a release lever. You have to tap your gas block forward and drop the tube out which can be a PITA if you're unfamiliar with the process, and the tube is somewhat shorter than a standard AK gas tube (which is why the nifty Ultimak gas tube rail doesn't fit without modification).
A stamped receiver buttstock will fit just fine with no modifications once you've done your PG conversion. Likewise if you've cut your PG nut hole in the right spot any AK PG will work as well.
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The good news is that a competent gunsmith can do the conversion for $200-$300 but I'd be careful to make sure they have a lot of experience with AK's. Hate to send a nice S12 off only to find it's the smith's first rodeo.
You'll also need the rifle refinished because of the extension rear trunnion work. Some smith's will throw that in and some won't.
Bad news is that while an S12 takes the standard rear trunnion and hardware, the front latch mechanism is totally different than a regular AK and as mentioned is extremely rare. It will probably be difficult to find the correct front latch but they do turn up from time to time. Another consideration is that the front latch is not in exactly the same spot on an S12 because of differences in the front trunnion, so hopefully your smith will have some experience with that too.
On possible way to bypass the front latch issue is to use a magnet for the latch. Keith at Tact47 Industries mentioned he thought we could convert my S12 and use a magnet, wouldn't be as good but would probably solve the latch problem well enough. I considered this for a while but fortunately I worked a deal for a complete 5.5 trunnion and hardware assembly, including the correct latch. My 12 is off at Tac47 right now getting converted.
I think the conversion is worth the money. I personally love triangle folders far more than any other stock and to have one on an S12 kicks ass pure and simple. Plus the resale value will increase considerably because of the rarity of the S12C side folder configuration and how dang cool it is, so your overall investment is protected and even enhanced by the conversion.
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So, it feels better and is more solid than factory? Does it weigh less?
If you don't mind, would you please comment on length versus factory? I have very average hands - medium gloves, etc. so that the grip might not be a problem.
When you shoot does the recoil hit you harder with the thinner (looks thinner) butt?
Also, it looks like you can adjust the length a bit... true?
How about the cheek pad... is it functional or would you (were you keeping it) need to replace it with a different one?
Thanks, Eric
I think the length of pull is shorter than the factory monte carlo stock. It's about the same as a regular AK overall and is not adjustable in length.
It's actually an SVD stock modified for the Saiga series and it's about the best all around stock the Russians make IMO. It's designed to reduce recoil somewhat on an SVD compared to the regular laminate stock the SVD originally came with and in my experience it does actually reduce the felt recoil somewhat. Can't say if it will matter on an S12 though considering the recoil is way higher than a 7.62x54R round.
The cheekpad is great, it's nice and sturdy and rotates downward for cleaning or shooting with irons. As someone else said if you aren't going to convert it's the only way to go. Definately has a better grip and feel than the standard factory stock.
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I recently purchased a Russian magwell and 2 magwell 8 round mags from them, everything arrived in about 10 days from the time I hit 'buy now' til I opened the mailbox.
They passed through customs in the same box, mags completely assembled.
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Looks great, very cool that you are able to engineer your own prototype.
Hope it works out on the range. Looks like you're off to a promising start.
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Interesting...looks like it works really well.
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John,
Make sure you get a skeleton-style stock like this one from Krebs:
The ones that connect the bottom of the PG to the stock are OK as far as I know, since certain models are imported with them.
If you add a regular pistol grip the gun becomes non-sporting and 922r applies, then you will have to replace more parts with US-made ones to stay legal.
BTW Krebs stuff is all great quality.
I second that stock, I had one on my original S12 and really liked it. It's a modified polymer SVD stock made to fit the Saiga, same type as used on regular modern SVD rifles. The grip is really comfortable and the cheekpad rotates for iron sights or cleaning the receiver (mainly useful for a Dragunov with it's 24" barrel and correspondingly long cleaning rod).
If you're not going to convert this is definately a good stock to go with.
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I'm down for a magwell and 4 8 rounders
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I like the PK-AS quite a bit, it's my favorite combloc red dot by far.
They are not particularly easy to zero because the elevation adjustment is in a difficult spot to get to...mainly a problem for rifles because you need to have a good zero, but for shotgun distances I haven't even changed it yet. It's close enough to get rounds on target, though maybe if I were going to zero for slugs I'd have to be more exact.
The PK-AS does not sit over the centerline, it is off to the left a little bit. There is a version called PK-AS-V that sits directly over the centerline.
You can shoot the PK-AS with both eyes open though. It takes a little getting used to but works great once you get the hang of it.
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That Eastwave site has some interesting red dot scopes. Anybody have any experience with this one:
Think it's S12 compatible?
It is
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The price seems even higher on gunbroker.
True, I guess thats the market these days. At least you can still find them though...my favorite the PK-AS has vanished from the face of the earth.
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I ordered and recieved a Kobra red dot for my saiga for $295.00 from http://www.eastwave.ca/products/scopes/cobra.html
I highly recommend this site. I have also seen them on ebay.
The price is high, but Eastwave is a quality outfit. I've ordered 2 8x42 POSP scopes, a PK-AS and I think my PO 3.5x21p from them, among other things. Good people to do business with.
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+1 on Tac47Industries, Keith is a really cool guy to deal with.
Congrats on the Limbsaver too
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And the high bidder just bid again... so it would go EVEN HIGHER should some retard actually go and bid on it against him!
I just DONT GET IT!
WOW
Almost sorry I even mentioned it lol...thats some high dollar Bulgarian wood there.
GB never ceases to amaze me
I guess Ironwood is the way to go
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As the title states...
I am in need of a Bulgarian BLONDE WOOD SET...
Also, RUMOR HAS IT... if I POST IT CANNOT BE DONE...
SOMEONE WILL COME ALONG AND PROVE ME WRONG!!!!
So I am here waiting for someone to come along and PROVE ME WRONG that I *CAN* get a BULGARIAN BLONDE WOOD STOCK SET someplace!!!!
I figure I will get more views here than I will in the WTB section...
If anyone has one for sale, please PM ME with details!!!
I would prefer a 4 part wood set, but I will certainly consider a 3 part wood set.
Pics would be good too if you have one you need to get rid of...
THANK YOU!!!
There is one for sale on gunbroker right now, just do a search for bulgarian blonde and you should find it. $77 at the moment with about 21 hours to go.
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Where I live, the CLEO won't sign off on anything. I'm getting ready to set up a Trust. A fellow I know had one done by a relatively local attorney for $300. I'm getting a very local attorney, and I'm expecting to pay about the same.
Yeah, I know, $50 will get me Quickbooks Willmaker, but I'm not doing that. There's a reason we pay attorneys to do legal stuff. There was somebody recently who was convicted and jailed because something in their Trust wasn't right. ATF determined that their NFA items were illegally held, and charged them.
The attorney I talked to explained that there are hundreds of different kinds of Trusts. The wrong one won't work. Also, different states have some different rules concerning Trusts. Some require state registration, for instance, some don't.
I think a few hundred dollars now is cheap insurance to stay out of Federal Court later.
Just my .02
I agree with this too, I went with a local attorney (SC-Texas on AR15.com) who does SBR trusts on a regular basis. His advice was exactly the same about how many kinds of trusts there are and why he puts in NFA specific language. More expensive than Quicken at $350, but I have peace of mind that its done right by a professional.
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Another reason why I love Dinzag
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Anyone know if this CAA upper and lower hand rail system will fit a 12? Just talked to CAA rep he said if Saiga built to mil specs it will fit. Problem is there are too many variables to AK's.
I have that rail and no, it will not fit the S12 without serious modification.
The bottom HG's have the normal problem of not fitting because the S12 has only a horizontal slot for the tab of the HG versus regular AK's that have a squared off U shape. You'd need to trim the U into a _ if that makes sense. The HG's bulge out really bad where the two side rails are and the strength of the HG's wants to keep popping it downward and off. I suspect if you dremel the interior you might be able to make it fit, but when I asked Dinzag he quoted me 80 bucks for the labor alone and really didn't want to get into doing it. He made it sound like a serious PITA to attempt.
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When I converted my S12 I didn't know the G2 wasn't going to fit because another G2 had previously worked out perfectly in my x39 rifle.
After I discovered the differences I had fun working with the dremel to get it fit into the S12 and learned something in the process.
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Again still no word on a quote. It has been quite some time now. Any reason for this delay?
I received an email response from Mr. Cole that he was unable to take any one-off work but asked if I would keep him in mind at a later date. I'm probably going to check with Keith at Tac47 in the meantime.
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Does anyone know if they are still shipping the parts separately?
I ordered 2 sets of plum furniture that included 2 mags each. The 4 mag springs, floor plates and followers came in a box marked Airsoft Springs and the mag bodies came with the furniture. Shipping was around 2 weeks or so, I received the order in 2 different shipments that arrived a day apart from each other. All this happened earlier this month, maybe 10 days ago.
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S12 with SVDS folder and magwell finally done
in Saiga-12
Posted
JP, yes it sits off to the left but really they are designed for both eyes open shooting and once you get used to it it's pretty effective. For room clearing type situations it's great. I think it's the best all around combloc red dot because of it's overall simplicity. It's not as easy to zero as a Kobra but gives a better/different field of view and doesn't require batteries to work. That helps eliminate some of the murphy effect because it's always got the black dot. It's a tough scope and can take some hard knocks too and doesn't have the occasional problem of the Kobra emitter getting blocked by rain or dirt. It also has the PK-A beat hands down other than the how easy the PK-A is to zero. Problem with the PK-A is that it's like looking down a tunnel...makes the scope tough like a POSP I think but it's a very noticeable disadvantage compared to the PK-AS.
It has it's drawbacks, like I mentioned it's a bit of a pain to zero. Also if the windage and elevation nuts aren't tight the back post can pop out, making the dot look down into the dirt and throwing your aim off. I doubt it would be an issue with rifle calibers and I had never seen it happen before, but the S12 beat the hell out of the PK-AS and it did in fact pop out in the back. Easy fix though, I put it on the bench and used a hammer and the front site tool from the cleaning kit. Couple good wacks and it was back down in the slot, tightened the nuts and it ran like a champ after that. That's actually the only problem I've ever seen with the PK-AS in all my years of shooting combloc optics.
Raoul, yes that is indeed ASC, we were there a couple months ago and had a blast with the S12. I'll more than likely be there again this coming Saturday too, going to test the magwell on the 12 and break in a couple of SBR Krinks that are also finally finished. I'll either be zeroing the Krinks at 50 or down on the shotgun end with the S12, so come on down if you happen to be in there.
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