jbremount

I bought mine and converted it about 2-3 days later. Never a moments problem! Guns runs great.

The debate about which round is better can go on and on for days. At the end of the day, one has to decide which is better for his or her particular situation and lifestyle. The Wolf ammo is priced about the same for the 7.62 and the .223. Magazines are easier to find for the 7.62 rifles. The Eastern European bullets, 7.62 and the 5.45 have a airpocket that caused the bullet to upset and go sideways on impact. The 7.62x39 bullets at 122gr and 155gr has better barrier penetration and easily take deer or hog for use in hunting. The .223 Ak rifles are made for the American market. I read a arti

everything looks great! I would recommend painting the bottom before you have everything attached.

IMO, improving the sights on the AK by adding a scope or red dot is not as easy or advanced as adding sights systems to the AR guns. The Top cover is too unstable and the gas system is almost as high as the rear sights. You can spend a "ton of money" trying the different AK sight mounting setups. Most sit too darn high! The irons are already high enough over the barrel on the Ak and AR guns. I think the front sights are 3.5" or so above the barrel. Start getting even higher with the various AK sight mounts on the market and no wonder the gun becomes awkward. In my opinion, the best solut

Years ago, I ran across a guy in south Texas that had harvested at least 5-6 hogs using a SKS rifle. He was using 7.62x39 full metal jacket ammo. The eastern european FMJ ammo and hollowpoint ammo is designed to upset and tumble not drill right through as common western FMJ ammo does. I don't think you will have a problem with downing a Texas hog or deer with the 7.62x39 cartidge. It has the power similar to the 30/30. The 30/30 was the rifle of choice for years and almost legendary. The SKS was so cheap at one time,$69 or so, that the SKS was a good truck gun for hunting. The SKS is now appr

Quote:I don't understand the whole concept of co witnessing and it seems to be adding a distraction. Co-witnessing with the irons sights allows the shooter to use the cheek weld that the rifle is disigned for. When you sight in your red dot scope, look at the iron sights through your red dot and it should look like this: Once you have sighted in the red dot scope with the iron sights as the picture above, the red dot can be "anywhere" in the reticle and the bullet goes where the dot is! You don't have to line up front and rear sights, just place the dot on the target.

I would buy the bullet guide from Dinzag as some of the newer trunions are thicker and don't work with the homemade/pipe bullet guides.The original Saiga 10 round magazines can be easily modified to work after the conversion. Read this article:(link) I think method 3 is best.

I don't think side mounts or top cover mounts or rear sight scout mounts will sit low enough to co-witness with the AK sights. The ultimak scout mount will sit low enough and is what I use. My aimpoint clone sits low enough to co-witness with the irons. The ultimak mount is just about the perfect answer for mounting a scout scope or red dot to the AK in my opinion.

I think the unconverted Saiga rifles are the best deals on AK's available to the public. Therefore, I would recommend buying the unconverted Saiga rifles.(linky) You can later convert the pistol grip/etc on the rifles and save quite a bit of money. It is not that hard to do with tools most have around the house and you still have a very good rifle. There is plenty of info on converting the Saiga rifles on this web site. I think the Saiga rifles shoots as good or better than most AK rifles. I prefer 7.62 rifles myself. Just my two cents, but your call.

I fall on the side that would rather have a bigger round.....like 110gr++, 7.62 or 6.8 now that I am shooting AK rifles. I like having a rifle in my truck that I can take hog or deer without a problem. What I don't understand is, how much realiablity increase is expected/achieved with a gas piston system. I did not think the current AR rifles were having problems with fouling from firing quality .223 ammo made with the right powder. The problem is the fine tacky/powdery sand like in Iraq that gets into everything. If your rifle is built tight like the AR then the problems. Maybe someone who h

Get the 7.62x39 rifle, It has slightly more recoil than the 223 rifle. You can defintely shoot it all day and not complain about the recoil. It has the about the same ballistics of the 30/30 and will do the job on Hog or deer. When the SKS were cheap, many were using them for hunting hogs and deer. Now that the price of SKS are approaching the price of the Saiga rifle, IMO, go with the Saiga 7.62x39 rifle. I would never grab my .223 rifle to hunt hogs or deer! The 223 is just too small, unless you only want to shoot small varmit or paper. The .308 is much more recoil, good for Bear or Elk, bu

I also think the 7.62x39 gives you the ability to hunt Hogs and Deer effectly. Guys in my neck of the woods used to pack 30/30 rifles, then the cheap SKS rifles in 7.62x39 started getting used as a hunting/truck gun and the 30/30 winchesters stayed at home. With the current price of the SKS getting near the price of a Saiga, go with the Saiga. You now have a AK rifle instead of a SKS. I have seen 7.62x39 drop hogs and deer just like the 30/30 did. The .223 cannot give you the power of a 30/30.

Here is my Saiga 7.62x39 with my latest additions. One good aspect about the Saiga rifle is that after the initial conversion, you can add more modifications over time as you get the parts and funds.

I fixed the safety on my rifle to look like this with my dremel, the notch captures and holds the bolt back when needed:

When I converted my Saiga rifle, I looked at the manual bolt hold open lever/spring and thought...... what if this thing manfunctions! I did not install mine. I made a notch in the safety lever to hold the bolt open when needed. I don't think a notched safety lever will malfunction.

I stock up on ammo but, I don't stock up on spare parts for the Saiga or AK rifles. I think you could use common AK parts if you have a need. Ak parts can be found easily on the net.

you can purchase a 3mm gas rivet at this web site:link

---------------------------------------------------------------- "I have a Dinzag feed ramp in my gun but I think I set it back too far" (1) My opinion/2 cents again: I did not think the above was possibe as the bullet guide is designed to fit. I would email Dinzag and discuss the problem with him. If you are using his bullet guide, he is the go to man for fixing the bullet guide problem. From the short time I have been on this board, I have noticed that he will stand behind his products 100% until the problem is solved. (2) How much did you take off the magazine catch on the g

I am not an AK expert, but I have never heard of problems with the converted Saiga's chamber and the need for additional chamber work for the gun to feed hollow points. I would suggest you fire off an email to a reputable source/AK builder (red stick/etc) before you start dremeling/stoning metal off the chamber. I think your bullet guide is probably the part of your gun that is out of spec and different from the many other Saiga rifles that can shoot hollowpoints ammo.

what type of bullet guide or feed ramp do you have? My saiga 7.62x39 feeds hollow points just fine, the problem is probably your bullet guide.

I bought mine from Brownells

I think I got a solid grasp on what I need to do now due to all of the very clear information. With that said where do you guys find the best place to purchase your parts? I have only shopped online for 10/22 parts and optics relating to the gun world. Anyone have a shop the like more than others? Try this place:(linky)

This is the best explanation of the bullet guide and different magazines I have found:(Linky) I added the the bullet guide and use standard AK magazines you find just about everywhere on the internet. I modified the lone Saiga magazine and it also works with my converted rifle. Converting the rifle to use standard AK magazines is a win win situation to me.

You don't need the Saiga factory BHO lever to have a BHO feature on an AK gun. You can modify the safety lever to function as a BHO feature. ( link ) This works for me. You just modify the safety to look like this: The modified safety holds the bolt back like this: finished modification to safety looks like this:

This is your funds and your rifle but this is my take on modifications to Saiga rifle, Why not add parts/compontents towards doing the full conversion? The rifle feels and handles much better in it's original form as a AK type rifle. Saiga rifles are made at the same factory as the Russian Militay AK rifles. Saiga rifles are sportirized at this factory so they can be legally imported into the country because of the gun laws. I would say most Saiga rifles are converted to a form similar to the original AK guns and it is not as hard as it seems. I removed the plate at the bottom of my gun