ClockWork138 0 Posted August 15, 2006 Report Share Posted August 15, 2006 (edited) A buddy of mine recently sold me his Saiga 12 for $160. He lost the manaul, so I have a some questions. The sight bar seems adjustable. Is it? Is the gas tube removable? Having just found this great site, I just found out about the gas regulator. I know he fired slugs, 00 buck, and "heavy field shot" with the regulator on "2". Not sure but pretty sure no magnum rounds have been through it. Total rounds through was at max. 100. Of which I dont know the numbers of each round type. The majority or half probably being cheap light bird shot. The wear inside looks rather extensive for <100 rounds. How can I tell if any serve/problematic damage has been done? What trouble signs should I look for? The rear trunnion doesnt look too beat, but its not like new. The bolt will not fully go into battery unless it is allowed to slam forward, or is pushed. Bad signs? Thank in advance. Edited August 15, 2006 by ClockWork138 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DHatton 0 Posted August 15, 2006 Report Share Posted August 15, 2006 A buddy of mine recently sold me his Saiga 12 for $160. He lost the manaul, so I have a some questions. The sight bar seems adjustable. Is it? Is the gas tube removable? Having just found this great site, I just found out about the gas regulator. I know he fired slugs, 00 buck, and "heavy field shot" with the regulator on "2". Not sure but pretty sure no magnum rounds have been through it. Total rounds through was at max. 100. Of which I dont know the numbers of each round type. The majority or half probably being cheap light bird shot. The wear inside looks rather extensive for <100 rounds. How can I tell if any serve/problematic damage has been done? What trouble signs should I look for? The rear trunnion doesnt look too beat, but its not like new. The bolt will not fully go into battery unless it is allowed to slam forward, or is pushed. Bad signs? Thank in advance. I may be corrected because I am not an expert on my Saigas yet but, I have a brand new one still in the box ... well out of the box now but it has wear from testing at the manufacture in Russia I believe. I have yet to fire it still but am eager too. The bolt on my brand new one does exactly the same thing but the manual also advises to let it slam forward so I believe that it is normal. As far as the bar site, the manual says to adjust it when firering slugs to "6" and "4' for bird shot but I have yet to figure out how to adjust it yet. Maybe we will get schooled on that by one of the experts in here. By the way, is this site cool or what...I almost peed my pants in excitment when I found it!!!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ClockWork138 0 Posted August 15, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 15, 2006 (edited) Thanks for the info. On closer inspection, there is definitely a circular indentation on the rear trunnion/tang from the bolt. Theres no bulging of the receiver. So am I good to go, guys? BTW, Ive since discovered the gas tube cant be removed in a field-stripping manner. So nevermind that issue. Thanks again. Edited August 15, 2006 by ClockWork138 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dinzag 31 Posted August 15, 2006 Report Share Posted August 15, 2006 Hey guys, welcome! Yup - #1 for minimal gas - magnum loads. Slugs, buck & 3" #1 for sure. #2 for light loads & birdshot. The gas tube is removable if you tap or press the gas block off. Once it is broken in you will notice the action will free up a bit. Common on all of 'em. Search the Tech Section link in my signature - there's lots of good info & mods in there. Also, it will take awhile to wear one out although I haven't heard of anyone doing it yet. Bvamp may have the highest round count. If it gets hard to remove the recoil spring from the rear trunnion, put a recoil buffer in there. Here is a manual...saiga_manual.pdf Quote Link to post Share on other sites
random sylvester 0 Posted August 15, 2006 Report Share Posted August 15, 2006 A buddy of mine recently sold me his Saiga 12 for $160. He lost the manaul, so I have a some questions. The sight bar seems adjustable. Is it? Im sure it is but ive got fixed Is the gas tube removable? no Having just found this great site, I just found out about the gas regulator. I know he fired slugs, 00 buck, and "heavy field shot" with the regulator on "2". Not sure but pretty sure no magnum rounds have been through it. Total rounds through was at max. 100. Of which I dont know the numbers of each round type. The majority or half probably being cheap light bird shot. The wear inside looks rather extensive for <100 rounds. How can I tell if any serve/problematic damage has been done? What trouble signs should I look for? The rear trunnion doesnt look too beat, but its not like new. The bolt will not fully go into battery unless it is allowed to slam forward, or is pushed. Bad signs? normal Thank in advance. hmmm maybe your mate has been firing heavy loads on #2 Ive shot thousands of rounds through mine with almost zero signs of wear ,setting #1 lets minimum gas through while setting #2 lets more gas through try just using setting #1 all the time and if it jams with a certain type of round then you can change to #2 ,but I wouldnt get to worried about the wear. happy shooting Quote Link to post Share on other sites
topmaul 42 Posted August 15, 2006 Report Share Posted August 15, 2006 Over the past few years I have put thousands of rounds throught mine, it just seems to work better each time I use it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bvamp 604 Posted August 15, 2006 Report Share Posted August 15, 2006 well, I havent just put a huge number of rounds down mine, but I purposely didnt clean it, and Ive sent some of the most rotten stuff down it that I can find, as well as some highly exotic (and very hot) handloads. Ive actually had to weld my gas piston to the bolt carrier due to slop in the threading, and Ive also had to clean up the chamber end where the extractor meets the metal, so that it was properly shaped again. keep in mind, I abused it on purpose, and also keep in mind that I havent seen a need to replace it with a new one.... I can tell you this. shoot the gun on setting one as much as you can. if the gun doesnt want to feed rounds, like light trap loads, THEN put it on the 2 setting. and DONT FORGET to put it back to the #1 setting afterward, before you fire heavy dram loads again. like the manual says, it can damage the gun, and Im pretty sure this is how I got the slop in my gas piston to begin with. I really should just replace the part in question, but the weld I did seems to be holding just fine, so I probably wont touch the thing. and for the record, again, no, I wont be selling it or parting with it in any foreseeable time in the future. my other shotguns are plain jealous now, as they havent been shot in years now. I really should pick up a couple more of them, but my budget limits me to things like bills and food and gasoline and silly things like that....I spend my gun money on ammunition now (I shoot more than people in the military or police department, Im told), and am slacking on the gun buying thing big time. and like I just said, I wont sell the s12. Id sell or part with all my other guns first before I parted with this thing. I have a feeling a 308 will be joining it as my next gun, whenever that may be, and I will go ahead and tweak that one as well to my liking and never part with it. clockwork, your s12 sounds like it is in good shape, to me. sounds all normal for this type of action, and the gun itself, if the round count is as low as you say it is. check for play in the gas piston to the bolt carrier, and also install a buffer like was suggested to prevent more wear, and you should be golden. besides, 160 is a steal on this gun. post some pics of it and some close ups of the inside of the action for us. it will make opinoins more like stated fact, if you think you need it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ClockWork138 0 Posted August 15, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 15, 2006 Thanks for the responses guys. I will check the piston when I get home and post some pics. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ClockWork138 0 Posted August 16, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2006 (edited) Ok, I did a another strip down of the Saiga tonight. The gas piston has just a very SLIGHT bit of play in it. Much less than my AKMs'. Nothing Im worried about. However, four of the gas piston's threads' are exposed(?). After some additional cleaning and comparison to my AKMs' rear trunnions', the S12's rear trunnion is pretty beat: Just premature wear? I also noticed the recoil spring is slightly difficult to remove. If there's no major problem you guys can see, Ill just get a buffer. After all, it is an AK shotgun. Edited August 16, 2006 by ClockWork138 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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