AK variant quality

[guineapigw/saiga-12 0]

Just joined after acquiring saiga-12, 19" full choke. Love these suckers! I'm 6', 280 and rapid fire is a blast! Literally...looking into getting a rifled version. I"ve read that some of the copies on the market are sub standard quality wise and want to avoid that...opinions, rankings, experiences? Thanks

 

Boulder, CO

[Bvamp 604]

Im a big dude myself, and I gotta say I love the sporter stock on the s12 better than the standard AK type stock which is a few inches shorter. One thing I did to mine was change the light plastic stock out with a solid wooden one with a rubber butt pad on it, and it seems to handle much better like that for me. I would LOVE a rifled slugs gun myself, but so far, I havent seen any. The gun seems to shoot a lot better just adding the extra weight on the rear stock, and with the blackjack buffer I put in it. pretty simple for what it contributed to the shotgun, if you ask me.

 

also, if you dont have adjustable chokes, I bet your "full choke" 19" gun is the same as mine....its a 22" gun cut back to 19" and more like an improved cylinder choke. see if you can drop a dime down the muzzle. if you cant, its a honest to god full shoke. if you can, its improved cylinder.

[KySoldier 2]

I would suggest going to this website and looking to see what they have to say about the variants.

 

http://www.ak-47.net/ak47/index.html

 

Generally, Russian and Chinese milled AKs are the best imported ones. Romanians are pretty good and a great bargain (avoid the single stack WASR-10, it only holds 10 rds, some are converted to hold 30 and work fine.) The Romanian SAR1 is a good buy. If you want an AK with the quality of a name brand AR, you'll have to get a US made AK, but those are much more expensive than the imports.

 

Or, you could always get a Saiga rifle and convert it.

[jtoddellis 2]

After buying a saiga .308 I too decided I wanted an AK of some sort. After a lot of searching and reading I decided the best quality for the money is to buy a Saiga 7.62x39 and convert. I am in the middle of my first conversion now myself and so far it hasn't been to hard. It is taking me a while becaus I work about 16 hours a day and haven't had much time to do it. I have read here that people have completed there conversions in just a couple of hours. For a cheap AK with no need of conversion take a look at http://www.classicarms.us/htm/firearms.htm

[Bvamp 604]

The SAR1's arent so bad for the price, although they have gone up in price some since I bought mine a few years ago. Mine has performed quite well, and Ive since changed out a lot of the parts on it to make it more of a practical target gun for me. they are in the 400 dollar range now, though, so a Saiga 7.62 might be a better buy, and just go ahead and convert it yourself. even if you have a gunsmith convert it, it will still be cheaper than an SAR1, although the standard AK magazines need a modification done to them to work with the Saiga. ( I always thought the magazine modification issue was as long as it works in the gun it originally was made for.....maybe someone could explain this to me )

[vjor 2]

Best to get, vepr if you have the money, second Saiga and convert it

if not money and want a ruskie.

 

Now for the price, easy to find and romac.

 

Here links.

Vepr

http://www.robarm.com/

 

Saiga call CDNN

http://www.cdnninvestments.com/

 

romanian ak info

http://www.gunsnet.net/Linx310/index.shtml

[guineapigw/saiga-12 0]

Thanks guys! When I said "rifled version" I meant a 7.62X39 or a .308...but now that you mention it, a fully rifled barrel for slugs would be incredible! Buffalo hunters would recognize the use of a .729 caliber 1 oz slug at 1300 fps! Installed a green blackjack buffer today, first time I had the gun all the way down and took a couple tries to get the bolt/bolt carrier back in correctly...but like most first disassembly/assembly sessions, there are things to be learned by going slowly and being observant! Also, since I'm "labor non-intensive oriented", I found a Hogue slip on recoil pad (medium, black) #04433 which was difficult enough to get on that I'm sure it won't go anywhere....anybody else seen/used one of these? Appears to be a standard depth/construction recoil pad mated to slip on material. Will post after shooting. To Blackjack: suggest instructions included with buffer show which side toward front (with cutout for bolt/carrier). Tried it both ways before it made sense...again, observation helps solve confusion (as does a good light). Turns out a dime DOES go down the barrel, but the groups with smaller shot are right on where the sites lay...no complaints at 15 yards. I like the diversity of opinions of the people posting. Not boring or repetitive!

[Bvamp 604]

I use my buffer with its' slanted cutout to the rear......no damage yet to it. the bolt spring carrier seems to fit just nice into the slant.......

 

you are VERY lucky. try some 2 3/4" slugs. see if they are low and to the right like most of ours were with factory sight position....

 

the pattern off MY gun is good for up to 22-25 yards seems like, but is basically innefactive past that, even with dust shot.

 

if you do get a dime down your muzzle, dont be afraid to send anything down the barrel, so long as your gas setting is correct. (leave it on 1 is my advice) 2 3/4" and 3" shells only mind you......

 

i would LOVE a never-built saiga12 to put a good rifled barrel onto. maybe a savage barrel or remington barrel would be nice for rifling.....

[chips 0]

when you guys talk about a rifled saiga shotgun, keep in mind that with a rifled barrell, you'll need sabot slugs which cost between $2 and $4 a piece.

 

rifles slugs have poor accuracy in a rifled barrell, and they tend to cause fouling in the barrell.