Stock Saiga .223 brass reloadable---???

[john762 0]

I've heard about the stepped-chamber for Russian goverment civilian-gun chamber identification. Does this extra expanded-step render the brass unusable in any other .223 weapons? Now I'm hearing about the added bolt-face ring causing the primers to be mushroomed rendering their removal to be difficult/impossible--said to be deliberate by the Russian goverment for the sole purpose of stopping civilian reloading. I don't re-load now, but I may in the future. Should the brass be considered unuseable for re-loading as is the steel-cased berdin-primed ammo? Haven't picked-up a .223 weapon yet for a couple reasons,however I feel I should acquire the capability to fire any .223 that comes into my possession. If Saiga .223 brass is non-reloadable or can't be re-loaded to be used in other .223 weapons, rather than a Saiga, I'll go to a Chinese AK in .223. I've got .308 & 7.62x39 covered in semi-auto's. Thank's for any replys!

[kresk 10,063]

Don't think the Saiga .223 has the dual radius neck like the 7.62, so that aspect shouldn't be a problem for you if reloading.

[Ben Shepherd 0]

I haven't tried it. The way it ejects puts one hell of a half moon shaped ding right in the middle of the case body. Case neck and primers are fine, but I don't trust the case wall.

 

This is the case with over a dozen 223 saigas I've shot brass case through. With steel case there's a little mark, with brass case it's always a huge, sharp ding. It's the sharpness of the ding that scares me away from reloading them.

[JK-47 33]

The ding in the case is common to almost all AK's, it results from the ejecting case smacking the reciever cover, see post: Brass Denting cure and Valmet buffer . It can be remedied. Black Dog is the pioneer of the bolt face modifcation: http://forum.saiga-12.com/index.php?showtopic=21769 which is still sort of experimental. I don't reload yet, but I am still interested in making it possible, since I do collect the brass I shoot for the future.