wash 0 Posted May 12, 2009 Report Share Posted May 12, 2009 (edited) I just picked up my first Saiga 12. It is also my first AK pattern gun. My plan is to strip it as far as I dare, clean, de-burr and lubricate everything and check the gas ports to see if I got a vodka special. Is there anything else I should do? I plan on doing an AK conversion soon after I've got it running well but I want to make sure it is running well first. I don't want to have to do a warranty return after I convert it. Thanks for the help. Edited May 12, 2009 by wash Quote Link to post Share on other sites
saigafan12345 21 Posted May 12, 2009 Report Share Posted May 12, 2009 I just picked up my first Saiga 12. It is also my first AK pattern gun. My plan is to strip it as far as I dare, clean, de-burr and lubricate everything and check the gas ports to see if I got a vodka special. Is there anything else I should do? I plan on doing an AK conversion soon after I've got it running well but I want to make sure it is running well first. I don't want to have to do a warranty return after I convert it. Thanks for the help. Check all local, state and federal laws. Does your state have an AWB? Check it. Look up 922r here on the boards, make sure you follow it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
thetoysurgeon 0 Posted May 12, 2009 Report Share Posted May 12, 2009 I just got mine about a month ago, I went wild and bought 3 X 10 round Promags and a MD-20 drum. Took it to the range with my friend and I had massive FTF and FTE issues. I checked out some topics here and found out mine is a 3 hole. I also fixed the Promags and took it back to the range by myself. it worked great. I decided to get a new gas plug and a King Armoury tappet. Put those in and went to the range with my buddies and the gun had FTE and FTF issues again. Now my buds are calling me a liar that the guns shot perfect before. I took out the new improved gas plug and replaced the stock one. Left the KA tappet in. Again at the range it fired flawlessly and this time my friends saw it. I actually shot skeet with it and did pretty good. I do want to put in the bolt open hardware when I can find it. I think the Saiga 12 needs a break in period. after about 100 rounds it seems to do better. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
hobbyshooter 59 Posted May 12, 2009 Report Share Posted May 12, 2009 (edited) You shouldn't have to debur anything. You can polish the bolt face with wet 600 grit or finer. I've found that my guns love it when I grease the rails, the extractor channel, and the bolt lugs & channels (including the bolt carrier channel) with sno. I just put couple of drops of lucas gun oil between the head of the bolt, and down in the shaft of the bolt. That alone makes a big difference in how easily the bolt clacks shut. I can ride the bolt down and just nudge the bolt shut. Everybody says you should just slingshot it shut, and that's what I do when operating the gun at the range. These guns don't need all that grease & oil to function, but it just smooths it out. I greased & oiled the 3 port gun I bought this year and went through 25 rnds (all through the factory 5 rnd mag) just to test fire it and everything was flawless. This was all low brass, mixed federal 7-1/2 and Rem 8 bird shot. Edited May 12, 2009 by hobbyshooter Quote Link to post Share on other sites
wash 0 Posted May 12, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 12, 2009 I'm in California so there is an AWB. I have a fixed magazine to make it compliant. I will comply with 922® before I get any higher capacity magazines and convert it. I know that these things are almost suposed to be able to get packed with mud and still run but I would rather get rid of all of the grit and knock off any rough edges that might create more grit in the future. If I can make it cycle a little smoother in the process, why not? Lastly, what is sno? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
clifton 354 Posted May 12, 2009 Report Share Posted May 12, 2009 take it to the car wash... put a couple of quarters in and let it roll Quote Link to post Share on other sites
hobbyshooter 59 Posted May 12, 2009 Report Share Posted May 12, 2009 (edited) Edited May 12, 2009 by hobbyshooter Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mscottrogers 56 Posted May 13, 2009 Report Share Posted May 13, 2009 Before you take it apart and start working on anything, just give it a quick clean, lube and shoot the damn thing . God.... everyone gets on here and starts asking about this and that and never shoot the thing to see if it works. Go throw 200 to 500 rounds through it and then worry about whether you need to upgrade or debur. I have 2 and they both ran fine out of the box until i started to change things. But I knew I had a good baseline shotgun. One was a 24 inch 4 holer and the other was a 24 inch 3 holer. I shortened them went and fired them before I started to worry about holes and port size. Fire it before you work on it so you know if it needs warranty work right away. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
G O B 3,516 Posted May 13, 2009 Report Share Posted May 13, 2009 Shoot the hell out of the damn thing! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
wash 0 Posted May 13, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 13, 2009 I opened it up and didn't find anything obviously wrong. I didn't like the barrel or gas port threads, they were not machined very well but that should not effect function. The barrel has three gas ports and they line up well in the gas block, it looks like it isn't a vodka special. I hope it doesn't need four ports. I looked at the bolt and carrier, they looked pretty good, good enough that I didn't need to do any deburring. I ran my fingers along the reciever rails and they felt fine. What I wound up doing was manually cycling the recoil spring which seemed to smooth things up a bit and twisting the bolt head with a little pressure (that seemed to lap it together with the bolt). After I put it back together it seemed smoother and I haven't lubed it yet. The factory magazine seemed to hang up a little so I took off the base plate and inspected the tube and follower. There was a small bit of plastic flashing that I removed with my fingernail, it didn't hang up after that. I loaded one shell and cycled it through the action. It didn't eject quite like I would have liked so I loaded it again and it came out better when I pulled the bolt back quicker. I then loaded two shells and cycled them through, then five shells, it worked well. I am going to take it to the range tonight to see if it will cycle 7 1/2 shot and 00 buck (all 2 3/4"). I will pattern it and my Remington 1100 while I'm there. I'm sure I didn't do anything that running a box of shells through it wouldn't have done, but that might mean one less box of shells that I have to hand cycle through the gun. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
hobbyshooter 59 Posted May 13, 2009 Report Share Posted May 13, 2009 I opened it up and didn't find anything obviously wrong. I didn't like the barrel or gas port threads, they were not machined very well but that should not effect function. The barrel has three gas ports and they line up well in the gas block, it looks like it isn't a vodka special. I hope it doesn't need four ports. I looked at the bolt and carrier, they looked pretty good, good enough that I didn't need to do any deburring. I ran my fingers along the reciever rails and they felt fine. What I wound up doing was manually cycling the recoil spring which seemed to smooth things up a bit and twisting the bolt head with a little pressure (that seemed to lap it together with the bolt). After I put it back together it seemed smoother and I haven't lubed it yet. The factory magazine seemed to hang up a little so I took off the base plate and inspected the tube and follower. There was a small bit of plastic flashing that I removed with my fingernail, it didn't hang up after that. I loaded one shell and cycled it through the action. It didn't eject quite like I would have liked so I loaded it again and it came out better when I pulled the bolt back quicker. I then loaded two shells and cycled them through, then five shells, it worked well. I am going to take it to the range tonight to see if it will cycle 7 1/2 shot and 00 buck (all 2 3/4"). I will pattern it and my Remington 1100 while I'm there. I'm sure I didn't do anything that running a box of shells through it wouldn't have done, but that might mean one less box of shells that I have to hand cycle through the gun. You really have to yank the bolt back hard to eject a shell by hand. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TheDarkHorse 216 Posted May 13, 2009 Report Share Posted May 13, 2009 Shoot the hell out of the damn thing! That is all it needs. True story. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
npdpig 0 Posted May 13, 2009 Report Share Posted May 13, 2009 I just picked up my first Saiga 12. It is also my first AK pattern gun. My plan is to strip it as far as I dare, clean, de-burr and lubricate everything and check the gas ports to see if I got a vodka special. Is there anything else I should do? I plan on doing an AK conversion soon after I've got it running well but I want to make sure it is running well first. I don't want to have to do a warranty return after I convert it. Thanks for the help. I bought my first about 2 months ago removed it from the box and put 200 .00 shells though it using both the factory mag and a 12 round surefire and did not have a single problem after stripping and cleaning, and minimal grease I put antoher 50 rounds though wihtout a single FTF or FTE. On th ejob we use Remington 1170 and have had several FTFs and FTEs after about 20 rounds. The 12 round mag is a bit long but when you can empty it in about 5 seconds.... What I love about is that its simple mechanics, like the Glock, you pull the trigger it goes boom.... It took breaking it down a few times and watching a video on you tube to get comfortable doing it. I am in Virginia so we have pretty liberal laws when it comes to mods 922r is about all we have to worry about. I have changed rails and the stock but thats about it... And I mostly shoot at a Private Range or in the woods... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
wash 0 Posted May 13, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 13, 2009 I've had it just about 30 hours now. I had to work through about the first nine, then I inspected it, then I had dinner and didn't want to drive out to the range, then I slept. I'll have it at the range tonight. I don't have any woods to shoot in, it's too urban around here and even if I went to my friend's land up in the mountians, his tree-hugger neighbor will call the cops (even though it's not illegal to shoot in that unincorporated area). I'm going to shoot it... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
wash 0 Posted May 14, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 14, 2009 Everything looks good. It cycled bird shot on the #1 setting (I might have that backward) and 00 buck on #2. I went through three boxes of bird shot and one box of buck shot, 90 rounds total. The first box of bird shot I had it on the #1 setting for more gas, then I tried #2 and I was getting FTE's about 75% of the time. I mixed in buck shot and kept shooting. At the end I shot a couple magazines with bird shot on #2 and only had one or two FTE's. It seems like it's getting better with less gas. I think I got a good one. Now I'm going to start gathering AK conversion parts and higher capacity magazines. I'm feeling it in my shoulder today. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GerryV 14 Posted May 14, 2009 Report Share Posted May 14, 2009 (edited) Everything looks good. It cycled bird shot on the #1 setting (I might have that backward) and 00 buck on #2. I went through three boxes of bird shot and one box of buck shot, 90 rounds total. The first box of bird shot I had it on the #1 setting for more gas, then I tried #2 and I was getting FTE's about 75% of the time. I mixed in buck shot and kept shooting. At the end I shot a couple magazines with bird shot on #2 and only had one or two FTE's. It seems like it's getting better with less gas. I think I got a good one. Now I'm going to start gathering AK conversion parts and higher capacity magazines. I'm feeling it in my shoulder today. Your backwards, buckshot and slugs on setting 1 and bird shot on setting 2. Check out the service tips link on Tromix's website. http://www.tromix.com/Welcome.htm Edited May 14, 2009 by GerryV Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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