presto_z 125 Posted September 24, 2009 Report Share Posted September 24, 2009 I have been extremely happy with my saiga 12, but after seeing the saiga 12s i am kind of dissapointed that i dont own one... the saiga 12s is such a beautiful gun and is designed much better then your average saiga 12 watch this video from 2:50 to see how nice it actually is im sure many of you have already seen this, but i am seriously green with envy after watching this i want one bad.. i especially like the heavyduty hinged dust cover with the integrated picatinny rail, and how easy the gas system is to remove.. someone please make a conversion kit.. if izhmash wanted a quick recovery from their bankruptcy they should start importing them into the US with a sportster stock.. if someone on here happens to own one (legit 12s or converted copy) i would love to see some more pics, and maybe a video showing off all the different features Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kresk 10,063 Posted September 24, 2009 Report Share Posted September 24, 2009 Probably aren't going to find one in this country--not an original anyway. There are some 12C's floating around though. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
presto_z 125 Posted September 24, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 24, 2009 i may pick up another s12 and try to clone one as much as possible. The lower half of the gun should fairly easy to duplicate since most of the parts are available or will be available shortly (cant wait for cobras LRBHO). The sights, gas system and hinged dust cover would take the most fabrication.. i wouldn't be surprised if one of our sponsors came out with a hinged dust cover that is sturdy enough for optics mounting *cough cough cobra cough* Quote Link to post Share on other sites
saigafreake 27 Posted September 24, 2009 Report Share Posted September 24, 2009 i dont get why they cant import them with the sporting stock. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
shades_of_grey 1,092 Posted September 24, 2009 Report Share Posted September 24, 2009 i may pick up another s12 and try to clone one as much as possible. The lower half of the gun should fairly easy to duplicate since most of the parts are available or will be available shortly (cant wait for cobras LRBHO). The sights, gas system and hinged dust cover would take the most fabrication.. i wouldn't be surprised if one of our sponsors came out with a hinged dust cover that is sturdy enough for optics mounting *cough cough cobra cough* You need to talk to dinzag. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
sudaevpps43 31 Posted September 24, 2009 Report Share Posted September 24, 2009 (edited) i may pick up another s12 and try to clone one as much as possible. The lower half of the gun should fairly easy to duplicate since most of the parts are available or will be available shortly (cant wait for cobras LRBHO). The sights, gas system and hinged dust cover would take the most fabrication.. Trying to make a clone would definitely be a challenge. In the U.S. the closest I have seen someone get to a Saiga-12S EXP-01-030 (which Izhmash now calls the KS-K) is forum member TX-Zen's Saiga 12 (can be seen starting in the 3rd pic of this thread). I don't know of anyone who has fabricated that hinged dust cover from scratch before. I believe the rear sight is just a standard AK rifle sight, and Dinzag makes press on rear sight blocks for the Saiga 12 that use standard AK rifle rear sights. The combined front-sight/gas block and folding buttstock with the built-in recoil pad though, are items I have never seen in the U.S. before, so they would have to be made from scratch (or at least would require heavily modifying a stock Saiga 12 gas block and Bulgarian/Russian style folding AK rifle buttstock). The gas system would be the most difficult to reproduce. It is a self regulating gas system and so has significant differences from the manually adjusted gas system of the Saiga-12s that get imported into the U.S. Edited September 24, 2009 by Frogfoot Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TX-Zen 287 Posted September 24, 2009 Report Share Posted September 24, 2009 (edited) I'm dying for a hinged top cover and Krink style gas block, but I talked to a contact in Russia and he felt that the S12S and regular S12 front end parts were not compatible, after talking with some of his friends who worked for or were associated with Izhmash. After originally seeing the S12S and the Vepr12 I went on the hunt to find the front end hardware but all I could come up with was what I already have converted to. After discussing it with him it seemed like those S12S parts just weren't going to work out. In effect he said they were two different animals and the gas block parts were not interchangeable at all...different piston, gas tube, gas block , rear sight block etc. Sounded to me like you would have to basically rebuild the entire front of the rifle including a new barrel to with the new parts, but don't take it as the gospel, I'm just relaying what we discussed and my opinion on it. He suggested trying to find a contact at Molot to see if the Vepr12 parts really were that different than the standard Saiga's we get, but so far no luck for me. It's still on my horizon but not as pressing as it used to be because for now I'm happy with what I have. I do wish Cobra, Dinzag, Tony or our other hardcare S12 do it yerselfers could come up with a hinged cover for the S12 because that kind of stuff is way beyond my skill level. I know those guys can do as good or better than Izzy but it also really boils down to economics. It's not cheap to screw around with prototypes etc and no matter how big you think the market is people never seem to buy as much as you would have thought, so I understand their position completely. If I were a billionaire I'd have these guys all over that shat, just for the sake of seeing them in action ETA: Here's a pic of the S12 in action Z Edited September 24, 2009 by TX-Zen Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gkcf 8 Posted September 24, 2009 Report Share Posted September 24, 2009 Sounded to me like you would have to basically rebuild the entire front of the rifle including a new barrel to with the new parts, but don't take it as the gospel, I'm just relaying what we discussed and my opinion on it. I can't see having to get a new barrel, but you'd definitely need the gas block, gas tube, piston, op-rod, and rear sight base with the hinged cover. Seems to me like it'd be pretty simple to do if one had access to the aformentioned parts. I love the design of the 12S and the Vepr and I'd love to be able to replicate it. One of those instances where you wish you had a machine shop to fool around with I suppose. Maybe someday... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
iSaiga 4 Posted September 24, 2009 Report Share Posted September 24, 2009 What would it take to find/purchase a Saiga 12S or KS-K and bring it back to the US? Could you buy one in Russia and bring it home? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kresk 10,063 Posted September 25, 2009 Report Share Posted September 25, 2009 What would it take to find/purchase a Saiga 12S or KS-K and bring it back to the US? Could you buy one in Russia and bring it home? Good luck. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
shades_of_grey 1,092 Posted September 25, 2009 Report Share Posted September 25, 2009 (edited) What would it take to find/purchase a Saiga 12S or KS-K and bring it back to the US? Could you buy one in Russia and bring it home? Good luck. Especially with our Republic under King Barry's fascist heel. That's a pipe dream, iSaiga. I think TX-Zen's gun is the most "Russian" S-12 I've ever seen, (in the US). It's impressive. I just want a removable gas tube, (so much easier to clean), that doesn't necessitate the installation of standard AK sights. I prefer my Krebs S-12 sights and aperture sights in general. Edited September 25, 2009 by post-apocalyptic Quote Link to post Share on other sites
HillBilly2 9 Posted September 25, 2009 Report Share Posted September 25, 2009 What would it take to find/purchase a Saiga 12S or KS-K and bring it back to the US? Could you buy one in Russia and bring it home? Good luck. Especially with our Republic under King Barry's fascist heel. That's a pipe dream, iSaiga. I think TX-Zen's gun is the most "Russian" S-12 I've ever seen, (in the US). It's impressive. I just want a removable gas tube, (so much easier to clean), that doesn't necessitate the installation of standard AK sights. I prefer my Krebs S-12 sights and aperture sights in general. Thats not going to be possible. It's the standard AK rear sight that holds the rear of the gas tube in place. You could go with an AK rear sight block and use an aperture type sight ladder. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gkcf 8 Posted September 25, 2009 Report Share Posted September 25, 2009 Anybody have any more information on this? Either on the 12S or the Vepr. Up close photos of componenets, number of gas ports, anything that might be useful toward designing some conversion parts? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lone Star Arms 2,047 Posted September 25, 2009 Report Share Posted September 25, 2009 From a mechanical perspective, hinging the dust cover wouldn't be a big deal. The gas tube set up looks more or less like a standard AK with a removable tube. One solution may be to mod the gas block and tube so that the setup is more like a Galil. As far as the absent gas adjustment on the Russian military model, my guess is that they just don't use low brass in those guns, so why complicate things with a manual gas adjustment. Disclaimer: Don't try any of this stuff at home. WS Quote Link to post Share on other sites
marvin42 2 Posted September 26, 2009 Report Share Posted September 26, 2009 I asked both RRA & two local gun shops about the 12S back in 2006. RRA gave some lame excuse as to their unavailability, while the gun shops treated me like I was asking for 60cal machine gun! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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