Vista 0 Posted January 14, 2010 Report Share Posted January 14, 2010 After lurking on this forum for many weeks, I finally got a .223 Saiga, shot it a few times for familiarity, and decided to go ahead and convert it. I ordered the conversion parts from Carolina Shooters Supply (surprisingly fast shipping over the New Year's weekend!) and completed the conversion yesterday. I shot the Saiga this morning and everything ran like a champ. I thought I'd offer a few observations about the conversion process that may help someone thinking about converting. 1. I had a pile of conversion guides - the vimeo.com video and cross-con.com were very useful. The guide I relied on the most was the stu-offroad.com; in fact, I hauled my laptop out to the garage workbench and just flipped the net pages as I went through the procedure. The stu-offroad.com guide was especially good in showing how to reinstall the BHO and it's infernal spring. 2. I bought a set of cobalt drills off Amazon.com. They were good enough to finally get through the trigger guard rivets (after Dremeling), but were NOT up to the task of attacking the Trigger guard plate spot weld, they just spun. I picked up a Dewalt pilot point cobalt drill bit (3/16" #DW1212 for $3.78 at Lowes) which churned right through the weld and plate. 3. If I had it to do over again, I would get the NATO-length buttstock. The Warsaw Pact stock is noticeably short, putting my face right next to the rear of the dust cover. I just may go ahead and get the NATO stock. 4. I also JB-welded a Hillman stainless #4 flat washer (after flattening the bottom edge) to the stock Saiga Rear sight - works great as a Peep. The Hillman 3/16 inch black nylon hole plugs are also good for filling empty hammer/trigger rivet holes. All these parts are in the tiny parts drawers at Lowes. 5. Didn't see a need to fasten the front of the trigger guard - it's locked under the mag release and is not going anywhere. 6. The new trigger (Tapco G2) is worlds better than the old Saiga setup. Any questions or comments? Vista Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jimdigriz 580 Posted January 14, 2010 Report Share Posted January 14, 2010 3. If I had it to do over again, I would get the NATO-length buttstock. The Warsaw Pact stock is noticeably short, putting my face right next to the rear of the dust cover. I just may go ahead and get the NATO stock. I know what you mean. For me the annoyance is having to flair my arm out. I like to keep my Saigas relatively uniform, though, since the wife uses them too. So, regarding Warsaw Pact-length stocks, I will, as Andy told Barney about Aunt Bee's pickles, "learn to love 'em." Quote Link to post Share on other sites
volkov 318 Posted January 14, 2010 Report Share Posted January 14, 2010 warsaw stock length is one of the biggest mistakes I made too, but I think there are pads you can put on the back to lengthen it a bit Quote Link to post Share on other sites
chevyman097 2,579 Posted January 14, 2010 Report Share Posted January 14, 2010 grats on the conversion. Hey you could allways sell the stock and buy one you like. GL! 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GerryV 14 Posted January 15, 2010 Report Share Posted January 15, 2010 Vista/Volkov, If either of you are interested, I'll trade you my K-var Nato length stock for your K-var (not Tapco) Warsaw stock. It seems that, even though my knuckles almost drag the ground, I prefer the Warsaw length over the Nato length. Let me know if either of you are interested and we can work out the particulars. Gerry Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vista 0 Posted January 15, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2010 Vista/Volkov, If either of you are interested, I'll trade you my K-var Nato length stock for your K-var (not Tapco) Warsaw stock. It seems that, even though my knuckles almost drag the ground, I prefer the Warsaw length over the Nato length. Let me know if either of you are interested and we can work out the particulars. Gerry Gerry: Unfortunately, my Warsaw stock is a Tapco. How about making the trade if I pay your shipping cost? Vista Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JT1911 0 Posted January 16, 2010 Report Share Posted January 16, 2010 How long did the conversion take you to do from start to finish? I'm going to start the conversion tomorrow. I'm not handy at all and I'm wondering bad I can screw this up. . . Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Azrial 1,091 Posted January 16, 2010 Report Share Posted January 16, 2010 The Warsaw stock is a lot shorter when using a traditional long range target stance then with a squared up tactical stance, specially when you are wearing body armor. But you should get what works best for you. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vista 0 Posted January 16, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2010 How long did the conversion take you to do from start to finish? I'm going to start the conversion tomorrow. I'm not handy at all and I'm wondering bad I can screw this up. . . JT1911: It took about 5 hours over two days, but a lot of that was "thinking" time. I also spent too much time trying to get substandard 'cobalt' drills to work and probably wasted more time than necessary in masking and spray painting the receiver bottom and trigger guard. As I mentioned in my writeup, the BHO spring can provide many minutes of entertainment. I also spent a lot of time cross-referencing the various conversion guides I had. I'd guess that doing another conversion would take me no more than 2-3 hours. Hope this helps...you've probably already started yours by the time you get this... Vista Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GerryV 14 Posted January 17, 2010 Report Share Posted January 17, 2010 (edited) Vista/Volkov, If either of you are interested, I'll trade you my K-var Nato length stock for your K-var (not Tapco) Warsaw stock. It seems that, even though my knuckles almost drag the ground, I prefer the Warsaw length over the Nato length. Let me know if either of you are interested and we can work out the particulars. Gerry Gerry: Unfortunately, my Warsaw stock is a Tapco. How about making the trade if I pay your shipping cost? Vista Sorry, but I'd rather stay with K-var. Edited January 17, 2010 by GerryV Quote Link to post Share on other sites
roytomkins 1 Posted January 17, 2010 Report Share Posted January 17, 2010 I have the warasw length stock, and at first it was way too short, my face was almost touching the dust cover. I am 5 11, with fairly long arms and torso. After shooting it at bit, I noticed my stance made all the difference, and the short stock feels very maneuverable. I dont have the NATO stock so I have no comparison, but I found that I got used to it. If someone wanted to trade a NATO stock, I would at least try it though... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
photoshooter 5 Posted January 18, 2010 Report Share Posted January 18, 2010 Are you using the Saiga 223 mags or did you convert it to take AR mags? I'm already thinking ahead to my next conversion and I'm considering 223. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vista 0 Posted January 19, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 19, 2010 Are you using the Saiga 223 mags or did you convert it to take AR mags? I'm already thinking ahead to my next conversion and I'm considering 223. I'm using the original Saiga mag plus three Surefire 10-round mags. If you take a look in the .223 Saiga forum, you'll see a rundown on my difficulties with the Surefire mags. Now that they have been modified, they are working OK, not as good as the Saiga mag, but OK. Being in California, I also have to use a "Bullet Button", in my case the Solar Tactical Bullet Button. This little gizmo makes it even more difficult to eject tightly fitting magazines, because you can't get as much leverage on the mag release as you can with your thumb. Vista Quote Link to post Share on other sites
photoshooter 5 Posted January 19, 2010 Report Share Posted January 19, 2010 Good info, thank you. I guess if I'm going to do a .223 conversion it's a good idea to start lurking in that forum as well. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Nailbomb 10,221 Posted January 19, 2010 Report Share Posted January 19, 2010 My conversions have been taking a lot longer latley than they used to... I'm getting better and doing a lot more work though... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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