Durability

[Dave H 0]

I was looking for replacement parts on here recently and it got me thinking.

Who on her has the oldest Saiga, how many rounds have you run through it, and how is your rifles condition?

Ill go first.

Had mine a little over two years and have put an upwards of 5k rounds through it. expecting some sort of trouble soon. (but then again maybe she will never break)

[my762buzz 141]

I was looking for replacement parts on here recently and it got me thinking.

Who on her has the oldest Saiga, how many rounds have you run through it, and how is your rifles condition?

Ill go first.

Had mine a little over two years and have put an upwards of 5k rounds through it. expecting some sort of trouble soon. (but then again maybe she will never break)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recoil and disconnector springs are the most common broken parts ever mentioned on most any AK type rifle.

Red Jacket Firearms on theakforum made mention of a rental AK in his shop that had, recalling this correctly, about 50,000 rounds through it before

hairline cracks started appearing around the rear trunnion/receiver junction. What might be causing that? The carrier hammering backward against the rear trunnion.

I asked if it ever had a recoil spring replaced and his answer was no. When springs finally wear out they don't resist like they should and something's going to have to stop that carrier on the way to the rear. Sometimes nothing breaks through 100,000 rounds but replacing a recoil and disconnector spring is really cheap.

Nothing wrong with putting in fresh springs every 10,000 or 20,000 rounds. If you ever heard the term buy it cheap and stack it deep, it doesn't just apply to

ammo. You never know what tommorrow holds. That fact that a former president banned the import of Chinese spare parts is an indicator of what's on their list to ban.

Get what you can today. It never hurts to have extras.

 

[sailor 6]

Good question, good info. I have been pondering getting some stand-by spares, but hard to figure what is the "right" fit for a Saiga 7.62x39, as most spares are listed as AK-47, or AK-74, or Bulgarian or East German or ??? I wrote an email to KVAR technical today, with just that question. There are single items, and kits - all at reasonable cost, but the question of what really fits, and safely, is the question. An earlier thread also covers this question, and has some good info and photos.

[my762buzz 141]

Good question, good info. I have been pondering getting some stand-by spares, but hard to figure what is the "right" fit for a Saiga 7.62x39, as most spares are listed as AK-47, or AK-74, or Bulgarian or East German or ??? I wrote an email to KVAR technical today, with just that question. There are single items, and kits - all at reasonable cost, but the question of what really fits, and safely, is the question. An earlier thread also covers this question, and has some good info and photos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think you can narrow it down to all things AK74 for nearly every thing except the bolt body, extractors, and magazines. The extractor info is already pretty clear.

Edited March 26, 2010 by my762buzz

[Dave H 0]

I figured the springs or firing pin would be the first to go, tomorrow I am going to buy that universal Ak spring repair kit from K-var along with it Im getting a 5.45 firing pin and a US made 5.45 piston.

 

any other parts that break frequently(or as frequent as an AK breaks) or parts that I should just have around?

Edited March 26, 2010 by Dave H

[my762buzz 141]

I figured the springs or firing pin would be the first to go, tomorrow I am going to buy that universal Ak spring repair kit from K-var along with it Im getting a 5.45 firing pin and a US made 5.45 piston.

 

any other parts that break frequently(or as frequent as an AK breaks) or parts that I should just have around?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thats about it springs, firing pins, and if you feel brave 5.45 extractors that will require modding to work properly with 7.62x39.

Maybe you can mention to the sales rep that there is several people interested in buying spare Izmash saiga 7.62x39 bolt parts.

They need to get on the ball and get those parts on US soil pronto.

[Dave H 0]

We should try and get everyone (or at least quite a few)on the forum to send an e-mail to them. Im pretty sure if we did that they would realize that there is a market for these parts.

[my762buzz 141]

We should try and get everyone (or at least quite a few)on the forum to send an e-mail to them. Im pretty sure if we did that they would realize that there is a market for these parts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you set up a group buy, it might get their attention. A simple thread with who is interested in ______ and how many would you buy____.

If a few hundred memebers respond and all actively email Kvar with the group buy numbers thatmight just get some wheels turning to get these parts here finally.

Clyde Woods (RAA Saiga Importer) emailed me a while back and said he has tried to get parts and no luck. Maybe Izmash-Legion the proshop that Arsenal works with

might be able to where RAA has not been. Its worth a try.

[Dave H 0]

We should try and get everyone (or at least quite a few)on the forum to send an e-mail to them. Im pretty sure if we did that they would realize that there is a market for these parts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you set up a group buy, it might get their attention. A simple thread with who is interested in ______ and how many would you buy____.

If a few hundred memebers respond and all actively email Kvar with the group buy numbers thatmight just get some wheels turning to get these parts here finally.

Clyde Woods (RAA Saiga Importer) emailed me a while back and said he has tried to get parts and no luck. Maybe Izmash-Legion the proshop that Arsenal works with

might be able to where RAA has not been. Its worth a try.

 

 

What would it take to just e-mail straight to the factory and just by-pass the middle man? I mean if we get a group buy and make it apparent to them we dont want to have to modify knock-off parts for our Saigas, they are bound to send us spare parts. Its worth a shot at least.

[sailor 6]

I don't know how mass purchases normally work, but I would expect that a factory (expecially out of country, that needs special permits) would only do business with a licensed importing company - that is who we need to impress with a market nitch - it is all about buying and selling for a profit. Worth a try to get one of our regular suppliers interested, but I'm sure they need to be sure of a reasonable sales volume to even consider it.