New owner needs advice

[thunderheart 1]

Hi folks,

 

I got my new 223 Friday before Memorial Day. I haven't fired it yet but I have to say ... I'm a little disappointed. First of all when my local dealer (who handled my transfer) brought it out I noticed that during shipment, the charging handle had rubbed a big hole in the box. So it had been riding against other surfaces during shipment. Not really a big deal. Handle was a little "shiny" but doesn't bother me. However, the more I look the more I find that seems iffy. For instance, the hood on the front site blade looks bent to me when I sight the rifle. From other angles it looks right. However, the front blade was drifted WAY over to starboard (to the right looking down the barrel. I assume the armorer set it like that for a reason. In addition, the stock is not well fitted to the receiver. It has about a 16th of an inch gap all the way around AND it isn't true. That is it's warped. The back of the stock is "yawed" to the right pretty badly.

 

At first, I didn't notice these issues to much but the more I think about it, the more pissed I get about it. The stock issue really doesn't bother me as it'll get tossed in the conversion. But the sight issue worries me. How would I fix the hood if it's bent? Seems more like an issue for a gunsmith. And why is the windage set so far to starboard?

 

Any advice would sure be appreciated. Would you go ahead and fire it and see if it's OK? Contact the distributor? Contact RAAC? I'm itchin' to shoot the rifle but I want it to be right.

 

Thanks,

 

Thunderheart

[leadslinger 37]

I have never really heard of a saiga being in that condition. Play it Safe contact RAA to get them to fix. They are super responsive.

[kresk 10,063]

It's very common for the bolt handle to have poked through the box. The other stuff, yeah, it wouldn't hurt to contact RAAC and see what they have to say.

[m1key 7]

Would you like some cheese with that whine? Yikes.

 

Hole in the box? Most all mine came that way. Dude, it's coming from RUSSIA.

 

Shiny handle? Word: paint.

 

All mine have 1/16 inch gap in the stock/receiver...so what?

 

Warped stock? Have you ever heard of a CAST-OFF? They are designed that way for a reason.

 

Front sight not straight? Can you zero it? Should not even be a problem. Easily straightened.

 

Good luck...

Edited June 26, 2010 by m1key

[clifton 354]

"A Saiga is no so much about what you bought, but what you make it into"

 

 

 

Cliff Evans

[russiangunrunner 10]

must be an AR guy, or somebody on a tight budget.

 

its a mass produced weapon, trust me, it'll outshoot absolutely everything in its price range and then some.

[thunderheart 1]

Would you like some cheese with that whine? Yikes.

 

Hole in the box? Most all mine came that way. Dude, it's coming from RUSSIA.

 

Shiny handle? Word: paint.

 

All mine have 1/16 inch gap in the stock/receiver...so what?

 

Warped stock? Have you ever heard of a CAST-OFF? They are designed that way for a reason.

 

Front sight not straight? Can you zero it? Should not even be a problem. Easily straightened.

 

Good luck...

 

Wow. Pretty harsh response to a simple question. Oh well ... Just for the record though I'd like to clarify a couple of points:

 

1) I'm not whining, just asking if the things I noticed about the weapon are normal. So I'll pass on the cheese. But don't be shy. Help yourself to some.

 

2) I understand the weapon is manufactured in RUSSIA. All the more REASON to PACKAGE IT BETTER. You'll notice I said I didn't mind about the charging handle. It'll get duracoated post conversion anyway.

 

3) Yeah I know what a castoff is but the "warp" I mentioned isn't an offset, it's a bow. And the gaps ... like you said so what. Just mentioned them as part of my overall impression. But like I also said in the original post, the stock won't survive the conversion so it doesn't really matter.

 

4) My point about the front sight blade is that a significant amount of the windage adjustment appears to already have been consumed by the armorer at the factory. If as a result of my sight picture being different or changes in the weapons configuration I need more port windage, I'd be outta luck. Not to mention that the blade being drifted that far to the starboard makes for a very ugly sight picture. Especially if the hood is bent. But thanks for pointing out that it can easily be fixed. That's actually a useful piece of information.

 

must be an AR guy, or somebody on a tight budget.

 

its a mass produced weapon, trust me, it'll outshoot absolutely everything in its price range and then some.

 

Nope. Not an "AR guy" but yeah I'm tight with money and intend to stay that way. Having earned every dime I have I'm loath to part with it and when I do, I expect to get a good deal.

 

That being said here are the first 9 rounds that I fired through the rifle:

 

 

50 meters shooting into shadow. The first 4 are low and wild. Couldn't even see the front post so I put a little white correction fluid on it and increased the elevation. Next five were nice though. Not bad for a new barrel, cheap ammo, 47 year old eyes and iron sights. Not to mention that I haven't fired a gun (of any description) in 5 or 6 years. A day at a real range (in a week or so) will be more informative.

 

I like it though. Seems accurate, fed fine, makes a pleasing boom. Disappointment dissipating ...

 

 

Thunderheart

Edited June 27, 2010 by thunderheart

[csspecs 1,987]

Sadly it seems that the rifles get treated as kindly as shovels by the factory.

 

They really should work on their packing.. Like really, they have been making these for 50+ years. I'd bet the first one shipped had the charging handle sticking out of the box when it was delivered. A block of cardboard over the handle would keep them from poking through.

[paprotective 362]

Maybe the factory does the hole in the box to confirm a rifle is indeed inside..

 

The factory post sucks as it is WIDE. Some people remove the post and 'grind it down to be 'skinnier' on top. (post on here with pics somewhere). They also make CHEAP colors front posts also. If you think thats bad shoot at 100 yards with it..

 

I avg 2-3" groups at 50 yards and 5-6 inch groups at 100 yards with irons.. I will be 40 soon and wear contacts for the last 20 years)

With the 6moa red-dot I have I got it down to 4" at 100 yards.

 

The rifle will usually 'string' vertically unless you anticipate recoil and push and pull it.

 

If you apply a 4x32 fixed scope and sidemount scope rail you can tighten your groups up to about 3-4" at 100 yards. (some do this)

 

I ran a 4x32 NCStar for $20 and UTG 978 AK mount for $35 from opticsplanet. (free shipping also).

 

Hope this helps on that matter.

 

The more you shoot, you will get to 'know your rifle'.

 

 

Al

[russiangunrunner 10]

hey man, just good natured ribbing. don't worry, if you convert later on you'll be swapping the FSB anyways, and yes i've noticed the warp in the stock on one before. The front sight cant, well.... yeah it's dimpled in, no fixing without a lot of headache, thats actually the only one i'd bother with, but yeah.

 

btw some dist have bulgy 74 wood stock sets for 25 bucks and they look great and clean up real well (see mine and a few others in the pic posts) grab a suplus handgaurd retainer surplus for 10-25 bucks and pop the pin out with a punch and slice the top part of it out, and then you'll have a nice looking 74 style weapon. you prob already know where to get US parts for compliance and the best mags to use are bulgarian 556 mags with a bullet guide.

 

74 gas blocks and ront sight blocks pop right on and look and function great with these rifles.

 

oh and welcome. and about the groups... don't worry, these rifles shoot around 2" groups all day once YOU'RE up to it.

[russiangunrunner 10]

oh and try a pk-as optic, most love it, few don't...

 

or if you need magnification, can't go wrong with a psop any whatever mag suits you best.

[m1key 7]

Hey Thunderheart, sorry I was a little brusque...

 

I try to inspect the rifles before purchase, but I have had a couple of "surprises" ordering online.

 

Most problems are fixable. And try some better quality ammo. Saigas are capable of very good accuracy.

 

Good luck.

 

M

[thunderheart 1]

Hey guys,

 

Thanx for the replies. Apologize if I was a little sensitive there. Just that I put a lot of effort into not being a whiner. The real reason for the thread was to make sure I didn't have a lemon. I know the Saiga is fine tool because I did much research before purchasing. But any machine that is produced in large quantities can exhibit instances that are poorly built and outside the statistical norm. So I wanted the advice of the experts here to determine if that was the case with my evaluation unit. I'm sure that isn't the case now so cool.

 

Good point about the better ammo for accuracy and the optics vs iron sights. I'm looking into reflex sights now.

 

I do have a question about a common conversion item: bullet guides. I can see the reason for it on a 762x39 as the mags have been in production for a long time which makes them cheap and available. But how does that 'economy of scale' apply to .223 variants of the AK? Or does it at all? A have a Surefire 30 that seems well built and to feed well. The last round hold-open is useful. But they are a bit pricey.

 

Anyway, this is a very fascinating subject and I'm enjoying the learning curve.

 

Dallas

[paprotective 362]

Well Surplus 'Circle 10' Bulgarians for .223/5.56 will require you have a bullet guide installed. Make sure they are for the .223/5.56.

 

So for $30 one time (bullet-guide) you get the ability of running Surplus military mags $25-35 or ProMags $13-16 each.. # AK-A5

 

I think Tapco makes some also for Galil that function well. # MAG2630.. ($15 or so)

 

Christcorp did a report on the ProMags for Saiga Specific .223 #SAI-A4 that had the lil' tab/bullet-guide on them. You trim that tab down abit and they still feed well from what I recall.

 

We carry the ProMag AK-A5 on sale for $13.99 and the Tapco #MAG2630 if you want to try'em out.

 

 

Al