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Need a lil help with my new Saiga


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Hello board, I have been reading this board a lot lately upon purchase of my new Saiga 12, but I have ran into problems. I am reluctant to ask my questions because they are very similar to those before... I am getting nothing but FTE's with my new shotgun. I 1st bought Winchester super target, when it FTE'd i figured it was similar to the "bulk pack" so I read on the Red Jacket website to see that Saiga cycles Winchester super handicap like a champ. The super handicap FTE'd, so then I ran some Remington buckshot (4 bk) with the same result.

 

Today I tried to see if the ports were blocked and I couldn't find them. On the middle of the gas block there is something that almost looks like a rivet and that's it. I felt around with a paperclip to no avail and was wondering if I have one of those "vodka specials" that I've read about.

 

So I turn to this board for it's mercy (because I'm sure something like this has been brought up numerous times and that I may have over looked it with the search) and for guidance.

Edited by Brandino
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It would help if you take the endcap off, shine a light inside the gaas block and post a pic of what you are seeing...

 

Do this first. Use a flash light if you need to. Unscrew the adjustment plug and look. You see only one port, or one port and two ports that are partially blocked, call up Cadiz or attempt to fix it yourself.

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It would help if you take the endcap off, shine a light inside the gaas block and post a pic of what you are seeing...

 

Thank you for your reply...post-32462-0-68609000-1302396884_thumb.jpg

 

Sorry about the poor picture, that's the best I got

 

No, the light needs to be shining on, or through the gas ports... what I mean is, we need the light shining on the hole in the gas block that goes to the ports OR the light shining down the barrel so that we can see if any ports are lit up. I am really interested to see if you truly have no ports at all, is your gas block on straight?

Edited by Caged
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It would help if you take the endcap off, shine a light inside the gaas block and post a pic of what you are seeing...

 

Thank you for your reply...post-32462-0-68609000-1302396884_thumb.jpg

 

Sorry about the poor picture, that's the best I got

 

Your ports should be visible in the bottom of that hole in the bottom of the gas block that is currently too dark to see into in this picture. Have you felt into that hole with a paperclip bent 90 degrees? If you shine a light down onto that hole, can you see the gas ports?

 

Click here. This is what you should be seeing and how to look at it.

Edited by spaniel
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If you had no gas ports, the gun would be 'bolt action only'. There would be no movement of the action by gas operation, everything would be complete FTE.

 

EDIT; In the above pic, it really looks like the gas block window is way off center.

Edited by Mullet Man
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<br />If you had no gas ports, the gun would be 'bolt action only'. There would be no movement of the action by gas operation, everything would be complete FTE.<br /><br />EDIT; In the above pic, it really looks like the gas block window is way off center.<br />
<br /><br /><br />

 

Thank you everyone for trying to help me out!!! Good news is with the picture above from spaniel I was able to figure out where the placement of the holes should be. And I'm embarrassed to say I found (what I would consider) 2 1/2 holes.

 

I am learning more about this firearm, so I may be mistaken, but I believe that one of the holes is almost completely blocked. I also noticed that the other 2 gas holes are incredibly small, is this normal?

 

I shot the gun again yesterday after finding the holes and trying to free them of any trash with the paperclip. Again, I had nothing but FTE. This time I shot only the buckshot.

 

I plan on taking it down again today and scrubbing the hell out of it with the brush to see if that cleans out anything else in the hole that I wasn't able to free up with the paperclip... should I just brush the area with the dry brush or use something such as Hoppe's 9?

 

Thank you guys so much for your help, sorry about my rookie questions and errors

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If it wasn't imported by RAAC then I don't think Cadiz is contracted for warranty work on it. If it was an Arsenal import (Las Vegas) then I think they do their own warranty work in house.

What you need done to uncover the gas ports is a simple operation you can accomplish yourself if you have a few simple tools. The two pins holding the gas block in place, need to be knocked out with a hammer and small punch. The gas block needs to be knocked or pressed off the barrel to expose the ports. At that time you will be able to see by the darker circle in the steel, exactly where your ports are being blocked. The hole in the bottom of the gas block needs to be slightly enlarged and beveled, where it's covering your ports, so they can breath like they are supposed to. There are a few threads here that describe the process in detail. While you have full access to the ports, and after making sure they are not even partially blocked (as it sounds like they are now), you need to check and see what diameter the holes are, by inserting a drill bit (the dull end) into the holes. If they are too small, you should slightly enlarge them, or better yet, leave them the size they are now and add a 4th port the same size (within the circle).

I'll go look and get the links you need to look at since you're new here and don't know your way around yet.

 

And yes, it will greatly improve performance, in several different aspects, to get the bolt and carrier re-profiled and polished.

 

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Brandino, cleaning the gun won't fix the issues you are having.

Internal polishing and some reprofiling is in order, and next, modifying the gas block to unrestrict the 3rd port.

Tuning the gun and fixing the port issue should clear up all problems.

 

Also, try Federal bulk pack as opposed to Winchester bulk.

Is your gas setting on #2?

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Ok man check out this thread if you are interested in trying to fix the main problem yourself.

http://forum.saiga-1...em/page__st__30

Let me know if I can help with your re-profiling and polishing. That will make a big difference in the way it runs, even if it is getting enough gas. As another benefit, you will also be able to load full mags on a closed bolt, and not have the same problem you have now with the top round getting squashed when the mag is left loaded in the weapon.

 

Edit to add... There's also another thread somewhere, showing how one guy cut his gas block hole out to a "D" shape instead of a circle, to uncover the hidden port closest to the muzzle. This has become know around here as the "D mod.."

I don't recommend doing this though. I don't like to cut the hole that far forward and get into the ring at the base of the gas plug threads. It's not necessary to do anything besides cut a bevel on the underside to let the port breath fully. It can be done on the sides as well as the front. Don't mess with the back of the hole. If you look at a gas block, it comes from the factory with a slightly larger hole on the uderside anyway, so even if you can' fully view the whole port diameter from above, it's getting more gas to the piston than you can tell by looking at it.

 

 

For example....

post-1293-0-73129700-1302627576_thumb.jpg post-1293-0-97302600-1302627559_thumb.jpg

 

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