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20" barreled 5.45x39mm rifle? seen on yet?


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  • 3 weeks later...

http://www.classicar...aiga20-bbl2.jpg

 

Take a look at the rifle shown at classicarms... At first I thought it was a Saiga .308 due to the front sight base, but there is no bulge at the front trunnion. The magazine is either .223 or 5.45. Now take a look at the rear of the receiver, it has the two rivet holes for the trigger linkage, which the .308 doesn't use at all.

 

If this is indeed the new target model (and not just some random picture classic put up) I'm excited. Siaga .308 barrel parts are similar in diameter to RPK parts. If they put larger diameter barrels (with S-308 RSB, gas block and FSB) on the intermidiate caliber 20" guns, that is something to get excited about.***Looks like the picture on Classic's website si simply wrong.

 

I just picked up a 5.45 Saiga with 20" barrel at the gun show and I can confirm it indeed does have a heavy barrel with the .308 style front sight base. The front sight base and gas block are pinned on and not dimpled. I just converted the back end and will have pictures soon. It also has the TGI engraving and dimples. I can't wait to see how it shoots!

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i just called classic arms and asked them if these 5.45 20" saiga's have thicker barrels than the standard 16" model and her response was "not that i know of". i am disappointed by this response. it is disappointing that she had no desire to find out if it did and just assumed it did not. that was a lost sale. has anyone ordered one from these guys and can confirm that these do have thicker barrels? if these do have thicker barrels i MAY consider ordering one from them. so far there customer service is not very good. and they don't even have my money yet. i realize the guy above me got one from a gun show that had a thicker barrel but who knows how many the Russians actually did like that.

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i dont have the 20" i have the 16" but i did check it with a chronograph with the cheap surplus and the hornaday steal match. the surplus was between 2950 and 3000 fps. the hornady was slower at around 2850. just thought this would be a good baseline to campare to the 20".

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i just called classic arms and asked them if these 5.45 20" saiga's have thicker barrels than the standard 16" model and her response was "not that i know of". i am disappointed by this response. it is disappointing that she had no desire to find out if it did and just assumed it did not. that was a lost sale. has anyone ordered one from these guys and can confirm that these do have thicker barrels? if these do have thicker barrels i MAY consider ordering one from them. so far there customer service is not very good. and they don't even have my money yet. i realize the guy above me got one from a gun show that had a thicker barrel but who knows how many the Russians actually did like that.

 

really??? they are selling saiga's as fast as they can get them and you're surprised she didn't seem to want to research your question?

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really??? they are selling saiga's as fast as they can get them and you're surprised she didn't seem to want to research your question?

 

just because you don't think customer service is a must doesn't mean i feel the same way. believe it or not i sent j and g a similar question asking what the barrel diameter is on these 5.45s and they sent back this response:

 

Sir,

The barrel has a diameter of .700

Thank you.

 

 

that is how you do business. they answered my question directly. they now have a new customercool.png. the picture they have on there website must just be a stock photo. i just measured my 16" 5.45 and it is 0.56". so these seem to be heavy barrel models.

Edited by rogers
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Saiga 20" I did the rear conversion the night I got it, hopefully I will get to shoot it this weekend.

For those looking to do a front end conversion of some form, the barrel diameter under the FSB is .673, GB is .710, and barrel between FSB and GB is .693

040.jpg

037.jpg

 

 

With Saiga 16" 5.45 and Bulgarian 74 for comparison

030.jpg

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WOW, unbelieveable. How did heavy barreled saigas sneak into the country like this? No hype or even advertising on the new model. The dimensions seem to fall short of RPK barrel dimensions, but is still a heavy barrel as far as AK's are concered. I guess those are Saiga-308 barrel parts repurposed. Very interesting.

 

ROMANIAN RPK PATTERN BARREL:

Chamber .908" (23mm w/ .003 - .006" press fit)

Rear Sight Base .884" (22.45mm w/ .003 - .004" press fit)

Handguard Retainer .863" 8.0938" (8 3/32") / 205.58mm from breech face

Cleaning Rod Retainer .756" 15.6875" (15 11/16") / 398.46mm from breech face

Gas Block .789" (20mm w/ .003 - .004" press fit)

Front Sight Base/Bipod Base ?"

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Now I am totally confused. Get the target 20" or the 340 with the front end done? I like how the 16" handles, but the heavy barrel is great option.

 

For my first project I picked the 340. Figure I'll learn enough this time round that I can spend the time/money/energy next time on a heavy barrel, since I'll already know how to do the back.

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I think my first choice is the 340, but I am tempted with the 20".

 

What did it for me was there is a ton of help/guidance out there for normal barrel dimensions, seemed a bit slimmer for the heavy barrel stuff. Just figure I don't need that headache on my first go. But looking forward to seeing what you decide on!

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IF you are deciding which to convert, the heavy barreled models will not readily accept any hand guard retainer I know of. You options are much more limited swapping barrel parts because of the barrel dimensions (really it's a medium-weight barrel profile, being half way between standard AKM and the RPK's heavy weight barrel- it shares dimensions with the Saiga .308 ONLY AFAIK).

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IF you are deciding which to convert, the heavy barreled models will not readily accept any hand guard retainer I know of. You options are much more limited swapping barrel parts because of the barrel dimensions (really it's a medium-weight barrel profile, being half way between standard AKM and the RPK's heavy weight barrel- it shares dimensions with the Saiga .308 ONLY AFAIK).

 

That is a very good point. Probably no chance the barrel is threaded either.

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