saiga 12 article II

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TEST AND EVALUATION OF THE SAIGA-12, KALASHNIKOV SHOTGUN

 

 

 

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Several months ago, Aaron Zelman contacted me about our doing a detailed T&E on one of the new Kalashnikov shotguns, which were beginning to enter the USA at that time. Needless to say, I took advantage of Aaron's kind offer, and began the necessary coordination with Mr. Richard Bischoff of Kalashnikov USA, LTD (561-337-3398).

 

Within a few weeks, Aaron's brand new SAIGA-12 shotgun arrived. Straight out of the box you know that you are looking at some type of Kalashnikov firearm, due to the distinctive receiver profile, the charging handle configuration, the location/style of the magazine release, and the classic design of the safety lever. As with all other Kalashnikov firearms, the SAIGA-12 shotgun is built around simplicity and mechanical durability for the real world.

 

Before I go into the mechanical aspects of the SAIGA-12, let's take a quick tour of the finish and furniture. The receiver cover, bolt carrier/bolt, appear to have some type of phosphate finish, but not quite a true parkerized finish. However, the barrel, gas tube, and receiver, do appear to have a true parkerized finish, which is pretty durable and survived our testing quite well. The dull black buttstock and forearm, appear to be a carbon-polymer plastic, with functional checkering molded into the wrist area of the buttstock, and the side panels of the forearm. The removable buttplate is also a carbon-polymer plastic, with a smooth surface on the shouldering face. The overall configuration of the buttstock is similar to most commercial rifle or shotgun designs, versus some type of tricked-up AK47 design. The "feel" of both the buttstock and forearm is very good, with the length of pull on the buttstock being quite comfortable. If you happen to be a small framed, light weight shooter, I would recommend the addition of a good Decelerator type recoil pad if you intend on firing volume heavy loads, ie; 3-inch magnums. Though the SAIGA-12 comes with sling swivels, they aren't the greatest, and I would recommend that you replace them with a good set of the Q.D. type swivels. The SAIGA-12 also comes with a sling, which is a wider version of the standard AK47 webb sling, with the exception that the sling does not have an adjusting slider plate, ie; to change the length of the sling, you either let out or take in the leather straps on the ends of the sling. Though limited in it's adjustment range, the sling is quite comfortable and works well in the field.

 

The construction/function of the SAIGA-12 is essentially the same as it's AK47 cousin, with disassembly/assembly of the primary components also mimicking the AK47, ie; the top receiver cover, the recoil spring & guide rod, the bolt carrier, and the bolt. Since the SAIGA-12 was designed to fire 12GA ammunition, some parts are quite different from it's AK47 cousin. An immediate and obvious difference is the SAIGA-12's recoil spring assembly. As you know, an AK's recoil spring is one continuous spring, whereas, the SAIGA-12's recoil spring is composed of two individual springs, which are separated in the middle by a "floating" sheet metal "ejection port cover subassembly". When you actually see this particular part, it's function is obvious and makes sense. Let's see how well I can do with only a verbal description. Mechanically the two recoil springs appear to be made from the same type of wire stock, about the same diameter, and approximately the same length. As previously stated, the "floating" ejection port cover is made of stamped sheet metal, which has been pressed into the same profile as the main body of the bolt carrier, which normally acts in the capacity of ejection port cover. The added "floating" cover rides directly behind the bolt carrier, but does not cover the bolt carrier. Assembly wise, the two recoil springs and the "floating" ejection port cover are all fitted onto the single recoil spring guide rod, and move in unison during the rearward recoil cycle. The obvious question now is: "Why the two recoil springs, and why the "floating" ejection port cover"? The answer is so simple that you miss it at first: (1) The bolt carrier is the same general dimension as a standard AK bolt carrier. (2) The top receiver cover is also the same dimension as a standard AK top receiver cover. By merely modifying existing parts, the Russian's saved many ruble's by not having to completely retool for these components. Needless to say, ejection of a fired 76mm (3-In Mag) shotgun case through an ejection port designed for a 39mm rifle case, is easier said than done. Solution, enlarge the size of the ejection port in the top receiver cover to accommodate the much longer fired case. A good idea, which then created a second problem. Due to the enlarged ejection port in the top receiver cover, you now have a gaping "hole" of 1 1/2 -in by 1 1/4 -in directly behind the rear of the bolt carrier. Not a good thing to have on a self-loading shotgun. Enter, the "floating" ejection port cover, a simple, yet ingenious solution to a serious problem. (Note: The front recoil spring and the "floating" ejection port cover, can be removed from the recoil spring guide rod. However, the rear recoil spring is "captured" onto the recoil spring guide rod and cannot be removed with the use of basic tools).

 

Another difference between the SAIGA-12 and the AK, is the addition of an adjustable gas valve, which in my opinion should be on any self-loading shotgun. On the SAIGA-12, the gas valve is located at the front of the gas tube, which is very easy to access and is quite "user friendly". By depressing a spring-loaded detent you can quickly change from the #1 setting to the #2 setting, with the aid of a large coin. The #1 setting is used for 2 3/4-in cartridges, while the #2 setting is used for heavier 3-in Mag cartridges. A point to remember regarding the gas valve adjusting drum assembly. When shifting from #1 to #2, or vise-versa, DO NOT attempt to turn the drum assembly in a complete 360 degree circle, as it is not designed to be rotated in such a manner, IE; at least our test shotgun was obviously not designed to be able to do this. As with any gas system, remember to periodically oil the gas drum and check it for free movement from position to position.

 

Next, we need to go over the sights available for the SAIGA-12. With regard to the factory "iron sights", both the front and rear sight are mounted onto a rib, with is approximately 9-in long and 3/8-in wide. Unlike may shotgun ribs, this on is made of steel, which means it can take abuse in the field. The rear of the rib is dove-tailed into the front receiver ring, while the front of the rib is attached to, and ends at, the forward end of the gas tube. The front sight is your typical brass bead type, which is not protected and open to damaging. The rear sight consists of a vertical "ear" on each side of the rib, which forms a SWAT style "express" -U- notch. Due to the width of the rib and the short sighting radius, both the front and rear sight are very easy to locate when doing "snap-shooting". Having worked with many of Ashley Emerson's sighting systems in the past, it would be very interesting to see how well this shotgun could perform if the front brass bead were replaced with an Emerson ramped-blade front sight. My bet is, that this sight combination would greatly enhance the SAIGA-12's accuracy potential quite a bit. (NOTE: those interested in having such a combination for their SAIGA-12, or any other shotgun, should contact Ashley Outdoors, Inc., Ft. Worth TX phone number 817-536-0136) With regard to adjusting the SAIGA-12's rear sight, it is hammer and "brass-punch" adjustable for windage only. The front sight has an elevation wheel, which allows for limited adjustment, ie; the front sight on Aaron's shotgun allowed us a +2 to -2 clicks of elevation change. I should also mention that the elevation wheel is "field adjustable", if you happen to be carrying a small jeweler's screwdriver, or something similar, so that you can lift the spring clip detent, which indexes the elevation wheel. As part of his overall package, Aaron had also ordered the SAIGA-12 scope base and a compact 4x by 28mm rifle scope. After checking the scope base with a magnet, we determined that it was made from some type of allow metal, with the exception of it's NATO/STANAG type quick release/locking lever. The left side of the SAIGA-12's receiver has a 4-inch long dove-tail rail attached to it, which mates with the slip-on locking dove-tail of the scope base. During testing, the scope base proved to be located at the proper height in relation to shooter's natural spot-weld location on the buttstock. It also proved to be very durable and appeared to index to the same point after several dozen mount/dismount trials. With regard to Aaron's little Chicom scope, it was a non-starter, due to the fact that it was not compatible with the SAIGA-12's scope base, ie; the distance between the front and rear ring on the scope base is about 1 1/4 -inch, and they are not adjustable on the base. Though we could mount the Chicom scope onto the base, because the scope was so short along the main tube axis, we could not adjust it for proper eye relief, which meant that our shooter's lost time before each shot attempting to find the proper eye relief. As luck would have it, our friend Bill Black, had just received a new ADCO Vantage #V-1 "red-dot" scope, which he needed to field test. For those who are not familiar with red-dot scopes, they really are not "scopes" in the normal sense. When using a red-dot, the shooter must keep both eyes open and really does not look "through" the scope, but looks "at" the scope with their shooting eye, while looking "at" their target with their other eye. The brain then superimposes the red-dot onto the target and presto, you have a hit. Since the front tube of any red-dot system does not "flare" on the objective end, we could easily mount the ADCO Vantage #V-1 scope through both scope base rings and get a good enough fit for field testing purposes. Using a bore-sight, as you would for any rifle, we quickly adjusted the red-dot for elevation/windage and got ready for the range. (NOTE: In my experience, a good red-dot makes close in shooting - 100-meters or less - extremely easy for pretty much anyone. For SWAT operations, where a lack of speed can kill, they are very fast for targeting and provide no telltale "signature" as to the shooter's location).

 

Our normal testing procedure for shotguns begins with a check of the shotgun's patterning capability. We were especially interested in Aaron's SAIGA-12 since it had come with a 22 3/4 -inch Full-Choke barrel. Like it's AK47 cousin, the 5-round plastic magazine for the SAIGA-12 goes into the receiver in a "rock & lock" type motion. As I found out during a preliminary check of the shotgun, loading an empty magazine into the shotgun is not problem, however, when you attempt to lock in a full magazine it is a matter of luck if you can successfully lock the magazine into the receiver on the first try. What's the problem? The bolt. When the bolt carrier is in the forward battery position, the bolt is sitting at the top of the magazine well. With an AK47 magazine full of small rifle cartridges there is no problem locking a magazine into the rifle's receiver. With a SAIGA-12 magazine full of large 12GA cartridges, the degree of difficulty changes dramatically. As part of our field testing, I decided not to tell our shooter's about this problem, but merely observe what happened, ie; each shooter was shown how to mount an empty magazine into the shotgun and then shown how to load the magazine with cartridges. Mounting the full magazine into the receiver was their problem. All of our test shooter's are advanced level shooters/teachers; none of our shooters could successfully "rock & lock" a full magazine on their first attempt. During all testing, I allowed each shooter up to six tries before I showed them "the trick". Since you cannot lock the SAIGA-12's bolt to the rear, for loading purposes you must pull the charging handle to the rear and hold it there, while you insert a full magazine into the receiver. Once you do this, you can easily "rock & lock" the magazine into place. For the hunter, this procedure presents no problem and can be dealt with. However, for a Police/Security Officer it would go like this: The shooter must pull the charging handle to the rear and keep it there with their firing hand, while they take out the empty magazine and put in loaded magazine with their non-firing hand. This translates to the Officer being "out of service" during this entire unloading and reloading process. Obviously, the more an Officer practices, the better they will become at this process, but I would hope that they also have solid "cover" available during magazine changes.

 

It was now time for serious testing of Aaron's SAIGA-12. Once again, our friend Bill Black came through for us by donating two cases of Winchester 2 3/4 -inch #8 Dove and Quail to the project, while R.O.C. donated a case of Federal 2 3/4-inch #1 Buck. We began the patterning process with the Dove and Quail loads, while using the factory iron sights. At 7-meters we got a very tight 8-inch pattern. At 14-meters, we got an 8-inch to 10-inch pattern. At 20-meters, we got an 18-inch pattern, and at 25-meters, we got a 23-inch to 25-inch pattern. We also determined that the iron sights needed adjusting, since all of our patterns were left of center and low on the target. For pattering of the #1 Buck, we changed to the ADCO red-dot sight, which we had previously zeroed for the shotgun. We also changed our targets to full-sized Police silhouettes. (NOTE: To better understand the test results, the reader should remember the following: A 2 3/4 -inch #1-Buck cartridge contains 16 balls, which are .30Cal in diameter). At 7-meters, all 16 balls were inside the 9-ring. At 14-meters, 11 balls were in the 9-ring, with 5 balls in the 8-ring. At 20-meters, 3 balls were in the 9-ring, 4 balls were in the 8-ring, and all other balls in the 7-ring. At 25-meters, the pattern was still quite respectable, ie; 4 balls in the 9-ring, 4 balls in the 8-ring, 4 balls in the 7 ring, and all other balls off target. Our normal shotgun procedure would also include firing rifled-slugs to determine point accuracy potential. However, due to Aaron's SAIGA-12 having a Full-Choke barrel this was out of the question, ie; firing slugs out of a Full-Choke barrel is asking for the end of the barrel to split, which it eventually will.

 

After a few weeks of conducting our normal field training routine, we were able to turn our attention back to Aaron's SAIGA-12. Now that patterning was completed, it was time to get out the bowling pins and let our shooter's have fun. The only guidance given to the shooter's was that they vary their distance from the bowling pins, vary their rate of fire, and vary their firing positions. As is our standard operating procedure, we would begin initial field testing with the light Dove & Quail loads, due to the fact that any self loading shotgun, which can effectively digest light field loads, will normally exhibit zero problems when firing the much heavier Buck or Slug loads. Around 250-rounds, we started to encounter fired cases hanging up in the ejection port. Though these were easily cleared, by 275-rounds it had become a persistent problem, so we stopped this test phase at that point. Like it's AK47 cousin, cleaning the SAIGA-12 is very simple and straightforward, with no surprises. About one week later we were able to move into the first "volume rapid fire" phase. Like our initial test, we were using the Dove & Quail loads, but we would not be allowing the shotgun any "cool down" time between shooters, ie; 350-rounds would be fired through the shotgun on an almost continuous basis. Though we did encounter a few ejection problems, there was a noticeable increase in the SAIGA-12's performance level, which indicated to us that Aaron's SAIGA-12 had needed a "break-in" period to smooth out the various mechanisms. Another week and cleaning later, we were able to take Aaron's shotgun back out to the range to continue the volume rapid fire testing for another 300-rounds of the Federal #1-Buck fired in a continuous rapid fire sequence. As often occurs in our New Mexico end of the Rocky Mountains, the weather took a radical turn on this particular day, and my students were given the privilege of helping me conduct the test during a downpour of rain and sleet, with an ambient temperature of 32-degrees. Much to everyone's surprise, the SAIGA-12 digested all 100-rounds of #1-Buck without any malfunctions. For a self-loading shotgun drenched in freezing rain and sleet, this is no easy task, ie; at one point, the rain was so heavy that we had to make sure to pour the water out of the magazine and shotgun before commencing fire. Very impressive test.

 

Bottom line, can we recommend the SAIGA-12 shotgun for civilian use? Our only real reservation with the SAIGA-12, had been the fact that it was available as a Full-Choke barrel only, which meant that it would have been useless for hunter's restricted to slug loads. However, after a final phone conversation with Kalashnikov, USA on this date (10DEC98), we can give their SAIGA-12 a THUMBS UP, ie; I was told that after Jan 1999, they would be offering the SAIGA-12 as a 19-inch barrel shotgun, with a Poly-Choke system on it. They also told me that the new shotguns would have a modification made to the bottom of the bolt, so that there should be no further magazine "rock & lock" problems when using 2 3/4-inch cartridges.

 

With regard to the SAIGA-12 for Police/SWAT usage, prior to today's conversation with Kalashnikov, USA, we had had serious reservations about it's Police application. However, after talking with Steve, of Kalashnikov, USA, most of our thoughts will be incorporated into their new Police models: (1) Barrel length of about 11-inches, with an internal/external changeable choke system. (2) Exchange the "fixed" buttstock for a side-folding buttstock. (3) Increase the magazine capacity to do away with "stress" magazine changes. (4) Add some type of red-dot sighting system, ie; they are taking a hard look at one of the "heads-up" type sighting systems now.

 

With regard to the ADCO Vantage #V-1 red-dot sight, considering that it went through the majority of the field testing, to include the freezing downpour, and still continues to function, we give it a THUMBS UP. Once again, Japan has made a good product, which people can easily afford. (NOTE: The diameter of the red-dot field tested is a fixed 3-MOA at 100-yds,ie; the red-dot will obscure approximately 3-inches of your target. For further info contact: ADCO International; 781-935-1799)

 

AFTER MARKET PARTS... Aaron Zelman was kept abreast of our findings throughout all phases of testing his SAIGA-12. It was decided that upon completion of our field testing, Aaron would order several after-market replacement parts, which are available for the AK47 , and which might lend themselves to the SAIGA-12. The company Aaron contacted was, Flash Distributing Company of Montrose, Co. (970-249-0302). The parts we were interested in trying were: (1) Bolt Lock. (2) Extended Magazine Release.

 

The bolt lock consisted of replacement AK type safety lever, which has had a square notch cut into the top surface of the lever. When the AK charging handle is pulled to the rear, the safety lever is pushed upward until it "captures" the charging handle in the square notch of the safety lever. In fairness to Flash Distributing I should make it clear that we did not attempt to install these parts into a standard AK47 type firearm. Having stated the above, I can now tell you that installation of the safety lever into a SAIGA shotgun is best reserved for a certified gunsmith. In brief, the safety lever required hand-fitting just to get it through the SAIGA's right side receiver wall. Once that was accomplished, the selector bar had to be fitted to the disconnect frame assembly. After that, the selector bar had to be fitted to the disconnect's sear pawl and trigger, assuring that the SAIGA would function upon firing, but also when the safety lever was placed into the "safe" position. Due to all of the disassembly/assembly and fitting which was required, the above process took approximately 3-hours from start to finish. Bearing in mind that the average gunsmith charges about $40.00 per hour, need I say more?

 

With regard to the replacement extended magazine release; here again it may be a simple process on an AK47, but it would have required major modification to fit the part into the SAIGA-12's magazine release lever housing. Bottomline, we put the original factory magazine release lever back into Aaron's shotgun.

 

SAFETY TIP: All shooter's who own a self-loading rifle, should be keenly aware of how their firearm functions, and most importantly what is a "safe" condition and what is not. After installing the Bolt Lock safety lever into Aaron's SAIGA-12 shotgun, I decided to give it the "drop test". Example: The charging handle is pulled to the rear until the bolt carrier could be locked into the open position. The firearm is then held in a vertical position, which is approximately 5 inches form the floor, butt down, with the magazine out and the chamber clear. From this position, the firearm is allowed to drop vertically to the floor. The test is simple: Will the bolt carrier stay locked upon impact, or will the impact cause the bolt lock to disengage, thereby allowing the bolt carrier to slam forward? I tested the new bolt lock system on Aaron's SAIGA-12 ten times, and the bolt carrier slammed forward each time. Does this mean that the bolt lock didn't work? Actually no, since most bolt "hold open" systems will not pass the "drop test", ie; AR15's are notorious for slamming closed from a "locked" position when they are bumped/jarred. Bottomline, think safety at all times.

 

Our thanks to: T.D.Adams, SSGT P.A.Warren (USMC), MAJ L.A. Lucero (NMSDF).

[AzPatriot 1]

btt

 

tl:dr but there has been progress