Nala 0 Posted March 28, 2012 Report Share Posted March 28, 2012 Hey all, I am new to the Saiga having never shot one and only handled one a couple of times. I have admired them in the past though. I have been thinking of getting a new shotgun for home defense and maybe some fun on the range. I also would like to try the 3 gun stuff, but that would be a ways off and would not be the reason I buy a shotgun. I'd like to ask a couple of questions if you all don't mind. 1. I don't think I have ever heard any really reliable info on whether the Saiga 12 and 20 gauges can handle the low cost boxes of practice ammo available at Wally World and other places. I know some of the autos like the Mosst 930SPX will handle it pretty reliably after you get them broken in. That's what most of the owners post anyway. How does the Saiga series do with this practice ammo? Are there any issues or are they like their cousin the AK and will handle anything without a hitch? 2. When I used to read about the Saiga's a while back I recall reading posts from owners talking about when they left the full mags in the gun without anything in the chamber, as in a home defense situation, when they would inspect the top round the hull would be flattened from resting against the bolt carrier and this would cause less than ideal conditions for reliability in a HD situation. The hulls were "out of round" I guess and wouldn't feed properly. Is there any truth to that? Can one load a full mag, insert in in the Saiga and leave the chamber empty with the bolt forward and not locked open and just sit it in the corner for what might be a couple months or more and be able to walk in, retract the bolt and be totally confident in the cycling of that weapon? Thanks for your time and help. Nalajr Quote Link to post Share on other sites
corbin 621 Posted March 28, 2012 Report Share Posted March 28, 2012 Welcome to the forum. Hulls CAN get out of round if stored on a closed bolt for a while. However, I found that a shorter Centurion 00 buck round (2" in length) on the top of a mag will eliminate this. Here's a video: As far as "AK reliability" with birdshot goes, mine has it, now. When it was new, it had reliability for the rounds it was MADE TO SHOOT, which is 00 buck and slugs. It was designed as a combat shotgun, not a skeet shooting one. In order to reliably cycle the bulk Federal ammo, mine was broken in and the action was polished. I think I had a lighter hammer/trigger spring for a while too, but not anymore. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
evlblkwpnz 3,418 Posted March 28, 2012 Report Share Posted March 28, 2012 Generally speaking, S12s need a bit of work to run with MD-20 drums when firing Winchster Universal, Federal Multi-purpose, and Remington Sport. They can be made extremely reliable with MD-20s and these ammos. Search "Saiga 12 flawless" on youtube.... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
csspecs 1,987 Posted March 28, 2012 Report Share Posted March 28, 2012 both the 12 and the 20 can be very reliable, both may need some small adjusting to get them perfect. My 12 likes federal and Remington target loads. My brothers 20 will only run on Remington target loads, higher end game loads all seem to work fine. It seems to have more to do with the hulls themselves then powder or shot weight. I reloaded for the 20 gauge and could not get bulk federal hulls to eject even with full game load pressures. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ShadowFire 220 Posted March 28, 2012 Report Share Posted March 28, 2012 If you work on your S12, you can get it to spit federal value pack ammo. Mine now does it all the time. Last time I shot it it was spitting federal value pack in 30 degree weather. I've had a few out of round rounds in my magazine, hasn't stopped my S12 yet. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fallschirmjager667 729 Posted March 28, 2012 Report Share Posted March 28, 2012 Generally speaking, S12s need a bit of work to run with MD-20 drums when firing Winchster Universal, Federal Multi-purpose, and Remington Sport. They can be made extremely reliable with MD-20s and these ammos. Search "Saiga 12 flawless" on youtube.... you're the one with all those bolt action saiga 12s? 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kylsix 2 Posted March 28, 2012 Report Share Posted March 28, 2012 My S12 handled Federal bulk out of the box. A few buddies who suffer from bitch-itis have some FTE (failure to eject) problems with my S12 and Federal bulk ammo, but slugs and buck cycle flawlessly out of the box. From what I understand, that shouldn't necessarily be expected, I guess a lot of what is called low brass, or bulk ammo, has a lot of problems with forcing the piston back to eject the shells. I'm no expert, I'm just sharing my experience as a first-time S12 owner who bought it because of a severe case of "Oooooh! Shiney!" syndrome. That almost sounds like a bad thing, but I love my S12. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
roachtron 49 Posted March 28, 2012 Report Share Posted March 28, 2012 Mine wouldn't run federal bulk worth a damn at first. It wouldn't even cycle winchester super. After doing my conversion, polishing the bolt and hammer, straightening the gas block, and getting a new gas puck it runs federal. There is alot of inspiration in the videos thread, mines running federal at the end of the video. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
lbsrdi 1,078 Posted March 29, 2012 Report Share Posted March 29, 2012 Welcome http://forum.saiga-12.com/index.php?/topic/39881-welcome-new-users-read-this-first/ Lots of info here http://forum.saiga-12.com/index.php?/topic/8856-all-new-members-go-here-first/ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
The_Caged_Bird 474 Posted March 29, 2012 Report Share Posted March 29, 2012 Mine does: But honestly, it takes a bit of work to get it there. Now that it's there, I'll put it up against any other semi-auto shotgun shot-for-shot... 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
evlblkwpnz 3,418 Posted March 29, 2012 Report Share Posted March 29, 2012 I love that song.... music to my ears. Well done, Caged. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SOUPCAN 0 Posted March 30, 2012 Report Share Posted March 30, 2012 Mine wouldn't run federal bulk worth a damn at first. It wouldn't even cycle winchester super. After doing my conversion, polishing the bolt and hammer, straightening the gas block, and getting a new gas puck it runs federal. There is alot of inspiration in the videos thread, mines running federal at the end of the video. Its absurd that a brand new Saiga wouldnt shoot slugs or 00 buck. All that work should not be required to enjoy this shotgun. Ridiculous. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
one2za 7 Posted March 31, 2012 Report Share Posted March 31, 2012 A little spit and pollish and swapped out the gas plug for an Autoplug. Tuned the plug for Federal bulk pack, and I was good to go. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
XD45 7,124 Posted April 1, 2012 Report Share Posted April 1, 2012 My 12 is a Red Jacket conversion (from '07, before they were TV stars). Maybe they tuned it up but it has always run flawlessly on any load. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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