question about bullet guides

[sigking 0]

I just traded into a semi converted Saiga 5.45. It came with a factory Saiga mag and a Tapco mag.

 

My questions are: how can I tell if the Tapco mag is just a regular 5.45 mag or made for Saiga only and cant be used in all 5.45 rifles.

 

I have read on other AK sites that the 5.45 Saiga does not need a bullet guide to use an and all mags. Is this true?

 

It works fine with the 3 mags that came with it, but I want to be able to use surplus mags for any 5.45 rifles.

 

Conversion done is Tapco trigger, US pistol grip, Us butstock, front rail hand guard. Nothing to the FSB. Which is ok with me now. I just want to be able to use all types of mags, not just Saiga mags.

 

Thanks.

[thebuns1 4,323]

Then put a bullet guide in it. Your rifle may or may not feed 100% from surplus mags without one. I would put one in. I put one in all my Saigas.

[essohbe 47]

The Saiga mags are higher or something when they sit in the receiver so the bullets go into the breech easier. Regular mags will be different so you need a guide/feedramp.

I make my own from gaspipe and then tap or bolt them in (use loctite). You can tack weld them but don't get splash on anything important.

[thebuns1 4,323]

The Saiga mags are higher or something when they sit in the receiver so the bullets go into the breech easier. Regular mags will be different so you need a guide/feedramp.

I make my own from gaspipe and then tap or bolt them in (use loctite). You can tack weld them but don't get splash on anything important.

 

Saiga mags have a built in bullet guide, or material that acts as one. Thats why they feed fine without one installed.

[IPSC45 8]

I posted this same answer in another forum, with pictures....hope it opens for you--->

 

http://www.akfiles.com/forums/showthread.php?t=109895

[IPSC45 8]

You might like the pics I show in another forum thread--->

 

http://www.akfiles.com/forums/showthread.php?t=109895

[S12KS-K 40]

After I put my bullet guide in, I took a hand file to my Izhmash mag and converted it so it would fit after the guide install. The only difference is the small amount of material in front of the mag. Good write up, IPSC.

[IPSC45 8]

Sorry for the double posting....don't recall the first time and didn't see it. Seems I can't edit/delete.

[manbearpig9999 0]

Alrighty, this is my first post on this forum, so please be patient with me. I, like the starter of this thread have read that bullet guides are needed, however I bought my brand new Saiga SGL31 (AK74) about a week ago, and I've been reading that a bullet guide is needed. I watched some videos on installing one, and I having no experience in gunsmithing did not feel comfortable installing something like that on a rifle that I spent good money on. I finially got around to firing this afternoon, and a few minutes ago started to clean it, I hadn't noticed it before while disassembling the rifle, because I wasn't really looking for it, but this time while cleaning I noticed something that looked similar to a bullet guide in the video I had watched. I just want someone to confirm or deny if this rifle came preinstalled with one.

I tried to get as many angles as possible to maybe help some smart individual help me figure out what this is. If more pictures are required to help you determine what this it, I'd be more than happy to oblige.

 

Thank you in advance for your help.

[IPSC45 8]

Look at my link that I mention above. The Milspec mags have a "U" shaped depression in the upper / front wall of the mag body, so they will fit the gun's bullet guide. Stock Saiga do not have this depression, and the front of the high-wall mag acts as its own guide. If you try to insert a Saiga mag into a gun with a bullet guide installed, it won't go all the way in because the high-wall front of the Saiga mag body will interfere with the gun's "overhanging" bullet guide. It overhangs toward the rear....towards the mag.

 

So....from your pics, it appears you indeed have a riveted-in bullet guide. Simple question....how does your magazine look?...does it have a "U" shaped channel depression on its front or not..as seen in side-by-side comparison in my link above? If it has a depression, then it figures it's there to mate with your gun's bullet guide. If you bought the SGL as an AK already, and didn't do the conversion from Saiga to AK yourself, and if ( by chance) it's an "Arsenal" gun from Nevada, then it should come with the guide installed.

Edited December 11, 2012 by IPSC45

[manbearpig9999 0]

That's it! It is an "arsenal" import, and the mag that came stock with the rifle does have that depression. Thank you, sir or ma'am. I've always been spoiled by my father's actual soviet AK that he "stumbled upon," in Vietnam. So I became use to the stereotype of using any AK variant parts will work just the same. Whereas this whole "Saiga may not be compatible," thing is a new concept to me. Regardless, it's a fantastic rifle and I love it to death.