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Brand spanking new Saiga 20K... Sounds great right?


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Hi all, first post here, glad to finally have a reason to.


Picked up my brand new, in the box, Saiga 20K yesterday, and I must say, despite the joy of getting her, once out of the box, I was quite disappointed, and want to know how others have fared with these.

 

My new toy looks the part, despite the neutering from the original side folder to the fixed stock set up (Stupid local laws), and is fantastic to look at. Nice finish, seems straight enough... but that's where my joy ends, and some frustrations begin. At least for now...

 

  • First, I notice that the action is as gritty as all get out. Seems like it was stored in a sand pit till it got delivered to my LGS. This is fine, I guess, its something that will smooth out with age/use, and perhaps some polishing. That's not so bad, I guess.
  • Second, the safety feels like it was stamped out of the side of the receiver - rather than a separate part, its seriously that stiff. I own a NHM-90 as well, which out of the box had silky smooth action & safety, also brand new, so to be honest having a Russian gun seems like a huge anti climax. I have tried bending the safety out a little, and this seems to have helped, but so far its no where near the same smoothness/ease of movement as the NHM-90. I understand, different guns/manufactures etc, but - its basically my benchmark for this.
  • Third, Rear site mount is canted, noticeably to the left (looking down the sights from stock to muzzle). This was a disappointment of note, given the fact I was expecting a higher quality of construction.

 

Are these standard issues people face with these NIB? Any suggestions on how to fix the safety a little better? Would be nice to be able to actually use it without having to force it on or off. How can you remove it - seems like the BHO tab is holding it in, so I can't rotate it out to have a good play with it.

 

I plan to use this as my all round, general purpose shot gun. Yeah I know it won't excel at all aspects of a scatter gun, but she'll do :)

 

 

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Welcome to the forum. beer.gif

 

Unless/until your BHO has a notch cut in it to clear the safety, it will be easier to remove the hammer pin, hammer and BHO to allow the safety to come out. The other option is to take off the cover and the carrier, rotate the safety upward, then bend it outward slightly so that it's not as tight against the receiver. I haven't messed with S20s, but you might be able to rotate the safety downward a little (off edge of receiver) and bend it out instead. Whatever is easier.

 

As far as the canted rear sight, I can't help you there, though I'm sure others might be able to offer insight.

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Thanks :)

 

Looks like I may have to go the whole hog & do the removal of the hammer pin etc. Gotta be done, its unusable like this, and I must have the safety working properly. I have tried rotating it up as far as it will go, which is how i have managed to bend it out a little bit, but I think I need to take it out & put it in the vice I think.

 

Thanks for your help & welcome Corbin :)

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when you say nib, but also that it is a fixed stock 20k, i get the impression that someone built this for you, or has converted it themselves. I would talk to them about the issues and see what they have to say. and welcome also



when you say nib, but also that it is a fixed stock 20k, i get the impression that someone built this for you, or has converted it themselves. I would talk to them about the issues and see what they have to say. and welcome also

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when you say nib, but also that it is a fixed stock 20k, i get the impression that someone built this for you, or has converted it themselves. I would talk to them about the issues and see what they have to say. and welcome also

 

when you say nib, but also that it is a fixed stock 20k, i get the impression that someone built this for you, or has converted it themselves. I would talk to them about the issues and see what they have to say. and welcome also

 

Literally new in box, never fired, all accessories still wrapped in the original paper, etc, but however, yes the stock and pistol grip only, were swapped out & rear tang from a fixed stock AK added. They have to be, to comply with our local laws - no folding/collapsible stocks on semi-autos. Other than that, nothing else was changed. Wasn't converted like what you guys in the states do, the 20k already has the systems in the right place, was simply a stock change like on any standard AK.

 

I wouldn't have thought that would have done anything to cause the above? I will swing by when they open in the morning when I get off work, and hit them up about it. Also, I know a thread is useless w/out pics, so will see what I can do to rectify it tomorrow. Other than the faults I mentioned above, I am happy with the purchase. Disappointed that it wasn't perfect but... hey, isn't that what makes it so interesting? smile.png

 

Thanks for the welcome smile.png - oh, and as a small update to the above, I have fixed the safety quite a bit better, its now actually possible to move without too much force. Still isn't quite perfect yet, but I think I'll get there. Would getting a local GS to polish the action help? I take it with a wear in period the action will naturally smooth up, but... duck season opens first weekend of May, and this lil puppy will be debuting then - so will be good to get it functioning nicely by then.

 

(Yes I know its not a perfect waterfowl gun, but she'll do)

Edited by Tactless
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So where are you located and.

You bought an ak it has a rough action, and crappy safety these have been the main complaints since 47'. But the canter sight is a problem. I'm not very well versed on the shotguns but if it's like a rifle you could take the pin out and beat it into the right spot and then drill and repin it. I just moved the front sight back on my saiga.308 and getting the sight back strict wa the hardest part. And goodluck. I don't know what kind of mags y'all have whever you are but if you can get CSSpec mags to send you some metal 20ga mags they are tops and really the only higher round count mags in the States. The 20ga doesn't get a while lot of love.

 

Here in 'merica we like out shit big and only boys and women shoot a pussy 20ga. That's the idea most gun guy have here. I don't agree I think the 20ga does about all a 12ga does unless your turkey or duck hunting with a 3.5"

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I'm in New Zealand. Like you Yanks, we like shit big, however, our Government has forbidden/outlawed the use of lead over water, in 12g only. But any other gauge, is welcome. 20g was the next best common gauge. At least for now, the talk in the wind is one day soon they may do that, forcing all gauges from using lead to steel. If that happens, well, I'll just have another excuse to buy a new scattergun :)

 

Would love to shop at CSS, but they won't ship internationally I don't believe, so am stuck with what I can find that will. Its a pity, because it seems to be the source of all things good.


As for the AK issues, yeah - I was hoping it was something like that, but my only other experience with the type is my own NHM-90, which I got also NIB, literally still covered in that cosmoline crud, is silky smooth by comparison - both with the action & safety.

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Yea I'm guessing your talking about a Chinese ak? Those from what I've seen are pretty. But I would also consider filing the detent down a little. Maybe polish. We have had lead banned shooting waterfoul for years. There's a lot of Hevishot that is non lead bird shot. I don't know much about it but the guy I talk to that duck hunt have never bitched about it, but I've never asked for all I know they just use lead anyway.

 

So can you guys own semiauto rifles down there? Is it a big gun culter down there? Can citizens get the right to carry a pistol on there in public?

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Yup, semi-autos are allowed - I use both a AR-15, and AK-47/NHM-90 (yeah she's Chinese), for hunting. I also intend to use the Saiga-20K for hunting, both bird & bunny. There is also a lot of collecting & range time, competition stuff, and a very big hunting culture. Although We're allowed to own semi autos, but there are restrictions not too dissimilar to the likes of California, or other ban states. We can have pistol grips & fixed stocks, and magazines no larger than 7 on a standard license, for example, however, they also must not look like they could hold more than 7 rounds. Apparently the mere look of a large magazine is evil. But this is obviously impossible - as even their 7 round magazines that are approved & sold here, are nothing more than 10rndrs limited to 7 with the 10 rnd size body - or 20/30 rounders cut down to the 10 size w/7 rnd limit usually.

 

Its not all bad though, anyone can buy suppressors, they are readily available. There are no caliber restrictions, and ammo is plentiful. Lots of imported stuff freely available throughout the country.

 

We use a licensing system, and a lot of these restrictions, including the very tight control on pistols, were the result of our own shooting. Different classes of licenses are available, which will let you own a pistol or larger capacity magazines etc. These aren't overly easy to acquire and are tightly controlled & regulated. Never used to be this bad, it wasn't until the mid to late 20th century that the police decided that we were too stupid to own firearms safely. Pistols were forbidden first, then the licensing and restriction stuff happened later.


But hey, at the end of the day, we're still a shit load better off than Australia or the UK... or even one or two of your states now too by the sounds of things.

Edited by Tactless
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So I'm guessing there no concealed carry? Good thing here is Illionis wad the only state that a citizen couldn't get a carry permit. So in all but one state we could get a carry permit. In the south it's much more free. We can own pretty much anything, but to get a barrel shorter than 16" on a rifle or 18" on a shotgun you must give finger prints and pay a one time tax. But if your 18 in about 80% of states you can walk in and walk out with any ak or ar and all the drum mags you can buy. Or find. Tight now it's hard to find anything.

 

.22lr is the worst. A box of 500 before sandy hook wad 20 bucks. Now IF you can find it people are asking 90 bucks.

 

So I'm guessing there no concealed carry? Good thing here is Illionis wad the only state that a citizen couldn't get a carry permit. So in all but one state we could get a carry permit. In the south it's much more free. We can own pretty much anything, but to get a barrel shorter than 16" on a rifle or 18" on a shotgun you must give finger prints and pay a one time tax. But if your 18 in about 80% of states you can walk in and walk out with any ak or ar and all the drum mags you can buy. Or find. Tight now it's hard to find anything.

 

.22lr is the worst. A box of 500 before sandy hook wad 20 bucks. Now IF you can find it people are asking 90 bucks.

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  • 7 months later...

Lift the safety, rotate down ward, sit on the gun and pull up hard. It's pretty tough, so don't be afraid of using some force.

 

For the grittiness: Sand the receiver rails with ~300 grit sandpaper, for 10 minutes, and it will feel like a different gun. Hammer profile goes a long way too.

 

Fortunately, most factory loads are way under max spec. You should be able to cram as much lead and powder into thos 20 GA as most people use in 12 ga, so you won't be missing too much, unless you were running max 12 GA loads.

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Lift the safety, rotate down ward, sit on the gun and pull up hard. It's pretty tough, so don't be afraid of using some force.

 

 

 Be careful not to put a reverse bend in the middle of the selector because it will then touch the receiver in the middle portion where it's supposed to clear, causing it to scrape the finish off in a big swipe instead of just the little scratch the receiver is supposed to have. It's fine to take a little of the spring out of it but don't flatten it.

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