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Vepr12 Short Review (14OCT13)


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So, I picked up my Vepr12 last week and have been waiting patiently waiting to take it out and break it in.  I have read a LOT of reviews and was TOTALLY STOKED to see what this GREAT, NEW, shotgun was going to do better than my Saiga 12.  Today, I went out with a few boxes of rifled slugs, 00 Buck, and some bird shot.

 

Cons:

~ Inserting of mags is a P.I.T.A! I had to remove and re-insert the SGM mags several times to get them to seat properly.

~ The safety is a P.I.T.A to actuate!

~ The upper handguard is a P.I.T.A. to remove and even WORSE to get back on.

~ Finish easily scratched and was rubbed off in a few areas that were under the hand guards.

 

Pros:

~ 12 round mag is fairly easy to load.

~ Factory trigger pull is decent.

 

I had a Saiga12 for years and was SAD that I sold it.  Now, I can actually say that I am slightly disappointed for the coin that I dropped on this weapon.  I think I would have been happier with a 5.45 and a couple thousand rounds of ammo. 

 

Am I missing something about this platform that would change my mind? 

 

 

Respectfully,

Gunny NR

 

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1) Finish is garbage. Not sure it is any worse than any other saiga factory finish though. You may be used to custom s-12 finishes? 

 

2) Do you have the same issues with inserting the factory mag as you do the SGM Mag? I had, and I think many have reported, initial fit issues with fresh SGMs. I think SGM even went so far as to say that the factory mags are fitted at the factory to each vepr. Try you factory mag if you have not. 

 

3) Seems that factory safety stiffness has varied. Mine was near perfect. I know you can take some of the tension out of it by bending it, but I am not an expert on that process. 

 

4) When you say upper handguard - are you referring to removing the gastube from the gun or the handguard from the gastube? Or something else?

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The safety definitely sucks! I replaced mine with a Krebs and couldn't be happier.

 

The mag seating issue, is that with a loaded or empty mag, bolt closed or open? I have found the SGM mags tougher to seat then the factory 8 and 10 rounders. However they both get a little easier the more they get used.  Simply slapping them to seat works good. 

 

The upper handguard is definitely tight fitting but again gets slightly easier after working it some.  Slapping it down to reinstall, works for me.

Both mag and upper handguard issues are best to be tight tho as they will both form fit themselves .

 

Don't know about the finish issue, mine is holding up nicely.

 

Did it work 100% with all the ammo? Did the LRBHO function as it should?

 

How about the cool detailed arsenal markings and the serialized parts all over it? 

Edited by Mullet Man
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-The finish on my VEPR 12 is superb. I ordered two VEPR 12's and the second VEPR 12 finish was sub-par and required a refinish.

-SGM (12 and 10 rounds) mags require a bit of custom fitting on the mag for smooth insertion.

-The upper handguard was a breeze for me to remove/install as well as the 2nd VEPR 12.

-You have to admit that a factory Saiga 12 (I had one also and sold it for a very good profit after conversion) was no where near the quality of where a factory VEPR 12 is. I ordered two Saiga 12's before and they were both horrible in quality standards and required lots of TLC.

-I highly recommend replacing the factory trigger as it was not reliable for me (during my extensive testing of clay shooting).

-I highly recommend polishing the bolt and trigger.

-The factory safety is all a personal thing to get adjusted to, better to manipulate with duty gloves on. Not a fan of AK type safeties as they can inch upwards by accident.

-You are missing the bolt release button feature. The Saiga 12 required racking the bolt to release it.

-I'm offering $600 to take it off of your hands... lol

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Thank you everyone for your .02cents...the willingness to take it off my hands for a paltry sum was even more entertaining then reading everyone's posts. True comedians, the lot of you. ;)

 

As far as finishes are concerned I had one S12 duracoated and it held up FLAWLESSLY and my Tromix is bullet proof.  Yes, I can say that I have had some extremely GREAT Saiga 12's....the S17 is simply at the top of the list though.

 

I will continue to evaluate this platform and report back every time I take it out.

 

 

Respectfully,

Gunny NR

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The SGM mags do not insert easily on the VEPR-12 compared to the stock Molot mag. I took my mags apart two days ago, both stock and SGM and compared the dimensions. The SGMs are slightly larger it seems, so I used a box cutter razor blade and just took off the square corner edge around the entire perimeter of the top of the mag. Now the mags insert easier. Before doing this, you had to force the mag in and the lock up on the rear tab was very tight, too tight IMO. I also notched out the right side rear of the mag slightly to match the stock Molot mag also.

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Apples to oranges my man.

 

One thing you don't get with a Tromix is real Russian original. Which is one of the huge attractions to a V12.

Origins smorigins.  I own a FS2000 because it is a great platform -- the fact that it originated in Belgium means as much as what color feces I produce from day to day...

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Apples to oranges my man.

 

One thing you don't get with a Tromix is real Russian original. Which is one of the huge attractions to a V12.

Origins smorigins.  I own a FS2000 because it is a great platform -- the fact that it originated in Belgium means as much as what color feces I produce from day to day...

 

Lol okay, well to some it matters, to some it does not. And btw, your feces color can tell you a whole lot about your health. Just saying.

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I'm not saying I don't like my Vepr...maybe I'm just not used to it yet.  It really started to warm up to me right when I fired off my last few rounds of 12ga though.  Like I said, I'll keep you all posted as I take it out and fire it.

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My saiga took everything in the book to run reliably. My VEPR was out of the box reliable with everything  fed it.  If you consider the price of a good saiga its the same as a vepr, or close . it comes down to looks for some.


Edited by shankkole
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Reading reviews like this makes me wonder if I'm the only dude out there who loves the V12 safety, ya it was tough at first but after flipping it back on and off long enough it wore in, now its super easy to use.

I just didn't care for the actuation of it, I much prefer the Krebs. The stiffness is easily remedied with slight manipulation.

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I highly recommend replacing the factory trigger as it was not reliable for me (during my extensive testing of clay shooting).

Can you elaborate? I had issues with my trigger, as well.

 

 

Several times I experienced the trigger hammer not being released after pulling the trigger. The slide was already racked (and the hammer was locked back). I visually inspected it each time as well. I threw in the trigger from Texas Shooters Supply and had zero issues since (an added plus is that it adds 3 parts for 922r compliance). What failure did you experience?

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Reading reviews like this makes me wonder if I'm the only dude out there who loves the V12 safety, ya it was tough at first but after flipping it back on and off long enough it wore in, now its super easy to use.

I like mine.  A stiff safety on AK's is almost as common as canted sights.  A quick bend and it is gtg.

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Several times I experienced the trigger hammer not being released after pulling the trigger. The slide was already racked (and the hammer was locked back). I visually inspected it each time as well. I threw in the trigger from Texas Shooters Supply and had zero issues since (an added plus is that it adds 3 parts for 922r compliance). What failure did you experience?

 

I had the same problem. I guess EVL is not as present here as he used to be, but I found this link from him on how to do a trigger job. I'll post it here just for anyone wondering. Gonna rip mine out and do the whole thing, but the section pertaining to our malfunction is stage 2:

 

http://www.vepr.org/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=841

Edited by Broox
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