Older Saiga .223 Rifles

[Lord Ak-47 49]

I am in the market for a used .223 Saiga and I wanted to know if any of the older ones that came on to the market in the mid or early 2000s where any different from the more current imports? Just wanted to be certain I am not overlooking anything while shopping around.

 

 

[liberty -r- death 1,445]

Barrel diameter is thicker on older imports so cutting and threading the barrel is not standard. A couple of members have doen them and you look up info on it on threading posts. Other than the barrel there are no major differences that I know about.

[Yellowlabsrule 0]

Barrel diameter is thicker on older imports so cutting and threading the barrel is not standard. A couple of members have doen them and you look up info on it on threading posts. Other than the barrel there are no major differences that I know about.

So how should I know if I have the thicker barrel? I don't have a gauge to measure. Mine does not have the importer markings marked out. I just now ordered the die to thread it also, what if it doesn't fit. damn.

[Lord Ak-47 49]

Barrel diameter is thicker on older imports so cutting and threading the barrel is not standard. A couple of members have doen them and you look up info on it on threading posts. Other than the barrel there are no major differences that I know about.

 

Any chance you know what year they changed?

 

I will search around, thanks.

[liberty -r- death 1,445]

I'm heading out for shift. I'll look at the importer markings on and date on the one that I have that the barrel is thicker on Monday and get back with you guys.

[kevinfreel 215]

Mine is an 06 and has the thicker barrel but I couldn't tell you what year they changed to the thin barrel.

[mancat 2,368]

Pretty sure that the change happened around 08-09. Back in Fall 2010 there was a huge dumping of Saigas on the market, and these were all .223s with dimpled magwells that had the thinner standard AK-74 profile barrel. I think just about all of these were marked 08 or 09 manufacture date.

 

In other words - if the receiver has magwell dimples, probably a standard barrel. Slabside receiver, heavy barrel.

 

The only thing I can think of is that Izhmash was probably sourcing shortened RPK profiled 5.56 barrels from the Molot plant, where VEPRs and RPKs are manufactured in 5.56 cal. Just a guess.

Edited November 25, 2013 by mancat

[liberty -r- death 1,445]

Was ableto check my rifles. My slabside barrel is thicker than mm y dimpled barrel. So it looks like Mancat called it in his post.

[Cobra 76 two 2,677]

My .223 Saiga is an '04 EAA import and the barrel is .620" just behind the FSB. I threaded mine up to the FSB at the muzzle and have a Tromix Shark brake on it.

 There are several differences in the older models and newer ones where the barrel is concerned. Two of the main visible differences that are important if you plan on doing a standard AK style front end conversion, are the lack of blind pins in the FSB and GB in the new guns, and the lack of cuts made in the barrel to accept these pins. On those guns they started pressing dimples into the sides of the FSB and GB to pinch them onto the barrel basically, instead of drilling and pinning them correctly. Also different was some guns have the side cuts in the barrel for the AK lower HG retainer and others don't. Some are threaded under the sleeved FSB, some not. Some have stepped chambers and some not from what I understand, making reloading fired brass a hassle.

[mancat 2,368]

I don't know that any of the .223s have stepped chambers, I was under the impression that was strictly a feature of the 7.62x39 models.

[Lord Ak-47 49]

Thanks for all the help

[thebobrusso 27]

I don't know that any of the .223s have stepped chambers, I was under the impression that was strictly a feature of the 7.62x39 models.

i dont believe any are threaded from factory either