ChileRelleno 7,071 Posted March 3, 2014 Report Share Posted March 3, 2014 (edited) Knowing full well I'd be preaching to the choir here, this review is intended for other forums that I frequent. Feel free to offer any constructive criticism. Attention Saiga12 owners!High quality & reliable steel mags, that are 'Made In The USA' for the S-12 are a reality.Manufactured by CSSPECS, Csspecs MagazinesSaiga 12g, 8rd, steel magazine, Saiga 12 gauge - Csspecs MagazinesI've waited a long time to see reliable steel mags... Heck, any steel mags, for the S12 to become a reality. Well, here is my reality slap!I now have six of these mags and let me sing their praises to you.They are fantastic, from the fit, finish & function, to the aesthetics.Lets unwrap one.They are well packaged, paper wrapper around a plastic bag, the mag within wrapped in a anti-corrosion paper and lightly oiled.This is what CSSPECS has to say about their product. Long awaited stamped steel magazine for saiga 12 shotgun. Magazine is all metal. Extra thick welded feed lips for long service life. Finish is black nitride on magazine body, floor plate and spring guide. Finish of follower is black oxide. Magazine can be loaded with 9 shells on an open bolt. Or 8 rounds on a closed bolt. Magazine is made for both 2 3/4" & 3" shells. Some of the longer roll crimped 3" may not be compatible. Magazine is slightly smaller than a 40 round AK magazine, and could be compatible with web gear for RPKs. Follower and feedlip assembly is not compatible with factory LRBHO mechinisims. And we have no information about function/alteration with magwells. We are working on a fix for this for future batches. Fitting is highly likely. Expect to file these to fit your shotgun. Some pics showing the robust construction of these mags.The Black Nitride finish is very tough.When fitting the mag to the gun, just getting through the finish takes several swipes of the file.Fitting if needed, is very easy and is done on the rear lug. Five minutes is all it took me to fit each mag.The only Con I could find on these is the rib on the back.It is very pronounced an can bite into the webbing of your hand during mag changes.A strip of automotive door trim solves this issue. 2.75" Buck & Slugs3" Magnum Buck. Edited March 3, 2014 by ChileRelleno 5 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mullet Man 2,114 Posted March 3, 2014 Report Share Posted March 3, 2014 Nice! I've 3 on the way and will be adding more and more as the weeks go by. Would really like to see a flat back version, where one side over laps the other enough to be spot welded. That and a 10rd version. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RED333 1,025 Posted March 3, 2014 Report Share Posted March 3, 2014 DADBURN it, now ya got me wanting some BAD! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Maknwar 33 Posted March 3, 2014 Report Share Posted March 3, 2014 What's up with the ribbing? Couldn't they have overlapped the metal? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ChileRelleno 7,071 Posted March 3, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2014 What's up with the ribbing? Couldn't they have overlapped the metal? This how CSSPECS explained it. Ever try to fold paper over a round surface? It crumples up, because the surface area needs to decrease. The ribbed back increases the surface area and helps pull the metal out of the die. Its also very strong, to cave the back of the magazine in, you have to bend 1/4" of steel. To make a Chinese style flat back you actually make the same flange but an even deeper stamping, then on a second stage you shear off the extra metal. This leaves a nice crisp stamping but with no rib on the back.. They are also prone to distortion in heat treatment, due to the stresses left in from the shearing. And it makes the tooling 4X more expensive. The AR-15 pattern magazine uses a step in the back to stretch the metal, similar to a ribbed back. However with a single stack magazine it give a lot of uncontrollable variables. And in the designs I could not get the feedlips to attach to the magazine in a way that would allow the rounds to slide up without hitting an edge. When I make an .223 magazine, its probably going to be like an AR-15 at the back, simply because its a great design in that application. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
csspecs 1,987 Posted March 3, 2014 Report Share Posted March 3, 2014 What's up with the ribbing? Couldn't they have overlapped the metal? It is a vastly more complicated tooling set. I may be able to make some flat backs by removing the rib and tig welding them. I'll try it on the next batch. They would be more expensive. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gunfun 3,931 Posted March 3, 2014 Report Share Posted March 3, 2014 Car trim goes a long way. While no rib would be nicer, it becomes nearly a non-issue with the trim. Nice write up, Chile. Straight to the point. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
KennyFSU 249 Posted March 3, 2014 Report Share Posted March 3, 2014 Great review, I have one that has been 100% so far with bird and buck shot. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
lbsrdi 1,078 Posted March 3, 2014 Report Share Posted March 3, 2014 Great review. Regarding the rib, all I did was take a file to the area I grab when inserting and remove the sharp edges, no car trim and I don't even notice the rib. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ultra7350 21 Posted March 11, 2014 Report Share Posted March 11, 2014 Thanks for the review. I might have to buy a few to try them out for myself. Before I buy is there a coupon code I can use? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
WhiskeyMinion 300 Posted March 11, 2014 Report Share Posted March 11, 2014 Thanks for the review. I might have to buy a few to try them out for myself. Before I buy is there a coupon code I can use? They are already on sale right now Quote Link to post Share on other sites
sccritterkiller 473 Posted March 12, 2014 Report Share Posted March 12, 2014 (edited) Looks like a great mag..Is there a noticable weight difference between the steel 12rd and say a surefire 12rd mag? Just curious? I have a dozen or so mags still in the wrapper...may have sell some off and try a few. Nice write up Chile...Thanks. Edited March 12, 2014 by sccritterkiller Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ChileRelleno 7,071 Posted March 12, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2014 Looks like a great mag..Is there a noticable weight difference between the steel 12rd and say a surefire 12rd mag? Just curious? I have a dozen or so mags still in the wrapper...may have sell some off and try a few. Nice write up Chile...Thanks. There aren't any 12s available, only 8s... Plans for 10s are apparently subject to demand. I haven't a scale, but a steel 8 feels close to a poly 10. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
sccritterkiller 473 Posted March 12, 2014 Report Share Posted March 12, 2014 Looks like a great mag..Is there a noticable weight difference between the steel 12rd and say a surefire 12rd mag? Just curious? I have a dozen or so mags still in the wrapper...may have sell some off and try a few. Nice write up Chile...Thanks. There aren't any 12s available, only 8s... Plans for 10s are apparently subject to demand.I haven't a scale, but a steel 8 feels close to a poly 10. I see that now on the 12rds....thank you sir! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
storm6490 2,768 Posted April 2, 2014 Report Share Posted April 2, 2014 Holy shit! SOLD! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Matthew Hopkins 1,065 Posted April 2, 2014 Report Share Posted April 2, 2014 very nicely made mag, I'll hold off buying for now. I never buy stuff that's new that hits the market, but can wait until the fad and novelty wears off and price drops. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mullet Man 2,114 Posted April 3, 2014 Report Share Posted April 3, 2014 What's up with the ribbing? Couldn't they have overlapped the metal? It is a vastly more complicated tooling set. I may be able to make some flat backs by removing the rib and tig welding them. I'll try it on the next batch. They would be more expensive. Ok, so here is my question.... Cant you just make one of the folds (that are already utilized to form the rear of the magazine), just a little offset from the opposite side, so that side can overlap the other? Say both folds at the rear of the mag are at the 2-5/8" mark in the current configuration and the steel is 1/16" thick, fold one side at the normal 2-5/8" mark and the opposite side at 2-11/16". Then where they over lap, spot weld them to each other, using longer fingers on a pinch type spot welder, to get all the way into the mag body. Or maybe stamp out holes on the over lapping side for a roset weld (although that would be a manual weld process). That route seems simple to me, perhaps I'm missing something that makes it more complicated.... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GunRunna47 7 Posted May 4, 2014 Report Share Posted May 4, 2014 Quick question I just picked up one of these steel mags haven't tried it out yet but is the floor plate suppost to just slide off te base? When I noticed it I removed it and put it back on and its seems its suppost to lock like must magazines do on that point! Did CSS make these this way to slide right off or did I get a bad batch? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
csspecs 1,987 Posted May 4, 2014 Report Share Posted May 4, 2014 Its supposed to lock, Its not on all the way.. Probably slipped through without getting snapped on all the way. Tap the front of the floor plate on something like a block of wood or a chunk of plastic. The retainer will snap in. Here this should get you started. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0mzKJwhCY8&feature=youtu.be 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jimdigriz 580 Posted May 4, 2014 Report Share Posted May 4, 2014 (edited) When I make an .223 magazine, its probably going to be like an AR-15 at the back, simply because its a great design in that application. Does this mean the 223 magazine project will get under way soon? Edited May 4, 2014 by Jim Digriz Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GunRunna47 7 Posted May 5, 2014 Report Share Posted May 5, 2014 Got it with a few bangs nf a rubber hammer :-) u da man!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Thunderbear 2 Posted May 12, 2014 Report Share Posted May 12, 2014 Hmm. Might be blowing fifty bucks tonight. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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