This review is independent to this weapon and won't be compared to any others like it (even though there are some interesting options that come close). It is also in two parts. The first part is for stock and the second is for the converted version that is 922r compliant.
I picked this beauty up about 6 months ago and refused to do any sort of review on it without extensive range time. The obvious reasons for this are each Saiga is a bit different coming from the factory. Some have only two holes ported in the gas system while others have the ports off spec and blocked causing feeding problems. This is the biggest issue that I have heard of since I starting idolizing these in '09. When I picked mine up I checked to see if I had all 3 ports and that they were correctly lined up, which they were, then it was off to the range.
Part 1
The very first thing I did at the range (after extensive reading on the saiga forums) was to break it in with 200 rounds of 00 buck using setting 1 on the gas regulator. This is considered one of the best ways to smooth out some of the rough angles on the bolt and also remove the black finish that is sprayed onto the rails that the bolt and carrier ride on. It cycled the ammunition flawlessly. Next up was to change the gas setting to 2 for a test run of the lighter loads (Federal bulk from Wal-Mart). This is the moment of truth for most Saiga 12s because this is the problem area for most of them. Mine ran it flawlessly. I put at least 200 rounds through it and it never missed a beat. The only complaint I had was having to reload the 5 round mag after a quick ammo dump. It performed well beyond my expectations when rapid firing and I honestly didn't feel any significant trigger slap like most people report but YMMV. After many trips out with this I tested it with light loads on setting 1 (heavy load setting which usually wont allow enough gas into the system to allow light loads to properly cycle the action) and it still ran flawlessly. Needless to say after at least 400 rounds it still hadn't missed a beat.
In summary of part 1 I'd say that even a stock S12 is an excellent weapon and worth every penny you pay for it. It gets an unbiased A+.
Part 2
Now for the fun part. I decided to go the 922r route and make this into a fun weapon with the benefits of a high cap magazines, pistol grip, and folding stock. I ordered a number of different things; Ace stock, manual side folding mechanism, AR style handguards, Hogue pistol grip, CSS trigger guard, Tapco G2 fire control group, and AGP 10 round mags. This greatly changed the appearance of the weapon and increased its usefulness. I took the time to do the conversion myself (which was a ton of fun) and even did some minor things like polishing the bolt and rails. After it was all said and done it was time to see if any of these changes made a bit of difference other than its appearance. It did in a major way. The feel of the weapon was drastically improved, the function was much smoother and its performance in rapid fire had gotten much crisper. The only difference in cycling ammo was that the light loads no longer cycled on gas setting 1 (which I attributed to the shorter stock, not that is mattered anyway). I'm a big fan of it in the end and am very pleased with it. Some people that have issues with it cycling light loads will change the recoil spring and if that doesn't solve the issue they usually change the gas puck. This particular specimen needed neither.
In summary of part 2 I'd say it was worth the $3-400 investment for the look, feel, and performance boost. It gets an A++.
I highly recommend this to anyone looking at this weapon whether it be stock or converted. If you have any questions on it or the process of converting, feel free to PM me.
I picked this beauty up about 6 months ago and refused to do any sort of review on it without extensive range time. The obvious reasons for this are each Saiga is a bit different coming from the factory. Some have only two holes ported in the gas system while others have the ports off spec and blocked causing feeding problems. This is the biggest issue that I have heard of since I starting idolizing these in '09. When I picked mine up I checked to see if I had all 3 ports and that they were correctly lined up, which they were, then it was off to the range.
Part 1
The very first thing I did at the range (after extensive reading on the saiga forums) was to break it in with 200 rounds of 00 buck using setting 1 on the gas regulator. This is considered one of the best ways to smooth out some of the rough angles on the bolt and also remove the black finish that is sprayed onto the rails that the bolt and carrier ride on. It cycled the ammunition flawlessly. Next up was to change the gas setting to 2 for a test run of the lighter loads (Federal bulk from Wal-Mart). This is the moment of truth for most Saiga 12s because this is the problem area for most of them. Mine ran it flawlessly. I put at least 200 rounds through it and it never missed a beat. The only complaint I had was having to reload the 5 round mag after a quick ammo dump. It performed well beyond my expectations when rapid firing and I honestly didn't feel any significant trigger slap like most people report but YMMV. After many trips out with this I tested it with light loads on setting 1 (heavy load setting which usually wont allow enough gas into the system to allow light loads to properly cycle the action) and it still ran flawlessly. Needless to say after at least 400 rounds it still hadn't missed a beat.
In summary of part 1 I'd say that even a stock S12 is an excellent weapon and worth every penny you pay for it. It gets an unbiased A+.
Part 2
Now for the fun part. I decided to go the 922r route and make this into a fun weapon with the benefits of a high cap magazines, pistol grip, and folding stock. I ordered a number of different things; Ace stock, manual side folding mechanism, AR style handguards, Hogue pistol grip, CSS trigger guard, Tapco G2 fire control group, and AGP 10 round mags. This greatly changed the appearance of the weapon and increased its usefulness. I took the time to do the conversion myself (which was a ton of fun) and even did some minor things like polishing the bolt and rails. After it was all said and done it was time to see if any of these changes made a bit of difference other than its appearance. It did in a major way. The feel of the weapon was drastically improved, the function was much smoother and its performance in rapid fire had gotten much crisper. The only difference in cycling ammo was that the light loads no longer cycled on gas setting 1 (which I attributed to the shorter stock, not that is mattered anyway). I'm a big fan of it in the end and am very pleased with it. Some people that have issues with it cycling light loads will change the recoil spring and if that doesn't solve the issue they usually change the gas puck. This particular specimen needed neither.
In summary of part 2 I'd say it was worth the $3-400 investment for the look, feel, and performance boost. It gets an A++.
I highly recommend this to anyone looking at this weapon whether it be stock or converted. If you have any questions on it or the process of converting, feel free to PM me.
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