Saiga 12

Where can I find the price for a Saiga 12? Has three 10round mags but otherwise is stock.

I snagged one back in December NIB for $800.

Thanks

Mmmmmmmmmmmm...Love me some Saiga 12!

I should have NEVER sold mine.
One of my firearm regrets. I don't have many but that is toward the top of the list.

I was looking specifically for the rib sight model. Found it on Gunbroker. They'll only get harder and harder to find with the sanctions in place. I converted it the day I got it home. I will be getting the sporter holes welded eventually.

That was very high on my list of guns that I wanted but just never got around to.

They are a lot of fun, especially if you make them run smoothly on light target loads.

On Gunbroker there looks to be several "Knock Offs"

• Black Aces
• SDS Lynx LH-12
• CATAMOUNT FURY 12GA
• JTS M12AK 12 Gauge

Does anyone know about the quality of any of these or the ability to convert/accessorize like you can with the Saiga?

Yeah, I am looking at getting “another “ one.

ST19AG_WGreymon said:

I was looking specifically for the rib sight model. Found it on Gunbroker. They'll only get harder and harder to find with the sanctions in place. I converted it the day I got it home. I will be getting the sporter holes welded eventually.

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That is one sexy trio. Nothing is hotter than a RPKM.

This thread is reminding me that I need to get my Saiga 12 SBS into 3gun shape by changing the gas system and the handguard.

Erwos;
That sounds exciting

erwos said:

This thread is reminding me that I need to get my Saiga 12 SBS into 3gun shape by changing the gas system and the handguard.

Click to expand...

Ya got me starting to think about bobbing one of my 19" barrel Saiga 12's to an SBS. Mine are all pre-FSA and have folders on them, and Pauly cleaned up the BCG's before he "lost his edge," so they run very very efficiently. Hmmm...

What's your barrel length?

JohnnyE said:

Ya got me starting to think about bobbing one of my 19" barrel Saiga 12's to an SBS. Mine are all pre-FSA and have folders on them, and Pauly cleaned up the BCG's before he "lost his edge," so they run very very efficiently. Hmmm...

What's your barrel length?

Click to expand...

13". Didn't want to make extensive gas tube mods, and that's about as short as you can go without.

Right now, it has two problems:
1. The gas is oriented around running buckshot and slugs, not birdshot. A different plug and a booster puck would probably resolve this.
2. The handguard is an old Chaos tri-rail, and it is HEAVY. My plan is to get the CSS / CNCW competition rail, which is radically lighter.

I am happy with the gun in other respects. I also have a pair of mags with belt clips, and a chest rig for more, so I could run a fairly high round count shotgun stage without a lot of pain (esp if I started out with a drum). Actually finding birdshot is the bigger concern.

You can get down to 12” without gas tube mod, as long as you stick with mostly buckshot/slugs for reliability. Anything shorter definitely needs gas tube mods just to shoot full power loads.

Agreed. The Chaos rails add serious weight, even the shorter ones for the SBSs.

erwos said:

13". Didn't want to make extensive gas tube mods, and that's about as short as you can go without.

Right now, it has two problems:
1. The gas is oriented around running buckshot and slugs, not birdshot. A different plug and a booster puck would probably resolve this.
2. The handguard is an old Chaos tri-rail, and it is HEAVY. My plan is to get the CSS / CNCW competition rail, which is radically lighter.

I am happy with the gun in other respects. I also have a pair of mags with belt clips, and a chest rig for more, so I could run a fairly high round count shotgun stage without a lot of pain (esp if I started out with a drum). Actually finding birdshot is the bigger concern.

Click to expand...

erwos said:

13". Didn't want to make extensive gas tube mods, and that's about as short as you can go without.

Right now, it has two problems:
1. The gas is oriented around running buckshot and slugs, not birdshot. A different plug and a booster puck would probably resolve this.
2. The handguard is an old Chaos tri-rail, and it is HEAVY. My plan is to get the CSS / CNCW competition rail, which is radically lighter.

I am happy with the gun in other respects. I also have a pair of mags with belt clips, and a chest rig for more, so I could run a fairly high round count shotgun stage without a lot of pain (esp if I started out with a drum). Actually finding birdshot is the bigger concern.

Click to expand...

h2u said:

You can get down to 12” without gas tube mod, as long as you stick with mostly buckshot/slugs for reliability. Anything shorter definitely needs gas tube mods just to shoot full power loads.

Agreed. The Chaos rails add serious weight, even the shorter ones for the SBSs.

Click to expand...

Thanks much for the info!

Did you check the size of you gas ports, and have you profiled and polished your BCG?

I removed the gas block and opened up the ports to the recommended sizes. I don't recall the dimensions, but they're found on the Saiga 12 forum. Three ports on the 19" barrel gun, two on the 22" version.

Either way, after the port work I had the BCG's really cleaned up by Pauly. That took a load of friction out of the system, with that and the opened up ports I was over-gassed. I got that under control by dialing everything in the aftermarket gas plugs. My collection includes the MD Arms five position plug, the DPH Arms six position plug, and the TAC 47 Auto Plug. Getting these right lets me run everything from 2 3/4 dram equivalent #9 birdshot up through Federal 1 1/4 oz, 3" magnums.

I'm confident with the low friction system I can get a 13 or even 12 inch barrel SBS to function with a wide variety of loads. I think with an SBS I'll end up being less interested in good functionality with skeet loads, and be more focused on #4 buck on up to magnum 00 buck and slugs.

Regarding a rail, I, too, yanked off my Chaos quad. It was too heavy and bulky, and the picatinny rails on all four sides made it feel like I was holding a cheese grater when I shot it...or I could have added those rubber gimmicks to cover them up, adding even more bulk. I ended up shifting to a Phoenix Tactical handguard, but only installing the picatinny on the bottom to accomodate a tripod. Much lighter and MUCH more sleek than the chaos.

Making the whole setup really comfortable to shoot was adding the Mesa Tactical hydraulic buffer tube. It's and AR-style system, so it needs an adapter to the lower, and it uses all the available stock options that fit an AR buffer tube. Purists may balk that the AR look detracts from its AK heritage, but the thing is soooo much nicer to shoot, particularly when feeding it magnum loads.

Sorry for the long post, but I have years of learning into the platform and a collection of parts I wish I hadn't purchased. Trying to pass that along to help others maybe make better choices.

Yeah, running buck and slugs is pretty easy, even with slight occlusion of the gas ports. A booster puck and a full open plug will generally make any gun run. Making birdshot run reliably is the tricky bit. Even 95% is not high enough for 3gun usage. It's gotta be 99%, maybe more. That means some real testing, and probably some selectivity about ammo. Chad did all of my cut-down work, and I think he did a pretty solid job on the action. Just need to zero in on the right combination of parts.

My Saiga 12 has a Enidine shot shock tube and a GLShock stock... it is a touch heavy, but the recoil reduction is pretty impressive when rapid-firing.

I went with the Vepr12 and am glad I got it when I did. I do have an early unconverted salga 410 that is a lot of fun