Legality of Saiga 12 in CA

[anonymous12]

Is the Saiga 12 legal to own in Cali? I just completed my hunter safety training course and I want to buy a semi automatic 12 gauge for duck and pheasant. Also any suggestions for good quality, light, low recoil, autoloaders would be appreciated. Thanks guys.

[emc002]

Welcom to CalGuns.
Try this thread, you can use the search feature in the future, most questions have been asked an answered by now...

http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=71829&highlight=saiga+group+buy

[M. Sage]

The Saiga is doable, but you need a fixed magazine and to make sure that the receiver is off-list.

For hunting, there are probably tons of autoloaders that will do the job a lot better.

[jamesob]

im not sure but i think the siaga 12 might be on list. no semi auto shotguns with a de-tach mag for some stupid reason.

[M. Sage]

There is only one Saiga 12 on the list. There are off-list Saiga 12s. A group buy for them just happened.

There are also bullet-buttons that work on them.

[grywlfbg]

Yep, I'm waiting for one off the group-buy. They will come into the state w/ a mag-lock but shotguns have similar language to regular centerfires in the laws so a bullet-button would be perfectly legal.

Once these rifles arrive stateside several of us will be figuring out how to make a BB-style setup for the S-12.

[anonymous12]

BB style?? I don't understand the term, please explain. Wow a group buy sounds dope. I went on to guntrader and look at some chris daly's on there and they are really reasonably priced, so I think I will get one of those, approx 200 after ffl fees, which is much cheaper than the 500 plus on a saiga 12. It would be nice to have a saiga, but for now I'll stick to crazy OLL builds.

[M. Sage]

BB means bullet button. Since a semi-automatic shotgun with a detachable magazine is illegal, and since the definition of detachable means readily removable without the use of a tool, and since a bullet tip counts as a tool, the magazine fixing device I mentioned wound up being called a Bullet Button or BB for short.

Obviously, you're not going to use the tip of a 12 gauge shell to release your magazine. Your fingers would fit!

So what a BB does is make it so the magazine on a given firearm (usually a rifle) can't be removed without a tool, meaning that firearm isn't "capable of accepting a detachable magazine." Making it all legal.

Got that? :cool:

[anonymous12]

yeah I have one on my OLL build, just never heard it called that before.

[SchooBaka]

I want one. Man, I'm been kicking myself in the *** for too long for not getting in on the saiga 12 buy.

[FlyingPen]

I'd like one as well...

[M. Sage]

yeah I have one on my OLL build, just never heard it called that before.

Welcome to the internet. Everything gets abbreviated here. ;)

[Harrison_Bergeron]

What list are you guys referring to? I thought I'd read most of the lists and to my recolection there were only 3 listed under banned by name shotguns and none of them were Saigas of any distributor.

[bwiese]

What list are you guys referring to? I thought I'd read most of the lists and to my recolection there were only 3 listed under banned by name shotguns and none of them were Saigas of any distributor.

Some apparently bad info in a few posts.

THE ISSUES HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH BEING "LISTED".

Saiga-12s are semiauto shotguns w/detachable magazines - which are also considered generic AWs under 12271.1PC.

[1lostinspace]

Saiga 12 are great

[Harrison_Bergeron]

Some apparently bad info in a few posts.

THE ISSUES HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH BEING "LISTED".

Saiga-12s are semiauto shotguns w/detachable magazines - which are also considered generic AWs under 12271.1PC.

Thanks for clearing that up.