Saiga 12 magazine question

[omgwtfbbq]

So my brother has been on the hunt for a new shotgun and since I bought my Saiga 7.62x39mm a few months ago, he's been looking into a saiga 12. Now I'm usually his go to guy on gun legality issues but I'm not really well versed with the letter of the law when it comes to shotguns. I'm more of a pistol/rifle sort of guy. I have my stock 870 and it suits me fine so I've never had the need to look into the laws. Anyways to the point, a buddy of his (who is notorious for spewing FUD) was saying that 5+ round mags are legal in CA for the saiga 12, but it was my understanding that was only if it were in the sporter configuration. I heard something a few years ago about if a semi-auto shotgun has 2 "evil features" (in this case a magazine of 5 rnds or more and a pistol grip then is illegal) but then I've heard that when the way of the dinosaurs when the FED AWB expired....

...I ask you kind folks to enlighten me on the subject so that I might be better council to my brother.

Thanks,
Chris

[Quiet]

Federally...

In it's stock configuration, the Saiga-12 is limited to 5 round or less magazines.

922r parts compliance is needed to legal configure it into a "non-sporting" form and/or to use greater than 5 round magazines.


CA state...

Semi-auto shotguns can not have both a pistol grip and a folding/collapsable stock.

Semi-auto shotguns that use detachable magazines require a magazine lock no matter how it is configured.

As long as you comply with the Federal 922r parts requirements, you can legally use any capacity magazine with a magazine locked semi-auto shotgun.

[omgwtfbbq]

Alright I think I'm understanding it more. I've been through the 922r stuff with my rifle conversion. If I have it straight, it's 5 or less in the sport config, then post conversion, it's 10 max?

[CSACANNONEER]

Alright I think I'm understanding it more. I've been through the 922r stuff with my rifle conversion. If I have it straight, it's 5 or less in the sport config, then post conversion, it's 10 max?

Nope, if you can legally aquire a 100 round shotgun magazine, you can use it on a fixed mag build withou it becoming an AW.

[Quiet]

Alright I think I'm understanding it more. I've been through the 922r stuff with my rifle conversion. If I have it straight, it's 5 or less in the sport config, then post conversion, it's 10 max?

Remember, the shotgun "assault weapon" laws are different than the rifle & handgun "assault weapon" laws.

Under CA "assault weapon" laws [PC 12276 & 12276.1], there is no maximum capacity limit to a fixed magazine shotgun.

However, under CA "large capacity magazine" laws, you are limited to 10 round magazines.

Summary...
As a non-exempt person, you can legally acquire 10 round Saiga-12 magazines and, once you comply with Fed 922r, you can legally use them in your CA legal (magazine locked) Saiga-12.

A LEO or other exempt person (ie. FFL with large capacity magazine permit) can legally acquire 20 round Saiga-12 drums and legally use them in a CA legal (magazine locked) Saiga-12.

[omgwtfbbq]

Remember, the shotgun "assault weapon" laws are different than the rifle & handgun "assault weapon" laws.

Under CA "assault weapon" laws [PC 12276 & 12276.1], there is no maximum capacity limit to a fixed magazine shotgun.

However, under CA "large capacity magazine" laws, you are limited to 10 round magazines.

Summary...
As a non-exempt person, you can legally acquire 10 round Saiga-12 magazines and, once you comply with Fed 922r, you can legally use them in your CA legal (magazine locked) Saiga-12.

A LEO or other exempt person (ie. FFL with large capacity magazine permit) can legally acquire 20 round Saiga-12 drums and legally use them in a CA legal (magazine locked) Saiga-12.

Excellent, you've been extremely informative. Like I said I can do the CA compliance and 922r business with rifles and pistols just fine. It's just when I comes to shotguns, if it aint a pump, I'm pretty useless.

Thanks again