Saiga 12 questions

[Agent Akin]

Greetings all!

So yesterday I picked up my new Saiga 12 from the O.C. Armory. Nice shop... pleasure to do business with, and they have a couple more in stock if anyone is looking for one...

Anyway, I haven't shot it yet or anything, and I won't until after the build party this weekend, when I want to mod it and whatnot.

I've a couple of questions though... I've used AKs before, so I'm familiar with the way they operate. On the ones I've used, if the safety's on, you can pull the charging lever and it will only go back far enough to allow a peek into the chamber to see if there's a round in there or not. The safety physically blocks the charging lever from moving back any further.

So with my Saiga, I've discovered that if the safety lever is all the way up, you can only pull the charging lever back an inch or so before it stops for no apparent reason. It's not far enough back to see in the chamber. Nothing I can do allows it go any further back... and if you let go of the lever, it just stays were it is. You need to push it forward until it snaps closed.

If the safety is just a tad bit low, ie., up but not all the way, you can pull the charging lever back all the way. The safety lever will move down so the charging lever can be pulled completely to the rear until it stops, cocking the weapon, and if the magazine were loaded, I'm sure a round would be chambered as it went forward. The trigger is still locked, so the safety isn't completely disengaged.

If I fiddle with the safety lever and position it just right, I can pull the charging lever back and it will be physically stopped by the safety at the point where I can inspect the chamber and then let the bolt go back forward without cocking the hammer or (I assume) chambering a round if the magazine were loaded.

So my question is, is this kind of thing normal for a Saiga, or do I possibly have a Vodka Special? I'm going to the build party on Saturday, so there will be experts and tools there; but if it's a seriously messed up weapon I might need to see about contacting the importer?

Thanks!

[QQQ]

Build party this weekend?

[Agent Akin]

Build party this weekend?

Aye... It's full up though...

[TonyRumore]

Sounds like something is wrong. I checked a few guns here and they all work like a regular AK for chamber checking.

Keep in mind however, the upward safety stop is on the back of the disconector on an S-12. If you remove it and replace it with a Tapco G2, that stop will no longer be there, and your safety will overtravel at the top. On some guns, it will hit the top cover and stop like on a regular AK, but on most, it will slide under the top cover. Then when you go to chamber check the gun, the bolt handle will run underneath the safety and jam it up under the top cover.

On Tromix conversions, we tig weld an internal stop for the upward travel of the safety so it still works as it should with the Tapco G2 FCG.

Tony Rumore
Tromix

[chaseface]

I can't look at mine this second to check exactly what your talking about, however I would highly recommend shooting it before doing the conversion. This way you can make sure everything functions as should before you do anything to it. It may cycle everything out of the box or it may only cycle high brass, mine shoots everything. That way you can tell if your going to need to do some work on the gasports, and do it all during the conversion. Its best to alter one variable at a time, so if in the end there is a problem you can identify where that problem was created. Thats my opinion, but everyone has their own. If you have questions about your Saiga I would recommend asking them at Saiga12.com. Tony great to have you on Calguns, i've been reading your stuff at saiga12 for about a year. I didnt realize that you were a member on the forum here, and since 07.

[Agent Akin]

Huh... I hope the pros at the build party who assure me that I can do this understand what you're talking about there because I sure don't! I've no idea what a tig weld is or how to make an internal stop or anything...

[Agent Akin]

Well, I doubt I'll have time to get to a range, this week is already packed.

I also tried to post on the Saiga 12 forum, but their site seems to hate mobile devices... I might try again when I get home but I can't enter any text at all on their normal site and I couldn't find a link to a mobile version...

[SJgunguy24]

Sounds like something is wrong. I checked a few guns here and they all work like a regular AK for chamber checking.

Keep in mind however, the upward safety stop is on the back of the disconector on an S-12. If you remove it and replace it with a Tapco G2, that stop will no longer be there, and your safety will overtravel at the top. On some guns, it will hit the top cover and stop like on a regular AK, but on most, it will slide under the top cover. Then when you go to chamber check the gun, the bolt handle will run underneath the safety and jam it up under the top cover.

On Tromix conversions, we tig weld an internal stop for the upward travel of the safety so it still works as it should with the Tapco G2 FCG.

Tony Rumore
Tromix

The Jedi Master has spoken....
Tony, when you weld in the stop, do you weld it to the receiver, to the trigger legs or disconnector?

Your Padawan Apprentice (I wish)
Mike