RAA Saiga & LEO

[ViPER395]

So now that i'm a proud owner of a Russian American Armory Saiga I have some questions.

Has anyone ever had encounters with LEO while carrying your Saiga rifle?

I only ask because the word Saiga is on one of the lists, and although the listed model is imported by Kalishnikov USA, there could be some confusion since it says Saiga. I know, I know, there are legal OLLs that have AR-15 on them that are legal as well.

I thought I read awhile back that there was some trouble during a Saiga group buy or something. Anyways..

Just wondering if anyone has had any encounters, either positive or negative, while transporting or carrying your RAA Saiga rifle.

[hoffmang]

There have been only 2 RAA Saiga related encounters that I'm aware of. 2 Saigas were seized in a messy divorce with a false claim of domestic violence in San Jose. Those 2 RAA's belong to Bill W and I as they were returned to the owner but he needed the $$$ instead. The other incident was in San Diego when A DOJ BoF auditor tried to tell an FFL that RAA's he was transferring were illegal. The FFL held on to them for a couple of months and after certain people poked the DOJ with a stick, the DOJ told the FFL to release them to the proper owner.

There will soon be more and better documentation showing even more clearly that RAA's are not listed.

-Gene

[Steyr_223]

"There will soon be more and better documentation showing even more clearly that RAA's are not listed."

Excellent. I look forward to printing it out and attaching a copy to my 308 RRA Saiga..To help educate LEOs if the need should arise..

[odysseus]

The FFL held on to them for a couple of months and after certain people poked the DOJ with a stick, the DOJ told the FFL to release them to the proper owner.

There will soon be more and better documentation showing even more clearly that RAA's are not listed.

-Gene

Very interested in this. Did the DOJ just tell the FFL over the phone to release, or was there a letter?

Would like it if any of my local shops carried one with confidence.

[ptoguy2002]

Let me guess, in two weeks?

[hoffmang]

Very interested in this. Did the DOJ just tell the FFL over the phone to release, or was there a letter?

Would like it if any of my local shops carried one with confidence.

In that case it was a phone call. There is a thread on here about it.

-Gene

[duenor]

A gunsmith could make a killing here in CA installing bullet guides into Saigas.

Astonishingly, no one here in SoCal seems to be doing it.

[Stubby]

A gunsmith could make a killing here in CA installing bullet guides into Saigas.

Astonishingly, no one here in SoCal seems to be doing it.

Hmmmmm....So duenor....are you guys interested...

[SIP2000GLO]

Well Duenor, Walt, Mat...?

[duenor]

I'm thinking about it.
I could probably get the factory guys to do it. But I'd have to come up with an acceptable cost.

I wasn't thinking about doing it at EAI since I usually prefer to keep work and personal little projects separate, but now that you mention it... I guess there are more than a few saiga owners here.

Hm. Okay, I'll talk to admin and see what they think.

[thedrickel]

Saiga conversions are a piece of cake if you stick to functional stuff like bullet guide, mag adapter and FCG; it gets worse depending on how crazy you get with the cosmetic stuff (changing the handguard, gas block, etc). I'll have pics of a simple S12 conversion soon, and I'm doing my S-223 after that.

[SIP2000GLO]

I'm thinking about it.
I could probably get the factory guys to do it. But I'd have to come up with an acceptable cost.

I say 10 bucks if you bring your own parts. 35 with parts provided.

[SanSacto]

Saiga conversions are a piece of cake if you stick to functional stuff like bullet guide, mag adapter and FCG; it gets worse depending on how crazy you get with the cosmetic stuff (changing the handguard, gas block, etc). I'll have pics of a simple S12 conversion soon, and I'm doing my S-223 after that.

I have not done a Saiga conversion but I have been researching and learning a lot about them because I am planning one myself. Is installing the bullet guide really a piece of cake? Looks like one of the tougher steps to me. And does it really get worse with the handguard and gas block? Dinzagarms has all the cosmetic stuff to easily install. However, threading the barrel looks very difficult for a beginner like me.

[savageevo]

Why would you put a BB on a regular saiga. There are no evil features attached to the Original saigas, except if you want to do that to a saiga 12 or a saiga converted to a standard ak configuration.

[duenor]

ill see how it goes.

for right now i'm just working on my own saigas.. i'll be sure to pass the word along about interest, though.