Saiga12 test fire

[psssniper]

Finished converting the S-12 and did some test firing. Ran the heavy stuff no problem but the value paks, not so much. So I checked my S-12 out with a paperclip and flashlight, found only two holes near the very front of the gashole(?) I assumed that one or two more might be buried so I followed this tutorial. It all came apart easily and it all went back together just as easy, guess I got lucky. Big suprise though! these were the only two holes in the barrel. I found the drill number size of the existing holes and then enlarged them. (45 to a 44 if I remember correctly) then since there was tons of room I added another hole and yes I angled it forward just like the factory holes. I decided to drill because I have already modded and polished the bolt & hammer, put in a KA piston and the gun still had FTE's on the value paks. I'll report back on the drilling results after the next test run.


photo by EDR

[kingjoey]

Some of those two-hole barrels have undersized ports. It amazes me that the damn Russians can't drill a consistent number of holes of a consistent size. Horrible quality control On our US-made barrels we went with the three hole set up and it runs great, wish they would stick to three hole barrels at the factory.

[akguy999]

Are these a problem mainly in guns customized to have a pistol grip or all of them including the OEM versions?

Thanks!

[psssniper]

Problem is very poor quality control at the factory not whether a gun is converted or not. Some guns have two ports others three and even four. Now the next trick is aligning those holes with the gas block port

KingJoey what size are the holes on your barrels? and thanks for that deal on the piston and brake! Looks great on the gun.

[kingjoey]

I don't have the blueprints here but it was a #43 bit IIRC.

[psssniper]

Back from the range update

Went to Iron Sights range today and ran some of the value pak through the S-12 with the two enlarged ports and the newly drilled third port. Was having 100% FTE's until I remembered to change the gas setting,(dohhh!!) then things went to about 10-15% FTE. The FTE's were so close to ejecting, often halfway out of the gun so I am getting close. I have two of the Gunfixer gas plugs on the way from MDARMS I'll give that a try and then if I need to, I'll open up the gasports to a #43 drill.

[kingjoey]

Try taking the brake off and see if it cycles. Another guy reported that his wasn't cycling well with the brake. The rearward recoil of the gun helps "throw" the carrier back when fired, the brake cuts some of that recoil.

[psssniper]

I was just reading on the Tromix website about NOT using Wall Mart Winchester Universal ammo, Tony says that its just junk and guess what I've been using. I guess I'll try the federal cheap stuff next and also the Gunfixer plug. I'll also give your idea a try KJ, but I really like the brake.

[kingjoey]

Winchester ammo is crap, few Saigas will shoot it reliably. Use Federal or Remington bulk-pack, both will usually feed well and the KA-SG01 tappet will give you enough low-end boost to get them to eject well. If it won't cycle with the brake then you just need to tweak the gas system a little more to increase the cycling strength. It should work fine with the brake if the gas system is correct. We have seen the brake give recoil or inertia operated shotguns some issues with light ammo particularily.

We had gotten several cases of Winchester about a year ago for cheap shooting at demo shoots and range days since we tear up about 300-500rds per event. It was not worth it at all, it even jams up pump shotguns. We were so glad when that ammo was gone, we now splurge a bit and get Remington HGL's which cost a few bucks more but shoot well and cycle flawlessly. Cheap ammo is neither cheap nor ammo

[EBR Works]

The Federal bulk stuff works flawlessly in mine on gas setting 2 with a Shark brake. As already noted, the Winchester Universal is worthless for the S-12.