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Hello All,

Bought a converted, snazzy Saiga 12 at the Houston gun show a couple of months ago, and lots of problems with FTE, FTL. I've been on the Saiga forums and have monkeyed with the gas tube settings - no matter....it's still choking on about every 10th shell or so. It could be the clips I'm using, but I know a lot of these things out of the box need gas ports drilled or enlarged, along with some polishing here and there.

I need a good gunsmith somewhere up in the northern counties of the Houston areas that knows this weapon. Thanks in advance.

First of all, discuss the issue on http://forum.saiga-12.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. Lots of GREAT help there.

Second: Chill, don't drill Saiga 12's can be picky, initially, with different loads. Try different types of ammo, figure out what it likes. They can be fickle, that's for sure, but patience pays off. After a while, you'll learn what kind of gas setting and load works best.

I've been lucky, my Saiga 12 only had 2 FTF's in the first 300 rounds, perfect since.

What ammo are you using? The usual culprit for the problems you describe is using too-light ammo, the S-12's prefer heavier loads to cycle properly. Look at Tromix's website, they have a page outlining a lot of details relating to ammo choice and gas settings:

http://www.tromix.com/saiga-servicetips.htm

From Tromix:

Ammunition: Most Saiga-12’s will cycle all 1-1/8oz ammunition. I do not recommend firing any of the super light 1oz shells. The very best cheap, light, birdshot ammo is Winchester AA, Super Sport, or Super Handicap. It runs about $4.50 per box and cycles Saiga’s like a champ. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO FIRE WINCHESTER “UNIVERSAL” AMMO SOLD AT WALMART. YOU WILL HAVE NOTHING BUT PROBLEMS. Don’t call me if your gun does not work with this ammo. Any high base heavy loads should work fine in all guns, including buckshot, slugs, and steel shot waterfowl ammunition.

I think Briley is down there. Never had any work done by them.

salty

I agree my S12 didn't cycle the cheap Wally World Winchester rounds at all. When I first got my S12 earlier this yr I would get alot of FTF (1 out of every 2 mags) when shooting bird shot. I've taken mine skeet shooting 5 or 6 times now and and the FTFs have occured alot less each time I go out.

I've havn't had any issues with my S12 and shooting 00B thru it. I've shot maybe 150-200 rounds of 00 and not issues at all. Just shoot the hell out of it and she'll break in nicely.

I converted my saiga to a pistol grip myself a few years ago and it had always had issues running except with the heaviest loads. At first I tried a lighter recoil spring and that didnt do it. So I popped off the gas block and opened the ports a little with my drill press and it ran better but not perfect. I opened them a bit more and it works perfect. On heavy setting it wont eject low brass, on light setting it flings them perfectly. Also on heavy setting buckshot and high brass wont kick you to death. If you have a drill press a hammer and a punch and a screwdriver you can do it yourself.

Im a bit late to this thread, but being a Saiga enthusiast myself, I wanted to relay a possible answer to you.

Tac. 47 industries is out of Houston. They do custom builds and have seen them do lots of custom stuff/work for folks over on the saiga-12 forums. You might give them a call and see if they can help get your gun running like a champ. I believe the man guy is named Keith, but I could be mistaken. Here is a link to their contact info:http://www.tac47industries.com/contact_us.php .

Good luck! As far as general advice, if you have a fancy railed fore end I'd take it off and try it without it, or with the stock handgaurd if you have it. Some of them can induce malfunctions because of the way they mount to the gasblock area (UTG/Leapers rails cause this but it has been reported by owners of Chaos rails too).

Let us know what happens

Tac47 if your in Houston.
If the gun is new, it will only cycle on high brass shells until broken in. You can get lots of info on the Saiga12 forums mentioned and speed the process by polishing the bolt, carrier and rails.

Thanks to all for all the thoughful replies. In no particular order, a few answers to some questions/replies from others:

I have only now put about 60 rounds through it, mostly all 00B Ranger Magnum loads. I was aware of the concerns about light stuff, so avoided it. I started out on gas setting #1, and with the malfunctions, tried #2...I noticed no difference at all; it kicks like a rented mule on either. Not that I'm Hulk Hogan or anything, but I'm 6'6" 235 lbs., and this thing packs a bit of a whallop.

I agree with some posters in that it needs some lead cycled through it, which I intend to do much more of shortly....been restrained on time. However, I am a bit unnerved by the fact that I just laid down some firm nickels on a highly toughed CQB weapon that I'd hoped would have a little better reliability out of the box. I'll shoot it more, try some different ammo, then tune it up with a local 'smith. It looks cool, but thus far is an unreliable home defense weapon....I simply won't go to it as a first order of business just yet.

Roccodawg wrote:However, I am a bit unnerved by the fact that I just laid down some firm nickels on a highly toughed CQB weapon that I'd hoped would have a little better reliability out of the box. I'll shoot it more, try some different ammo, then tune it up with a local 'smith. It looks cool, but thus far is an unreliable home defense weapon....I simply won't go to it as a first order of business just yet.

I really like what my Saiga can do, but I completely agree that it's a poor home defense weapon. My brother gave me his Mossberg 500, which will do perfectly fine :)

Again check the Saiga 12 forum. Have you removed the gas puck and inspected the gas holes? Mine has three holes. They were partially blocked from the factory. Cleaned them out before shooting it the first time. No problem with heavy loads and gas setting 1.

This is why I bought mine unconverted and shot the snot out of it first. That way I could make sure it wasn't the conversion thats causing issues. Who did the build?