Gord
Member
Some observations:
THE YUGO:
- The Yugo's stock locks up tight, is comfortable to shoulder and doesn't produce a cheek weld any worse than the Saiga's. The pistol grip is a joy, and actually fills my hand, unlike the comically-small standard AK grip.
- The mag that came with the Yugo had some small areas of rust on it; I'd say only about 5% of the mag's surface, but what was there was pretty well pitted. It cleaned up easily enough with a Dremel, but I was a bit annoyed that it was present at all. The catch also needed to be dremeled down a bit on both the top and bottom to fully clear the mag latch on the gun, and still fits really tight.
- The Yugo is in perfect condition, but the rear corners of the receiver are pointy and the edges of the sheetmetal are sharp! I had a sore, tender spot going on the second knuckle of my thumb and a decent amount of skin scraped off within a few minutes of playing with it, so I took the Dremel to that corner and lightly rounded it off a bit. Much better now.
- The grenade launcher sight is cool aesthetically, but for practical purposes, it's just a useless, floppy piece of sheetmetal to catch on stuff and/or block my sight picture. I'm planning to remove the screw through the gas block and take it off; anyone done this?
THE SAIGA:
- The dust cover had a few small scuffs in it out of the box, down to bare metal. I don't mind this and I'm actually kind of glad they're there, because it's obvious that the finish on the Saiga is just a thin coat of black paint and so I'm feeling much better about using Krylon or BBQ paint on the bottom of the receiver after I convert it; doesn't seem so ghetto anymore.
- The firing grip is doable, but I have to reach enough for the trigger that it causes hand fatigue after a minute or two. It's going to be much more comfortable after the conversion. The trigger also feels really spongy compared to the G2 on the Yugo.
- The Saiga mag fits very tightly, and the unidentifiable 30-rounder that came with the Yugo won't fit at all. I have a dozen Hungarian mags from AIM on order and I'm hoping that they'll fit, because otherwise it would appear that the magwell on my gun is a bit short.
- The only thing that's really irking me is the fact that the rear sight is canted to the left by about two or three degrees. It's noticeable when sighting, and the front sight post was factory drifted quite a bit to the left to compensate. I'm bothered, but I already ground off the trigger plate before really taking a look at the sights so I doubt Centerfire would be willing to take it back. Guess I'll just mount a Kobra on it and call it good, unless there's some way to correct the cant.
Obligatory pics:
[to be posted tomorrow, when the sun's actually up to provide lighting]
THE YUGO:
- The Yugo's stock locks up tight, is comfortable to shoulder and doesn't produce a cheek weld any worse than the Saiga's. The pistol grip is a joy, and actually fills my hand, unlike the comically-small standard AK grip.
- The mag that came with the Yugo had some small areas of rust on it; I'd say only about 5% of the mag's surface, but what was there was pretty well pitted. It cleaned up easily enough with a Dremel, but I was a bit annoyed that it was present at all. The catch also needed to be dremeled down a bit on both the top and bottom to fully clear the mag latch on the gun, and still fits really tight.
- The Yugo is in perfect condition, but the rear corners of the receiver are pointy and the edges of the sheetmetal are sharp! I had a sore, tender spot going on the second knuckle of my thumb and a decent amount of skin scraped off within a few minutes of playing with it, so I took the Dremel to that corner and lightly rounded it off a bit. Much better now.
- The grenade launcher sight is cool aesthetically, but for practical purposes, it's just a useless, floppy piece of sheetmetal to catch on stuff and/or block my sight picture. I'm planning to remove the screw through the gas block and take it off; anyone done this?
THE SAIGA:
- The dust cover had a few small scuffs in it out of the box, down to bare metal. I don't mind this and I'm actually kind of glad they're there, because it's obvious that the finish on the Saiga is just a thin coat of black paint and so I'm feeling much better about using Krylon or BBQ paint on the bottom of the receiver after I convert it; doesn't seem so ghetto anymore.
- The firing grip is doable, but I have to reach enough for the trigger that it causes hand fatigue after a minute or two. It's going to be much more comfortable after the conversion. The trigger also feels really spongy compared to the G2 on the Yugo.
- The Saiga mag fits very tightly, and the unidentifiable 30-rounder that came with the Yugo won't fit at all. I have a dozen Hungarian mags from AIM on order and I'm hoping that they'll fit, because otherwise it would appear that the magwell on my gun is a bit short.
- The only thing that's really irking me is the fact that the rear sight is canted to the left by about two or three degrees. It's noticeable when sighting, and the front sight post was factory drifted quite a bit to the left to compensate. I'm bothered, but I already ground off the trigger plate before really taking a look at the sights so I doubt Centerfire would be willing to take it back. Guess I'll just mount a Kobra on it and call it good, unless there's some way to correct the cant.
Obligatory pics:
[to be posted tomorrow, when the sun's actually up to provide lighting]