Z-Michigan
Member
I had the chance to closely examine and play with a friend's SGL-21 Saiga yesterday. For those not familiar, look here:
http://www.k-var.com/shop/product.php?productid=17015&cat=353&page=1
This is basically a Russian made Saiga that gets converted to AK look/configuration by Arsenal (Las Vegas company) before they are sold. The base gun is about the same as sporter Saigas, with a few details.
First off, being familiar with sporter Saigas, I noted the following differences:
-there is no evidence, inside or outside, that the receiver ever had holes for the sporter trigger.
-there is no bolt hold-open lever, nor a hole for it. This was a surprise and disappointment.
-there is a huge muzzle nut underneath the muzzle brake, and appearing to be a separate piece from the barrel itself.
-the rear sight piece is polished gray (possibly zinc phosphated) and graduated to "10" (as in 1000m), vs. the sporter Saiga being a black piece and graduated only to "3."
General impressions:
Basically this is a well-made AK that comes from the authentic Russian AK factory (Izhmash). It is mostly similar to a regular Saiga except as noted above. It has a darker, blacker, glossier paint job than other Saigas, which I suspect is applied by Arsenal. Even the muzzle brake is painted!
Part of the conversion includes US-made furniture and US-made trigger group. I was a bit disappointed in both. The US-made furniture is not TAPCO, but it doesn't seem like any higher quality. I assume it is an accurate copy of the Russian AK-101 furniture, but I don't like it nearly as much as most other furniture I've handled. The lower handguard had a slight bit of movement which I have not felt on other AKs. This would be a great candidate for a set of Ironwood's wood furniture.
The trigger group didn't impress either. It is two stage and the break is fairly crisp, but heavy - like 8 or 10 lbs heavy. Probably closer to 10 lbs. In comparison a TAPCO "G2" group breaks at around 4lbs. Also, the trigger itself is hollow at the rear and fairly heavily curved, while many other AK triggers are not hollowed at the rear and very slightly less curved. The SGL group is somewhat crisper than the TAPCO when it breaks, but so much heavier that I would prefer the G2.
The SGL is 922(r) compliant for any mags. The SGL21-61 that I handled comes with a tiny little 5rd mag, which appears to be a cross between the slabside Saiga mags and a modern military waffle pattern mag. I also tried a TAPCO mag and some steel 30's. The TAPCO polymer mag had serious side to side wobble which wasn't present with other mags; and that same mag did not wobble in another AK that was handy. The steel mags had only slight wobble, well within normal for an AK, and the 5rd waffle mag had almost no wobble.
In other respects this is basically just a Saiga/AK made by Izhmash. They are very well made by AK standards, with a good feel (apart from the US compliance parts). I was expecting it to be far nicer than a home-converted Saiga, but other than having authentic handguards and no added holes in the receiver, I don't think it is. At current prices the SGL-21 is slightly more expensive than a sporter Saiga + conversion parts (other than handguard). I would say you can just about flip a coin between those options if you're in the market for a converted Saiga.
http://www.k-var.com/shop/product.php?productid=17015&cat=353&page=1
This is basically a Russian made Saiga that gets converted to AK look/configuration by Arsenal (Las Vegas company) before they are sold. The base gun is about the same as sporter Saigas, with a few details.
First off, being familiar with sporter Saigas, I noted the following differences:
-there is no evidence, inside or outside, that the receiver ever had holes for the sporter trigger.
-there is no bolt hold-open lever, nor a hole for it. This was a surprise and disappointment.
-there is a huge muzzle nut underneath the muzzle brake, and appearing to be a separate piece from the barrel itself.
-the rear sight piece is polished gray (possibly zinc phosphated) and graduated to "10" (as in 1000m), vs. the sporter Saiga being a black piece and graduated only to "3."
General impressions:
Basically this is a well-made AK that comes from the authentic Russian AK factory (Izhmash). It is mostly similar to a regular Saiga except as noted above. It has a darker, blacker, glossier paint job than other Saigas, which I suspect is applied by Arsenal. Even the muzzle brake is painted!
Part of the conversion includes US-made furniture and US-made trigger group. I was a bit disappointed in both. The US-made furniture is not TAPCO, but it doesn't seem like any higher quality. I assume it is an accurate copy of the Russian AK-101 furniture, but I don't like it nearly as much as most other furniture I've handled. The lower handguard had a slight bit of movement which I have not felt on other AKs. This would be a great candidate for a set of Ironwood's wood furniture.
The trigger group didn't impress either. It is two stage and the break is fairly crisp, but heavy - like 8 or 10 lbs heavy. Probably closer to 10 lbs. In comparison a TAPCO "G2" group breaks at around 4lbs. Also, the trigger itself is hollow at the rear and fairly heavily curved, while many other AK triggers are not hollowed at the rear and very slightly less curved. The SGL group is somewhat crisper than the TAPCO when it breaks, but so much heavier that I would prefer the G2.
The SGL is 922(r) compliant for any mags. The SGL21-61 that I handled comes with a tiny little 5rd mag, which appears to be a cross between the slabside Saiga mags and a modern military waffle pattern mag. I also tried a TAPCO mag and some steel 30's. The TAPCO polymer mag had serious side to side wobble which wasn't present with other mags; and that same mag did not wobble in another AK that was handy. The steel mags had only slight wobble, well within normal for an AK, and the 5rd waffle mag had almost no wobble.
In other respects this is basically just a Saiga/AK made by Izhmash. They are very well made by AK standards, with a good feel (apart from the US compliance parts). I was expecting it to be far nicer than a home-converted Saiga, but other than having authentic handguards and no added holes in the receiver, I don't think it is. At current prices the SGL-21 is slightly more expensive than a sporter Saiga + conversion parts (other than handguard). I would say you can just about flip a coin between those options if you're in the market for a converted Saiga.
