unaltered saiga ??

[west.22]

I have a saiga(stamped saiga 7.62x39) that i bought in the 2001 to 2003 timeframe. It is a russian (obviously) made in Izmassh. But here is where it gets tricky (worked to my advantage though) It has a pistol grip, front of trigger guard up against mag release block, single hook trigger, takes ak mags with no modification. i tried to put an ak reciever cover on it once, but the saiga cover was a little bit longer. it has either an 18 or 20 inch barrel with flash suppressor/compensator welded on. but it does have the saiga style handgaurd and gas cover. does anyone know anything about this or have any more information on it???

 

[chris in va]

You have a 'converted' Saiga, sounds like. I did my conversion a few years ago in a similar fashion.

I don't know why it won't take a standard AK cover though.

Does it have a bullet guide? Look for a curved piece of metal in front of the chamber, held in by an allen bolt.

 

[Ranger30-06]

It sounds like its been converted, or it was one of the rare ones that came with the thumb hole stock, which someone took off and replaced with other furniture. Because it has a compensator, I would assume that it has been converted. An easy way to tell is to look for a bullet guide (Post #2) and look at the receiver around the trigger guard and see if the paint is a slightly different tone or darkness.

The reason a "normal" AK cover won't fit onto it is because saiga frames are slightly stretched for the longer trigger assembly they usually come with so that they can be imported into the US. Gotta love our laws, right?

 

[west.22]

thanks for the replies, the bullet guide is welded into the reciever, the only screw or bolt ahead of the mag well on the bottom is the forearm screw. The paint seems to be even throughout. and the furniture it came with did not match, it had a short wood butt stock that did not match the wood forearm. and i guess i should have said that i never altered it, and as far as i know it was sold new.

 

[roadchoad]

Does it say "Hesse" anywhere? They did some Saiga conversions, welding in a bullet ramp and often leaving the forearms the same as stock.

 

[west.22]

No Hesse, the only thing other than saiga 7.62x39, the place it was made, and company, is the importer, cocoa fl.

 

[radkoch]

If for some reason you wanted to change receiver covers I am pretty sure a MAK90 one would work for you as I believe they are a little longer. As for the rest sounds like a conversion as most bullet guides I've seen from Combloc rifles were usually riveted in place. Some of the bullet guides that are aftermarket seem to be screwed in.

 

[bri]

Pics would end all of the speculation...

 

[ilivas]

My classic arms converted saiga has a welded bullet guide as well. Also has stock handguard.

 

[west.22]

now that i look at it, the bullet guide is pinned in, i think. the stocks are off because i am going to put a tapco galil handguard and tapco side folder on when they arrive.

 

[west.22]

are the pictures no good?

 

[Ranger30-06]

It looks like yours is converted. This means it will take:
AK Mags
AK trigger group (semi, not full auto)
AK stock and pistol grip
Some other stuff that I can't quite think of.

Parts still saiga specific:
Forend
The receiver cover
Probably a couple other small things too.

It looks like the pistol grip and stock came with the gun that way, but the bullet guide and compensator were added later. Good luck with it! Saigas are the best AK's out there!

 

[west.22]

here it is with different stocks, tapco galil hand guard and folding stock. Thank You for all your replies.

 

[west.22]

Finally got the matching pistol grip.

 

[Ranger30-06]

Finally got the matching pistol grip.

Much nicer! That's a good looking gun!

 

[west.22]

Thanks. feels much better with the saw style pistol grip, more hand filling. i hope the galil handgaurd does not affect the accuracy, since it tightens up around the barrel. Has anyone had any ill effects from the galil handgaurd?