Saiga AK47

[CM-4]

I've been reading a lot about the Saiga AK47. From what I have read these are some of the best AK's that are on the market. I know that a small amount of work needs to be done to make these accept the high cap mags. However, my father-in-law owns a gun shop and I can get one of these very cheap. Who can I send the rifle to, to get the work done on it and do these rifles accept the standard AK furniture that you can get or would I have to buy some other stock and foregrip. Thanks for any info.

I should probably also ask what is the exact model number of the AK that I should get. I want the one chambered in 7.62/39. Thanks.

[Business_Casual]

I would pop over to Akforum.net and take a look at the information there. In addition, let me recommend Will at Red Jacket for the conversion.

AK-103 will do it too, but that is an expensive, collectors road you may not want to travel just yet.

M_P

[Canonshooter]

Marc Krebs uses the Saiga (Izhmash receiver) for his custom conversions. I own one of his AK-103k rifles and it is magnificent. Take a look before buying the unaltered Saiga, it may be cheaper to buy the converted rifle direct from Krebs - www.krebscustom.com

[Spooky130]

I would pop over to Akforum.net and take a look at the information there. In addition, let me recommend Will at Red Jacket for the conversion.

AK-103 will do it too, but that is an expensive, collectors road you may not want to travel just yet.

M_P

There are a lot of folks who will do the conversion - as suggested check out AKForum to get a good look at the work there.

I had a Saiga converted to AK104 specs by Chris Butler at AK-USA/AK-103.com. He does fantastic work but is very expensive.

I've never shot a Krebs gun but have never heard anything but positives about them.

You might want to check out the most recent Arsenal Inc guns - one is an AK-104 clone that just needs a little work on some exposed barrel.

Oh - the Saigas have a little bolt hold open lever that extends out the receiver into the trigger guard area - seems my finger is always rubbing against it and it is annoying...

Spooky

[Navy87Guy]

Sorry I missed this when it was first posted -- it may be too late now.

Converting the Saiga is easy. It takes about 4 hours and requires only basic tools (drill, hammer and Dremel). I've tried to collect some basic info about Saiga conversions on my website, here: http://home.comcast.net/~navy87guy/home/saigaconversion.html

You can certainly go to some high-end places like Red Jacket, Krebs, AK-USA or Tromix, but they are prohibitively expensive for me. It should cost less than $150 to do the basic conversion. When you're done, you'll have an AK that accepts standard AK mags (as built, the Saiga requires proprietary mags).

Here's the before and after pic for my Saiga 7.62x39:

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-11/889657/Saiga_before_after.jpg

The best part is that you'll have the satisfaction of working on your own gun!

Jim

[Jay Cunningham]

Here's mine:

http://img252.imageshack.us/img252/56/nightfighter005vd3.jpg

Ted Marshall built it in an AK-102 clone configuration and I tweaked it aftermarket for my needs. All of my tweaks are 100% reversable.

[h8mtv]

The Saigas are great guns. I own a few. The 7.62x39 variants require a bit of work. The barrels are not threaded and installing a set of standard handguards is a big job. Dinzag makes fantastic products for conversion including the feedramp you need to install for hi cap mags and a lower handguard retainer that allows use of standard handguards without pulling the front sight and gas blocks.

Come visit us on Akforum.net and have a look around.