Back in the AK game with an Izhmash (Saiga)

Just got back from visiting Nate at Mississippi Auto Arms (Saiga-12 Forum sponsor) in Oxford, MS yesterday, and picked up a Saiga 7.62x39! Took a few hours off and on to restore it to intended condition.

Izhmash IZ-132 Saiga, 16.3" barrel, dimpled receiver, manufactured 10-09. Factory certificate says 91mm at 100 meters. (That's about 3.5 inches with the terrible linkage trigger) It has a Round trunnion and A THREADED BARREL!!!!!!! I was very pleased to find a tiny bit of thread showing at the muzzle that I was able to confirm was there as it grabbed my fingernail. I will get a 14mm L/24mm R adapter and put on a Krink flash hider I got.

Since I did this on the cheap, initially it will be a utilitarian restoral: Tapco AK grip, Texas AK double hook FCG, out of print FSE polymer/resin fixed "triangle" stock that looks like a Krinkov stock, and a ventilated factory hand guard with a heat shield fabricated in it. Even found what I think is an East German sling at a yard sale for $1.

First, fabricated a bullet guide from 3/4"i.d. galvanized pipe. Didn't have a template, just eyeballed it and modified a little at a time until it fit perfect and fed fine.cycled several magazines through by hand, fast, slow, right side up and upside down. Fed flawlessly.

Then drilled the hand guard with (7) 3/8" holes on each side for better ventilation. used a pencil to mark of a grid 1" apart, about 1/2" down. Used a small drill (1/8" to drill pilot holes, opened it up with 1/4" and finished with 3/8". TAKE your time. I took some aluminum duct work material and made a U shaped trough liner. Nothing fancy, but it doesn't show and works well.

I thought having a nice retro XM177E2 CAR-15 would ease my "Lack of AK pain" but it didn't.

Best thing about this AK is it says "Izhmash" "Made in Russia"! It is about as real of an AK as you can get, especially after it is restored.

First picture is before it was restored, second is after.

I'm curious about the bullet guide. What's that all about?

There is a ban on Military weapons from Russia going back to Klinton. Saiga are sporterized with pistol grip removed, fire control group stretched to the rear fo monte carlo stock, and can not use standard AK mags as imported. All AKs have a bullet guide in the bottom of the trunnion under the breech that guides the round from the military magazine into the chamber, sort of a feed ramp. Saigas have a guide in the sporting 10 round magazine, and none on the weapon. Also the locking tab on the sporter mags is thinner, so a mil-spec mag will not snap in.

In a Saiga restoral, the mag catch is filed to accept the mil-spec mag, and a small bullet guide drilled and tapped into the trunnion. Several places sell a kit for $20 with bullet guide, screw, dril and 6/32 tap. I have used them (I have done 4 restorals before this one, in the last 3 years) This time I fabricated my own guide from pipe steel.
The FCG is pushed together towards the fron of the weapon (not as hard as it sounds) and a pistol grip and AK stock added. The nice thing about Saigas is accuracy. They have hammer forged, chrome lined barrels and can give 1.5 MOA, which is great for an AK. I have gotten sub-2 MOA with iron sights and Russian Barnaul steel cased ammo from an earlier Saiga.

Also, it is made on the newer, improved AK100 platform by Izhmash in Russia, the prime contractor for AK47/AKM/AK74 for 62 years! I have fired thousands and thousands of rounds through Saigas without a single malfunction.

I have a converted Saiga and a Romey G. The Saiga is nicer and worth the effort to convert. Theoretically all this can be done with hand tools, and many have been done that way. The only really tricky part is the bullet guide. Go slow and be careful you don't break a bit or tap in the hard trunnion and it is easy. A drill press helps here.

I "discovered" AKs only two years ago and wish I had much sooner. They are truly a hoot to shoot.

CX

My favorite long gun in the world in the ubiquitous USGI M-1 Carbine. Probably because my dad and uncles carried them in WW2.

If I only had one weapon, however. it would be an AK. The nice thing about Saigas is they are on the improved AK100 series improvements in bolt carrier group. They also have chrome lined, hammer forged barrels. I have gotten sub 2 MOA groups from a Saiga 7.62x39 with Russian Barnaul 125 grain soft point. For defense and hunting, Wolf Military Classic 124 grain HP uses the 8m3 bullet, and is as devastating as the Hornady V-Max. With ammo prices down (Yugo 1260 sealed cases for $199), they are getting cheap to shoot. Wolf MC is less than $5/20 mail order.