Saw it sitting there in the gun store in all its black ugliness and couldn't resist. I went for the "as built" version and will do my own mods or take it to a gunsmith if I get intimidated with the trigger rebuild to get it back in the right place and a proper pistol grip and stock installed.
My Mossberg 500 is going to feel abandoned but all my "spare change" will have to go to the Saiga for awile; muzzle brake, rails, light, and whatever else I feel like to get it properly dressed for any zombie attack. Gonna keep researching to try to determine what is really a needful improvement to the weapon and what is just fashionable.
I think I'm going to take the plunge and do a Duracoat camo job on it when the mods are done; the Arctic Twig looks good, but I think is too white to really be practical even here in Alaska. I'm leaning towards "Underbrush" but the Urban Mirageflage looks good too, though a lot harder to mask and paint. I'm pretty handy with an airbrush though, so I should be able to get a good result; actually I'm more concerned with disassembling the weapon. The manual sucks and I can't find any aftermarket literature. Best I've found so far is a YouTube with some kid field stripping his.
It's pretty cold here today, so I don't know if I'll make it to the range until it gets a bit warmer; gotta really want to go to the range when it is near or below zero. When I get a chance to fire it, I'll put up a report.
The Saiga-12 is the best "fun-gun" I own...period!
BTW, your Saiga-12 may require a slight break-in period (like mine did). So, if you're not able to cycle "game loads" right away, just give it some time. Also, keep your gas plug set to "2".
Of all the guns I ever owned or shot nothing is as fun as a saiga 12 with a 20 rd drum . I am actually gonna start loading shot gun ammo just for my saiga 12 . My favorite is to load buck shot then slug one after the other then dump on a old car at the junk yard , CARNAGE ! ( note get permission form said junk yard before shooting up there cars !)
and a whole bunch of price inflation because of speculation that Comrade Obama will ban them. Couple of years back they were readily available for $400, sometimes less, I bought mine for $650 back in February, and right now they're commonly going for $800 or more unconverted - if you can find one. Converted ones are going for well over $1000.
They DID go up in price, had one in the shop about a month ago, sold it for 549.99 NIB, just got a couple more in from my distributor (took almost a month) my cost is a hundred more each on these...wondering if I would'nt be wise to put these in the safe.
FYI: My dealer also said that they are expecting another increase in the next month or so, if you are thinking about getting one I would do it now. I talked to keltec about their KSG shotgun, closest I could nail them down on delivery to my store is maybe a year or better...I haven't seen one in person, just you tube, they are one mean looking dude though.
I am acquiring one in trade and it's coming next week.
It's a tactical 12 with quad rails, collapsible stock, 12 round mag, 20 round mag, 2 20 round mags. I was about to get the entry level and have it modified but I don't have that kind of time or patience.
I don't believe in zombies, and so my 'tactical' guns are mighty simple. Nor do I believe in following firearm pop culture fads, and so I figure rails were invented first as ladders for fairies to reach the upper sides of mushrooms, which they devour massively, and secondarily for gun devotee's who must have the latest in looks and perhaps less so, in utility. In point of fact, I add only a light, and a provision for a sling (on tube fed shotguns, I add a butt cuff as well). And yeah, sometimes a shortening in the length of pull is an advantage, and so another kind of stock can be helpful. But all that other stuff? That's for folks whose imaginations outweigh their grasp of reality...in my own opinion of course.
But in respect to firepower, I do believe in high capacity magazines. And it is veritable truth that a 20 round drum laden Saiga 12 is both heavy, and deadly. And to date, I agree, not much can beat the fun of a 20 round dump of heavy buckshot from a Saiga 12.
I have two of them, one converted, the other still pagan. And I've had both long enough now (couple of years) to know that with a simple reprofile and polish job on the internals, the unconverted gun will perform just as well as the converted, and thus, more expensive gun.
Now on the other hand, the new shotgun rage, the AKDAL MKA 1919 is better, right out of the box, than most converted Saigas (with the exception that the AKDAL doesn't, as of yet, allow high capacity mags. That will come, with an accompanying substantial increase in price).
To this day, even with my Saigas highly massaged, I'm never surprised to experience a failure to feed or to eject a round. It's just some a Saiga owner must come to accept...
And in over 2,000 rounds through my new out of the box AKDAL I've experienced one failure to feed. And in that case, it being one of my reloads, even a pump gun wouldn't feed it, so I'd say the (my) AKDAL is 100 percent reliable.
I could take or leave the AR look, but as far as a shotgun on which I can utterly depend, it stands right up there with my Benelli M1's...
Anyhow, enjoy the Saiga. I've had many a fine time with mine...and am looking for many more.
FYI for all you Saiga owners MD arms has patented a double stack mag for the Saiga 12 . They in my opinion make the best 20 rd drum on the market for he money so I have high hopes for the double stack mags .
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