Saiga .308. A unicorn?

[osterr1999]

Was hard for you to convert your .308 Double tap?

 

[DoubleTapDrew]

At first it was, until I figured out the online guide I was using was old and for a different caliber. I got hung up on the klinton plate removal. There are like 3 rivets holding it on the bottom of the receiver as with other saigas but on the 308 there are also a couple spot welds holding it on. Some people drill them out but I didn't want extra holes so I just used a dremel to grind down the metal on the spot welds (file would work too, just slower) until it's thin and can be broken off.

The pistol grip nut hole and original AK location trigger hole are already in the receiver so once you get that plate off it's a snap.
For the rivets I'd suggest: file the head flat, then use a center punch (or nail and hammer) to put a dent in the middle of the flat spot to help guide your drill bit and drill it out (3/16" IIRC). Use cobalt drill bits! I picked a set up at home depot for like $20. Those Russkie rivets will eat through lesser drill bits in short order (found this out after going through a couple). If you order your conversion parts from dinzag he'll include the cobalt bits with your parts.

After it's done you'll realize it was easy and you'll be able to strip down & reassemble any AK in short order. The 308 was my first and took probably 6 hours (most of it on those spot welds until I read to grind them down instead of trying to chisel them). The 12 ga was next (immediately I wanted to do another after the 308) and whipped it out in about 2 hours now that I knew what i was doing.

 

[osterr1999]

Thanks for the advice. I may PM you if I run into trouble. It will be a couple of weeks before I have the parts and the gun, so I am doing my homework now.

 

[mpmarty]

I'm the happy daddy of a Saiga 7.62 Nato / 308 (so marked on the receiver) and a Saiga 12. both fully restored to their original intended configuration. The S-12 was easier to convert than the 308 but neither was really difficult. Go slow and be careful. For help call on Dinzag he's the good guy for those of us who are dremel challenged.

 

[DoubleTapDrew]

Thanks for the advice. I may PM you if I run into trouble. It will be a couple of weeks before I have the parts and the gun, so I am doing my homework now.

Sounds good. A good resource for homework is the Saiga forums at forum.Saiga-12.com They've got sections for every caliber and lots of good tips & tricks (my username there is the same as here).
We are also lucky to have Pauly in Portland (pauly's custom steelin on the forums) who works magic on these things to get them to cycle like they are riding on ball bearings and his rates are very reasonable, plus he's a nice guy.
You probably won't have any issues on the 308 with cycling but the 12 gauges get a little finicky with lower power shotshells. You can shoot/check out mine if you want too.

 

[FMJ 911]

I'm gonna do that, I wanted to get a PSL, but I like the sound of a .308 Saiga Sniper Rifle. How accurate are they?

 

[DoubleTapDrew]

Usually about 2 moa with "cheap" ammo (if you can consider any .308 cheap). Some shoot better and you can work up some handloads they like if you reload and get more like 1moa. I found federal 168gr gold medal match shot the same as 147gr surplus in mine. I think they like lighter bullets.

 

[FMJ 911]

Usually about 2 moa with "cheap" ammo (if you can consider any .308 cheap). Some shoot better and you can work up some handloads they like if you reload and get more like 1moa. I found federal 168gr gold medal match shot the same as 147gr surplus in mine. I think they like lighter bullets.

So I could use my existing surplus NATO ammo stockpile? that's what I use in the M1A, and it would be nice to use it in a Saiga too. I found another place selling Saiga .308's for a good price.

 

[DoubleTapDrew]

Yeah NATO ammo should work just fine in it. Thats what mine shoots as well as high dollar ammo with heavier bullets. I haven't tried lightweight stuff yet like 110-130gr but they are supposed to like lighter bullets since the twist rate is a bit slow.

 

[osterr1999]

Well I finished the conversion. It was not too tough. It took me awhile to figure things out and I took my time so I didn't screw anything up, but it turned out great. I used green furniture on it and it looks awesome. Doubletap is right though, I want to do another one already. The next one will be a Saiga 12. Thanks for the tips on this Doubletap. The tips on the plate removal were especially helpful.

 

[DoubleTapDrew]

Congrats! After doing the 308 the 12 gauge went sooo easy, took about 2 hours. The 12 gauge doesn't have those annoying spot welds on the klinton plate IIRC, just a few rivets, so it's easier to remove.

I used one of those (small) limbsaver grind-to-fit recoil pads and it makes it even softer to shoot (the KVar stock has a metal buttplate, not exactly like shooting a pillow with 3" loads).
Then I figured I had enough black guns so I gave it the Krylon Fusion treatment.

 

[osterr1999]

That paint job looks awesome. How is the Krylon holding up the the cleaning solvents? I was thinking of doing a nice finish on mine (duracoat or Cerekote), but then I thought to myself, it's an AK. The Krylon job might be a good alternative.

 

[DoubleTapDrew]

It's holding up great so far, no chips, peeling, etc. I haven't tried scrubbing it hard with hoppes yet but if you want to remove it a little acetone will take it off and it's easy to touch up if you do remove any (or if you decide to go with a different color scheme). I thought about duracoat too but I figured krylon was worth a shot for $15.

 

[Gunner3456]

FWIW one of my best friends used to own a body shop. He let me take my hot rods in there and work on them. The way they handled spot welds was to drill them with an 1/8" bit until almost through the first layer and then just pull and pry them loose. Then they quickly ground the remaining surface smooth. There were a lot of spot welds, especially in door jambs where the rear quarter panel wrapped into it and was spot welded. To replace the panel, they drilled holes in the new part to match approximately where the welds had been, and then brazed the holes. Some of the brazing got behind the hole and really held firmly. Of course all of the parts were ground to clean bare metal. The brazing flowed to a dimple and looked just like a spot weld.

This was 30 years ago when everything in sheet metal including welding was done with a torch. I'm still the only guy on my block who can butt weld or shrink and straigthen sheet metal with a torch, LOL.

 

[osterr1999]

That is similar to what I did with mine. I drilled through the first plate and it left small dimples in the receiver, but they are covered by the new trigger guard and grip anyway, so I just painted over them and called it good. You just have to be very careful. I can see how you could go all the way through.

 

[ZA_Survivalist]

The surefire mags work well, and a more recent company Unita industries came out with 20 rounders for the 308 as well (I think they are a copy of the now-defunct FBMG). I picked up 3 and they work just fine for me and are cheaper than surefire
Uinta Industries » Product Lines » Parts

I was told that Uinta bought the molds from FBMG. They are identical.

Oh. on another note regarding S.308 mags.. believe it or not the Pro Mag 24 round mags actually work.. that or I received a perfect batch. Even so, if you get one that may not function as desired there are a few remedies to fix'er up.
AND don't forget Csspecs is coming out with a stamped magazine version for the S.308 kind of like his Vepr mags. So it SHOULD bring the cost down.. but we'll see.