WEC-SAIGA ...Now with O.S.T.

[Netpackrat]

Mississippi Auto Arms has fucked me in the past and I hope they are not the only supplier right now. Otherwise I will have to hold my breath.

They manufacture the one with the allen head screws for the unused receiver holes.

[Combat Controller]

Ah.

[Netpackrat]

Almost forgot to mention that my Krebs sights came in today, and I got them installed. The most difficult part was getting the original rear sight out of the dovetail... I hammered the hell out of it with a brass punch and hammer, and in the end I had to cut a slot down the middle of it with my Dremel tool, almost to the bottom of the dovetail in order to relieve enough pressure to hammer it out. The new one went in okay and seems to have about the right balance between adjustability and the force required to drift it. The front sight just clamps in place over the barrel with a pair of allen head screws. Looks like I am going to need an AR-15 sight tool to adjust the elevation. The rear sight had a removable aperture that I removed for the ghost ring effect. After I was satisfied with the positioning of the new sights, I cut off the front bead on the gas block and filed it down smooth. Since it's actually a threaded plug in the gas block, it can't be removed without creating an unwanted vent, and I staked it in place to keep it from backing out. Followed that with some more black paint to touch it up.

I'm looking forward to taking it to the range, but it's probably not going to happen this week. The high temps are in the 20s, with high winds. Since I bought the range membership I've been getting emails from the range staff, and apparently they cancelled a bunch of league shoots this week due to the winds. The range is right along the shoreline so it can get nasty cold there when the wind blows.

[Fill]

The ones I linked are two of the three on that page.

I noticed they were both made by Ace, but the two pictures of the non-AR folder looked different, the descriptions were slightly different (Push Button/ambidextrous on the Ace), and the cost is $30 higher from Ace. Did I miss something?

[Netpackrat]

Got the new floorplates primed and painted, and installed in the factory mags:



Since I don't need them for parts count, the whole point of this exercise is to facilitate quick identification of what type of shells are loaded in a particular magazine. The floorplates are color coded to match the Remington hulls I am using for my reloads (and which are the same other than color), with tan denoting slugs, and green for buckshot. With the mags riding upside down in a mag pouch, all I'll have to do is look at the floorplate to know what I am grabbing. Granted, if I'm using factory loads the color coding isn't going to match, but as long as I stick to the same convention when loading up mags I shouldn't have any trouble keeping them straight, and at the rate the Saiga 12 tends to generate empty hulls, it won't be long before I've got way more reloads than factory anyway.

The next things I need to get are a mag pouch and a sling, and probably a pouch to keep my drum in also. I bought a magpul rail sling adapter that looks like it will work well, but I think I'm going to have to bend it slightly first, which is going to require the torch since it's made of some pretty stout steel. Seems almost a waste to attach it to a plastic rail. I'm thinking that some kind of tritium post for the front sight will eventually be in order, but I'm going to wait a while on that.

[Netpackrat]

I have a possibly stupid question... As mentioned previously, I bought this flash hider that is on sale at DPH Arms. Is there a particular way it is supposed to be indexed, that will make a functional difference? There are 4 slots, should I clock it so they are facing any particular way? Will having one at 12:00 mess with my sight picture, or does it not matter? The only flash hiders I have messed with before have been for my AK which has a locating pin, and the Saiga doesn't.

[Combat Controller]

With the four slot ones I tend to angle them in a X pattern but if you look at any other flash hider on the market you will see it obscures your sight picture. Good ones are covered on the bottom so if you are lying prone it doesn't blow too much dirt back in your face when shooting. It doesn't really matter, esp on a shotgun.

[Netpackrat]

Thanks. I was able to look at the same style flash hider meant for a regular AK, and the location of the notches for the locating pin confirms what you said. I'll pull the hider back off and wrap some more teflon tape around the threads, and re-clock it. That seems to be a good, non-permanent means of keeping it in place.

I ordered a "terrorist interdiction bag" from Suarez and will report if it holds the magazines okay. I already know I won't be able to use the internal pouches due to the size, but since they are fairly square and blocky, I'm hoping they will stack in there otherwise. I also ordered a sling and a couple more factory mags, but I'm going to have to make my own rear sling mount to work with the collapsible stock. I'm pretty sure I know exactly how I will make it. Another thing I discovered is that the Izzy 5 rounders are almost the same exact dimensions as the 20 round FBMG mags I have for my S-308, so if I find a bag for the shotty, it should work for the rifle too.

[Netpackrat]

Yet another data point with regards to magazines... AlaskaTRX's shotgun is finally here, and it seems to feed 3" shells from a Surefire magazine just fine. Even the shells that my shotgun mangled trying to feed from the same brand magazines. Not sure what to make of that.

[Combat Controller]

Yet another data point with regards to magazines... AlaskaTRX's shotgun is finally here, and it seems to feed 3" shells from a Surefire magazine just fine. Even the shells that my shotgun mangled trying to feed from the same brand magazines. Not sure what to make of that.

Switch it when he's not looking?