I dunno, plastic receivers on a shotgun don't really do it for me. Tromix is supposed to be coming out with an aluminum lower for the Akdal in a few weeks that may be the hot setup. From what I've seen, people wind up fiddling with them at least as much as I have with my Saiga to make them into something that you'd really want to have.Aglifter wrote:I like the 26" OAL, but I for hot about Akdals-Saigas can be tricky according to a 3 gun smith I shoot with. (The tolerances really varied, the Akdals are made on a modern CNC line...
The issues with the Saigas are twofold. First, as I understand it, the Russians don't have the same kinds of shotgun ammo that we have over here. Theirs tends toward full power combat and hunting loads, while we have ammo that runs the gamut between the heavy loads, and super light trap loads. People who try to run the light (cheap) ammo in a Saiga tend to run into cycling problems.
Second, the Russian QC has been somewhat spotty, particularly when Izhmash was going through their financial problems. According to what I have read, the current production shotguns starting a couple years ago are much more consistent, and the quality issues with insufficient and improperly located gas ports are mostly under control. At the same time, it must be noted that the vast majority of the "bad" and "undergassed" Saigas would still function just fine with the full power ammunition that they are meant to be used with. Again, it is the guys who want to run light trap loads on the cheap who have most of the problems.
As for mine and AlaskaTRX's, they are both 2009 production guns IIRC, and both run fine with buckshot, slugs, and standard trap loads like these. The lighter, "handicap" version of those shells, not so much. I get some jams with those. I'm eventually going to drill another gas port in the barrels, but it's not been a huge priority. You have to be careful not to overdo it, because an overgassed gun will beat itself apart.
