Russian Saiga rifles, do the new ones accept the reg. AK-47 magazines?

[His lordship.]

I used to own a Russian Saga in 7.62 X 39 years ago, it used a special 10 round magazine that came with the gun.  There were some entrepreneurs who modified the regular AK-47 magazines to fit the Saiga if you wanted something over 10 rounds.  With the changes in time and laws, do the current Saiga rifles take the dime a dozen common AK-47 magazines?

Thanks.

[bdub]

I'm pretty sure modifications still needs to be done for the rifle to reliably use combloc high cap mags.  A good way to accomplish this is to install a bullet guide onto the front trunnion to allow bullets to feed properly from the magazines.  At that point, you might need file on the mag catch because the locking tab on the surplus mags is thicker than the saiga mags.

This way should allow you to pretty much use any AK 47 mag you come across in your journeys.

If one is not interested in doing this, promag, tapco, and surefire make saiga specific mags that have that little bulge on the follower to help the bullets feed.

I have a saiga in X39 that I'm getting ready to convert, which usually means moving the fire control group forward from the "sporter" configuration.  Install a new FCG and then I still need to add the bullet guide.

Be mindful of 922r when you slap a foreign high cap mag in.

[efremtags]

weld a bit of metal on the magazine front, and file it down to shape. I modified 5 mags like this, works without a hitch, Better than modifying the gun. Steel mags are cheap.

[bdub]

Yes what you say works, but how this can be "better than modifying the gun" I fail to understand.


With a bullet guide installed (easy to with electric drill and tap, just google it), and a little filing you now have a rifle that can accept ANY magazine you will probably ever encounter, polish, bulgarian, chinese, russian, on and on.  This I believe is the "better" of the two options.

[efremtags]

you have to modify the bullet feed and magazine release catch. For the average person, thats not as simple as filing some metal off a magazine, not to mention ,  messing up ruins a $10 mag instead of a several hudnered dollar gun.

If you need to use AK magazines so badly, then buy an AK,

[bdub]

Finally converted my saiga, took my time and was careful.  Everything went perfect, and I've never tapped a hole in my life.  I purchased the trigger guard and G2 trigger from Carolina shooter supply.  Got the bullet guide, tap, and drill bit from Dinzag.  Just filed a little metal off the mag catch and my metal com bloc mags, and circle 10 lock up tight.


You can find a little write up about it here: http://forum.saiga-12.com/index.php?/topic/71925-moved-the-fcg-with-simple-tools-very-pleased/


I might not modify the front end at all, it doesn't bother me as much.  Now with the trigger moved forward it is better balanced weapon, and the tapco G2 trigger is many times better that the stock configuration.


I'm convinced the average person SHOULD be able to do this.


Best Regards.