Arsenal Saigas

The other day at the gunstore I looked at a new Arsenal Saiga in 7.62 x 39. It cost about $1250. For those of you that don't want to convert your own Saigas, this is an option. And you can have your stock Saiga for spare parts.

SGL20, got mine for $950

The Arsenal Saiga is quite a bit different from the Saigas that have been imported for years.

Converted Saigas (non-Arsenal) were running $649 before the big "o" rush.

The Arsenal Saiga is quite a bit different from the Saigas that have been imported for years.

Converted Saigas (non-Arsenal) were running $649 before the big "o" rush.

Arsenal advertises the Arsenal Saiga's as being built by the "custom shop" and containing more mil spec parts than the stock Saiga's. Any truth to this?

Arsenal advertises the Arsenal Saiga's as being built by the "custom shop" and containing more mil spec parts than the stock Saiga's. Any truth to this?
The only major difference is the trunnion has the Izhmash arrow-in-triangle arsenal mark (Which is better than viagra to some hardcore AK freaks). Military type handguards and front side block are installed, as well.

Aside from that, there are no more milspec parts than in any other Saiga.

I handled one at another gun shop yesterday. It had an Arsenal '10' mag in it, which means they can use conventional AK mags and are not restricted to using Saiga mags. Looking at Arsenal's site, this seems to be right, as they say all of their rifles take regular AK mags. I'm not sure how this is accomplished.

its done by putting a bullet ramp guide in the rifle, K-VAR sells them for different calibers. any good gunsmith could do a total conversion ( furniture, trigger group, gas piston and other items ) in about 4-5 hours but how many would want to.

its done by putting a bullet ramp guide in the rifle, K-VAR sells them for different calibers. any good gunsmith could do a total conversion ( furniture, trigger group, gas piston and other items ) in about 4-5 hours but how many would want to.
Not sure what rock you've been hiding under, but ordinary folks have been doing their own Saiga conversions for years.

Paying a gunsmith to convert a Saiga is a waste of cash, imho (it is that easy).


P.S. Converting a Saiga shotgun is even easier, as there's not bullet guide or mag well work involved. Please don't pay a gunsmith.

aint hiding under no rock, hell if a Pa redneck like me and a friend can do it in a few hours with a Saiga .223 its not hard.
my point is a lot of people wont so the reference to a gunsmith for those that don't work well with hand tools, but a lot of smiths wont do these kind of weapons.
mine was done over a year ago when the rifles where still cheap, i have about 520-530 in mine with all the necessary U.S. parts.

I have one of the arsenal saigas. I like the gun.

The bullet guide is different than those used in my other AKs. It seems to work ok.

Thx-Ace

The bullet guide is different because thats the new way Izhmash makes them now, the rivet that pokes thru into the breech area is now what starts the bolt to close , it used to be a ramp that was part of the bullet guide . I have one of these and I very very much LOVE this weapon , I made one of my AKMs look similiar to a AK-103 with the modern furniture and a adapterd muzzlebrake and installing a optics rail when I built it , but it was not a 103 ,I was obsessed with having one , and tried to get a Arsenal 107fr but that was after the election and the price ,if my dealer could find one, went past what was realistic amount to pay , the nwhen the SGL-20 came along the $850 price tag was acceptable ,though way to much for a piece of metal and plastic, I couldnt pass it up .IT IS real russian with bulgarian mill spec front sight , trigger guard with the scallop on the base, the reciever has dimples and less markings than a regular saiga ,and a MILITARY BARREL that dont deform the fired cases and the bump in the receiver next to the trigger. it dont have the folding stock , I might put one on but I think I will leave it alone . if I put a red dot on it , I couldnt fold the stock anyway , I am now carrying this weapon around my property ,( many acres ,heavily wooded ) instead of the other Kalashnikovs that ,doing this has worn thier finnishes down like battlefield pickups , I am sure this SGL-20 will end up looking the same way ,I cant put it down its always with me and the accuracy equals my nieghbors AR-15 heavybarrel . how nice is that.

You can do a conversion yourself, no problem, but ONLY if you are handy with basic tools. If not, your conversion could end up like this......and I have seen plenty come in the shop that were as bad or worse. I had to weld it all up and start over. (second pic.)

Tony Rumore
Tromix Corp

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l246/TonyRumore/Butchered.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l246/TonyRumore/Butchered2.jpg

The thing about the non arsenal saigas is, there is no magazine dimple , and I am not sure but they dont have the Izhmash arrow in triangle mark . These things dont make it less of a weapon, but I dont want one without them . I would have converted a saiga long ago IF they had them all along . I hear that a dimpled saiga came along once in awhile, but now you can get it already converted with all of the neccessary details except folding stock ! So you could say the Arsenal Saiga is more correct than before , not correct , but more correct.

.223 saiga's with out the dimple do have izhmash proofs on the left side of the reciever, triangle with arrow pointing up is there along with being marked in english ( made by izhmash ).

I am new to this, so I apologize ahead of time!

I just bought a new Saiga for $500 and don't want to convert it, since I live in Red CA. But I like to use AK mags and read up on the conversion for that: Install ramp and mod the Magazines, np there.
My question would be, once you converted the mags to fir the Saiga, can you still use them in the AK?
Or can I build a lower with the trigger still back (Saiga style) but make it accept regular AK mags?