Saiga .223 questions

I am looking into getting a Saiga in .223. Are the Saigas OK with 5.56 NATO or do you need to stick with .223 loadings.

Also, somewhere I saw on the 7.62x39 Saigas the chamber is cut to expand part of the mouth of the cartridge for identification purposes, is the .223 version made the same way?

Thanks, -greg

They are manufactured for 5.56x45 NATO ammunition. They're marked ".223 Remington" to appear more 'sporting', dontchaknow. . .

The .223 Saiga does not mark the cartridges in any way (other than banging the sh** out of 'em upon ejection)

Excellent nalioth, just what I wanted to know.
Thanks, -greg

Some 223 Saiga's mark the case in the case head by a raised stepped circle in the bolt face. This can be tough reloading properly. It may not be a problem but if you have a choice look at the bolt face before buying.

+1 to allesennogwat ! The raised area around the firing pin leaves a distinguishable dent in the area around the primer. I have reloaded but you have to pay some attention to the primer pocket area and chamfer out the primer pocket just a bit for the new primer to go in. Even at that, it is still a bugger sometimes. If you don't reload, don't worry about it too much.

BTW, also go visit the forums at http://forum.saiga-12.com as they have a specific section just for the .223 shooters, as well as ones for the other calibers.

Humm, interesting reading over on the other site. Since I do reload .223 I may need to think about whether or not I want a Saiga. I have a couple of Romy G's and I like them, and since I sold my mini 14 last year and still have a lot of ammo I was wanting/needing another auto loading .223 and thought the Saiga would fill the bill.
Thanks for giving me a lot to think about!
-greg