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Posted: 10/7/2025 1:40:57 PM EDT
I bought Saigas back in the day, 7.62’s, .223, 12g., .410. and I wound up with two of the 2006 7.62’s. One with a Y and one without. I’m in the process of “refining” my collection and reaping the rewards of those early investments. I always thought this Y Saiga was special and a premium example. But I don’t see any current discussions of the Chavez/Venezuela order, the marks or the extra Y dimple. I thought I’d ask here since Calguns went to hell and I haven’t been able to log on for years.
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Global Warming Hoax Skeptic before it was cool
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Welcome to Arfcom and the AK Discussion forum. When your post count reached 51 your pics will display normally. At the moment several members have to approve your pics before they display. In the past dirtbags would post gay porn, get locked, start a new account and repeat. It was found that the 50 post rule solved that. So here we are. Sorry have no answer to your question. |
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Shooting and Reloading, one hobby feeds the other.
Shooting and Reloading, one hobby feeds the other.
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I know what the differences are and I know how some hold them sacred. I don’t and I’ll preface with that as I’m a function over form guy. I don’t collect, I shoot. If you’re looking to cash out, you might want to consider waiting. We’re in Trump slump v.2.0 and the retard prices have gone away. It’s a buyer’s market right now. I’m not sure about your area since I ignore all things slave-state-centric. |
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the problem is that yes, they're special, because they're not imported anymore, but if they're not converted, the premium isn't there. The parts have almost dried up, and there's a lot of examples out there that are converted (and by converted I mean using all the right parts, ie side folders, bayo lugs, holes welded up, and rifle refinished) that are asking a premium and no one is buying. The market has positioned itself into a corner of rarity and expense that the casual AK collector won't buy at. That being said, if you bought back in the $300 days for a SAIGA, you'll still reap a profit. I've seen some unconverted sit and not sell at the 1k mark, and I've seen others sell at 1200, just depends on who's looking when you post. I'm always looking for a good one at the right price (unconverted) because I'm still sitting on at least 1 to 2 rifles worth of conversion parts. I don't know how many others are though. I also do my own conversions which brings me to my next point. At some point as the parts and rifles dried up I noticed that these places that offer conversions started asking more and more for the job. It's to the point that if you want it done, you pay a premium for the unconverted rifle, scrounge for parts and pay a premium for those, and then pay a premium for the conversion and end up with a 2.5k AK anyway. I'm sure it's worth it to those who have the time an $ to spend on it who missed the salad days and have an itch to scratch. This is just my 2 cents anyway. |
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Originally Posted By nictra: the problem is that yes, they're special, because they're not imported anymore, but if they're not converted, the premium isn't there. The parts have almost dried up, and there's a lot of examples out there that are converted (and by converted I mean using all the right parts, ie side folders, bayo lugs, holes welded up, and rifle refinished) that are asking a premium and no one is buying. The market has positioned itself into a corner of rarity and expense that the casual AK collector won't buy at. That being said, if you bought back in the $300 days for a SAIGA, you'll still reap a profit. I've seen some unconverted sit and not sell at the 1k mark, and I've seen others sell at 1200, just depends on who's looking when you post. I'm always looking for a good one at the right price (unconverted) because I'm still sitting on at least 1 to 2 rifles worth of conversion parts. I don't know how many others are though. I also do my own conversions which brings me to my next point. At some point as the parts and rifles dried up I noticed that these places that offer conversions started asking more and more for the job. It's to the point that if you want it done, you pay a premium for the unconverted rifle, scrounge for parts and pay a premium for those, and then pay a premium for the conversion and end up with a 2.5k AK anyway. I'm sure it's worth it to those who have the time an $ to spend on it who missed the salad days and have an itch to scratch. This is just my 2 cents anyway. The good news is that there are a few companies making the parts that you'd want to throw into a conversion - trigger guards/mag catch, gas blocks, sight blocks, folding stocks and rear trunnions. The bad news, they aren't genuine Euro parts, the source is unknown (Indian MIM? Taiwanese airsoft parts?), and dimensions aren't guaranteed. Recently I purchased new 74 gas block and FSB from AoA. The FSB slipped right over the barrel journal on the barrel I have. So one or another will need to be knurled. I haven't taken calipers to them yet to see which one is actually out of spec. |
Global Warming Hoax Skeptic before it was cool
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Originally Posted By Duckboots: I bought Saigas back in the day, 7.62's, .223, 12g., .410. and I wound up with two of the 2006 7.62's. One with a Y and one without. I'm in the process of "refining" my collection and reaping the rewards of those early investments. I always thought this Y Saiga was special and a premium example. But I don't see any current discussions of the Chavez/Venezuela order, the marks or the extra Y dimple. I thought I'd ask here since Calguns went to hell and I haven't been able to log on for years. https://imgur.com/a/iZqQlfc Give it time for members to approve them, then they will display. |
Selling agent for Algores carbon credit scam.
Shooting and Reloading, one hobby feeds the other.
Shooting and Reloading, one hobby feeds the other.
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I can see the pic. Just right click the broken link and open image in new tab. I don’t think Saiga buyers care as much about the Y stamp as they do about mag well dimples. The non dimpled/slab side Saigas are sort of seen as a little less valuable. I believe all the dimpled Saigas also have the Y stamp, but not sure. My dimpled .223 also has the Y stamp. Unless you were going to convert to full auto it wouldn't really matter. I remember when a bunch of Saigas got imported and sold with the third pin holes drilled and blocked off with a rivet. ATF went after those and demanded that the buyers return them. I always wondered if those receivers also had the rail cut for the sear trip. |
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| Thanks for the welcome and the pic info. I was feeling technically challenged after painfully reactivating an ancient Imgur account and posting to get a url, and still failing to post pic here. Glad to know that it is because I’m on probation and not a consequence of my Luddite tendencies. |
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I’m not sure about my area, either. For a long time every shooter in the state belonged to the same California forum. Great discussions, very hot private marketplace, just a great community. But the website started falling apart a while back, three to four years ago, and only works about 25% of the time now. If I were a conspiracy theorist… And I just don’t feel comfortable with the large online marketplace sites. Not with a lot of the info I see there or the process. I’m more of a meet in person, look as closely as you like, cash on the barrel head type. Of course, I might get over myself if I could get someone to pay those retard prices. |
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Now I’m laughing at myself thinking about explaining to my family. “Yes, I had every intention of freeing up some space and equity by selling some of it. But it turns out to make more sense to do the conversion that a buyer would be doing anyway. Oh, what’s that? No, I can’t do it with any of the 20,000 parts I already have. Those are for other conversions, repairs, upgrades and builds that are still on the to do list. I need new and different parts for this.” What’s even funnier is that I could talk myself into it pretty easily. |
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Originally Posted By mancat: I still have the manual and Izhmash proof sheet that came with mine https://i.redd.it/f1ndhtfh6gq61.jpg Nice! Maybe I should send mine to you, that looks bada**.
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Originally Posted By mancat: I can see the pic. Just right click the broken link and open image in new tab. I don't think Saiga buyers care as much about the Y stamp as they do about mag well dimples. The non dimpled/slab side Saigas are sort of seen as a little less valuable. I believe all the dimpled Saigas also have the Y stamp, but not sure. My dimpled .223 also has the Y stamp. Unless you were going to convert to full auto it wouldn't really matter. I remember when a bunch of Saigas got imported and sold with the third pin holes drilled and blocked off with a rivet. ATF went after those and demanded that the buyers return them. I always wondered if those receivers also had the rail cut for the sear trip. I had this one years ago that I converted. I'm not 100% sure if I recall correctly, but I think these were supposed to be training rifles for students or something?    |
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Originally Posted By nictra: I bought a 5.45 VEPR that I converted to an RPK-74M that had the rail cut for auto sear. I thought it was neat. I had this one years ago that I converted. I'm not 100% sure if I recall correctly, but I think these were supposed to be training rifles for students or something? https://i.imgur.com/l8Y7h8D.jpeg https://i.imgur.com/VK2fxyD.jpeg https://i.imgur.com/Uzl0Fw8.jpeg Originally Posted By nictra: Originally Posted By mancat: I can see the pic. Just right click the broken link and open image in new tab. I don't think Saiga buyers care as much about the Y stamp as they do about mag well dimples. The non dimpled/slab side Saigas are sort of seen as a little less valuable. I believe all the dimpled Saigas also have the Y stamp, but not sure. My dimpled .223 also has the Y stamp. Unless you were going to convert to full auto it wouldn't really matter. I remember when a bunch of Saigas got imported and sold with the third pin holes drilled and blocked off with a rivet. ATF went after those and demanded that the buyers return them. I always wondered if those receivers also had the rail cut for the sear trip. I had this one years ago that I converted. I'm not 100% sure if I recall correctly, but I think these were supposed to be training rifles for students or something? https://i.imgur.com/l8Y7h8D.jpeg https://i.imgur.com/VK2fxyD.jpeg https://i.imgur.com/Uzl0Fw8.jpeg I don’t think I ever saw a definitive claim as to why some Saigas had various obliterated roll marks or acceptance marks. You'd think the Russians would've just sold them as-is. |
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Originally Posted By mancat: I don’t think I ever saw a definitive claim as to why some Saigas had various obliterated roll marks or acceptance marks. You'd think the Russians would've just sold them as-is. Some of those were Saiga-12's that were originally intended to be imported by EAA, but were then marked out and remarked for import by Russian American Armory. Tony |
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Originally Posted By nictra: I bought a 5.45 VEPR that I converted to an RPK-74M that had the rail cut for auto sear. I thought it was neat. I had this one years ago that I converted. I'm not 100% sure if I recall correctly, but I think these were supposed to be training rifles for students or something? https://i.imgur.com/l8Y7h8D.jpeg https://i.imgur.com/VK2fxyD.jpeg https://i.imgur.com/Uzl0Fw8.jpeg |
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Originally Posted By TonyRumore: Some of those were Saiga-12's that were originally intended to be imported by EAA, but were then marked out and remarked for import by Russian American Armory. Tony Originally Posted By TonyRumore: Originally Posted By mancat: I don’t think I ever saw a definitive claim as to why some Saigas had various obliterated roll marks or acceptance marks. You'd think the Russians would've just sold them as-is. Some of those were Saiga-12's that were originally intended to be imported by EAA, but were then marked out and remarked for import by Russian American Armory. Tony I believe my 223 saiga with the "velcro" mark is RAA imported. |
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You guys paid $300 for Saigas? Ha- you got hosed! $200 all day for me on used ones. Just wish I had bought a few more examples…. Not sure that the Y stamp adds any real value to someone like me, but it might add some to a person trying to clone a 100 series. Mine mainly got just the back end conversion done, as cheaply as possible back in the day- Bugarian ‘74 trigger guard and stock. Hell I made a feed ramp out of steel pipe for one of them. (Works great). Add a few US parts and viola! Then we banned everything coming out of Russia…otherwise Saigas would still be available and cheap to purchase… |
a loaded gun won’t set you free, so you say…
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