I decided to pull the trigger on an SGL31 in 5.45x39 and have to say I am one happy mofo right now. After years of enjoying the hell out of my Bulgarian SLR105 I've been dying for a real Russian 5.45 to come on the market and was excited last year to hear that sporter Saiga's were probably going to finally be available. I had a lot of fun converting my 7.62 Saiga and was looking forward to getting my hands on a 5.45, but then lo and behold Arsenal gets into the game with the SGL20's. I held my breath and sure enough they managed to get their hands on the SGL31 all nice and done up as an AK74 with all the work already done. Pretty much killed any desire I had to convert another because by the time you get it to the same configuration you are already at or more than the cost of buying one already built that way, so to me this was a no brainer.
Needless to say I am more than impressed to havethe SGL31, but two things immediately surfaced when I brought it home earlier this week...a badly canted FSB and two different areas of the finish that were flaking. The FSB was a relatively easy fix by tapping it back into more or less true with a nice rubber mallet and the finish areas are actually so small as to not be noticable unless you are really looking. For the price naturally we all expect the perfect rifle but coming from Arsenal doesn't surprise me and honestly doesn't bother me either. I'm one who doesn't mind putting in a bit of work to get something as authentic as an SGL31 into perfect shape and I actually went into the buy prepared to get exactly what I ended up getting. The test target showed a decent group so the cant isn't as bad as it looks, and after tapping in into place it seemed to shoot pretty well.
Aside from those two glaring oversights on their part, I can say that this is the nicest Saiga or Arsenal finish I've ever seen out of the box. Between my friends and I I've seen 8+ Saiga 7.62's, 5+ S12's, 3+ 308's and a 223, plus half a dozen SLR105's, 106's and 107's. I'm not sure what is different about the paint but there is definately something different and it's nicer than all the rest. Like any Saiga or Arsenal I doubt it's really tough but it sure does look nice in person, so that was a pleasant surprise, flakey patches and all. This is also the stiffest and most stubbornly put together AK I've ever seen also...everything except the bolt carrier is tight and difficult to move. Top cover is hard to get off, the gas tube retainer felt like it was welded in place and the HG retainer needed some taps from the mallet to break free. No complaints at all but this SGL has the most 'new AK' feeling I've ever encountered. It also has the legendary Arsenal injection molded trigger which I have to say is the most horribly gritty trigger I've ever shot. If you're considering getting one be sure to order a G2 trigger and save yourself the unpleasant experience of the Arsenal one. It effin sucks - no if's, and's or but's.
At the range I didn't have time to run it through it's paces or shoot for groups, but I did put a couple mags just to test function and all is good, as expected. Next week I'll take some time to see what kind of groups it can get but today I was busy helping a friend zero his new Tiger.
Here she is in all her plum glory, though I am going to switch to 74 laminate as her permanent look after I get some in. Also had to use a shiny plum instead of the plum that came with the set, the color match was way off.
Compliance parts are Arsenal FCG, brake, US floor plate and follower.
And I'm done buying guns, really
Z