Hey, I saw one at my local gunstore, and have heard mixed reviews on the reliablilty of the shotgun.  But then again, this was coming from someone behidn the counter.

The price isnt too steep, and I have been looking for a new shotgun.  What do you all think of the piece?

I've three of them now. A 20-ga, a 12-ga and a 12-ga PDW that I built with spare AK parts and a lot of legal wrangeling on my own. The only one I've ever had any sort of trouble with was the "PDW" as its 10" barrel is too short to reliably cycle light loads. The full sized 20s and 12s are awesome hunting shotguns, and I even shoot traps with the 12 with a spacer in the magazines. Anyone who said they arnt reliable either hasnt figured out the gas system (its adjustable) or is a moron. Its an AK for pete sakes.

If you go to the forums on the Saiga-12 website (http://forums.saiga-12.com) they can usually answer just about any question you've got about the guns themselves. Just put away any thoughts of putting a pistolgrip and an AK synthetic stock on it unless you want to go the MFR rount I went and declair it a prototype for an LEO gun...

If you ARE an LEO you can get the Saiga-12C which is the tactical version, I believe with a 14"bbl and an AK74 style folding synthetic stock, in addition to the 8rnd magazines.

I've had a lot of problems with my Saiga-12 which have nothing to do with the gas system.

Mebby you got a bum one, I cant realy vouch for the pre-2000 made models, both of mine started out as Military models and then were converted for civie markets (you can tell by the hashed out markings on the reciever) and I've had nary a problem with either of them, and have yet to run into anyone else who's had any sort of major issues besides you.

Like I said, my only complaint is my 10" PDW wont cycle low-impulse rounds.