Posted: 7/3/2008 7:01:36 AM EDT
I was having trouble with ftf's with Federal low brass with my Saiga 12 and I did some tweeking to part of the barrel that is ramped for the extractor to ride over which had a really sharp edge. Basically I rounded it/broke the edge. I was also occasionally having stovepipes with the same ammo so I recontoured the hammer to provide less resistance to the bolt carrier. I really didn't want to open the gas ports. I fired 50 federal low brass 1oz load shells through it via rapid fire, and I held it as limply as possible for a 10rd mag with zero failures . I may be kinda anal as it always worked fine with winchester and remington low brass.There's nothing as gratifying as fixing a reliability problem with a gun yourself. |
Yeah, but this "ancient guy" figured out what he was talking about.  ETA - Good for you for fixing it. 
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 Ok I was wrong. I works with federal and remington low brass now 100%. I tried winchester universal (bulk pack) at Lexington last week and today. I don't think it has quite as much powder because the bolt almost feels like it cycles slower with the winchester bulk shells and every now and then it FTF's. I really wanted to avoid opening the gas ports but I guess I'm going to do it now. It'll drive me insane until I get it running with the 3 low brass brands Wally World carries. |
The P22 I have shoots any .22 I run through it, the thing never has given me a problem. |
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I finally figured the issue out. The winchester shells would always catch the lip at the top of the barrel where the rim of shells rests against when chambered. I have a friend with a Saiga as well so I took mine over to his place today to compare ours. On his barrel there is a very defined feed ramp vs mine looks almost non-existent. Basically some brands of shells would hit that area where there should be a ramp on mine and end up getting popped up at a high angle into the barrel. So as much as I cringe doing modifications that can't be reversed really we used a cutting disk as it was about the perfect diameter to make a nice feed ramp. I only cringed because there really is no replacing the barrel for a Saiga. Long story short it works great with all 3 bulk pack brands from Wally World. I did a bunch of 10rd mag dumps without a hitch. They were even ejecting farther now because whenever they would hit that lip area at the top of the barrel I was talking about before the shells would slightly deform making them tighter in the chamber. I know nobody cares probably but I am just proud to have gotten the thing working right. |