Saiga 12 Failure to Cycle.

[scott8085]

I've been reading a lot of forums regarding Saiga 12ga shotguns and their FTE issues. However, I haven't found anything that particularly addressed my problem. I bought a Saiga a couple weeks ago, took it to a local range and proceeded to shoot a variety of 00, 6, 7 1/2, and 8 shot. Not only did all FTE, but the bolt barely if ever moved. (3 gas ports free and clear)

I believe I did everything correctly: setting the gas selector to 1 for heavy loads and 2 for the light loads, the 6 thru 8 shot was Remington and Federal rounds (min. 1200 FPS), and the 00-shot was Winchester home defense.
I understand the need for a 'break-in period' but the only time the bolt moved was with the 00-shot and that was only due to the blow-back from the round.

I've since took it to a gunsmith who said it fires fine, ticket said he shot 00, no mention of how many rounds and if it actually cycled. Took it back to the range this time with a TAC-47 Auto Plug, bottomed it out and still nothing.

I can't believe something out of the box, on an AK frame would fail so miserably. Am I being too impatient/cheap? If I ship back to the manufacturer, what is the turn around time and how is their service?

If you've read this far, thank you. I would greatly appreciate any advise and insight into my situation.

[awfroadan]

You need to work the gun in with slugs and heavy buck shot. I'd say shoot at least 50+ rounds of slug/buck to break it in. Also polishing the bolt and internals should help out a lot with your issue. I did all this to mine and it now runs federal bulk packs with no issues. Another cheap item to think about is a gasfixer plug. It gives you 4 gas settings to work with. Also make sure you have good mags. Early promag 10 rounders had feed issues, the new ones seem to work fine for me.

[32 Magnum]

Have you checked and thoroughly cleaned the gas cylinder and piston? Many times these problems are caused by shipping oil/ preservative in this area.

[-JD-]

Lubrication?

[scott8085]

Thanks for all the advise! Yes, I've fully cleaned the gun of all shipping and packaging oil, it is dry as a bone except for some miltec oil on the bolt rails. I cleaned the puck best as I could but it had some baked on blackening. It doesn't seem to obstruct the movement/clearance of the puck. Before I try the slug method, I found some information on another forum which may be useful here.

It seems Saiga has/had two productions of their 12ga and 20ga shotguns. One produced 3-gas port barrels and the other 4-gas port barrels. The 3-port configuration should have hole diameters of 0.093" (3/32 drill bit), and the 4-port should be 0.070". It seems 'Ivan' sometimes only drills qty(3) 0.070" gas ports and results in under gassing. I don't have a caliper or micrometer that will fit to measure my gun so I dropped it off with a gunsmith to check it. If it is undersized, he will ship it to the US distributor in Indiana and have it drilled out to spec (this would fall under warranty so I don't expect a bill). I will let you know what happens...hopefully soon!

[-JD-]

Lubrication?

Thanks for all the advise! Yes, I've fully cleaned the gun of all shipping and packaging oil, it is dry as a bone except for some miltec oil on the bolt rails. I cleaned the puck best as I could but it had some baked on blackening. It doesn't seem to obstruct the movement/clearance of the puck. Before I try the slug method, I found some information on another forum which may be useful here.

It seems Saiga has/had two productions of their 12ga and 20ga shotguns. One produced 3-gas port barrels and the other 4-gas port barrels. The 3-port configuration should have hole diameters of 0.093" (3/32 drill bit), and the 4-port should be 0.070". It seems 'Ivan' sometimes only drills qty(3) 0.070" gas ports and results in under gassing. I don't have a caliper or micrometer that will fit to measure my gun so I dropped it off with a gunsmith to check it. If it is undersized, he will ship it to the US distributor in Indiana and have it drilled out to spec (this would fall under warranty so I don't expect a bill). I will let you know what happens...hopefully soon!

Hope your smith works it out. Consider lubing the gas-puck and piston assembly (along with the rails/hammer/bolt ...). Worked instant wonders on a friend's finicky new S-12. I happened to use WeaponShield, but Militec should do the trick too.

[Old Unc']

Seriously, a very common occurrence with such a cheap shotgun...

[crlovel]

Seriously, a very common occurrence with such a cheap shotgun...

Part of me wants to slam you for the tone of your post, but part of me agrees with it, too.

I love my Saiga, it's a great gun, a lot of fun to shoot trap with, and it's a hell of a good deal for what it is. That being said, there is a lot of work that needs to be done to it to turn it into a good and reliable gun. However, all of the necessary work is not overly complex and it's well-documented on the Internet.

OP, check out the Saiga-12 forums, if you haven't already. You will find no better information source than this forum.

[Prof. Chaos]

the trick is to cycle a bunch of magnum loads through the thing. or dont buy a cheap saiga 12 to start with ;P

[JasonK007]

Took it back to the range this time with a TAC-47 Auto Plug, bottomed it out and still nothing.


If you've read this far, thank you. I would greatly appreciate any advise and insight into my situation.

If you bottom out the tac 47 auto plug, the hole in the plug and the hole in the gun prob wont line up. I had to twist mine all the way down, and then back it out 1/4 turn. There's also a puck that you can replace on those guns which help them cycle better. I forget the name, but the site that you bought the auto plug from should have the puck as well..plus they're pretty cheap..around 20.00.

Lastly, my saiga 12 only liked 00 Buck. I would go to Cabellas and get the highest velocity ammo they got. I heard that the break-in period with these guns can be frustrating. Mine was getting better just prior to me selling it. I had put around 200-300 rounds through it. And forget about using Walmart birdshot unless you have your ports opened up. I believe there's a youtube video showing how to do this.