Not quite a week ago I finally acquired a Saiga .308. I've been looking for one for over a year at a fair value but never came across one at the right time until now, so this is a long overdue project for me. After all what's not to love about a .308 caliber AK?
Before doing anything to the rifle I took it out it out and shot it with Revolverman and Dcgallim to see if it was even worth investing time and effort into, while the factory trigger on the unconverted .308s is probably the worst I've ever seen (reminded me of an HVLP gun trigger-pull wise) it still shot very well offhand at just over 100 yards with everything from South African to Radway to American Eagle and even some Tula and Silver Bear. So Monday morning I went on www.carolinashooterssupply.com and ordered the first batch of materials to start the project, as per usual Greg had everything shipped that day and it was waiting for me on my doorstep when I got home last night. With the help of Revolverman and his cordless drill (mine fried not long ago) we got started. I didn't think to take any pictures during the conversion process, we were kind of in a race against time, time being his pregnant wife's patience at sitting at my house all night. Accommodating for having to continuously charge the battery on his drill that was dead when he arrived it took just over three hours to do the conversion. The below is the result:
Before:
![]()
After:
![]()
I've done a few of my own Saiga conversions on the 12 gauges I've had but this was my first .308 conversion, it was definitely more difficult. I cut off the tang at the back of the receiver (that part is standard) but also had to drill two holes on either side of the receiver (most of the rifles have those already) to install the receiver block for the stock type I planned to use. This was fairly difficult as it's tricky to measure a stamped receiver to see where to drill by looking at the receiver block, I ended up just making a small stencil on a piece of plastic that worked very well. I also had to drill two holes in the bottom of the receiver to accommodate the trigger guard which I wasn't expecting to have to do, although the cut out for the pistol grip nut was already there which was refreshing as I didn't have to pay extra for a trigger guard with built in nut or cut it myself as I had to do with the 12ga Saigas I've done.
All in all between the conversion kit, JP Enterprise enhance hammer spring (that had to be modified) and two 25 rd magazines I'm only out $270 on the upgrade so far. I'll update the thread once I do the next stage which includes adding the folding mechanism to the stock, moving the front sight base back (removing it's shroud and threading the barrel for a brake), and installing a Galil style vertical operating handle that will be welded on for ease of charging over the top of the receiver. I'm also debating on the weld on G3 style sights. Once all that's done I'll go ahead and cerakote it as well.
Bottom line Saigas are a lot of fun and great rifles even if you don't convert them, but if you do and do it right you'll end up with a hell of a battle rifle able to take whatever you can throw at it. Once this conversion is done I plan to run it hard and perhaps make a torture test video to see that this rifle will take any abuse I can possibly put it through as I would like this to be my go to rifle once it's done.
Before doing anything to the rifle I took it out it out and shot it with Revolverman and Dcgallim to see if it was even worth investing time and effort into, while the factory trigger on the unconverted .308s is probably the worst I've ever seen (reminded me of an HVLP gun trigger-pull wise) it still shot very well offhand at just over 100 yards with everything from South African to Radway to American Eagle and even some Tula and Silver Bear. So Monday morning I went on www.carolinashooterssupply.com and ordered the first batch of materials to start the project, as per usual Greg had everything shipped that day and it was waiting for me on my doorstep when I got home last night. With the help of Revolverman and his cordless drill (mine fried not long ago) we got started. I didn't think to take any pictures during the conversion process, we were kind of in a race against time, time being his pregnant wife's patience at sitting at my house all night. Accommodating for having to continuously charge the battery on his drill that was dead when he arrived it took just over three hours to do the conversion. The below is the result:
Before:
After:
I've done a few of my own Saiga conversions on the 12 gauges I've had but this was my first .308 conversion, it was definitely more difficult. I cut off the tang at the back of the receiver (that part is standard) but also had to drill two holes on either side of the receiver (most of the rifles have those already) to install the receiver block for the stock type I planned to use. This was fairly difficult as it's tricky to measure a stamped receiver to see where to drill by looking at the receiver block, I ended up just making a small stencil on a piece of plastic that worked very well. I also had to drill two holes in the bottom of the receiver to accommodate the trigger guard which I wasn't expecting to have to do, although the cut out for the pistol grip nut was already there which was refreshing as I didn't have to pay extra for a trigger guard with built in nut or cut it myself as I had to do with the 12ga Saigas I've done.
All in all between the conversion kit, JP Enterprise enhance hammer spring (that had to be modified) and two 25 rd magazines I'm only out $270 on the upgrade so far. I'll update the thread once I do the next stage which includes adding the folding mechanism to the stock, moving the front sight base back (removing it's shroud and threading the barrel for a brake), and installing a Galil style vertical operating handle that will be welded on for ease of charging over the top of the receiver. I'm also debating on the weld on G3 style sights. Once all that's done I'll go ahead and cerakote it as well.
Bottom line Saigas are a lot of fun and great rifles even if you don't convert them, but if you do and do it right you'll end up with a hell of a battle rifle able to take whatever you can throw at it. Once this conversion is done I plan to run it hard and perhaps make a torture test video to see that this rifle will take any abuse I can possibly put it through as I would like this to be my go to rifle once it's done.
. It looks awesome!
