Saiga-12 short stroking with #8 shot

The Saiga-12 is a semi automatic 12 ga shotgun. It uses gas tapped from the barrel to push a piston back and cycle the action for each round fired. While not a full automatic (machine gun), you CAN pull the trigger quickly to get rapid fire. That's what I'm attempting to do in this video.
I'm using a rapid fire technique to ATTEMPT to get the gun to fail. It's not bumpfiring, which is even more prone to jamming than this technique is. I'm simply pulling the trigger with the opposite finger quickly. The technique is useless for anything other than making noise and wasting ammo. No real World application really, other than testing the action, magazines and ammo.
The trouble is that sometimes the low power Winchester and Federal # 8 shot you can buy at Wall Mart don't have enough power to reliably kick the bolt back all the way on new Saigas. This can result in a failure to eject (FTE). If the magazine cannot keep up with the speed of the action, you will get a failure to feed (FTF). If the mag spring is too strong and the loads are really weak, the increased drag from the top round in the magazine pressing against the bottom of the bolt can create problems too.
This video shows how using very low power shotgun rounds can sometimes cause problems in semi automatic shotguns, especially new ones. NOTE: when fired from the shoulder, my Saiga-12 will cycle these low power rounds fine. I was ATTEMPTING to make it jam in the video, to illustrate the short stroking phenomenon.

*EDIT (ONE YEAR LATER): THIS WAS A NEW GUN THAT HADN'T BEEN BROKEN IN YET. NOW IT CYCLES EVERYTHING I FEED IT.

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• Saiga
• 12
• shotgun
• FTF
• FTE
• short
• stroking

[IzzyShooter]

Another update....... I've seen others with similar problems report that their Saiga won't reliably cycle "low brass" rounds and conclude (like I did) that Saigas just won't work with low brass. That is not the case, I'm glad to say. There ARE fixes to help with low brass, until your Saiga is broken in: Lower power main springs and recoil springs are 2. Polishing your bolt carrier and hammer interface is another.

[obeyance]

As im sure others have said, Get the gas plug upgrade so you can fine tune your weapon. I have only put 1 box through mine (stock, unmodifed from factory settings). That one box was Independence - 2 3/4in, 1 1/8oz, #8shot (1200fps) and i didnt have a single problem. It could be that the rounds you are using are not hot enough to cycle durring rapid fire, or it could be the rounds you are using are just cold loaded in general.

[IzzyShooter]

I've had the gas plug upgrade for 8 or 9 months now, as I've mentioned below. Now that the Saiga is broken in, I have a really hard time finding something it WON'T cycle.

[IzzyShooter]

Micbaca, I got my adjustable plug from MD Arms. Definitely a must have item. It lets you dial in the gas setting for low recoli birdshot or higher recoiling stuff, like slugs. These shotguns are originally made similar to this in Russia, but in order to export them to the U.S.A. they have to "sporterize" them. Converting them is just restoring them to their original glory. You have to use so many U.S. made parts to be legal though. Not hard to do, since plenty of folks make parts.

[IzzyShooter]

Well, I suppose I should mention that since I posted this video, I've gotten Gunfixer's adjustable gas plug, reduced main and recoil springs and polished the carrier and bolt. Now it cycles pretty much everything. I hadn't found slugs or buckshot that wouldn't cycle in this, even when it was being picky with the lightweight Wal Mart stuff, like in the video. I'm not sure what the cheapest slugs are, but #4 buckshot worked really well in it. See it shooting those in some of my other videos.

[IzzyShooter]

I know all about the gas settings. I recently bought a Gunfixer hand adjustable gas plug though. It has 4 settings vs. the stock 2. The Saiga has 4 ports at .175 diameter each. Standard diamond configuration. Not a "Vodka Special".

[ertatl]

@IzzyShooter Another option that works right out of the box is a TAC 47 Autoplug. Phenomenal piece of equipment! Cycles everything right out of the box. Some have to make a minor adjustment. I didn't have to adjust anything! Search Youtube for videos on it.

[ertatl]

@IzzyShooter Another option that works right out of the box is a TAC 47 Autoplug. Phenomenal piece of equipment! Cycles everything right out of the box. Some have to make a minor adjustment. I didn't have to adjust anything!

[ertatl]

@IzzyShooter Another option that works right out of the box is a TAC 47 Autoplug. Phenomenal piece of equipment!

[RantinAndRavin]

I use #4 high brass birdshot and also #8 low brass birdshot in my converted Saiga 12 and works fine,i also have the twister puck (standard) and the gunfixers gas plug.People have to realize that these guns were made as an "assault shotgun" to shoot heavy load buckshot and slugs..were never offically intended for light loads..not gonna use birdshot in CQB or CQC situations.

[kingjoey1974]

Adjustable gas plugs let you fine-tune the cycling, but it doesn't improve the cycling strength or improve reliability. Our KA-SG01A tappet boosts the cycling strength and will help Saiga-12's run on low-brass 'cannon fodder' bought at Walmart. By the way, use Federal bulk pack whenever possible, it cycles best. Winchester low-brass is crap :(

[kodyman20]

look at all the shell casings on the ground at around 30 seconds into the video