Saiga .223 or Mini-14?

[MercyKill]

Looking for practical advice here. Love my AMD 7.62, but, want to shoot .223(a little bit cheaper). Are the Saiga .223's worth a crap or should I aim for the Mini? The Saigas are so much cheaper and i love the AK styling, but don't know about reliability. Anybody with any insight on this?

[jerrymrc]

Might also look for a used SAR-3. And unfired safe queens come up now and then. No, they are not $289 anymore but I have two of them if that is any vote of my liking them.

Both of mine are as accurate as my AR's.

[jreifsch80]

I have yet to hear anyone complain about saiga reliability my vote is saiga and do a conversion complete with a bullet guide that way you can easily use bulgy and east german .223 mags. Though I am a little slanted towards ak platforms

[Great-Kazoo]

Looking for practical advice here. Love my AMD 7.62, but, want to shoot .223(a little bit cheaper). Are the Saiga .223's worth a crap or should I aim for the Mini? The Saigas are so much cheaper and i love the AK styling, but don't know about reliability. Anybody with any insight on this?

what price range were you looking to stay in?

[steveopia]

what price range were you looking to stay in?

This was my first thought too. The Mini will be more expensive initially unless you plan on buying an already converted Saiga. Even if you plan to do the conversion yourself it's still going to drive up the cost. But if you're not going to convert it then money wise the sporter set up Saiga is way more cost effective.

Out of the two I've only shot a Mini 14. I liked it. I suspect that I would like the Saiga really well also because I love me some AK. If it were me I would go Saiga due to cost and opportunity to convert it at a later date. Somewhere I remember reading that they shot very nicely.

[jreifsch80]

Or if you have the budget for it get an ak-106 ;) very very nice rifles basicly a .223 version of russias current military rifle

[zteknik]

i love the mini 14-just like its name its based off the m14 and also the garand but there on the xpensive side i had a stainless ranch back in the 80s i got new for $700 with all the bells and whistles
i havent shopped for one latley but im guessing there over $1500 now-at least for the one i had
and the ruger mags are costly as well-last i saw a ruger 20rdr go for over $55
now the saigas and other 223 aks are fairly cheap to convert or build
your choice on what your budget can handle

[micah360]

I've owned both and the Saiga wins. I do like that NRA version Mini-14 though... it looks good and comes with the factory 20 round mags.

[revor]

I know of a Norinko AKM in .223 for sale, it's a ban gun but with a little time it can be re-fanged.
It will bring a nice Norinko price I'm sure. I have to go look at it again... If it's milled it's mine [Tooth]

[jreifsch80]

There a very nice minty polytech .223 ban rifle that hardly even looks used at a shop here in greeley unfortunatly it's norinco priced so I'd rather buy an ak-106 if I grew a brain tumor and decided to spend that much on an ak, for norinco pricing a guy could get a century tantal and rebarrel it to .223, make a beryl clone and still have enough left over possible to sbr it. Anyway I'm off the original thread. Like I said it's hard to go wrong with a .223 saiga, if you don't like it I'm sure it would be easy to sell.

[gnihcraes]

Mini14's are usually used on the forum for $500-650 range depending on model. I'd shop around for a newer one that has the built in scope mounts. Good shooters, can't go wrong with them that I've ever heard.

[relichunter]

I have a saiga .223. I bought it a month ago for $325 with about $60 of ammo. I love it. I don't know how accurate it is since I have just shot clays out at about 100 yards. My two sons love it too because it has a lot less kick than the 7.62x39. I have a mini 30 too. It is very well made but a little harder to clean and hates aftermarket mags. I paid $525 for it.

[chrisguy]

I've shot both too.

Hard to beat the Mini's Garand-style safety, self cleaning gas system. I also like the stainless version, won't find that option in a Saiga/AK.

The Ruger factory mags are great, and they are more pricey than AK/Saiga mags (unless you're buying US-made SureFires), but they're not commanding the premium they were a couple years ago. $40 direct from Ruger right now, but just $25 from CDNN.

Both are probably of comparable reliability/bomb-proofiness, but I haven't personally tortured either type.

For customizing and accessories, probably a draw... though I prefer using the scope ring mounts built into the current Ranch Rifle receivers over the side-rail/clamp mount thing you'll find on most Saigas. Of course, no compliance parts to worry about on the Ruger, which can also be nice depending on your plans. I wouldn't recommend those scope mounts/rails that are integrated with some aftermarket AK/Saiga dustcovers.

One thing I will note, and maybe Micah or another fan of the AK/Saiga platform can confirm this one way or the other... The Ruger's chamber is somewhat like the .223 Wylde in that it is specifically rated for true NATO 5.56x45 and .223 Rem - says so right in the manual. On the Saiga I've shot, .223 is stamped into the receiver, and I think the box labels said .223 too. I've certainly heard of plenty of folks using 5.56 in their Saigas, but I haven't personally found (or looked for) a reference confirming that NATO-spec pressures are safe in them. I do hope someone here can confirm that, I'd like to know.

FYI there's a sub-forum for the Saiga .223's over at http://forum.saiga-12.com/ ...I'm sure there's more good info there.

That's all I've got. Let us know what you decide, and welcome.

[68Charger]

Hard to beat the Mini's Garand-style safety, self cleaning gas system. I also like the stainless version, won't find that option in a Saiga/AK.

Great post! lots of information there.. this is the only statement I'd take any issue with- I know the barrel and gas piston are chrome plated, and I think the gas block is, too on the Saiga... I believe good hard chrome plating to be more durable than stainless... and not ALL Mini-14s are stainless...

just throwing that out there for consideration.

[cfortune]

I've never shot a mini-14 but I love my Saiga .223 and my Saiga .308!


[M2][M2]

[cfortune]

***Edit***


Had no idea i posted already in here already lol

[TDYRanger]

what about a Golani. Have had a chance to run a couple; they are fun shooters. Lots of cool after market stuff for them; pretty cheap. And has a really high cool factor too [Muaha] Plus, the Saiga is pretty ugly without the conversion to AK coolness. then you are looking at about the same price.

https://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/images/D11/59/59877.jpg

[Daniel_187]

what about a Golani. Have had a chance to run a couple; they are fun shooters. Lots of cool after market stuff for them; pretty cheap. And has a really high cool factor too [Muaha] Plus, the Saiga is pretty ugly without the conversion to AK coolness. then you are looking at about the same price.

https://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/images/D11/59/59877.jpg

+1
I had a mini-14 during the tale end of the ban and it was ok
Pros:
Light
handled well in and out of a truck
mags were cheap kinda

Cons
after 1 or 2 mags it would start having issues, fte, doulble feeds
sights sucked (ranch rifle ones)
mags were hit or miss


Back then too there were not alot of parts for them and the mags really need to have a self leveling follower. the mini is just to much $$ for what it is IMO

[jreifsch80]

Now let's also not forget an hk 93 their in a nice price range if a guy gets one of the century clones that are running for about 500 bucks

[5plusjuan]

what about a Golani. Have had a chance to run a couple; they are fun shooters. Lots of cool after market stuff for them; pretty cheap. And has a really high cool factor too [Muaha] Plus, the Saiga is pretty ugly without the conversion to AK coolness. then you are looking at about the same price.

https://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/images/D11/59/59877.jpg


Does anyone know who in Colorado, Denver specifically, can do the AK Conversion on the Saiga? Cost? I have a 7.62x39 I picked up cheap at a gunshow and would like to do this conversion.

Thanks for the help,
Juan

[micah360]

Does anyone know who in Colorado, Denver specifically, can do the AK Conversion on the Saiga? Cost? I have a 7.62x39 I picked up cheap at a gunshow and would like to do this conversion.

Thanks for the help,
Juan

It's a very easy "do-it-yourself" if you have a drill and a dremel tool.

Here's a step-by-step. There's many more tutorials online too. I've done it myself... it's easy and fun.

http://www.cross-conn.com/Saiga_Conversion/

[5plusjuan]

It's a very easy "do-it-yourself" if you have a drill and a dremel tool.

Here's a step-by-step. There's many more tutorials online too. I've done it myself... it's easy and fun.

http://www.cross-conn.com/Saiga_Conversion/


Did you order the parts seperately or buy the complete kit? I may try to tackle it myself as everyone is stating how easy it is to do. I wouldnt mind paying someone to do it though either if its not too pricey.

Thanks,
Juan

[micah360]

it's probably simplest to buy the all-in-one parts kit. But, I bought all mine separate so I could do it just how I wanted though.