Upgrades to the IZ132 Saiga Rifles

I just received an announcement from Concern Kalashnikov about a number of upgrades to the IZ132 rifle being sold in the United States.

The standard IZ132 rifle is based on the AK-47 pattern rifle and is chambered for the 7.62×39 cartridge.  It is a semi-automatic rifle fed by detachable magazines.  The new upgrade will use an improved polymer stock that has an integrated pistol grip.  The polymer handguard is also updated.  Standard AK-pattern 30-round magazines will work in the gun.

SU2 Upgrade

In addition to the standard upgrade mentioned above, a SU2 upgrade will also be available.  This version of the rifle will use an adjustable, skeletonized stock from CAA.  The rifle will use a pistol grip that has swappable finger grooves and back straps to provide a wide degree of customization in the grip size.  The pistol grip also has a small storage compartment.  It appears to be the CAA UPG47 grip.

The SU2 upgrade should be available in Fall 2014.

SU3 Upgrade

The SU3 upgrade will feature a number of options including a 10-position adjustable CAA stock that has an adjustable height cheek riser.  It will have a pistol grip with size adjustments and a storage compartment.  This rifle will have a Picatinny rail system that gives the shooter mounting points on the handguard (at the 3-, 6-, 9- and 12 o’clock positions) and over the receiver.

According to Concern Kalashnikov, the receiver dust cover can be removed without affecting the rail system.  So, I would expect that a shooter could clean the gun and not worry about any optic that is mounted on the rifle.

Standard double-stack, 30-round AK magazines will run in this rifle.  Expect to see this rifle for sale in early 2015.

RWC Group LLC is the exclusive importer of Concern Kalashnikov products in the United States.  You can visit their site for more information on the Kalashnikov weapons being imported.

Update

There has been some confusion regarding the Concern Kalashnikov sales of Saiga rifles that accept standard AK-47 30 round magazines in the US. Any time you are dealing with imported firearms, 922(r) raises its ugly head. The following is the formal press release from Concern Kalashnikov:

Update 2

I have reached out to Concern Kalashnikov regarding these rifles.  It appears Concern Kalashnikov is exporting standard Saiga IZ132 rifles to the US importer RWC.  Once RWC has them, they are performing the modifications for the rifles to accept the 30-round magazines and adding on the CAA parts.

All of the CAA parts are made in Israel.  I do not claim to be an expert in 922(r), but my understanding is the CAA parts would not help toward compliance since they are not US made.  Concern Kalashnikov states the updated rifles are 922(r) compliant, but did not advise which parts are US made.  I hope the magazines are not included in the US made parts so end users can use imported steel mags legally.