You make a persuasive argument AJ. Anything else you'd recommend swapping out on a Saiga when doing the conversion?
Maybe do something with the muzzle, getting a '74 style brake on there. Although, my Saiga conversion was the 12ga, and that's a different animal. The muzzle is already threaded for chokes etc.
The other thing you
might need is a bullet guide, but I'd wait and see if you really needed it. The bullet guide is just a shelf that noses the round up to make sure it's pointing into the chamber as it feeds. A Saiga just has the rear edge of the trunnion there instead, because the low-cap Saiga mags nose the rounds up enough to not need a standard AK/AKM bullet guide shelf in there.
Many folks with 5.45 Saigas never need them, because the long pointy ogive of the 5.45 bullet means it's already nosing into the chamber by the time the bullet or the case might need to scoot over the guide shelf/ramp to tip it up a bit more.
It's $20 kit, drill bit, tap, screw and bullet guide/shelf included. You supply the hi-temp red Loctite. Seems like 50% of the folks with Saiga 5.45 conversions never needed them. About 45% have 1 failure every 30 rounds or so. About 5% have more failures than that.
There are two kinds of Saiga 5.45 rear trunnions though, one is flat right before the chamber, the other has a shallow curve to it. You just need to be sure you're getting the right one.
http://store.carolinashooterssupply.com/servlet/-strse-604/Saiga-5.45-Bullet-Guide/Detail -OR-
http://store.carolinashooterssupply.com/servlet/-strse-1016/5.45x39-round-bullet-guide/DetailThe rounded trunnion guide has a single mild scoop to it to nose the bullets up from either left or right feed in the mag. The flat one has two curved scoops on it's corners to catch the bullets from the left and right feed positions.
If you did need a bullet guide, that would be the hardest step IMO. Mainly because you'd need to be sure you got the pilot hole into the trunnion shelf started in exactly the right place. (dry fit the bullet guide, and use the hole to mark it) and tapping the very tough steel of the trunnion takes patience. There's no such thing as too much oil, and you need to go slow, no more than 1/4 turn, before backing off to clear the chips of the cut threads. Any further, and you risk snapping off the tap, and if you do, then it's gunsmith time...