Help with AK ID?

Sorry I hit send too early! I’m new to the forum but not AKs I have an early Maadi, the one without the “paint job”. My buddy bought a RAA marked Saiga (all marks are izhmash) but it has an 08 date, slant gas block( never seen somebody go through the trouble on a Saiga), has been converted to pistol grip w/ G2 trigger the trigger guard was done with rivets (never seen that before either) but there is no bullet guide installed. It had a 30 round slab side Bakelite modified mag.
I’m pretty sure the dude he bought it from was an idiot because of the deal he got but the work was done by somebody who knew what they were doing.
I know about the import limitations and 922r, but has anyone ever heard of a shop doing all the hard work but leaving layman’s work incomplete?

Aren't there some Saiga 30rd mags that have the bullet guide built in to them so you wouldn't need one in the rifle? Perhaps that was what the original owner was using. Perhaps the last owner didn't know about them and was using a regular AK mag with no success, so that's why he sold it at such a good deal. Regardless, install the bullet guide and get that baby running right.

I know that there are “bullet guide” mags but the confounding thing is that I thought RAA lost their import license with Izhmash way before 08. Even when they did have it, NOBODY rivets a trigger guard and the threads for the slant brake look factory (like still has park on the threads and crown on the barrel). Is this a WASR barrel on a Saiga reciever? Does the barrel have different markings somewhere other than below the rear sight? It is an enigma to me because none of the dates and or features match up with what I know and have read.