Pennsylvania Firearm Owners Association
Results 1 to 4 of 4
  1. #1
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Location
    York, Pennsylvania
    (York County)
    Posts
    56
    Rep Power
    24

    Default First time out with Saiga

    Awhile back I bought a Saiga .308. Nice looking heavy battle rifle with wood furniture and the longer barrel option. I got it home, took it apart and cleaned it (marveling at the simple and intuitive design), slapped it back together and that was that. Sure I obviously meant to go shoot it right away but then suddenly the house needed work and something else happened and little by little I had owned my rifle for months and never shot it.

    Well the other day I had the opportunity to trade some day labor for a friend in exchange for him taking me to freedom armory on his bill. He was there to shoot pistols but I can do that any time, its a rifle range I lack access to. Well its only 50 yards but here was a chance for me to shoot my saiga finally.

    Wow. what a great gun. If anyone is considering one, my advice is do it. Now when I was there, the range was freezing cold and I wasn't shooting with ideal equipment. My ammo was russian made brown bear i had picked up cheap at a show (fine for a russian rifle!) and my shooting rest was my range bag. none the less i managed to keep all 50 shots on an 8" circle with the standard iron sights (which were almost invisible at the range). The recoil from the gun is negligible as .308 is pretty soft shooting and especially so in a semi. When I took my time the rifle did what I asked, invisible front pin or not. Now this was only at 50 yards but I had heard so many "AKs aren't accurate riflle" stories over the years I didn't know what to expect. No worries, its combat accurate and two shots managed to blow out the bullseye. I had one FTF that worked the second time and no FTE.

    In the future I wouldnt mind maybe doing the trigger/pistol grip conversion and dressing it up a little but even if I don't its a great fun supposedly dependable rifle. Big bang for the buck factor. Shame I can't use it to hunt in PA, I'd like to see what I could do with it with a decent scope and some better ammo. On the other hand, it weighs a ton so maybe slopping through the woods with it isnt such a great idea!
    Those who beat their swords into plough shares shall plough for those who don't

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    Sining Spring, Pennsylvania
    (Berks County)
    Age
    55
    Posts
    412
    Rep Power
    27198

    Default Re: First time out with Saiga

    Quote Originally Posted by culpepermm View Post
    Awhile back I bought a Saiga .308. Nice looking heavy battle rifle with wood furniture and the longer barrel option. I got it home, took it apart and cleaned it (marveling at the simple and intuitive design), slapped it back together and that was that. Sure I obviously meant to go shoot it right away but then suddenly the house needed work and something else happened and little by little I had owned my rifle for months and never shot it.

    Well the other day I had the opportunity to trade some day labor for a friend in exchange for him taking me to freedom armory on his bill. He was there to shoot pistols but I can do that any time, its a rifle range I lack access to. Well its only 50 yards but here was a chance for me to shoot my saiga finally.

    Wow. what a great gun. If anyone is considering one, my advice is do it. Now when I was there, the range was freezing cold and I wasn't shooting with ideal equipment. My ammo was russian made brown bear i had picked up cheap at a show (fine for a russian rifle!) and my shooting rest was my range bag. none the less i managed to keep all 50 shots on an 8" circle with the standard iron sights (which were almost invisible at the range). The recoil from the gun is negligible as .308 is pretty soft shooting and especially so in a semi. When I took my time the rifle did what I asked, invisible front pin or not. Now this was only at 50 yards but I had heard so many "AKs aren't accurate riflle" stories over the years I didn't know what to expect. No worries, its combat accurate and two shots managed to blow out the bullseye. I had one FTF that worked the second time and no FTE.

    In the future I wouldnt mind maybe doing the trigger/pistol grip conversion and dressing it up a little but even if I don't its a great fun supposedly dependable rifle. Big bang for the buck factor. Shame I can't use it to hunt in PA, I'd like to see what I could do with it with a decent scope and some better ammo. On the other hand, it weighs a ton so maybe slopping through the woods with it isnt such a great idea!
    Excellent report! It mimics my experience with my Saiga in 7.62 that I just got two weeks ago! I took mine out to 100 yards and just put the front pin on target (from what I could see) and put 10 rounds on each of 2 targets. I got 2 bulls eyes on each target!!! Amazing from an AK like you had said.

    I just did the conversion yesterday....and it was really easy to do. It cost about $70 in parts.

    Amazing rifle for an amazing price (I paid just $350)....

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    Henryville, Pennsylvania
    (Monroe County)
    Posts
    1,692
    Rep Power
    215831

    Default Re: First time out with Saiga

    I love my Saiga conversion. Great rifle for a great price.
    If you do decide to mount optics the side mount is great. You can get Russian optics that have a built in mount or a quick release mount with weaver rail.
    I keep a 1-4 scope on mine but when at the range it takes a second to dismount and I can shoot half my rounds with optics and the other half with irons.
    If you want to improve the iron sights I have heard good things about Tech-Sights who makes a rear mounted peep sight that unlike the others mounted by the dust cover does not move.
    To improve my front post sight, after zeroing the rifle I painted the post facing me with glow paint. During the day it's a nice green and the lower the light the more it glows like a night sight. I actually have this on all my rifles.

    Enjoy, and make time for your rifle because they have feelings to.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    Greensburg, Pennsylvania
    (Westmoreland County)
    Posts
    1,706
    Rep Power
    8133

    Default Re: First time out with Saiga

    Thanks for sharing. Congrats on a good shooter.

Similar Threads

  1. Saiga .223
    By waldrake in forum General
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: April 7th, 2009, 11:46 PM
  2. I'm looking for a Saiga 4.10
    By TTR in forum General
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: January 2nd, 2009, 12:45 PM
  3. Replies: 0
    Last Post: February 20th, 2008, 01:06 PM
  4. Replies: 4
    Last Post: January 16th, 2008, 07:06 PM
  5. Homeowner: No time to think, only time to shoot
    By WhiteFeather in forum General
    Replies: 7
    Last Post: November 15th, 2007, 03:23 PM

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •