JonWienke

Most illuminated optics (red dots and scopes) will exhibit some kind ot artifacting if the reticle brightness is turned up unnecessarily high. In most cases, you can turn down the brightness and find an illumination level where the reticle is visible but the artifact is not. Try turning down the brightness before assuming the the unit is defective.

I checked my Eotech, and it shows no signs of the alleged defect. I zeroed the iron sights to it indoors with the Eotech at room temp, then rechecked the zero after the unit had been exposed to 32F weather for about an hour. No noticeable zero drift. Obviously, some units are defective, but if yours is not, why go through the hassle of returning a perfectly good sight? It's not that hard to check if zero changes with temp if you have co-witnessed irons.

jsesurplus.com is also a good resource. A few months ago I picked up some "gunsmith special" carbine barrels for $5 each. 2 of them had broken index pins, and 2 had gas ports mis-drilled. The broken index pins were easily replaced, and I fabricated a slightly-longer-than-standard gas tube for one of the barrels with mis-drilled gas port. The other barrel will probably have to be cut down and repurposed as a pistol barrel. But even it it's a total loss, 3 decent barrels for $20 and some tinkering is unbeatable deal.

You read wrong. The Saiga-12 mags won't work with VEPR-style automatic LAST ROUND bolt hold opens, but they work fine with the factory manual bolt hold open.

midwayusa.com brownells.com cheaperthandirt.com amazon.com (not a great selection, but you can find some good deals--one vender is selling .300 Blackout barrels for ~$100 and they are decent) blackthorneproducts.com (they have a polymer upper receiver that's worth checking out if you want to make a lightweight carbine or pistol build) eparmory.com (polymer 80% lowers good for lightweight/pistol builds, as well as aluminum 80% lowers) I've used others, but that's the main ones I can think of offhand.

It's fugly, but it serves the purpose. If it helps get the NFA repealed (at least the stupid SBR/SBS parts) it's well worth the fugly.

I got a Black Aces Tactical rail/handguard. It attaches to the optics mount on the side of the receiver, and clamps around the barrel just ahead of the trunnion. It's a free-float handguard so it stays cool even when the barrel is way too hot to touch, and the 2-point mount design makes it very rigid.

Lube it with Remington 40-X Bore cleaner (available at Wal-Mart). It's a light oil with a fine-grit abrasive suspended in it. I would never use it as a bore cleaner (because it contains an abrasive), but it works great for smoothing out rough mechanisms. Lube it good with 40-X, operate the mechanism until it smooths out, and then clean it thoroughly to remove all traces of the 40-X. This also works great for breaking in firearm actions--lube with 40-X, hand-cycle or fire 20-50 rounds, then detail-strip and clean thoroughly. It smooths things out without burning through a crapload of ammo.

Forward assists are usually aluminum.

The real problem is that most of the "moderate" muslims who won't commit violence themselves will sit by in silence while the jihadis commit murder, rape, and mayhem. Even if most of the muslims you let in aren't terrorists, they will be the ecosystem that supports jihadis before a terrorist incident, and harbors the fugitives after one. The percentage who will actually rat out the jihadis beforehand is pretty small.

Only if yoou're tossing a salad with a bear trap.

They will do that for gays and muslims, but not Christians. Double standards much? And what happened to the first amendment?

I decided to go mainly with Winchester Super-X 2.75" #1 16-pellet. I have some other Super-X in 2.75" #4 27 pellet, and 3" #1 24 pellet, and they have held up reasonably well to deformation and hand-cycling through the Saiga. Winchester welds the crimp shut as opposed to Remington's glue that seems kind of fragile, especially with older shells. I will pick up some of the Hornady #4 though.

Being a pussy isn't a bad thing, if you're on the wrong side of the issue to begin with.

This. The Hogue rear grip on my gun is more vertical than some, and shooting is comfortable even with the stock fully retracted.

The reason I prefer #1 or 00 over #4 is that they penetrate better when the perp is wearing heavy clothing or is extra-large, or is only partially exposed behind a door or wall. I just got 3' of snow, so heavy clothing is a pretty likely scenario for me. YMMV.

I found these on Amazon. They hold 5 of the CSSPECS 8-round mags just about perfectly.

Like most Saiga owners, I've noticed the deformation of the front of the top round in the magazine when stored in the gun with the bolt closed. I have some Remington #1 buck rounds where this has resulted in the crimp sealant failing (in some cases just from hand-cycling rounds through the gun), and the buffering material (fine white plastic powder) leaking out the front of the round and getting into the magazine and action and creating a lot of unnecessary fouling. I'm interested in others' experience with and input on brands of #1 or 00 buckshot ammo that 1. Resist deformation (m

I don't find it uncomfortable, nor does it cause me any problems manipulating the trigger.

Wrong on both counts, at least with the gun set up as shown. Having the mass of the gun closer to your body means you can get it on target quicker, and transition from target to target with less overshoot. With the stock extended too far, you have to lean backward a little bit to avoid tipping over forward when leaning into the gun to properly manage recoil. With a shorter stock, you can "lean in" to the gun more and still be balanced, and recoil pushes you off-target less, and you can get faster follow-up shots if necessary. You just don't want to be so short that something bashes you in

I'm 6"1". What are you asking about springy?

I want to see the officers' body camera video of the traffic stop.

Only if you limit yourself to factory sights. Right-side folders will not work if you you have a riser on the stock high enough to use an Eotech or similar optic with a decent cheek weld, which requires about a 1" riser. The riser and the charging handle will interfere. I was using this stock setup with the stock in the fully retracted position.

Here's mine:

I'm not a fan of the folding stock on the Saiga-12. I had one, and ended up removing it and going with a standard M4 adjustable length stock. 2 reasons: 1. The hinge of the folding mechanism is on the left side if you get a left-hand folder (pretty much mandatory if you want to be able to cycle the bolt or fire the gun with the stock folded). Having the hinge bash you in the face while shooting 3" magnums sucks. A lot. 2. The Saiga is a bit on the heavy side (especially with 20-round drums attached). Holding all that weight at arms' length with a long stock makes that weight even harder t