Saiga .308

[skinnygun 0]

I have a Saiga .308 22" barrel shoots very well.I now need a .308 16" rifle and wonder if the Springfield .308 M1A or Socom 11 would be worth the big money difference ?

[O.S.O.K. 0]

Well, before the availability (soon) of 20 round mags for the Saiga's, I would have said yes. Those are both excellent rifles and you get what you pay for.

 

However, now that the 20 rounders are coming, I see a Saiga Carbine and 22" rifle as being a great combo that's really hard to beat. I mean, the accuracy of these rifles is really outstanding for the cost. The mag thing was the only "problem" with them IMHO and that's being rectified.

 

Let me put it this way, If I was a country and trying to decide how to spend my defense budget and I could get the Springfield, 4 mags and 1,000 rounds of ammo or the Saiga carbine, 12 mags, a POSP scope and 3,000 rounds of ammo, I'd go with the Saiga for sure.

Edited June 19, 2006 by O.S.O.K.

[Tokageko 8]

The Socom II is nice looking, isn't it? Only problem is that I've never heard of one that shot well out of the box. I haven't looked at many, but here's what I know.

 

First hand: I saw a guy at the local range trying to sight one in. He had carefully handloaded cartridges, a good solid rest, etc. and he couldn't get the thing to shoot less than 4" at 100 yards.

 

Second hand: I was reading an article, I forget where, about accurizing rifles. The author had two rifles that he wanted to work on: a Socom "Scout" model, and Remington M700, also in 308. He decided to go through a number of steps, including glass bedding and such. He stopped after each step in the "accurizing process" and fired groups to collect data. That's not the important part though. The important part is the reason he decided to do this experiment in the first place.

 

He couldn't get the Socom to shoot less than 4" at 100yds. He says in his article that he called Springfield Armory about this 'problem' and was told that it was working normally! 4 MOA was their accuracy standard, which is (or was) also the military guideline. That was several years ago though, and the situation may have changed.

 

If I were in your shoes, I'd get a 16" Saiga 308. You will definately have more (and cheaper) options as compared to the SOCOM II.

Edited June 21, 2006 by Tokageko

[TEXASAK73 13]

I started with a 16" S-308 Carbine,traded it to my uncle.I bought another S-308 with a 22" barrel.Less recoil felt with the 22" allowing faster follow up shots.With the 16" carbine and open sights I managed 3" groups,with the 22" and open sights I was getting 2" groups.

 

My uncle got one of the Krebs peep sights for his 16" carbine and took the group from 3" to 2" at 100 yards.

 

So my point is for the money,you can't beat a Saiga .308 in either barrel length.I also have a Vepr .308 that takes M14 mags.

[Freightman 0]

What they said and with the money you save you can buy several cases of ammo to have fun with.