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Barrel length on a new Saiga .223


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I'm interested in how cool this gun will look after I do some conversion work on it. Should I get the 16" or 20" version? Can you guys show me some pictures of each and which you think looks best? Thanks!

 

 

Your choice or course. Well 16 is just great for close quarters combat. Like a stanard Ak. 20 is good with a side mounted scope for longer ranges. What do you want to do? Longer range or house clearing. I have a 20 in 308 it is a bit beefer with the weight. The 20 is better on range say 200 yards+ :donatello::donatello:

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My primary use of this gun will be to look cool. Not to make sweet 200 + yard shots or close quarters combat of any kind.

 

Look cool for who? Standing in front of your mirror? Walking around the range?

 

I'd be a lot easier to just print out a picture of a rifle you like and maybe photoshop it onto a pic of you....if looking cool is your main concern.

 

Frankly I'm inclined to say don't buy a firearm if that is your main focus. How about some new threads or a new haircut? How about going to the gym heavy for a few months and get buff? Maybe focus on your education for better job? Just some ideas....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

......................your kidding right?

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My primary use of this gun will be to look cool. Not to make sweet 200 + yard shots or close quarters combat of any kind.

 

Look cool for who? Standing in front of your mirror? Walking around the range?

 

I'd be a lot easier to just print out a picture of a rifle you like and maybe photoshop it onto a pic of you....if looking cool is your main concern.

 

Frankly I'm inclined to say don't buy a firearm if that is your main focus. How about some new threads or a new haircut? How about going to the gym heavy for a few months and get buff? Maybe focus on your education for better job? Just some ideas.....

 

......................your kidding right?

 

+100. This is what I was thinking, but I couldn't figure out a way of saying it that didn't sound really negative. Jacobsed, a gun is a tool. It can be a very useful and enjoyable tool if one is committed to learning how to use it well (which includes both accurately and safely), and/or it can be a very dangerous tool. Getting one as a fashion statement invites the "dangerous tool" outcome. I mean this with utmost concern for your safety: Either be committed to shooting for shooting's sake (regardless of what the gun looks like) or I respectfully suggest that you reconsider getting it just to look cool. Looking cool but having a bullet accidentally in the wrong place (such as a friend's body or your's) destroys your coolness real fast.

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You guys have got to be kidding. I meant a cool looking gun. Not an accesory like a belt or jacket that helps me look cool. Geez!

Don't even try to snow me with a bunch of crap about utility purposes being the only reasons to make a purchase decision on. I like cool looking guns. Yea, I might be shallow but so what.

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You guys have got to be kidding. I meant a cool looking gun. Not an accesory like a belt or jacket that helps me look cool. Geez!

Don't even try to snow me with a bunch of crap about utility purposes being the only reasons to make a purchase decision on. I like cool looking guns. Yea, I might be shallow but so what.

 

Its the way it came across,it kinda sounds like shooting it wasnt important but it looking cool(primary reason) was the main reason for having it,as if your gonna frame it and hang it on the wall. Read your statement and see what were ridin ya for...but dont take it to seriously :kiss:

Edited by Pointer
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You guys have got to be kidding. I meant a cool looking gun. Not an accesory like a belt or jacket that helps me look cool. Geez!

Don't even try to snow me with a bunch of crap about utility purposes being the only reasons to make a purchase decision on. I like cool looking guns. Yea, I might be shallow but so what.

 

There are some 'cool' looking airsoft AKs, or just dummy AKs that fire only blanks or don't even fire at all. Get one of those, save yourself a couple hundred bucks, the cost of ammo (I'm not sure if .223 ammo looks cool enough for you, better get some .50 cal ammo belts instead) and it will also save a good rifle for those who deserve and appreciate it.

 

 

 

 

 

:chris:

Edited by hellgrün-K
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You guys have got to be kidding. I meant a cool looking gun. Not an accesory like a belt or jacket that helps me look cool. Geez!

Don't even try to snow me with a bunch of crap about utility purposes being the only reasons to make a purchase decision on. I like cool looking guns. Yea, I might be shallow but so what.

 

Look, we want you to be safe and not end up as a statistic. If your goal is to have a cool prop that you never shoot, fine, but do yourself a favor then and don't buy any ammo. At least that minimizes the chances that someone will end up in the hospital or morgue. (Please do remember that even without ammo you'll need to keep it locked away when not in use.)

 

If you aren't planning on shooting the Saiga, though, I do second the recommendation to get a good airsoft AK or AR instead. (And yes, they look pretty cool.) If you do get the urge to have something happen when you pull the trigger, the paintballs are comparatively harmless and you might end up enjoying paintball events as a hobby. I've thought about giving it a try as I've heard it is great fun, but schedules just haven't worked out yet. Hopefully this summer it will.

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Hey... That was how I took it too...

 

That you dont care about any shooting aspects of this rifle... just how is it going to look!

 

It needs to look cool when you un-case it at the range, so those near you can see it and think... "Wow... whats that cool looking rifle over there?!?!? lets go check THAT out... that looks cool.... It needs to look cool when people walk by and see it sitting there, so they can think... "Wow... this guy is cool, what a cool looking rifle he has! I wish I had one of those..." It needs to look cool on a gun rack on your wall, so people that come over can look at it and think... "wow... what a COOL looking rifle... I wish I had one of those"

 

I am sorry... if thats not what ya meant... thats how it came across to me.

 

Ya know what though... I have lots of guns that I want to look cool... and I think most of them do a very good job of that... BUT... I still need them to FUNCTION PROPERLY, and that is a priority over any coolness factor. I have SENT BACK Rifles that looked cooler than you can imagine... because I couldn't hit a damn thing with them, and the bullets would keyhole at 25 M... But BOY... did they LOOK COOL!!! ( Check out the chromed Mosin Nagants at Classic arms... BEAUTIFUL rifles... they DO LOOK COOL!! ) That rifle went straight back to them... and was replaced with a K31 swiss... it didn't look very cool... but I can hit 5 shot, 1" groups with the irons at 75M. Ya wanna know that??? I think *THAT* is cooler than ANY cool looking rifle out there... :up:

 

 

:smoke:

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I do plan on shooting it; as I stated before. I even stated the range I would be shooting it. I'm pretty sure any AK variant is capable of punching paper at 100yds and is fairly reliable at doing so (any disagreements on that one?.) That is why the utility aspects are not a priority for me when selecting the 16 or 20". You guys are great at not actually providing feedback to my question btw. Here is an example of what I expected for a response that maybe provides some understanding about where I'm coming from.

 

"My preference is the 16" barrel because the modification I made (insert description here) was better suited for the shorter barrel (insert reason here.)"

 

or

 

"I'd go with the 20" barrel because I think it happens to look pretty neat when set up like this (insert picture link here."

 

It is quite aggrevating, as a new forum member, to be talked to as though I'm somebody who does not respect firearms just because I have specific question that may be considered ridiculous or shallow to some. That's fine, just don't respond to the post. Especially don't reply and sate I'm an unsafe gun handler when you don't even know me. I was told that this is THE place to go on the net for discussing Saigas. I hope I don't get flamed everytime I post an inquiry or try to have some discussion.

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I do plan on shooting it; as I stated before. I even stated the range I would be shooting it.

 

Jacobsed, this actually is a friendly forum. Perhaps your question's intention was misstated and thus misinterpreted, and that can happen in any forum, but if you said you plan on shooting it and at which range, it wasn't here. You've only posted five times in this forum and all five are in this thread. I've reread each one carefully (to see how I missed it) and in none of them did you say anything about planning on shooting it or where. So, before you flame us for not understanding you correctly, please understand that we don't know what you've posted elsewhere and can only respond to what is here. Elsewhere, you might have provided the info to show that you are an Olympic-level marksman, but all you've said here is that you want a prop. We can only respond from what we see.

 

Now that we (hopefully) got all that out of the way, I don't think either barrel length is better or (ok, I'll say it ;-) cooler for general range plinking and it might depend on what else you put on it. If you have a folding stock, for example, a long barrel might look unbalanced. If you are tall and so put a long fixed stock on the gun, a short barrel might look out of place. As a sweeping generalization, something that is balanced will be more aesthetically pleasing. Beyond that, check out the pictures thread and see what catches your fancy.

 

Since large magazines are something you might be interested in, check out the threads about conversion to make sure your gun is legal before putting a large magazine into it.

 

By the way, welcome to the forum and while you've had a rough start here, hopefully you'll stick around to see that the group here is knowledgeable and friendly.

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I'm interested in how cool this gun will look after I do some conversion work on it. Should I get the 16" or 20" version? Can you guys show me some pictures of each and which you think looks best? Thanks!

 

If you want 'cool,' I would recommend a Lee-Enfield Carbine (either Mark 1 or Mark 2) - and a boat-load of ammunition. You get the reliability of an AK, the 'punch' of an FAL, and (almost ;>) the light weight of an AR carbine. Plus, many of the L-E carbines are legal 'antiques,' so you can even own them in some Blue States (or- gasp! - buy & sell them without an FFL, and even ship them directly to someone else! Oh my God!!! ;>). If you can't find an original Mark 1 or Mark 2, you can put together a reasonable copy based on any 'sporty-ized' No.4 Rifle you can find (and there are - unfortunately - a lot of 'sporty-ized' No. 4s). Get one, & fire it until you know it (& then fire it some more ;>), and you'll be in great shape.

 

Just my personal recommendation (of course, I'm a gray haired old fart - who is kind of pulling your leg ;>)...

 

(But maybe not really...)

 

(Anyone ever heard of the world record for combat bolt gun 'high performance?' Here it is: 38 rounds, fired in 60 seconds, including at least 3 magazine changes, into a 12 inch target, at 300 yards, using iron sights - and a Lee-Enfield No.1 Rifle. Set in 1914, and the record has never been broken. When I can do that with an FAL, or AR, or AK, with iron sights, I'll be awfully dang proud of myself. Anyway you look at it, you wouldn't want to mess with a guy who had any kind of rifle, and could do THAT with it... ;>)

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3rd reply I referenced the range. Sorry if you missed it.

 

"My primary use of this gun will be to look cool. Not to make sweet 200 + yard shots or close quarters combat of any kind."

 

Well, at the risk of beating a dead horse I had replied to your comment "I do plan on shooting it; as I stated before. I even stated the range I would be shooting it." The third reply that you just referenced really doesn't do either as it doesn't say you are going to shoot it or where. Its ok to say "oops, I meant to say all that but forgot." But, anyway, lets just chock it all up to a (continuing, perhaps) misunderstanding and move onto other topics, ok? I think we've aptly proven the hazards of first-time communications.

Edited by craig110
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Obviously, your mileage may vary, etc.

 

I own a 16" FAL, a 16" AR, a 16" Saiga, and a 16" Lee-Enfield.

 

My personal preference (bias ;>) in barrel length is pretty obvious...

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