Some saiga questions: hornady light mags????

[GPdave 0]

Hi all. I've lurked here for some time (and i had an account which has since disappeared). I am considering buying a 308 saiga and was wondering if any of you have experience with how they shoot with premium ammunition. My other question is : do you think hornady light mags would work with the saiga, or would they blow it apart (or screw up the gun)? Thanks for your input.

 

I figured the saiga for a good deal, but the guy in the gunshop (who admitted he had no experience shooting it) said he thought it was a blaster.

 

 

Thanks

 

 

-GP

[Tokageko 8]

As far as ammunition goes...

 

I have not been able/willing to try commercial ammuntion in my 308, mostly because of the cost. I think you'll find that most Saiga 308 owners shoot a lot of surplus NATO ammunition. Of the types that I've tried:

 

Australian: the most accurrate, slightly less recoil than normal

 

Portugese: probably second most accurate, but not too big of a difference

unless you're a hard-core benchrest shooter... why a hard-core

benchrester would have a Saiga 308 is beyond me.. but hey, why not?

 

South African: about the same as the Portugese, but usually cheaper

 

Indian: though I'm tempted to say that it sucks, in reality it's not that bad,

probably a little less accurate than the South African/Portugese, but don't

kid yourself into thinking that you're going to reload the brass, even

though it is boxer primed

 

I have also done some handloading for my rifle. It seems to like the lighter bullets better. Personally, I wouldn't go any heavier than 155 grain. "I think," the rate of twist is a bit slow for anything heavier than that, but haven't finished experimenting yet. Anyone with more experience out there?

 

Surplus 147 gr FMJ bullets with 40 grains of IMR 4895, using military cases and Winchester Large Rifle primers is the most accurate I've come up with so far. I don't have access to a cronograph, but I'd estimate that from a 22 inch barrel, this should put you in the 2400-2500 fps range. Sadly, due to circumstances mostly beyond my control I have not been able to test it more extensively. This should give you someplace to start though. All of the standard precaustions apply.

 

Note: I had to look up this data while writing this post, and it saved my @&&.... For some reason I was thinking the power was Win 748, before I looked it up. 40 grains of 748 is more than 2 full grains below the minimum charge for 308 with a 150 grain bullet. Looking at my own notes, I found that it was in fact IMR 4895... Which I then procceeded to verify in two reloading manuals.

 

<sigh> I think that's all for now. Oh, before I forget: Even the Indian surplus was capable of 1 inch at 100 yards for three shots, with fliers starting to show up after that. The load that I gave earlier was remarkable for two reasons: Light recoil, and no fliers. As long as I kept the same point of aim, all the holes would be touching each other, even at 10 shots. Yes, this was done with a scope (russian, side mounted, 6x42).

 

Ok, I really mean it this time: that's all.

 

...God I hate this weather...

[Tombstone 0]

GPDave,

 

I have shot all kinds of factor ammunition through my Saiga. I use it for hunting. I haven't had the first misfire or jam.

 

Go for it.

[Harpoon 0]

I mentioned this on another thread. The Saiga manual specifically says not to use high energy/mag ammo and that's the same answer I got from the EAA gunsmiths. Don

[Tokageko 8]

In cases like this, I would say it is definately better to be safe than sorry.

 

Does anyone reload for their 308? I'd be interested in hearing how it's worked out for you.