DoubleD 0 Posted March 2, 2004 Report Share Posted March 2, 2004 So I walked into a gun show in hopes of finding a nice savage to buy. I came to the first table, and lo, there was a saiga rifle in .308. "What ho" said I. "I thought that Saiga only made shotguns? This may be an option to consider" Before I didst know it, i wast bitten by the saiga bug. . . . . Seriously, i am considering buying a saiga in .308 as my first rifle. HOwever, i have several questions about saiga rifles: 1. Accuracy. How accurate are they out of the box, generally, bench rest with reasonable ammo and a scope. Have any of used nice (non surplus) ammunition through a stock gun? HOw was the accuracy. I really don't think this is an issue (in the time I have been reading, i mainly heard reports of 2-3 in), but i want to be sure, and I want to allay my father's fears (he thinks that they usually group 3-4 in) 2. User friendlyness. I am new to rifles. I've got a shotgun, and I am not a total mechanical failure. So I am wondering wether a noob like me will be able to do some tinkering that will probably be required at some point. 3.Left Hand. I am a left eyed shooter. So i am wondering if i will be dealing with casings hitting me in the face and/or arm, and if any of you think it will be an issue. 4. Do you consider the weight prohibitive while hunting (if any of you hunt with your saigas) 5. Anything else you can think of that you think I should know. Thanks. -DoubleD Quote Link to post Share on other sites
chips 0 Posted March 2, 2004 Report Share Posted March 2, 2004 the saiga 308 is very user friendly. i can break it down and remove the bolt, gas piston, and just about everything else in about a minute. it is made to be very simple if you're left handed, i dont think the casings will be hitting your arm or anything else, so thats not a problem. as far as accuracy goes, with open sights at 100 yards, im kind of all over the place, but that might have something to do with me being a terrible shot i have a scope mount for it, but no extra scopes to put on it yet Quote Link to post Share on other sites
KySoldier 2 Posted March 2, 2004 Report Share Posted March 2, 2004 It takes you a whole minute?! Seriously, its an AK action, real simple to operate, disassemble, etc. My SAVAGE is very accurate with good ammo, but if you want a semi-auto 308, the Saiga will probably do better than a CETME or FAL. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
chips 0 Posted March 2, 2004 Report Share Posted March 2, 2004 It takes you a whole minute?! it took me a good 20 minutes to figure out how to get the bolt back in, but as soon as i figured it out, i felt really stupid because i saw how simple it was. i should probably mention that i did have a problem with the wooden handgaurd on my rifle breaking. it was replaced with a krebbs synthetic stock, and i think it looks much better now. i'd post a picture, but i dont have a digital camera i can use now Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bigfoot Wallace 0 Posted March 3, 2004 Report Share Posted March 3, 2004 if you are looking for a boring hunting only rifle get a savage but if you are looking for a multipurposegun that is fun to shoot, customize and look at then get the saiga. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DoubleD 0 Posted March 3, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2004 Just so you know, i am not asking saiga vs savage. That is something for me to consider. THe main thread of the question was: how will the saiga perform? Thanks for your answers, and keep em comin. PS -- Those of us in the US really dodged a bullet with that gun control bill. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
chips 0 Posted March 3, 2004 Report Share Posted March 3, 2004 (edited) Just so you know, i am not asking saiga vs savage. That is something for me to consider. THe main thread of the question was: how will the saiga perform? Thanks for your answers, and keep em comin. PS -- Those of us in the US really dodged a bullet with that gun control bill. as far as performance goes, i love the way mine shoots. so far, it hasnt jammed at all, but ive only put about 250 rounds through mine. like i said above, i dont think it is too accurate at longer ranges with the open sights, but if you put a scope on it, it should do a lot better. it would be a great gun to use for hogs as well. ive used several types of ammunition in mine, and so far, the U.S. made 7.62x51 nato is my favorite. it is the cleanest firing ammunition i have ever used. i put 140 rounds of that through my rifle a couple saturdays ago, and the barrell didnt even look dirty. winchester, pmc, and remington core lokt seem to work great as well. the pmc gave me a nice big muzzle flash also, what gun control bill are you reffering to? i havent been keeping up with that stuff Edited March 3, 2004 by chips Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DemonDesert 0 Posted March 3, 2004 Report Share Posted March 3, 2004 My Saiga .308 has been very accurate and reliable. Like the guys say, it's easy to take down, like an AK or SKS. I've had mine for two, three months, and it has become one of my favorites. Like chips, I'm a bad shot, so I don't bother measuring inches from center--it's cans and bottles at the local calichi pit, but the Saiga is as accurate as anything else I own, out to one hundred yards anyway. Haven't been hog hunting since I got it, but I'm taking her out for just such in two weeks. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
chips 0 Posted March 3, 2004 Report Share Posted March 3, 2004 demom desert- judging from the texas flag as your avatar, im assuming your from texas. where do you go hunting at? i usually go to either the leprechaun ranch down by san antonio, or ocassionally escondito ranch for hogs. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DemonDesert 0 Posted March 3, 2004 Report Share Posted March 3, 2004 chips, a friend of a friend has a ranch south of here, near Monahans. Most of the area is very sandy. That's usually where I go. Probably these feral hogs don't get as big as what you might have around San Antonio, but they make for a lot of fun. The biggest I ever took weighed 265 pounds. Can't wait to go! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bigfoot Wallace 0 Posted March 4, 2004 Report Share Posted March 4, 2004 The saigas I have shot perform well. They are fairly accurate and very reliable with most kind of ammo. I stongly recomend a scope. Hey Demondesert sounds like you live near Lubbock. I live in Fort Worth. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
chips 0 Posted March 4, 2004 Report Share Posted March 4, 2004 chips, a friend of a friend has a ranch south of here, near Monahans. Most of the area is very sandy. That's usually where I go. Probably these feral hogs don't get as big as what you might have around San Antonio, but they make for a lot of fun. The biggest I ever took weighed 265 pounds. Can't wait to go! 265 pounds is a lot better than i ever did. one of the ranches i went to had an 800 pound hog that looked like a bear. i was walking through some brush, and when i came out, this huge hog was standing about 10 feet away from me i left it alone, though. i didnt wanna shoot it Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DemonDesert 0 Posted March 4, 2004 Report Share Posted March 4, 2004 Actually I live near Odessa. Lubbock is almost as far away as Fort Worth. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
pietro75 0 Posted March 5, 2004 Report Share Posted March 5, 2004 You will be very happy with the saiga . I also agree that you won't have rounds hitting you. My father in law( ex-marine sniper nam vet 3/27,Hails From Snyder,Texas) Loves my saiga ak's. He shot the lights out when I first got it out of the box w/ no adjustments. He got the first batch of m-16s (no chrome lining) he said they killed to get their hands on an ak Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ak01q 0 Posted March 5, 2004 Report Share Posted March 5, 2004 I shoot left-handed (eye). All I own is AK's. I've never been hit by an ejected case. It's the person to my right that gets hit! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DoubleD 0 Posted March 6, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2004 Just went to another show today. It was 230$. Didn't buy it. Idunno, its really tough to figure out what one I want. I was slathered in grease, tho. If I were to buy it, what would I have to do to get rid of it? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bigfoot Wallace 0 Posted March 6, 2004 Report Share Posted March 6, 2004 double d call cdnninvestments.com and buy a saiga on the cheap, a 7.62 ranges from 159-179. It can be shipped to a dealer for you and you pay the 15-25 dollar transfer fee. I have no regrets about buying mine. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DemonDesert 0 Posted March 7, 2004 Report Share Posted March 7, 2004 DoubleD, folks have all sorts of preferred methods for getting rid of the grease. Some even lightly bake the rifle and cook it out. But no matter how well I protected the oven, my wife would kill me. To me, the best thing, or at least as good as anything, for cutting grease is common WD-40. It cuts through the grease fairly well. Then, because WD-40 is a sorry gun lubricant, you need to clean all of the WD-40 out with your favorite gun cleaner, then lube as required. And then, because some guns get packed in more grease than I have in my truck, there will still be hidden reservoirs of grease. You get that last out by going to your local gun range and heating that unit up, if you know what I mean. The last vestiges will come seeping out. For what doesn't drip down on the ground, some gentlemen prefer silk-embroderied hankies, but I just use a clean rag. Sometimes even my shirt sleeve. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DoubleD 0 Posted March 7, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2004 Thx demon. You get that last out by going to your local gun range and heating that unit up I like that part . BWAHAHAHAH. Anyway, bigfoot, i considered 7.62, but its a bit weak for what i want to do with it. I believe that the price I found if below the CDNN price, but mebbe ill wait 'em out on it. If i wind up with the savage, then ill probably buy 7.62 if a certain someone gets elected this nov. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DemonDesert 0 Posted March 8, 2004 Report Share Posted March 8, 2004 DoubleD, I had forgotten I had done this, but when I got one of those Yugoslavian SKSs, I soaked all of the metal parts in gasoline (I know you aren't supposed to). It took only seconds for it to take off the grease. Even after I cleaned up everything, I could still vaguely smell gasoline until the first time I shot it. And some folks swear by mineral spirits, although I've never tried that. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bulletstopper 0 Posted March 12, 2004 Report Share Posted March 12, 2004 I am right handed and shoot left handed (don't ask) and I have no problems. Then only realy problem if you can call it that is that your rail mounted scopes usually are to the left of the rifle just a tad. This makes your lean the rifle just slightly to the left and cants the crosshairs. I thought it was the scope at first but after calling the Kalinka people I realized what my problem was. To solve it instead of leaning the rifle to meet my eye I had to lean over the rifle a little more to compensate. This is a little annoying at first but if you can get used to the .308 Saigas upward traveling trigger you can get used to anything! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Job_of_Uz 0 Posted March 13, 2004 Report Share Posted March 13, 2004 (edited) Th Saiga 308 with the 22 inch barrel is an excellent deal for the buck! It is accurate to about 1.5 to 2 inches at 100 yards, easily a good hunting rifle, and Semi auto shooting fun is always a plus! They are light weight as well, Also some of the other features of the Saigas are the Quick Disconnect scope mounts that come with the rifles.. and soviet scopes are cheap! You can also get a QD mount that will mount any weaver scope for a western scope of your choice. Edited March 13, 2004 by Job_of_Uz Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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