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saiga 7.62x39 accuracy,


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im interested to see just how accurate these boogers are since i got the 20 inch barrel'd one and its converted. just ordered a dragunov stock and front handguards to match online. i have a utg quick detach scope rail and a pretty decent scope i just picked out that can see well out to id say 200-300 yards.

 

last week i went to the range to the 50 yard lane and went through roughly 70 rounds i had just trying to get it on sight with it. now i think i might just spend the money and get a boresighter if anyone thinks it will help that much...i know there like 20$ or if anyone has any good suggestions.

 

 

my groups were all over the place at first...

it made me feel almost like i was much better off with the iron sights!

after some tweaking it felt like it was pretty dead on but..

right before i left i tweaked with it some more and the accuracy went sour again and i lost my good settings aww man,

 

guess i got to go back when i get some more stuff!

 

i think i got it sighted in pretty decent, but it seems all over the place. i may also go ahead and get a bipod aswell to try and improve this.

 

/D

Edited by skullface405420
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I used a BAG rest when I was testing mine with a 3 MOA red dot I got like 3-4 inch groups..

 

post-8775-0-88492700-1347370887_thumb.jpg

 

Keep in mind that these are used not for precision..

 

Me kneeling would get me and 8" swath up the middle at 100 yards..

 

Maybe the rings came loose.. what scope you got??

 

I was running the UTG 978 mount (shown in the picture).. never had an issue.

 

The 545x39 flavor is more accurate and with a cheap 6x32 scope I was getting small groups at 100 yards..

 

post-8775-0-86253000-1347371264.jpg

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The way the Russians look at it, if you can keep all the shots on a 16" target at 100 yds, it's combat approved.

 

Here's what I got at 100 yds with a canted rear sight on my Arsenal SGL21-61:

 

P1010884.jpg

 

50 yds group while sighting in:

 

Last5rounds.jpg

 

Here's a group from my old SKS Carbine 20" with Yugo M67. 40 rounds rapid fire off a rest. Board is a 12"x12" square:

 

P1010886-1.jpg

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this is my bug ugly saiga at the moment, about to win an auction for a dragunov style polymer choate ak stock set. thinking about getting a boresighter and a bipod soon too. just some thoughts... i also have some footage i will upload later that is a very short clip from the day i went to test out the scope and went through about roughly 85-100 rounds. this is my first scope ever so yeah... and i think i got a pretty good deal on it! 70$ came with rings to attach to pitcanny rail, has mil spec reticle and illuminates with 5 brightness settings ethier red or green(i like green! ) and it is a center point 4-16 i belive. i picked it up from walmart for around 70$

post-37314-0-22869600-1347415689_thumb.jpg

post-37314-0-61953800-1347415713_thumb.jpg

post-37314-0-06702300-1347415756_thumb.jpg

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m.o.a stands for minute of angle, he was saying that was a mod - minute of dead lol anyways.

 

 

 

i will post some more pics and a little video clip of my first time i went tothe range with this set up where i show my two targets after i sighted my scope in as best i could. hopefully get the time to post new pictures of my saiga when i get this stock set in. then ill goto the range when im ready and get this new stock set in, a boresighter and a bipod.

Edited by skullface405420
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m.o.a stands for minute of angle, he was saying that was a mod - minute of dead lol anyways.

 

 

 

i will post some more pics and a little video clip of my first time i went tothe range with this set up where i show my two targets after i sighted my scope in as best i could. hopefully get the time to post new pictures of my saiga when i get this stock set in. then ill goto the range when im ready and get this new stock set in, a boresighter and a bipod.

 

A few observations, if I may. I don't think you need a boresight. They are only useful to get you on paper without burning ammo up and you're already there, correct? I would also recommend against a bipod if you're interested in utmost accuracy. As has been mentioned, bags are better. IMHO, a ten round mag would also serve you better than a hi-cap one that can get in the way of a bag or bipod. It also tends to make you consider each shot more carefully since you don't have many spares.

 

One other thing that I didn't see mentioned is barrel temp. You stated that this is your first scope and you were chasing it around trying to zero it. There is a POI shift on all rifles as the temp rises but I personally believe AK types move more than most. If you are zeroing to a cool barrel, then a warm one, then a hot one, or back and forth, then you'll never be able to get ultimate accuracy. Since most scoped rifles aren't used as bullet hoses, I think you should run 3 or 4 shot groups and then let the rifle cool down before doing so again. This should give you more consistency while chasing that pesky POI.

 

Hope that helps.

Tim

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m.o.a stands for minute of angle, he was saying that was a mod - minute of dead lol anyways.

 

 

 

i will post some more pics and a little video clip of my first time i went tothe range with this set up where i show my two targets after i sighted my scope in as best i could. hopefully get the time to post new pictures of my saiga when i get this stock set in. then ill goto the range when im ready and get this new stock set in, a boresighter and a bipod.

 

A few observations, if I may. I don't think you need a boresight. They are only useful to get you on paper without burning ammo up and you're already there, correct? I would also recommend against a bipod if you're interested in utmost accuracy. As has been mentioned, bags are better. IMHO, a ten round mag would also serve you better than a hi-cap one that can get in the way of a bag or bipod. It also tends to make you consider each shot more carefully since you don't have many spares.

 

One other thing that I didn't see mentioned is barrel temp. You stated that this is your first scope and you were chasing it around trying to zero it. There is a POI shift on all rifles as the temp rises but I personally believe AK types move more than most. If you are zeroing to a cool barrel, then a warm one, then a hot one, or back and forth, then you'll never be able to get ultimate accuracy. Since most scoped rifles aren't used as bullet hoses, I think you should run 3 or 4 shot groups and then let the rifle cool down before doing so again. This should give you more consistency while chasing that pesky POI.

 

Hope that helps.

Tim

 

thanks tim for the input. well i do like the idea of bags i am on the fence on ethier a bipod or now you have me with the idea of bags.

 

ill tell you what! next time i go i will bring some makeshift sandbags or something im postive that those will help as i have used makeshift bags before and they did!

 

as far as mags, your absolutley right. in fact at 4.99 at my local walmart for tula box of 20 rounds for this gun,first thing i did was invest in four 5 round mags for it.

 

i also have a single 10 round mag that has a funny story to it for maybe some other time, but i only had the 40 round mag in it for pictures..

 

i may just wait off on the boresighter aspect as its roughly 30$ or less i dont feel like shelling out but the whole cool to hot and hot to cool thing does make a differnce. and as you said, these things are pretty much a bullet hose.

 

i'd just like to make it pretty accurate but thing is it is a 20 inch barrel'd one if it wasnt i wouldnt care a big deal of it.

 

i probley do need to really wait alot more inbetween 5 round mags next time but thing is we were in direct sun that day, the entire time my gun was hot because of the sun directly on the black barrel.

 

thanks for the input though, i think i will give it another try and i realize these guns are not that accurate to begain with. but is that not the point of a rifle to be accurate? and at that i have the longer version of the saiga 7.62x39! so im going to get all the accuracy i can possibly get out of this baby hopefully...

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I picked up one of the cheap laser boresighters for my Saiga simply because the scope I was going to use came off another rifle and I figured it would be WAY off what I needed on the x39 and I was right, save me probably at least 20 rounds trying to figure out where I needed to move since they would have been WAY off the target to start with. I usually start with my scope at a 25 yard target just to get on paper then go to 50 then 100.

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I picked up one of the cheap laser boresighters for my Saiga simply because the scope I was going to use came off another rifle and I figured it would be WAY off what I needed on the x39 and I was right, save me probably at least 20 rounds trying to figure out where I needed to move since they would have been WAY off the target to start with. I usually start with my scope at a 25 yard target just to get on paper then go to 50 then 100.

i would probley do that but it kind of sucks that at my local range the 25 yard is only for pistols... however there is a 50, and a 100 yard just for rifles. i wish we had one all the way out to 600 that would be nice.
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My local shop will perform a level check and boresight to 25yds for free, so I let them do it before I take off.

 

Another reason you were chasing POI was barrel whip. If you try to fire the string too fast, the barrel hasn't settled down from the last shot. Observe:

 

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My local shop will perform a level check and boresight to 25yds for free, so I let them do it before I take off.

 

Another reason you were chasing POI was barrel whip. If you try to fire the string too fast, the barrel hasn't settled down from the last shot. Observe:

 

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_E_GJayano[/media]

 

nah i defn. timed my shots out at least 10 seconds between eachother, simply to look thru the scope and see where my rounds were hitting. plus the range i was at is gay and doesnt allow for rapid fireing of semi auto guns. and no full auto if you had that or a bumpfire/stock

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My 104 will get 30 rounds in a 3" circle at 100m with a POSP 8x42vd scope, and thats with a short barrel and Russian milsurp ammo.I can remove and refit the scope and the zero stays spot-on.

When I first bought it the accuracy was terrible and took a couple of hundred rounds to bed in.I zeroed the iron sights at 25m (only took about 15 rounds) then worked my way out.Once it was zeroed at 50m I steadied it on a rest and lined up the target with the iron sights and adjusted the scope to the same aiming point (need to keep it steady!, and on the POSP the reticule moves when adjusting, not the image) and that only took around 20 rounds to zero.Now all I have to do is turn the elevation turret to the number that corresponses to the range (turret is marked from 0-20, each mark being 100m with a click midway for each 50m setting) and thats it.

 

post-44524-0-59721300-1348735278_thumb.jpg

Edited by richUK
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What match-grade commercial ammo are you using? Or are you loading your own?

 

I have the 22" M-Series, and my accuraccy isnt much better. I cant say if the 3-lug bolt or stiffer chassis help, because im a terrible shot to begin with. Using the bipod made a big difference. Anyway, I feel like the russians do, if I can keep on torso at 100 yards im good. This round isnt like an AR's turbocharged .22 where you need to get a headshot to count. But id like to be able to consistently hit torsos farther.

 

Can anyone suggest a commercial round that will best take advantage of a long barrel saiga? Im looking at Lapua, with the benefit of the brass cases being reloadable. Im wondering if V-Max rounds in custom reloads might 'reach out' the best, if we can find a powder that works well.

Edited by mostholycerebus
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I am getting between 45 and 50mm groups at 125 meters with 154 grain Herters rounds. I use a stock Saiga with 20" barrel and a 1.5-4 x 32 scope on a UTG side mount. Due to the side mount and the looseness designed in the cover, you probably will never do much better. That kind of accuracy is just fine for deer and hog. Which is what I use it for. At one point a year or so ago, I had groups open up to 70-80mm's. I was using hand loads from a guy. He was supposed to be using .312 150 grain speer Hotcors. He used .308 150 grain bullets that had been pulled, and mic'ed out to .306 instead of .308. I only use reloads when Wolf or Herter 154gr. are not available. Ole Betsy just destroys the brass cases. And does not like non-mil-spec primers either. I also try to flame harden brass primer pockets if I can. A light crimp roll is good too.

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I never thought I would say it. But the Saiga is one rifle it pays not to reload for. It does not like soft pocket brass. It hates commercial primers. Finding correct bullets can be time wasting. It will quickly destroy your expensive brass. And changing springs for pins and extractors and such robs the Saiga of it's wonderful use of cheap ammo that gets the job done. Sometimes you just have to recognize a rose for what it is. And enjoy the thorns it comes with. Or what I really mean to say is....Please,please, pleaseCabela's; keep the Herters Softpoints coming.big_smile.gif

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The way the Russians look at it, if you can keep all the shots on a 16" target at 100 yds, it's combat approved.

 

Here's what I got at 100 yds with a canted rear sight on my Arsenal SGL21-61:

 

P1010884.jpg

 

50 yds group while sighting in:

 

Last5rounds.jpg

 

Here's a group from my old SKS Carbine 20" with Yugo M67. 40 rounds rapid fire off a rest. Board is a 12"x12" square:

 

P1010886-1.jpg

oh come on...rapid fire my ass..those groups are a little close to be rapid fire..even full auto u cant get that kinda group
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