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Apparently a Saiga can shoot Trap, too...


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So I finally worked up the courage to try a couple rounds of trap today at the range.  I've only put maybe 100 or 125 rounds through the S-12 since I acquired it a couple months back (and it had never been fired when I got it). Luckily its an early model and cycles pretty reliably even on the cheap Walmart stuff (I've had maybe 4 or 5 FTEs so far shooting from a loaded mag).

 

Anyway, I was surprised to find that the Saiga was definitely not the limiting factor for me shooting trap (it was my skill).  I've only done it twice in my life (today was the second time) and I shot a 10, 10 & 13, which feels pretty good for a noobie.  The only problem I ran into was that my range only allows one round in the gun at a time while on station, so I had to manually hold back the bolt and jam a round into the chamber for each shot.   That resulted in a couple of painful pinches of my right thumb tip, trying to hold the shell down against the mag  follower & spring while  pushing the bolt forward and chambering the round.  I had one round jam up from a mis-feed (I was shooting with 4 other people and it was moving fast - maybe 10-20 seconds between shooters) and that was a little embarrassing while all the guys with there Brownings and Benellis had to wait for me to fish the shell out with my keys.  (oops).

 

But overall it was a lot of fun, and definitely something I'll do again; though after 75 rounds I'm definitely planning to get a recoil pad on whatever conversion stock I eventually put on the S12.  biggrin.png

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Use some wood to limit one mag to one round.

 

Can you elaborate?  To use the mag, I could just pop it off, load one round, then pop it back in, fire, then repeat. But that would be a lot more work (in CA where I have to use a Bullet Button) than just hand-loading directly into the chamber.

 

Perhaps I'm missing something...?

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California is different form the rest of us here in free America. Get a cheap single barrel break action for trap, last one I bought was $50 at a gun show.

Hah.  Yea, I actually already have a cheap pump gun and a cheap bolt action 20 ga. and a single shot break-open 410.   Not as much fun as the Saiga though...  :)

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Use some wood to limit one mag to one round.

 

Can you elaborate?  To use the mag, I could just pop it off, load one round, then pop it back in, fire, then repeat. But that would be a lot more work (in CA where I have to use a Bullet Button) than just hand-loading directly into the chamber.

 

Perhaps I'm missing something...?

 

 

Buy a chunk of "1x4" at homeless despot for a couple bucks. It will fit in the magazine. Put it between the floor plate and the spring guide. Trim it to a length which allows almost, but not quite two shells to fit.

 

drive a nail in the bottom, and clip it off so that it retains the floor plate. The spring guide has a nipple which does that job. So you will also have to worry or drill a hole into the wood block on the top for the nipple.  Here are pics for one I did to work as a two round or a 3 round mag. You would need to change the height of the block. This is probably a 5-10 minute job even with no power tools.

 

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post-17871-0-99660200-1447286743_thumb.jpg

 

post-17871-0-44276000-1447286768_thumb.jpg

 

A couple more pictures wouldn't upload so I chucked them all in an album here: http://forum.saiga-12.com/index.php?/gallery/album/1412-magazine-block-pictures/

 

There's got to be a thread or two I took those for, but I don't remember the name and this is easier than tracking it down.

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Thanks for clarifying that - makes sense now.  So if I had a couple of mags with this mod and an assistant, I could just hand the mags back and forth as my assistant loaded them between shots.   It might be cheaper to get another gun for trap, as someone mentioned.   :)

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Thanks for clarifying that - makes sense now.  So if I had a couple of mags with this mod and an assistant, I could just hand the mags back and forth as my assistant loaded them between shots.   It might be cheaper to get another gun for trap, as someone mentioned.   smile.png

 

I shot trap with mine. I brought a mag like this but they didn't care. Some one there lent me his spare dump pouch fanny pack thing all the trap guys use. I dumped in a box of shells, and a couple mags pre-loaded. Honestly I really just ended up using the one mag. It was so quick to hold the gun in the crook of my left arm, grab the mag and pass it to my left hand and put in a pair of shells. This seemed nearly as natural as using a double to me. Especially since most trap clubs don't let you put shells in the gun until you are on base. With the bolt locked open and two shells in the mag, when you step up to the station, just rock in the mag and reach under to the bolt handle. There is always way more than enough time between stations.

 

I suggest you set your mag up 2-0 style. That means that you make it so the mag will hold 2 shells, but there is not enough squish left to close the mag on a closed bolt. Thus your gun can still only hold 2 shells at a time. After you smoke your clay, lock the bolt back. Then pull the mag. Stick it in your pocket or just top it off while you are waiting for your turn.

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Yes that sounds like it would work well. But I have two problems - the first is that they only allow 1 round in the gun at a time and the other is that I don't have a BHO on my gun. (It's on the list of mods to do...). Good to hear that I'm not the only nut trying to shoot trap with the Saiga. :)

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I don't do it often, but it works fine. I'm planning to do some bird hunting this fall if it isn't too late for me to get a license.

 

 

I've been blasting the squirrels very regularly this fall with mine. They are driving my beagle nuts, which drives me nuts, so something has to die. what.gif

Edited by YOT
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There is also factory 2 rnd mags out there. Not the easiest thing to come by though.

 

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I would be easier to block a 5 round mag, or buy the 2 rnd Surefire mag.

 

I had used my one S-12 at the skeet range, did ok with it. Got some awfully funny looks taking the camo one to a turkey shoot a time or two.  I'm usually the "clean up" shooter if we get together and informally throw some birds. Then I load the drum up and walk it in bad_smile.gif

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