I love threads full of conjecture from a bunch of folks about guns they've never actually used.
I'll bet that you could load and fire 100 rounds of shotgun ammo faster from a tubular magazine semi-auto than some other shooter with a Saiga and 3 10-round detachable magazines even if he had all 3 mags fully loaded to begin with. He would get off the first 30 rounds faster than you, but after that, you would go past him like he was in reverse gear.
I can load a regular shotgun just a split second slower than the fastest in the world. I'm a little out of practice, but about two years ago, I was .5 of a second off the top in the country on the old fire a round, load 4, fire a round drill.
I can load twice as many shells into my Saiga in half the time.
If you started me with 3 loaded mags, and I had a race, I would still win. Because it is all about real estate. Speed loading a tube gun requires you to have the rounds stacked on your person in a matter built for speed. So you're wearing shells stacked on your belt, bandoleers, on the gun (side saddles) and even on your forearms. Once that real estate is used up, you're loading out of your pockets or out of a box because the rounds aren't prearranged for you to grab 3 or 4 at at time all pointing in the same direction.
And I've shot a lot of 3gun, and the longest shotgun stage I ever shot was about 55 rounds. Using 3, 8 round magazines, and two fives, I still beat the next closest tube fed by a considerable margin, because even once I'm dry, I can drop the gun onto the tac sling, and reload a magazine as fast as any single loader can load a tube fed.
The Kalashnikov design does not provide a LRBHO. It's a serious limitation for me in the Saiga 12 because the shotgun can't be loaded with a full magazine if the bolt is closed and because it does not allow efficient loading through the ejection port. I've read explanations by people who work around the problem of loading with the bolt closed. Whatever they do is nothing like what I want to do. The more serious issue for me is the inability to toss shells into the ejection port once the magazine is exhausted. There's no workaround for that.
I have a reload methodology that overcomes this. I've got videos floating around on Youtube where I do a Saiga reload in under 2 seconds. I'm right handed. My left hand uses the magazine as a vertical foregrip. To reload, my right hand reaches up, pulls back the charging handle, and I hold the bolt open. I drop the mag with my left, pull another mag off my belt, rock and lock it in with my left, and then my right hand lets go of the bolt to return to the firing position.
For select slug, I wear a dump pouch in on my left side. I drop the mag into the pouch, do the same thing with pulling the bolt to the rear, and use my left to either insert a slug mag, or drop a single slug into the chamber. Let go of the bolt and return to the firing position.
If it is only one or two slugs to be fired, then the tube fed wins. If it is more than that, mag fed wins. Back and forth? Tube fed wins.
My Russian 8 rounds will fit into a 45 round AK mag pouch. Two 5 rounders fit into the old Vietnam era M16 pouches. I use kydex pouches on my belt to hold the big ones, and if it is a high round count match, I wear a vest set up with AK magazine pouches across my chest. At these round counts, if you're single loading shells, you're going to be using up a lot of real estate with bandollers and belt carriers too. No matter what, shotgun shells are big.
That thing looks like it handles like a D8 cat.
I've done a Dozier Drill in 1.85 seconds with one. I don't care what it
looks like. I don't look like a super model either. The darn things work, and that's all I care about.
Sorry, but I prefer a nice English stocked double for bird hunting.
So would I, but last time I checked, there are more reasons to own guns than for shooting little animals. As for clays, it wasn't built for clays. Do you often go over to the rifle forum where people are talking about AR15s, sneer, and say, "well that sure would suck for Moose huntin'."
Good luck -- the last shipment of S-12's dried up (mostly) around September. The next one is due to hit the states around the end of the month (so rumor control says).
Supposedly there will be another 800 coming into the country in December. Those will be allocated out to the distributors. At this point, none of us know how many we'll be getting.
If I got 50 today, I would have every one sold by tomorrow.