Saiga 308

Ditto, I saw a couple of Saiga .308s yesterday at the shop for $326...has me wondering if it's a good rifle and good price...seems so.

if you want to make noise get the saiga .306 16'' barrel, but with the price of .308 i wouldn't use it to have fun and making noise.

if you really want to get LOUD and cheat go and get a M44.

Saiga's are good rifles. Out of the AK's it is safely the most accurate. My Saiga specialist uses his 16" .308 as his 300-500yd coyote rifle. It is worth getting it converted. You get to choose it's configuration, the new triggers are a vast improvment and can be tuned, and like an AR it lets you truely make it yours. We at FBMG do the conversions so PM me if you want more info.

I have the 308 with the 21 inch barrel...... ugly gun but it is very accurate with open sights. It seems to like any ammo I run thru it with no problems.... can't go wrong at that price....

i LOVE my 308 saiga. the price was right and the gun has been a blast. it has never had a malf of any sort. you have inspired me to take a picture which i will post shortly.

I've got a sidefolder Saiga in .308, really a sweet little rifle. Worth a lot more than the selling price in my opinion.

jw

for around $300 for the .308...

I'd grab it if I could....

gotime, that rifle is very nice - almost exactly what I want, someday.

Very nice.

Compare this .308 with other .308 semi-autos on the market. As far as I know, the big three .308's are the FAL, HK91/G3 clones, and the M1a. Those start at about 1k, while the Saiga is available for under $500(for now, anyway).

I love my Saiga 308's have 2 of them,one still in a sporter as I bought it and one converted.

Excellent rifles...

Saiga did a price increase....those "under $300" guns are long gone now. Saw a Saiga in my local shop the other day and it was about $346 if I recall. Get one now, because they will probably do another price increase before years end. Benelli already had 2 this year, the recent one being July 1st. Arsenal will be having one. Kimber had one in May or June.

I have a gut feeling Saiga will come to about $500 before the price flatlines and remains stable.

I can tell you, from a dealer friend, that the saiga 308's are not coming over from overseas yet, they are majorly stuck. If you can get one for in the 300's or even 400's now, you better do it. Also, I see no use for the one with the 22 inch bbl, def on the 16 inch bbl though. If they had it in 24 inches or longer, then yes. But for a handy, hard hitting rifle , the 16 inch bbl is fine.
But you really do have to convert them, as the stock trigger on a Saiga is bad enough, but the 308 trigger, is the stuff of legend, it is like pulling your finger....
" Across... the edge...... of a straight.... razor!" You gotta replace them.
I got superlucky, and found a allready converted one for 500 bucks, I bought it because I knew it was such a steal, the preconverted Saigas, coming from Russia right now, in 762.39 , are going for 600 bucks now, and that is not even a 308.
I don't even want a 308, but I know I can sell it in about 10 minutes for 700 bucks, allready converted.

I've got both the 16" and the 22" and I think the 16" is about 2" too short and the 22" is about 2" too long. The thing is, you can always cut a long barrel down to size.

IMO, somewhere between 18 and 20 inches is perfect. If you go much shorter than 18" you give up too much velocity and get too much muzzle blast. Longer than 20" just isn't necessary on an AK. Saiga's are reasonably accurate, but they're not accurate enough for real long distance shooting.

you've got a point there elmer, maybe to tame her a bit, the 22 inch bbl would be a little quieter and not so much blast...

The 22" is nicer to shoot at the range. It is a little unwieldy though. IMO, they should have just split the difference and made a 19" rifle. Both 16" and 22" are kind of extremes when it comes to the barrel length that most people want in a .308 semi.

I would get the 22" if getting wood furniture. It's better balanced.
The 16" I had was great, but I dumped it before I could get mags for it.
Shot great. Hated the sights.
steve