Argh FAL or Saiga

[Babarsac]

So my finances are back in order after doing taxes, and I have a stash of Silver Bear 308 with only an Ishapore to shoot it. Time for a .308 semi-auto. I've boiled it down to two choices; a FAL or a Saiga.

Saiga: A gunsmith offered my his converted 22" Saiga with a scope and two magazines for $730.

FAL: A gentleman offered his Century FAL (yes I know) with an Imbel receiver NOT one of their castings for $650 including two magazines.

I'm a little torn here. While Saiga quality is always a good deal the Imbel receivers are getting harder to find and increasingly more expensive. Another issue is magazines. Excluding ProMag a good Saiga magazines is about twice the cost of a surplus FAL magazine which would drive up my overall cost rather quickly. To make things a little quirkier I'm a lefty, but the only rifle I've ever had a problem with is a Garand.

There must be a southpaw out there in THR land who can show me the path to 7.62x51 enlightenment.

 

[HM2PAC]

See if you can spend a little time and shoot them both. I can't see anyone looking to make a sale having a problem with that.

I voted for the FAL, but the important thing is that the rifle operates correctly and reliably.

 

[Robert]

Not a lefty, but my vote is for the FAL. Though you might end up eating brass as there is not much in the way of a deflector.

 

[General Disarray]

That's a heck of a lot for the Saiga. The 22" ones are no where near as accurate as the 16" ones. The shorter ones have a heavy rigid barrel, and for some reason the 22's just don't group like the 16 and I think its cuz of the more rigid barrel. I wouldn't own a 22" again if someone gave it to me; I'd sell it and buy a FAL

The Saiga's are very clickity clackity, and FAL's are just awesome. I'd trust a CAI on an Imbel. I'd bet it's fine. $650 is a great price for one of those, whereas $700+ is a total rip off for a converted Saiga. And being that it's a 22" you'll definitely be disappointed in it's performance. These rifles are under $500 right now, and the parts for the conversion are about $75 total. Plus it's not that hard to do on the newer ones. You're not getting a deal on that Saiga; just paying for the convenience of someone else doing it for you.

No question: FAL all the way.

 

[WardenWolf]

It's not due to the barrel rigidity, at least not directly, that causes the longer Saigas to not be as accurate. It's because ALL AK barrels bow when fired and the longer barrel accentuates this in the same way that a tower sways more at the top than the bottom. Basically, the 16" barrel bows just the same, but its shorter length causes less movement at the tip, and means the bullet is clear of the barrel before the worst of it happens.

I'm a lefty myself, and all my AK rifles, including a PSL, eject forwards at a 45-degree angle. Never once been hit with a casing. However, they do often ruin the brass so you can't reload it. What makes it fly forwards is the bolt handle clips it on its return trip. I'm not a reloader, but I'd say 100% of the casings from my Saiga .223 and around 50% of the casings from my PSL would not be salvageable. The WASR I don't care about, because I shoot cheap Wolf ammo that's not reloadable anyway.

But yeah, at that price, get the FAL. No question.

 

[Babarsac]

I'm actually surprised by the response given how many people have held the Saiga in high regard. Of course, this mostly applies to the 7.62x39 variant. Sent the FAL guy an email today, hopefully he gets back to me.

 

[M1key]

I voted FAL though I own a few of both. If on a tighter budget I would have voted Saiga. Silver Bear SP .308 is my ammo of choice for both my Saigas and shoots very well out of my 21 incher.

M

 

[KodiakBeer]

Get the FAL. Even if it's a Century hack job, you can access falfiles.com and make it into a really wonderful rifle yourself. There is nothing on a FAL (except perhaps head-spacing), that you can't do yourself with minimal tools and skills.

You won't regret buying a FAL.

 

[gizmodog]

yes i vote for the Fal!

best battle rifle of the 20th century.

more than 90 nations at one time used the FN-Fal as their MBR.

simple, hits hard & accuracy is MBR acceptable.

which the U.S. had accepted the Fn-Fal tested as the T-48 instead of the M-14.


gizmodog

 

[newfalguy101]

FAL all the way!!!!

Just ask the guy to let you shoot it first to make sure it runs.

For what its worth, I shoot lefty and the FAL is set-up about as good as any rifle for left handed shooters.

 

[NG VI]

If on a tighter budget I would have voted for the costlier Saiga.

Made me chuckle

 

[03Shadowbob]

Thank God my Saiga 21" 308 doesn't know it is not supposed to be accurate.
Any AK platform is not going to give you that 300 yard plus accuracy that a bolt gun will but at 100-200 yards my 21" Saiga will hit the vitals every time which is what it is supposed to do.
During the frenzy, I got the 308 for $640 then about $120 for parts and furniture then another $80 for 2 mags so in my eyes $700 isn't that high especially if the guy still has the original furniture you can sell.

 

[1stmarine]

What does a vote here really mean? It is wasting the time.
The mine vs. yours riddle is everywhere.
what you need is honest advice and specs, experiences and proof vs. opinions.
Pass on century systems. There are some good experiences but many horror stories.
For a FAL I would go with a DSA. Do not buy a Saiga in 21", buy the 16" one....
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=567005

 

[Babarsac]

Unfortunately the seller with the Imbel Saiga has disappeared into the internet abyss. If I were to get a Century FAL I would do it through Atlantic Firearms since they will not rest until you have a properly functioning rifle (but they do have a non-Century for $799). On the Saiga side I found one for $530 delivered which is about as good as you can do these days.

Argh decisions decisions

 

[1stmarine]

$530 for the Saiga is a good price. Then you can build from there if you want.
The factory trigger sucks but it can be used out of the box w/o problems.
I know DSA Fals are the way to go. With Century all mixed opinions. Anyway I don't know much about them other than if you ask any veterans in the Israeli army they will tell you the problems with dust and sand. The AKs use sand and dust for lubrication. In any case sand and dust must not be a concern for most civilian use. Check th SAiga .308 in 16" accuracy. It needs to be converted and accurized thought that is around $180 dollars. Mags are expensive compared to FAL's althoght I don't need more than 5 to 8 per system.
I always include 2 or 3 10 rounders for the bench but I don't know if you do that type of shooting.
Cheers,
E.