Redlg155
Member
Fellow Shooters,
This week has been good to me! I got to pick up two new "babies", a DSA STG58A Carbine and a Saiga .308. Here I am holding one of my babies!
And of course a pic of the two togther...
And here is a bit about them. First the STG 58 Carbine.
Talk about a sweet rifle! These are built from what I see as excellent condition imported STG kits which are assembled on the DSA's reciever. The reciever is a type I and looks very nice. All parts serial #'s are matching and the rifling is very visible, bright and clean. If DSA uses different barrels for cabine cut downs I couldn't tell because this one was perfect. The rifle came with a 20rd mag and a FAL manual. I suggest anyone that owns a FAL obtain one of these. I found the information contained within to be invaluable. You can just about assemble one from scratch with that manual. The barrel also came with the replica belgian flash hider which is actually a muzzle brake. The entire rifle was parkerized to match nicely. An inspection of the bolt revealed zero wear on the bolt face. I'd venture to say this one sat in an arsenal and never saw actual use.
Handling Characteristics:
Talk about a handy little rifle! This little carbine is a bit on the hefty side, but balances nicely with a loaded magazine. The fit was very comfortable for a guy that is 5'5 and weighs 205.
When shouldered the head lines up naturally with the sights. The ultra short barrel definitely makes you feel the need to be a bit more cautious with the muzzle since it's very easy to move around, not to mention that is is pretty close to your noggin carried at port arms. The carry handle is nice if you like to carry your weapons like a suitcase. I personally don't use them nor did I have any use for them when I carried an M16 for a living. Want someone warm to cuddle with in the winter time? Well this gal ain't the one. She's all cold steel and plastic. Hot in the summer and cold in the winter. I may "warm" her up later by some Isreali wood furniture.
Firing impressions:
Recoil? Where is it!
The muzzle brake is that efficient. It is also very easy to hurt your eardrums if you are a bystander and get caught unawares without hearing protection! A buddy of mine found that out the hard way and ran yelping off the firing line The muzzle brake vents gasses to the rear by using 2 ports each located directly up, down, left and right. Firing this weapon was a definite surprise to me. Some of you may have seen my "Does your FAL pimp slap your face? " post. Well, none of that nonsense here! The very minimal recoil is slightly to the rear and is very comfortable. You could definitely fire this weapon a couple hundred rounds with no problems. Ohh..and I forgot to mention. Don't shoot her off the bipod in the mud unless you want a face full of it. If you are one of those "Operator" types worried about dust signature, then you'd better look for another brake. In my case it was a "mud" signature.
Reliability:
Excellent. No malfunctions were experienced. Worked with a gas setting on #4.
Accuracy:
Nothing scientific, but within 3" at 100 meters using Port Surplus. That's good enough for me. In the future I will be adding a scope checking the true accuracy. If anything she begs for a Aimpoint Comp M red dot. It definitely makes a nice close to intermediate range rifle. The trigger is pretty decent compared to some military rifles. This was helpful in wringing out a bit of accuracy. The problem was that the heavy front sight post took away any advantages the trigger gave.
So...the verdict on this one? She's definitely a keeper! Of course at the price of $950.00 she had better be one!
Now on to the second baby.
This one is a Saiga .308. This particular rifle has the 22" barrel and sporter stock. The wood is some sort of light colored wood with a nice grain pattern. As I understand it these rifles are made from the RPK series reciever. As with all Russian weapons these are made stout. A tank of sorts in the gun world. The paint type finish was evenly applied and would be what you expected from an AK type rifle. This rifle also came with an 8 round magazine. Unlike the DSA STG58, this is a new manufactured weapon. The stock also comes with sling swivels installed, and rather utilitarian ones at that. No " Uncle Mikes" here.
Handling Characteristics:
As stated before, this rifle is a tank of sorts. As such it requires a longer limbed person to be truly comfortable shooting it. From a standing position I was perfectly comfortable, but shooting prone left me unable to comfortably reach the forearm. This is a great candidate for a bipod. The sights line up nicely when brought up. The sight post is also relatively narrow when compared to the STG. In this respect she has an advantage in the accuracy department. The stock is has a high comb that is typical of a European stock, almost humped back in apearance with a cheek rest. The safety of course is the typical AK. No mistaking off or on.
Firing impressions:
Remember that recoil that the STG didn't have? Well it came back with the Saiga. No face slapping like my last FAL, but you definitely knew you were firing a high powered rifle. I was thankful that they thoughtfully installed a nice recoil pad on this beast. What surprised and irked me was that it did have some trigger slap. Enough to give a bit of a sting if you didn't follow through completely with the trigger. The trigger is a long military AK type. Don't ask me to tell when when she will release every time because I never figured that one out. Just pull and hold steady. Given the increased recoil and trigger slap problems, I got through about 50 rds before I had to put her down for the day. She's a definite candidate for the RSA trigger group.
Reliability:
Excellent. No malfunctions were experienced. It slings brass wherever is wants in the typical AK fashion. Forget finding all your brass in a neat little pile. A brass hunting we will go!
Accuracy:
2" at 100 meters using Port Surplus. I think the FAL would have also done this easily had it not been for the thick front sight post. The narrow Saiga post definitely made longer range work easier. I also believe this Saiga has great potential as a scoped gun.
Verdict on this one..
She's going to be a keeper. It's hard to find a good solid .308 at $350 these days. Sure she needs a new RSA trigger to tame her manners, but it's something I wanted to do in the first place. A bipod is another definite add on. I think she will also be seeing a Romanian thumbhole stock as well.
I'm happy with both rifles. The Saiga did have a couple shortcomings but for a $350 semi auto rifle she performed very well. Her future will be a "Saiganov" Dragunov/Saiga hybrid. As for the DSA , she is pretty expensive for one of her kind but definitely worth it. I plan to keep everything stock except for the addition of a scope mount and Isreali furniture. I think anyone considering either of these rifles would be happy. At least I am.
Good Shooting
Red
This week has been good to me! I got to pick up two new "babies", a DSA STG58A Carbine and a Saiga .308. Here I am holding one of my babies!
And of course a pic of the two togther...
And here is a bit about them. First the STG 58 Carbine.
Talk about a sweet rifle! These are built from what I see as excellent condition imported STG kits which are assembled on the DSA's reciever. The reciever is a type I and looks very nice. All parts serial #'s are matching and the rifling is very visible, bright and clean. If DSA uses different barrels for cabine cut downs I couldn't tell because this one was perfect. The rifle came with a 20rd mag and a FAL manual. I suggest anyone that owns a FAL obtain one of these. I found the information contained within to be invaluable. You can just about assemble one from scratch with that manual. The barrel also came with the replica belgian flash hider which is actually a muzzle brake. The entire rifle was parkerized to match nicely. An inspection of the bolt revealed zero wear on the bolt face. I'd venture to say this one sat in an arsenal and never saw actual use.
Handling Characteristics:
Talk about a handy little rifle! This little carbine is a bit on the hefty side, but balances nicely with a loaded magazine. The fit was very comfortable for a guy that is 5'5 and weighs 205.
When shouldered the head lines up naturally with the sights. The ultra short barrel definitely makes you feel the need to be a bit more cautious with the muzzle since it's very easy to move around, not to mention that is is pretty close to your noggin carried at port arms. The carry handle is nice if you like to carry your weapons like a suitcase. I personally don't use them nor did I have any use for them when I carried an M16 for a living. Want someone warm to cuddle with in the winter time? Well this gal ain't the one. She's all cold steel and plastic. Hot in the summer and cold in the winter. I may "warm" her up later by some Isreali wood furniture. Firing impressions:
Recoil? Where is it!
The muzzle brake is that efficient. It is also very easy to hurt your eardrums if you are a bystander and get caught unawares without hearing protection! A buddy of mine found that out the hard way and ran yelping off the firing line
The muzzle brake vents gasses to the rear by using 2 ports each located directly up, down, left and right. Firing this weapon was a definite surprise to me. Some of you may have seen my "Does your FAL pimp slap your face? " post. Well, none of that nonsense here! The very minimal recoil is slightly to the rear and is very comfortable. You could definitely fire this weapon a couple hundred rounds with no problems. Ohh..and I forgot to mention. Don't shoot her off the bipod in the mud unless you want a face full of it. If you are one of those "Operator" types worried about dust signature, then you'd better look for another brake. In my case it was a "mud" signature. Reliability:
Excellent. No malfunctions were experienced. Worked with a gas setting on #4.
Accuracy:
Nothing scientific, but within 3" at 100 meters using Port Surplus. That's good enough for me. In the future I will be adding a scope checking the true accuracy. If anything she begs for a Aimpoint Comp M red dot. It definitely makes a nice close to intermediate range rifle. The trigger is pretty decent compared to some military rifles. This was helpful in wringing out a bit of accuracy. The problem was that the heavy front sight post took away any advantages the trigger gave.
So...the verdict on this one? She's definitely a keeper! Of course at the price of $950.00 she had better be one!
Now on to the second baby.
This one is a Saiga .308. This particular rifle has the 22" barrel and sporter stock. The wood is some sort of light colored wood with a nice grain pattern. As I understand it these rifles are made from the RPK series reciever. As with all Russian weapons these are made stout. A tank of sorts in the gun world. The paint type finish was evenly applied and would be what you expected from an AK type rifle. This rifle also came with an 8 round magazine. Unlike the DSA STG58, this is a new manufactured weapon. The stock also comes with sling swivels installed, and rather utilitarian ones at that. No " Uncle Mikes" here.
Handling Characteristics:
As stated before, this rifle is a tank of sorts. As such it requires a longer limbed person to be truly comfortable shooting it. From a standing position I was perfectly comfortable, but shooting prone left me unable to comfortably reach the forearm. This is a great candidate for a bipod. The sights line up nicely when brought up. The sight post is also relatively narrow when compared to the STG. In this respect she has an advantage in the accuracy department. The stock is has a high comb that is typical of a European stock, almost humped back in apearance with a cheek rest. The safety of course is the typical AK. No mistaking off or on.
Firing impressions:
Remember that recoil that the STG didn't have? Well it came back with the Saiga. No face slapping like my last FAL, but you definitely knew you were firing a high powered rifle. I was thankful that they thoughtfully installed a nice recoil pad on this beast. What surprised and irked me was that it did have some trigger slap. Enough to give a bit of a sting if you didn't follow through completely with the trigger. The trigger is a long military AK type. Don't ask me to tell when when she will release every time because I never figured that one out. Just pull and hold steady. Given the increased recoil and trigger slap problems, I got through about 50 rds before I had to put her down for the day. She's a definite candidate for the RSA trigger group.
Reliability:
Excellent. No malfunctions were experienced. It slings brass wherever is wants in the typical AK fashion. Forget finding all your brass in a neat little pile. A brass hunting we will go!
Accuracy:
2" at 100 meters using Port Surplus. I think the FAL would have also done this easily had it not been for the thick front sight post. The narrow Saiga post definitely made longer range work easier. I also believe this Saiga has great potential as a scoped gun.
Verdict on this one..
She's going to be a keeper. It's hard to find a good solid .308 at $350 these days. Sure she needs a new RSA trigger to tame her manners, but it's something I wanted to do in the first place. A bipod is another definite add on. I think she will also be seeing a Romanian thumbhole stock as well.
I'm happy with both rifles. The Saiga did have a couple shortcomings but for a $350 semi auto rifle she performed very well. Her future will be a "Saiganov" Dragunov/Saiga hybrid. As for the DSA , she is pretty expensive for one of her kind but definitely worth it. I plan to keep everything stock except for the addition of a scope mount and Isreali furniture. I think anyone considering either of these rifles would be happy. At least I am.
Good Shooting
Red
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