Saiga Sporter rifle - How are they?

[LKB3rd]

Be warned though, the .308 version will have people thinking that small earthquakes are happening along with the 2' of flame that flies out of the relatively short barrel.

That's no joke. Mine will blow the hair out of your eyes. Well, if I had any in my eyes in the first place :/ The upside is that it is very accurate, and not just "for an AK". I'd put it up against any semi auto .308 and it would hold its own. I wasn't expecting that.
What I was expecting was a reliable, reasonably priced, easy to maintain rifle, and it is all of that too.
Mine is converted, and I agree that it is the way to go. I used ironwood designs AKM furniture on mine, and it has a great look as well.
I guess I don't have to say it, but I am a fan of them and would recommend them.

To my knowledge, the .308 Saiga does not mark the brass as the smaller calibers do and should be fine for the reloader.

Mine dented the brass until I put some "goop" on the dust cover where they hit. Others use a piece of molding on it as a padding, and report good results. But, they will dent the brass without making some sort of guard. There is a commercially available guard for this purpose (I am going from memory but i think it was made for a Valmet) too.

 

[Ranger30-06]

That's no joke. Mine will blow the hair out of your eyes. Well, if I had any in my eyes in the first place :/ The upside is that it is very accurate, and not just "for an AK". I'd put it up against any semi auto .308 and it would hold its own. I wasn't expecting that.
What I was expecting was a reliable, reasonably priced, easy to maintain rifle, and it is all of that too.

I'll agree on the accuracy thing. I don't think people realize that the AK = Bad accuracy thing is really just because most AK's are thrown together with a bunch of slightly different parts kits. Saigas are 100% brand new, with every little part exactly the same, all coming from the same factory, off of the exact same machines. Its a relatively tight fitting machine and will definitely hold its own out to at least 500 yards (especially the ones with the 21" barrels.)

Mine dented the brass until I put some "goop" on the dust cover where they hit. Others use a piece of molding on it as a padding, and report good results. But, they will dent the brass without making some sort of guard. There is a commercially available guard for this purpose (I am going from memory but i think it was made for a Valmet) too.

My Saiga .308 destroys the brass. It's definitely NOT a reloader's gun. It is a Russian gun though, so no problems with Russian ammo! (Meaning cheap ammo is no problem...)

 

[Twiki357]

Hexidismal, Thanks for the links.

And thaks to everyone for all the info.

 

[FMJMIKE]

Do these Saigas have mag well dimples ???

 

[Double Vision]

Today I saw a number of the Saigas at the Allentown gun show in various calibers, in the $350 range for 7.62x39. I'm a big Made in USA guy but I really liked them.

If I hadn't gone to the show on 2 wheels, one of them would have come home with me.

How do they handle different types of ammo (steel vs brass)?

 

[brgr]

I own a .223 and I love the thing. Post above me asked how different ammo runs thru it. Well, mine eats anything and mostly eats steel cased. I've even done the unthinkable by shooting some steel cased and followed it with brass right after and she went bang everytime.

I wanted the "conversion" look or what a regular AK looks like but didn't want to do it myself so I bought a Tapco grip-buttstock for mine. It just bolts right on, no mods.

Cons: Mags are expensive. They used to be $50 a pop but have dropped to about $30, better but no were close to regular AK or Galil mags. And yes ProMag makes a mag for the Saiga for $20 and YES they SUCK. Buy Surefire (SGM) mags, cost more but they actually work. This of course is true unless you install a bullet guide, then buy the cheaper Ak mags.

 

[Twiki357]

I finally got out to the range today. Operation was flawless. No missfeeds, failure to fires, or ejection failures with the factory 10 round magazine. Grouped the first 20 rounds in a paper plate at 50 yards right out of the box. The only down side was that they were all on the right half of the plate and there's no windage adjustment. :banghead:

 

[6x6pinz]

the front sight moves left/right to make up any sighting issues. The sight tool is not all that expensive and available just about anywhere.

 

[Double Vision]

The sights leave a bit to be desired IMHO.

 

[Cryogaijin]

My .308 ingests everything without complaint. From heavy hunting loads to light varmint loads.

I wish some ammo company would come out with .308 designed for a 16" barrel though. . .

 

[Double Vision]

I wish some ammo company would come out with .308 designed for a 16" barrel though. . .

Pardon my ignorance, but how do you mean?

 

[spartand003]

Most powder and bullet loads for .308 are designed for longer barrels. A 16 in barrel is really short for a battle rifle, and most .308 rounds aren't optimized for such a short barrel.

 

[Twiki357]

Thanks 6x6. The tool was included, but I hadn't figured out what it was. Reread the instructions about 6 times and they still don't make sense to me. Fortunately, it was pretty easy to figure out.

 

[M1key]

Thanks 6x6. The tool was included, but I hadn't figured out what it was. Reread the instructions about 6 times and they still don't make sense to me. Fortunately, it was pretty easy to figure out.

If you are hitting right, move front sight to the right, right?

M

 

[FMJMIKE]

I need some Saiga .308 mags. Where can I find them ??? TIA

 

[6x6pinz]

I need some Saiga .308 mags. Where can I find them ??? TIA

always have good luck with http://centerfiresystems.com/saiga.aspx
quick to ship and usually very competitive prices

 

[csspecs]

There are a lot of places that sell the same stuff for the saiga. Carolina shooters supply tends to have more options and fairly fast shipping.

http://store.carolinashooterssupply.com/servlet/-strse-MAGAZINES-dsh-DRUMS-cln-SAIGA-308/Categories

Of course the manufacturers all retail their own products since everything for saiga rifles is low volume, so everyone is edging in to get a little more share of the small market.

http://stores.csspecs.com/StoreFront.bok
http://uintaindustries.com/product-line/parts/
http://sgmtactical.com/

 

[Ranger30-06]

I need some Saiga .308 mags. Where can I find them ??? TIA

CSSPECS magazines are in my opinion, the absolute best mags you will ever find anywhere. They are a hair more denaro than some of the other options, but they are 100% steel and built about 3x tougher than they need to be. I have 2 of them and have never had a single problem with either of them. (Actually, I've never had a jam in my Saiga .308 ever lol)

CSSPECS Magazines

 

[aka108]

I own Saigas in 223, 7.62x39 and 308. None of these are target rifles and exhibit typical AK accuracy. I really enjoy the 223 and 7.62X39. Totally reliable and do pretty well with Kobra sights. The 308 I have is the longer bbl version with wood furniture. I franky hate the damn thing. Cumberson to handle, not anywhere decent for a hunting rifle and will drive you nuts trying to zero in a optical glass scope since it's accuracy is simply lacking. Some people really like the 308 in the long bbl configuration and that's fine. Just expressing my experience and opinion.

 

[SSN Vet]

The sporter config. has the trigger mounted ~3" to the rear to accomodate a std. style stock, and thus uses a transfer bar in the linkage to trip the sear. They also have a smaller notch in the mag release. There is no bullet guide in front of the chamber mouth to tip up the round as it is fed from the magazine in the sporter, and the older models had a unique chamber geometry that has a step in the neck area (though I've read that the newer models no longer have this odd chamber). Also, the Saiga magazines have a smaller tab to work with this reduced size notch in the mag. release and a higher front wall that serves the same purpose as a bullet guide.

This does a few things to the rifle (as compared to the std. AK config.)

The trigger is rather creepy on the sporter.
When gripping the sporter stock, the rifle is quite front heavy.
The rifle is incompatable with economical mil. surp mags
Your cases are fire formed with a significant bulge in the neck.

IMO, the rifle cries out for conversion to the standard AK config., which is pretty easy for a mechanically inclined person to do, and the conversion parts have come down in price quite a bit.

When converting, you ditch the transfer bar and move the trigger forward into the normal position. The sproter triger plate comes off (drill out two rivots and drill or grind off the spot weld) revealing that the reciever is already machined to accomodate this)

The Tapco G2 trigger group cleans up the trigger very nicely and counts as 922R compliance parts.

Adding the PG moves your hand much closer to the COG and makes the rifle feel much less front heavy.

Adding a bullet guide and grinding either the mag catch notch larger, or your mil. surp mag tab smaller solves the magazing compatability issues.

The bulge in the brass only affects you if you reload, and even then it's not a huge deal.

Adding a muzzle break or replacing the front hand gaurd adds to the complexity of the conversion quite a bit.

If you're 6' or taller, I'd suggest getting a NATO length stock, which is an inch or so longer than the commie size stock and achieves ~14.5" LOP.

They're nice little rifles, and they used to be a screemin' deal at $240

 

[JFtheGR8]

Here's mine. Not converted yet but I have the parts to do so just need to sit down at the workbench and get it done. Waiting for a rainy day... I use the Silver Bear steel cased ammo with no problems. I am hoping and anticipate that the trigger will be much better once the conversion is done.