Which is more accurate, mini-14 or Saiga .223?

[Browns Fan]

I keep hearing about how inaccurate the mini-14 is... is it more or less accurate that the Saiga .223? I also hear how pleasanly surprised the Saiga owners are in regards to it's accuracy. What say you?

 

[natedog]

Out of the box, probably about even. Spend about $50 on the Mini-14, and you can get it to shoot nice little groups. http://www.perfectunion.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=1818

If I were out of CA, I probably wouldn't own a Mini-14. The Saiga delivers similar performance for a lot less. Due to imports of less expensive Russian rifles (Saiga, AK, SKS) that perform more or less the same thing as a Mini-14, it is sort of a gun without a niche. It used to be a good beat around truck gun or defensive carbine (and it still performs that role admirable), but the foreign made guns do the same thing at a lesser price. A standard, blued finished, wood stocked Mini-14 is about $450. A Saiga is about $200, and an SKS is about $90.