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dryfire
04-10-2002, 08:53 AM
I bought a 308 Saiga at the Tulsa gun show this weekend. I paid $359 out the door. The box was sealed in the orginal plastic wrap. It was made in March of 2001. It does not have an EAA import mark on it.

When I opened the box, I discovered the rifle appears better than any of the display models I have seen. The wood and finish is excellant. The quality of the finish rivals the Veprs. The big surprise is it came with 2 mags and, an already put together, scope mount with a 4 X 24 Russian scope. The scope is a high quality unit with nitrogen filled tube, coated optics, target type turrents, and a 3 post recticle. The factory papers says it is already registered at 100 Meters. I was skeptical until I fired the weapon.

The gun has a heavy contour barrell and feels like a Garand in the hand. The trigger pull is long, but smooth and light. The two mags are synthetic and holds 8 rounds. The heavy construction of the weapon is apparent when the slide is racked.

I put the scope on to see if it was indeed sighted at 100 meters. It was right on the money. I did not have a chance to bench rest the rifle, but all 3 us shooting it hit everything we aimed at at 100 yards. We were shooting at the back burm of a pond. All the rocks were turned into gravel. I was using my handloads developed for match shooting of my match Garand and M1A. I checked a fired case in a case guage and discovered the chamber and headspace is a 4. This is the same as the Garand and M1A which are Douglas equipped. I can shoot this rifle as well as the other two off hand and with the scope. The AK open sites are not as good as the other two.

When I finished and tore the weapon down, It has all the good AK features such as chrome bore, gas piston, and gas block. This is a military weapon in sporting clothes.

I don't like the tiny sling swivels but the recoil pad is first rate. I don't know if the distributors are including all the extras with theirs. I think the package I got is first rate and the real bargain in 308 semi autos. I highly recommend this product. I prefer this to any of the Century stuff. Does anyone know if Galil mags fit this?

Tomac
04-10-2002, 09:38 AM
Nice range report, dryfire, thx! I'd be very interested in hearing how it performs at longer ranges, especially w/match ammo. Please keep us posted...
Tomac

beammeupscotty
04-10-2002, 09:24 PM
I agree dryfire. I got my Saiga .308 about 4 months ago and am very happy with it. Mine was mfg. in 1999, but was new when I got it. The finish on the stock was not very good but was easily fixed with a little solvent and a couple of coats of spray on Poly finish. It came with all the same stuff as yours except I did not buy it with the scope. I wish I had now. You should be very happy with it.

Handgun
04-11-2002, 08:46 AM
dryfire,

Sounds great!!

I have been thinking about getting one of these from CDNN. I am assuming that CDNN has EAA imported Saigas.

Who was the importer of yours?

Thanks.

dryfire
04-11-2002, 09:44 AM
The importer is R&K International from Westminster, CO.

Tomac
04-11-2002, 02:33 PM
Originally posted by dryfire
The importer is R&K International from Westminster, CO.

Hmmm... in that case you can probably buy one from Consumer Direct, USA www.consumer-directusa.com who's also out of Westminster, CO. and selling Saiga .308s for $339.
Tomac

FLASH-HIDR
04-17-2002, 07:36 PM
I have been thinking about buying a Saiga in .308, and your review has just convinced me to do so. I think CDNN just sells the rifle w/1 mag and no extras... Who has one w/ the scope and extra mag in box?

Thanx!:)

dryfire
04-18-2002, 03:44 PM
I am not sure any of the recent distributors are including all the extras. CDNN is selling the extra mag, scope mount, and scope separetly. They are calling the scope a 4X32, but it is a 4x24. Very high quality. Before you order, if you can go to a gunshow and find one sealed in the plastic that came in before CDNN and keislers, you might strike gold. Even without the extras, I think this is worth the money. It is a very high quality rifle. I called CDNN and asked about the rifle out of curiosity. They said they are sold out right now. EAA has taken over the importation, this may effect the package. They are also going to have a synthetic furniture model coming in. You may want to contact the shop in Colorado that was mentioned by one of the responses. Do a dealer transfer if they have one of the early ones. I consider this a Russian Garand.

Tomac
04-19-2002, 11:24 PM
Okay, I'm convinced... I'm picking up a Saiga .308 in a couple of weeks and topping it with a 1P21 3-9x autoranging scope from Tantal. I'll see if I can round up some match ammo and a decent shooter (my eyes are shot until surgery this summer) and see what this thing can do!
Tomac

Tomac
04-27-2002, 05:28 PM
FLASH-HIDR, Consumer-Direct USA offers the Saiga .308 both rifle alone and as a package w/scope & mount. HTH...
Tomac

BlueNote
04-27-2002, 05:42 PM
TOMAC,

Where did you find the package deal located?

Tomac
04-27-2002, 06:18 PM
Originally posted by BlueNote
TOMAC,

Where did you find the package deal located?

It's offered through Consumer-DirectUSA, see link in my earlier post above. I don't know what they want for the full package but consumer price is $339 for rifle alone and FFL price for rifle alone is $299. HTH...
Tomac

Tomac
05-09-2002, 08:25 AM
My Saiga .308 should be here today, 1P21 scope arrived a couple of weeks ago and I've got a couple hundred rds each of Hirtenberger, South African & Portugese milsurp .308 on hand to do accuracy testing with (haven't been able to locate any match ammo locally). I'm heading out to the range on Sunday and will post a range report when I get back.
Tomac

Elmer keith fan
05-14-2002, 01:33 PM
is the EAA marked Saiga in .308 worth having?
found a new .308 EAA marked Saiga with Blk sinth stocks. NO pistol grip, looks like a 16 inch bbl also. wants $349.99
triger is made of sheet metal by the way.

Tomac
05-14-2002, 01:54 PM
Yeah, the trigger on my non-EAA Saiga is stamped as well but IMHO that's no big deal (at $299 I'm not going to complain, everything else seems more than rugged enough). Of more concern to me is that the longer sporter stock means you won't have proper eye relief with PSO scopes unless you swap the SVD or AK clamp with a special Saiga clamp that will give the needed additional height but won't screw up the eye relief. If you install a shorter (2" shorter) buttstock then you can use the 1P21 or any of the PSO scopes w/the AK clamp and have proper height & eye relief. EAA is supposed to have Saiga clamps in-country by the end of May and I think Tantal is working on his own SVD clamp conversions (email him for details). I like the idea of synthetic stocks (a shorter synthetic sporter would be a Godsend!) but am not sure I want a 16" bbl on a .308! (Unless, of course, you want a CQB .308, hmmm...) I suppose you could do the whole pistol grip conversion along w/all the parts-count & moving stuff hassles but that's more effort than it's worth to me. Expect a range report this weekend!...
Tomac

FLASH-HIDR
05-14-2002, 04:55 PM
Hey Elmer, CDNN has the Saiga .308 W/ 16" barrel and snth. stock for only $299.00...:)

Tomac
05-16-2002, 05:48 PM
Okay, the range test for my "Poor Man's Dragunov" is on for this weekend (out to at least 500m):
Saiga .308 (wooden stock)
6 spare mags
PSO 8x42 scope (stock was too long for 1P21)
'AA' Kobra (yes, I'm going to try it on the Saiga)
1,000rds of Portugese .308 (I also have SA & Hirt for testing)
My total cost for everything above: $905 ($765 minus the ammo, $630 minus the Kobra)
Will post a range report on Sunday...
Tomac

Elmer keith fan
05-20-2002, 12:17 AM
Originally posted by FLASH-HIDR
Hey Elmer, CDNN has the Saiga .308 W/ 16" barrel and snth. stock for only $299.00...:)

thanks FLASH-HIDR. I went & checked my latest cat & there they where. ...thought I seen em somwhere! I would like to see the one with the PG. the FCG is decent feeling but the triger is stamped/ made from sheet metal...that kinda bothers me. :D