Saiga .308: First Impressions

[Tomac]

I just picked up my Saiga .308 from Consumer Direct-USA out of Thornton, CO.: http://www.consumer-directusa.com/
Total price delivered through my FFL was $332, including 4% CC fee.
Like the Saiga .308 that Dryfire reported on earlier, this rifle was not imported by EAA although there is an unreadable marked-out line on the left of the receiver just to the right of "MADE IN RUSSIA BY IZHMASH".
Wood is nice, much better than the other Saiga .308s I've seen (w/no nasty varnish to remove) although metal finish (while good and with a few tool marks evident) is IMHO not as good as that on the Vepr-II.
The single 8rd mag is heavy-duty synthetic but I'd like to have the metal-reinforcement as seen on the Vepr mags.
Trigger pull is long, surprisingly smooth and light for "right out of the box". Not bad but without a 2-stage setup it will just take a little getting used to. I wonder if Red Star could make a custom trigger for the Saiga .308?
The 1P21 scope fits the siderail quite nicely and the offset to the left doesn't bother me at all. However, the eye relief is a bit off, this may or may not be correctable. The PSO 8x scope, although it sits higher, does appear to have better eye relief. I have to wonder how well this Saiga (or the 16" version w/synthetic stocks) would work with a Kobra sight. Hmmm....
Range report soon...
Tomac

[Plateshooter]

I picked one of the same rifles up about 2 months ago. My impression of the trigger is the same as yours. Very smooth, but long. I have been getting used to it, and after a while you will know where to "stage" it. I found the accuracy quite surprising with South African, and Portugeese ammo. I was shooting at an old fire extinguisher bottle at the 300 yard mark and could hit it every shot with an MTK 75 mount and an old 4X Tasco I had laying around. My opinion is that it is a really good rifle to get into the 308 semi auto arena, at a very reasonable price. I am quite satisfied with the rifle and the price. The magazines are easily converted to 10 round. And replacements are available from CDNN for $19.99. I got mine for $259.00 still wrapped in the brown paper in the sealed box, from a dealer who was closing them out at a local gun show. I did talk to Red Star at Knob Creek about a trigger for the Saiga. Charles said they would consider making one if enough requests were made. That would make a fantastic rifle with a Red Star trigger.

[dryfire]

I hope Tomac has the same results I had with mine. Plateshooter got a hell of a deal. The best in the industry for a Semi .308. It will be seen if the Saiga is consistent from gun to gun. I agree the finish may not be as good as the Vepr. The one I got is pretty nice for the money and close to the Vepr's I looked at.

[Tomac]

Okay, I've ordered 6 spare mags from CDNN and have on hand Portugese, South African & Hirtenberger milsurp .308 for accuracy testing (I'll include match ammo if I can locate any locally) and I have a couple of volunteers to help with the testing. All I need now is the scope (probably 8x PSO from Tantal) and I'm ready to do a range test. I'd keep the 1P21 (really neat scope) but it sits 2" too far forward for proper eye relief with the long Saiga stock (anyone know of a workable replacement stock or solution that doesn't involve taking a hacksaw to the factory stock???)
Tomac

[dryfire]

Tomac, are you using the Saiga Mount? If you bought the package from Tantal, you have the latest AK type forward mount. The Saiga mount is straight up, and allows proper eye relief even with very short scopes.

[Tomac]

Originally posted by dryfire
Tomac, are you using the Saiga Mount? If you bought the package from Tantal, you have the latest AK type forward mount. The Saiga mount is straight up, and allows proper eye relief even with very short scopes.

Yeah, after much discussion w/Tantal I'm getting the 8x PSO with his last Saiga clamp to give both proper height for the objective bell to clear the rear sight base and proper eye relief. I should be able to do a range test/report this weekend. The standard PSO 4x & 6x should work fine for both height & eye relief w/o the Saiga clamp. Too bad the 1P21 wouldn't work with the Saiga's longer stock (sigh...) :(
Tomac