Anyone got a Saiga ?

[JeffM]

I'm thinking of replacing my doggy old SKS plinking rifle since I'm fedup to the back teeth with the damn thing stovepiping all the time. Looking around at other semis of the 7.62x39 presuassion. Are the Saigas any good?

Reason for staying with 7.62x39 is that I bought crap loads of ammo a year or so back - must have something like 4000 rounds of the stuff left still - damn that stuff is cheap

TIA

Jeff

 

[KevinNY]

Get a Ruger.

 

[JeffM]

Mini 30? Never tried one out but are they any better than say a Saiga or an AK?

 

[KevinNY]

Absolutely better. That Saiga will come with a 14 pound trigger that feels full of sand. The ruger will feed fine, have a reasonable trigger and is supported by a lot of aftermarket parts and gunsmiths, forums etc. Those russian guns are rough made tools. Just find them both and handle them in a gunshop, I think you will be sold.

 

[JeffM]

Absolutely better. That Saiga will come with a 14 pound trigger that feels full of sand. The ruger will feed fine, have a reasonable trigger and is supported by a lot of aftermarket parts and gunsmiths, forums etc. Those russian guns are rough made tools. Just find them both and handle them in a gunshop, I think you will be sold.

Thanks Kevin - I'm feeling a trip down to the local gun shop coming on

 

[post]

I'm thinking of replacing my doggy old SKS plinking rifle since I'm fedup to the back teeth with the damn thing stovepiping all the time. Looking around at other semis of the 7.62x39 presuassion. Are the Saigas any good?

Reason for staying with 7.62x39 is that I bought crap loads of ammo a year or so back - must have something like 4000 rounds of the stuff left still - damn that stuff is cheap

TIA

Jeff

I have a VeprK made by robison arms and it's top quality, maybe a little more expensive than the Saiga's or Romainian's but it's definately worth it. A little bit heavier than your average AK too but solid and reliable.

Romanians are good too just a little cheaper made plus they got a nasty trigger slap, nothing that can't be fixed with a new trigger from Tapco though. sorry I was no help with your question about Saiga.

 

[yo! adrian]

I'm thinking of replacing my doggy old SKS plinking rifle since I'm fedup to the back teeth with the damn thing stovepiping all the time. Looking around at other semis of the 7.62x39 presuassion. Are the Saigas any good?

Reason for staying with 7.62x39 is that I bought crap loads of ammo a year or so back - must have something like 4000 rounds of the stuff left still - damn that stuff is cheap

TIA

Jeff

Jeff, did you ever end up getting the Saiga? I have my eye on a .308 and looking for personal feedback.

Adrian

 

[rotus7]

Sounds like you got surplus ammo. Have you tried better quality ammo?
Reason I ask is, I had a buddy who got a Hi-Tec 9mm for dirt cheap (brand new). I think they were going for about $100-$125. He bought some surplus 9mm ammo because it was so cheap. He'd get about 2 or 3 shots off before it would jam or stovepipe. He was about to take the gun back he was so fed up. Well he bought some higher quality ammo and never had a problem after that. The high quality ammo never jammed, ever.
Just a thought.

 

[sean]

just get a FAL, i love my L1A1. the sks is in semi retirement as a loaner gun. as rotus said try a different brand of ammo first, unless you really like the saiga and it's not the ammo, it would be cheaper to get a gunsmith to fix the sks. i've had mine for almost 20 years and it have been one of the most dependable rifles i have ever owned.
one last thing if you are using duckbill magazines try the stock fixed mag.
duckbills have a bad rep for not being reliable, the only ones i have that work flawless are the old pre-ban mags. the new ones i have bought have been crap the dimensions were to far out of spec to be reliable.

 

[yo! adrian]

Ended up choosing a Ruger Hawkeye 30-06. Just picked it up today and hope to take it to the range this weekend.

 

[sean]

cool, give me a call when you want to go. i'm always ready to shoot something (as long as it's not myself). we may be able to get chris and william out as well.

 

[champana]

you can get the ruger in stainless too!

 

[yo! adrian]

cool, give me a call when you want to go. i'm always ready to shoot something (as long as it's not myself). we may be able to get chris and william out as well.

LOL! Yeah, I remember. I took my son today. I'm up for it if you're free Monday or Tuesday morning or mid-day.