Coinneach
October 11, 1999, 11:50 AM
Signed up for my dealer's rifle class, which happened last weekend. Since the only rifle I owned was an Uzi, I decided to get a "real" rifle; a Saiga 7.62 carbine. $350 NIB. Got a case of Russian-made 124-gr JHP as well.
I got the Saiga because of the price (equal to what real AKs were going for a few months ago), the Evil Black Plastic stock and forend, and the fact that it takes 30-round mags without mods. The gun comes with 2 5-rounders. At the back of the manual was a "certificate of functioning" or somesuch. There's a space for maximum group size during test firing at Izhmash. 118mm. Ick.
The manual was very obviously translated by someone whose native language is not English/American ("the bullet will exit the barrel rushly"), and the operation and takedown instructions and diagram are vague, to put it kindly. The only part I had trouble removing was the gas tube.
Anyway. After stripping, cleaning, reassembling, and FCing the gun, I and it were ready for the range.
Or so I thought.
First thing we did was to sight in our guns. My first 5-shot group didn't even hit the paper at 100 yards. Some of that may have been distraction caused by the 3 feed failures I got, with the tip of the bullets hanging on the back of the chamber instead of going in.
Now I'm not a *great* marksman, preferring shotguns over rifles, but jeez, I'm better than that. I asked one of the instructors, who specializes in military stuff, to shoot a group, so we could determine if it was me or the gun.
He fired two shots (one of which hung going in) and said, "This thing sucks." Adjusting the front sight was an exercise in masochism, and I wondered which would snap first, the sight or the tool.
With the factory cheapo plastic mags, with decent all-metal mags, with ball and HP, the freakin' POS just wouldn't run reliably. I got maybe 2 5-round mags to feed correctly. I had 5 carts in which the bullets were shoved halfway back into the case, 3 of the Russian stuff and 2 Winchester FMJs.
Back to the dealer it goes... now I need something else to eat all this 7.62 I have lying around.
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"America needs additional gun laws like a giraffe needs snow tires."
--Rabbi Mermelstein, JPFO
I got the Saiga because of the price (equal to what real AKs were going for a few months ago), the Evil Black Plastic stock and forend, and the fact that it takes 30-round mags without mods. The gun comes with 2 5-rounders. At the back of the manual was a "certificate of functioning" or somesuch. There's a space for maximum group size during test firing at Izhmash. 118mm. Ick.
The manual was very obviously translated by someone whose native language is not English/American ("the bullet will exit the barrel rushly"), and the operation and takedown instructions and diagram are vague, to put it kindly. The only part I had trouble removing was the gas tube.
Anyway. After stripping, cleaning, reassembling, and FCing the gun, I and it were ready for the range.
Or so I thought.
First thing we did was to sight in our guns. My first 5-shot group didn't even hit the paper at 100 yards. Some of that may have been distraction caused by the 3 feed failures I got, with the tip of the bullets hanging on the back of the chamber instead of going in.
Now I'm not a *great* marksman, preferring shotguns over rifles, but jeez, I'm better than that. I asked one of the instructors, who specializes in military stuff, to shoot a group, so we could determine if it was me or the gun.
He fired two shots (one of which hung going in) and said, "This thing sucks." Adjusting the front sight was an exercise in masochism, and I wondered which would snap first, the sight or the tool.
With the factory cheapo plastic mags, with decent all-metal mags, with ball and HP, the freakin' POS just wouldn't run reliably. I got maybe 2 5-round mags to feed correctly. I had 5 carts in which the bullets were shoved halfway back into the case, 3 of the Russian stuff and 2 Winchester FMJs.
Back to the dealer it goes... now I need something else to eat all this 7.62 I have lying around.
------------------
"America needs additional gun laws like a giraffe needs snow tires."
--Rabbi Mermelstein, JPFO