The Cursed Saiga

[The Long Shot]

Yesterday I was out shooting with a buddy of mine. He had recently bought 500 rounds of silver bear for his saiga .308. It appeared that the ammo was underpowered. It was cycling the bolt just enough to chamber enough, but not enough to make the hammer fully engage the disconnect. He would shoot one round, The gun would chamber a round, but it wasn't cocked. Than he ejected the round, cocking the gun in the process, and shoot one, this happened every time.

He asked me to have a look at it before he cleared the chambered round without the hammer cocked. I went over to have a look, and the gun went off while it was sitting on the table and the stock hit my leg.

It turned out that there was a burr on the disconnect that the hammer was barely stuck on, and when the table slightly moved, it shook the hammer off and fired a round.

[FairWarning]

Has he shot other ammo previously with success? One thing to remember about Communist Bloc rifles that have been sitting in some warehouse for years is that "new" and "clean" don't necessarily mean ready to shoot. A field strip and full cleaning before embarking on the gun's new life is always a good idea. I learned this the hard way when I had some failures using DAG surplus ammo in my Saiga without doing a thorough cleaning since I figured the gun was brand new and wouldn't need it.

[The Long Shot]

To be honest, I never know what he does with his rifles. I'm pretty sure he didn't clean it prior to shooting. I always clean and inspect my guns prior to shooting. There was a defect from the manufacturer on it.

[Coach Z]

Thanks for sharing, it's a good reminder to follow all the basic safety rules. Glad everyone walked away with just bruises.