From Russia with Love

[Sanis Prent]

Lookie what I picked up at the latest gun show:

<img src=http://www.panic.hopto.org/swf/charley/saigaandwasr.jpg>

The top is the WASR-10 rifle that I got back in october.

The bottom is my new Saiga 12, imported from the Izmash arsenal in Russia :cool

It's also a semi-automatic, external magazine fed shotgun.

[Lion El' Jonson]

Is that muzzle really as big as it looks? O_o

I want it. ^_^;

[Anbira Hicchoru]

Yep, it's that wide, but that's about normal for a shotgun :)

[Khendon Sevon]

!! You're totally ready for the zombie invasion.

[Anbira Hicchoru]

Still not yet ;)

Wait till tonight :D

[Akrabbim]

What is that thing? .410? And may I ask how much it was?

[Anbira Hicchoru]

12 gauge, and I got it for $350 used. The only signs of use on it were a few marks on the stock. The internals were impeccably clean. No cordite or any other residue. Only a thin layer of moly grease here and there. I seriously doubt it has even been fired.

[Akrabbim]

That's freakin' awesome. You must bring it to the Skeet N' Eat.

[Anbira Hicchoru]

I will indeed, as well as my other little purchase I'm getting today ;)

[AmazonBabe]

Good golly! How many freakin guns are you gonna buy??? O_o

It's an addiction I tell you. :p

(Not that I should talk... I have my own demons to worry about ^_^; )

Still helluva nifty guns though. :)

[Sanis Prent]

There is a blue box in my lap, WHAT COULD IT BE????

<img src=http://panicked.org/sa/gsr2.jpg>

YAAAAY!!!

<img src=http://panicked.org/sa/gsr3.jpg>

[Sanis Prent]

<img src=http://panicked.org/sa/gsr4.jpg>

1911's are patriotism in cold steel, even if this thing is technically half-kraut. John Moses Browning smiles on me today!

[Akrabbim]

BTW, how many does the mag on the Saiga hold?

[AmazonBabe]

Ok, that picture is good. What with the Osama poster in the background and the gun in the foreground. Very good. :)

[Anbira Hicchoru]

Originally posted by Akrabbim
BTW, how many does the mag on the Saiga hold?

Five shells


Originally posted by AmazonBabe
Ok, that picture is good. What with the Osama poster in the background and the gun in the foreground. Very good. :)

:)

[Khendon Sevon]

Aren’t the 1911’s notoriously inaccurate? Though, that doesn't look like your regular 1911...

Never the less, beautiful, beautiful gun. My chiropractor uses a heavily modified one for competition shooting.

[Sanis Prent]

Originally posted by Khendon Sevon
Aren’t the 1911’s notoriously inaccurate?

They're one of the most accurate autoloading pistols you can buy. Look at what people tend to use in IDPA or IPSC competitions. Most use some variant of a 1911 for their competition gun.


Never the less, beautiful, beautiful gun. My chiropractor uses a heavily modified one for competition shooting.

The beauty of 1911's is that you can make what you want out of them. You can get them for $200 or so and get a Rock River or a Norinco or something, or you can go in excess of $2000 for a Les Baer, Wilson, or STI.

My GSR is a little ahead of the curve. It's not as accurate as a thoroughbred competition gun, but it's easily got enough quality to go toe-to-toe with a Kimber and a Dan Wesson, and more than enough to beat a Springfield Armory piece out of the box.

I'd really like to get a few modifications on it though. Namely a left-handed or ambidextrous safety pedal, slim profile grips, and a lighter trigger.

[Zasz Grimm]

How many mags did you get with the saiga?

[Sanis Prent]

Unfortunately, just one. I'll have to order extras later.

[Zem Vymes]

The only bad thing about the GSR that I've found right now is the mags that come with it are a bit unsatisfactory.

They're Novak 1911 8-rounders. The problem is that if you fill it with 8 rounds, the first round may or may not feed into the chamber reliably. It sits on top of the magazine at a flatter angle than the bullets underneath it. That means that when the follower presses it forward, it hits the feed ramp and goes...NOWHERE. In fact, the slide bites down on the bullet so hard that it actually compresses the bullet so that it is unusable. I've currently got four such accidents sitting on my desk, all singing "We represent the Lollypop Guild!"

The obvious solution to this is to load seven instead of eight. When this is done, feeding issues drop off the map and everything is good again.

I talked to some guys at my local gun shop, and they had similar stories about Novak mags, so I think I'll be getting some Wilsons or McCormicks in a day or two.

The Novak sights, however, are FANTASTIC. I only wish I had sights this good on my XD.

[Anbira Hicchoru]

Range report!

(Well, my friend's farmland at least)

The GSR is an absolute tack driver. If I ever wondered why I shelled out $1200 for it, I need not worry anymore! Firing right-handed in a stagger-footed Weaver stance, I can hit nearly dead-on within 30 yards. The Novak sights are beyond reproach, and put me on the money every time. The grip allows for perfect handling, and the trigger is so light that there is almost no muzzle deviation on a single action squeeze.

Once again, the mags are the only real issue of contention for me. There were a few failure to feeds involved, but loading them minus one at seven rounds seemed to take care of this. There were also a few times the slide didn't lock out of battery on an empty mag, so I'm not sure whats up with that.


The Saiga was an absolute blast to shoot as well. With heavy target load scattershot, I could belt out all five shells within two seconds. The recoil, while noticably higher than my WASR-10, is still rather manageable.