Saiga questions

[Adam5]

I just bought a Saiga with the 16.3 barrel in .223 Saturday, and have a few questions. Forgive if these are stupid, this is my first AK that I have owned.

1) I'm looking at optic mounts and definately want the one that uses the side rail. CDNN has one that is original Russian manufacture for $44 and a Chinese manaufacture for $20. Is the Russian worth the price difference?

2) Where can I get a good deal on .223 mags for the Saiga? Is there a 30 round available?

[Clay1]

This forum is very active and you will find many pieces of great info here: http://www.akfiles.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=13

I don't have a Saiga, but have a good opinion of them. There are mods done to have the rifle take AK mags, but I don't know the details about modifing the mag catch release, etc. But I think that if I owned one, I would modify the gun to accept regular AK mags which are much more reasonable and then the rifle could share mags with my other AKs.

Here is a link for mags, specifically for the Saiga, if you choose not to modify the rifle: http://www.copesdist.com/ak47.htm

[Kirkcdl]

Adam,this is the voice of experience-don't waste your time with a side rail optics mount for an aftermarket scope.Buy a POSP scope for your Saiga,it uses the rail and it's designed to be used on an AK reciever.Or get a Kobra reflex sight if you prefer.It was an expensive lesson for me,I should've bought the POSP and the Kobra in the first place.

But that was years ago,and now I own a "few" AK's in various calibers.Did I mention AK's are an addiction??Have fun,Saiga rifles are very good examples of the AK47-actioned rifle...

[hhs75]

I have a Saiga in .308 and I'm also trying to decide about a scope & mount. What is the problem with using a mount with a Weaver rail and a "normal" scope? The few AKs I've looked at with POSP scopes, the scopes seemed to set too high and were offset to the left so that the shooter's head had to be in an unnatural position. I don't want to waste money on a set up that won't work, so please enlighten me.

[epsylum]

One of the best side rail picatinny mounts is the low-mount one made in Belarus (BP02 IIRC). I have one and it is rock solid. Only problem, it weighs a lot and it still sits the optics kind of high. I had a kobra on it for a little bit and was not too fond of it because I could not use a cheek weild at all. My Aimpoint w/ ARMS mount on the same rail is not quite as bad, but still not as nice as on my flat-top AR where it normally lives. I will have to agree with Kirkcdl. The Kobra is a very nice red dot, but I should have got one with the built in rail mount to keep it from being so tall.

Also try www.shotplus.com for more russian optics choices. I am interested in this for my Arsenal 5.56.

http://www.shotplus.com/shop/product.php?productid=16146&cat=244&page=1

[AKMIKEFMJ]

I have a sidemount scope on my Saiga .223/5.56 rifle. It was made in Belarus and works good. It has a Weaver rail on top and sits low over the receiver. Some of the sidemounts sit high enough where you can see the open sights under the scope (I don't like these). The trouble with this kind of setup is that some American scopes do not have enough adjustment to them and so the scopes can't be zeroed. The Russian scopes don't have that kind of problem since they were designed to work while mounted high above the receiver. The Russian scopes are tough as nails because they are designed for the Russian military.

As far as mags go I like the Galil Orlite 35 round mags from CDNN. You will have to install a bullet guide and convert your rifle to pistol grip configuration with 5 American parts if you use high capacity mags. Good Luck...
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e350/mbmphoto/saiga20pgb.jpg