Released by the manufacturer of the original Kalashnikov assault rifle, the IZHMASH factory, Saiga rifles are hunting carbines of various designs. The engineers created a whole series of smoothbore weapons of this type of various calibers. Moreover, there are in the series and parties, which are exclusive in nature, created specifically for cartridges of the old Soviet model. The first copy was released in 1974.
Story
In the 70s, Kazakhstan faced a serious problem with saiga migration (there were still a lot of them), they literally trampled and ate large crops. The first secretary of Kazakhstan, D.A., had to fight this problem. Kunaev, but the detachments of hunters, authorized to solve the problem, could not cope due to imperfection of weapons.
For four years, engineers and designers of IZHMASH tested a new type of Saiga smooth-bore gun. As a result, the first
industrial party, carbines were made under the cartridge of 5.6x39 mm, such self-loading hunting rifles remained rare for a long time.
Everything has changed the so-called "dashing 90s." The increase in crime and the adoption of new laws on weapons have led IZHMASH engineers to adapt Saiga guns to the needs of the civilian population. As a result, it was decided to use a 410 caliber cartridge called “Magnum” as ammunition, then for Russia it was an American exotic. But over time, the production of these cartridges was established at the Krasnozavodsk, Barnaul and Tula factories.
In the late 90s, based on the AKM scheme , the Saiga 12 shotgun was created , which to this day remains the most powerful in the lineup. It is used in shooting sports, and in military operations, it is even planned to supply it for weapons to other countries. Along with smoothbore rifled carbines began to be produced, but there was still a lot of work to do, for example, the accuracy of fire and the accuracy of the Saiga rifle.
Device
Despite the fact that the Saiga was originally designed on the basis of a Kalashnikov assault rifle, over time, in order to improve the performance, hunting carbines underwent many changes. For example, the magazine mount does not allow the magazine to be inserted from
military weapons, the forend and butt can look like all other hunting rifles, and it is not possible to fire bursts at all.
In general, the Saiga family is very diverse, there are more than 9 modifications of the main smoothbore carbine, and this is only a small part. In addition, arms exports to other countries allowed the series to expand due to changes made in those countries. If you describe the characteristics common to all, then we can say that the saiga rifles have the same AK automation and self-loading mechanism. The proliferation of such weapons is completely legal; you can buy a Saiga gun (the price will depend on the specific modification) in a hunting store or in a sports one. This is an ideal weapon for home defense, entertaining shooting, and even for hunting small-sized game. In any case, be sure to have sufficient skill and experience before use.