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From the J.A.Freeman AK47 / AK74 Website
Russian AK47 Rifle Overview
The first semiautomatic AK-47 type rifles imported from Russia were the Saiga 7.62x39mm imported by B-West Tucson, AZ USA in 1994.
Manufactured by IZHMACH Izhevsk,Russia. These rifles have black plastic stocks and black plastic lower forearm/handguard that extends upward to cover the sides of the gas tube. The gas tube has no handguard attached to it. They have 20.472" barrel with a overall length of 42.125" and a 13.5" from buttplate to trigger length of pull. All parts of the rifle have a black finish except for the rear sight which has a grey phosphate finish. The front and rear sights are standard AK type except the rear sight is only marked for 100,200,and 300 meters denoted by the lines marked 1,2,and 3. All rifles have a standard AK type scope mount rail on the left side of the receiver. Only some of the rifles imported with the 3.5x scope and detachable scope bracket. Every rifle came with 2-5rd black plastic mags,standard AK-47 type buttstock cleaning kit,cleaning rod,sling,manual,and a leather rifle case. The rifle case has pockets on the inside of it for the cleaning rod and one for the cleaning kit. The case is big enough to allow the rifle with scope and mag attached to the rifle to fit in it. My rifle will shoot 2"-3" 5 shot groups at 100 yards. Everyone that has shot it was impressed by comfort of the longer length of pull and shape of the stock. The trigger has a lot of take up in it but does let off fairly smoothly.
The second Saiga imported was the Saiga-410. It is exactly the same as the Saiga 7.62x39mm rifle except it is chambered for the 3 inch .410 shotgun shell.
Saiga-410's have a 20" barrel with a compensator/choke on it. The compensator part of the choke has a single row of holes all the way around it. It is a full choke.
The rear sight is a V notch type dovetailed into the place where the rear sight mounts on a regular AK rifle. The front sight is a brass bead screwed into the top of the gas block. All Saiga-410's were imported with the same scope mount rail as the 7.62x39mm rifle. Each Saiga-410 shotgun was imported with a 4rd and a 2rd back plastic mags. A standard AK-47 type cleaning kit except with .410 sized bore brush and jag. The same gun case,sling,and cleaning rod as the Saiga rifle.Ammo is imported for the Saiga-410 from Russia mfg. by Barnaul. It has a zinc plated steel case that is berdan primed and 70mm/2-3/4"in length. It has a 97 grain Forster type lead slug loaded in a black plastic sabot. In the last several years the same type ammo has been imported loaded with #3 lead shot. Notice the picture on the box the shooter is firing a Saiga 410 shotgun.
Starting in 1996 very limited numbers of Saiga's were imported by Kalashnikov-USA Port Saint Lucie,FL. Starting in 1998 the numbers of Saiga's imported by K-USA increased till 1999 when European American Armory(EAA) took over the importation of Saiga's. EAA imported Saiga shotguns in 12,20,and 410 gauges. All the Saiga shotguns have the same black plastic stock and forearm as the Saiga 7.62x39mm rifle until 2003 when some Saiga 12's were imported with a brown plastic wood tech stock.The other two rifles in the Saiga series imported were the Saiga-308 chambered for 308 Winchester and Saiga-5.56 chambered for 5.56x45mm. The 308 model has a dark stained Beech wood stock and the 556 model has the black plastic stock.
VEPR
The VEPR rifle and carbine were the same except for the barrel length. The rifle has a 23.25" barrel and the carbine has a 20.50" barrel. Both have a checkered walnut thumbhole stock and forearm. They were imported with a black leather sling,black leather gun case,5rd mag,10rd mag,cleaning kit,cleaning rod,black plastic oil bottle,and manual. Both rifle and carbine have a scope mount rail on the left side of the receiver. A detachable scope mount was offered as a option.
The Pilad VOMZ 4x32 scope was imported for them. It has the same range finder reticule as the PSO scope for the SVD sniper rifle. The elevation and windage is adjusted the same as the PSO scope. The caps of the elevation and windage knobs have to be removed to use the bullet drop compensator knobs.
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