StealthyBlagga

I have a Vector underfolder AK47. I got it just because every gun safe should contain at least one AK design, and the 7.62x39 underfolder is a classic. I hardly ever shoot it ! The only time my AK underfolder comes out of the gun safe is when I take non-shooters to the range, just so they can shoot a piece of history. Although it is clearly a prolific and successful military assault rifle design, from a shooter's perspective the AK design is a turd. The ergonomics are poor (controls can't be reached easily, mags change in the european "hook-and-rock" style, stock too short for americans), the iron sights suck (pistol-type with too short a sight radius), there is no bolt hold open (except for some rare variants), and the combination of the round it fires, the reciprocating mass and the poor ergonomics pushes felt recoil up towards heavy metal territory. As others have mentioned, they are not especially accurate either. The AK47 is legendary for its reliability, but my AR15s have been just as reliable so, unless your friend is planning on storing his AK buried under a rice paddy, I am dubious about the "superior reliability" claims. I hear the AK74 versions (in 5.45x39) are a bit nicer to shoot, but they still have all the other AK issues. If he really must have an AK in the collection, and wants to shoot it a lot, at least get one of the solid stock variants (preferrably with a NATO-length stock). Expect the novelty to wear off fast if he is a shooter that likes to hit what he aims at. If your friend really wants a good AK-derived rifle that he will shoot a lot, have him look at the SIG 556 which is a far superior Kalashnikov variant. The Valmet and Galil rifles (when you can find them) are a distant second. Otherwise, a $300 WASR will be a rough but functional stamped receiver rifle, but I would pay an extra $200 and get a Vector, as they have great build quality and Vector is known for their good after sales support. I would not pay more than $500 unless you are a die-hard AK collector. At least buying an AK can be a cheap mistake .

I doubt you will find conversion parts in any Phoenix gunshops. I got most of my conversion parts on-line from K-var (NATO length buttstock, pistol grip bushing) and Tapco (fire control group parts, retaining plate, pistol grip). If you are still in Phoenix on Saturday, try to swing by Rio Salado for our monthly rifle/shotgun match. If you are coming, let me know by IM and I'll bring my Saiga 12 along for you to kick the tires on.

I did my own conversion too. All you really need is a hand drill and some handtools. A Dremel and a TIG welder will let you do a more perfect cosmetic job, but are not necessary for a functional PG conversion. Doing your own conversion will also make you conversant enough with the design that you can make your own modifications - the Saiga 12 is a gun that cries out for extended controls. Here is mine... cost me $200 on top of the cost of the base gun:

Weight is a very personal thing. I prefer a heavier rifle, as do most of the three gunners out there, if the shooters at SMM3G are anything to go by... I handled most of their rifles and VERY FEW were lightweights. Light guns are great - until you have to shoot them, then they tend to feel nervous in the hand. I also worry about how a thinner barrel will hold up to the heat of sustained fire. My match rifle has a 20" stainless HB, if it matters, and I usually am amongst the fastest competitors on hoser stages (where light weight is purported to be so beneficial). I suggest you have the barrel threaded for a muzzle brake, add a free-float tube, get a decent single-stage trigger installed, then spend the rest of your $$$ on practice ammo. The value of light weight and short length is grossly overstated IMHO, unless you are a very petite female (are you ?). Oh, and the 1-4x scope will be a big improvement.

20ga may be too small for some people... my thumb is a tight fit in an unmodified Remington 20ga loading port. I guess the Dremel is always an option, but as I load one shel at a time anyway, there is little benefit to the 20ga for me. Also, I'm a big believer that more lead = better .

The math will be easier next year... we'll all be in Tac Scope .

Perhaps "proportionate" was not the best choice in words. The TI prize table had guns/frames/optics down to 6th place, about 1/3 of the total prize table (of course, I came 7th ). I did not look that closely at the other tables, but this does not seem too disproportionate. The challenge for any prize coordinator is to accurately reflect the performance of the shooter with the prize they pick off the table. The smaller the number of competitors in any given division, the harder it is for this to be predictable and fair. At SMM3G08, the Tac Iron shooters shot on average about 10% higher match points than the Tac Scope guys (see chart below), and so a few of us - including Kurt - would probably have done better on a unified prize table. Like Kurt, in future I will be considering entering Tac Scope where the plunder is richer .

In fairness, the SMM3G TacIron prize table was proportionate with other tables, but still I'm inclined to agree with John. I was never one of the "seperate prize table" guys. To me, the fairest method seems to be to score by divisions (Open, TacScope, TacIron, HM) to generate match points, then walk a single prize table in order of match points. So long as each division has a couple of top-level shooters, this should be the most equitable. Seeing that separate prize tables may become the norm, I am now contemplating a switch to TacScope - a pity, as I kinda enjoy squinting through that little hole at invisible targets .

Rem 1187 with ghost ring sights: Rem 870: Saiga 12:

I have a pair of old PMIs coupled together... 80 rounds on tap . Both have the original springs and MagPul Gen1 followers. Both hold an honest 40 rounds and run 100% reliably. I also have a Beta C that's about 6 months old, but I haven't had ocassion to use it in a match yet.

Yup. it may need some practice. For me, the transition came easy, even though I've been shooting IPSC pistol for nearly 25 years. For 3-gun I use the bullets-back orientation for my AR15 mags and a bullets-forward orientation for my pistol mags. I don't seem to have a problem with grabbing the mags the wrong way. Maybe its just the way my brain is wired ?

I also shoot a Lage MAX-11 in our local subgun matches, and in our 3-gun matches as a fun gun on hoser stages after I am done with my AR15. I use a cheap multi-cell ballistic nylon belt pouch set, and it works VERY well. I bought the rig for cheap at a gun show (like $30) and just added some external elastic loops to increase retention. Here is a photo (beofre I added the elastic): The key is to put the mags in the pouch "backwards", that is with the bullets facing back (instead of forwards, as with a pistol mag), so as to present the mags in a more natural way. When reloading, I first turn the gun towards the horizontal and pull the empty mag out, activating the extended heel-of-grip mag release with my weak hand thumb, and actively sling the empty mag away. My hand then continues to move towards the fresh mag, at which point I grab the new mag with my little finger towards the baseplate (if this makes sense), pull from the pouch, twist and insert. This is very smooth. Here is some video of the reloads in action: Video HTH

+1 - doing your own conversion is fast, easy and cheap. It also builds an understanding of how your gun works that I firmly believe EVERY practical shooter should have. I did my conversion over a weekend, with plenty of beer breaks: this gun is a lot of fun. Unfortunately, as I shoot Tactical division, I don't use it in matches. If the rules changed, I would definitely dust it off though.

First rule when creating an otherwise uninteresting thread: keep the title cryptic to suck in the audience

Please could people who post new match threads CONSISTENTLY put (1) the city, and (2) the state where your match is located in the topic title or topic description ? With a lot of the match threads, you really have to dig through the thread to work out where the darned match is being held. Come on guys, its not rocket science .

UPDATE: I decided on the Williams receiver aperture sight, with the peep insert removed to create a ghost ring (I figure I can reinstall the insert for slug-only stages). As the Williams sight sits quite high on the receiver, I also fabricated a platform for the fiber optic bead to sit on. After using it for several months, I find this configuration works really well for me, even for clays (it has not degraded my sporting clays scores at all compared with the traditional vent rib I used before). Here are some photos:

Yes, I attach the drop-leg rig to the inner belt. It has a quick-release connector too, so I only use it when necessary. Its a nice unit from Specter, holds 4 x AR mags, or 2 x FAL mags. The bandolier runs across the chest, anchoring front and back to the belt. Its from 3 Gun Gear (as are the arm and belt shotshell holders).

I never run "bare" lead either... always plated (or whatever the golden color is on those bullets). They still lead up the comp. I would try Stingers, but they are a bit pricey.

Ciener is the best conversion device IMHO. It drops right in in place of your regular bolt carrier assembly. You can get 30 round skinny mags or 27 round full-profile mags from Black Dog Machine at better prices than the original Ciener mags. Mine runs like a raped ape on el cheapo WalMart Federal bulk pack ammo. They are accurate enough for close-range practice, but not as accurate as with a dedicated .22 barrel because of the freebore and the fast rifling twist (you really want something >1:12 for .22LR to be really accurate). If accuracy is important to you, a handful of companies offer dedicated .22 uppers built around modified Ciener kits and real .22LR barrels... Model 1 Sales springs to mind. On important point: if you have a muzzle brake on the gun, it will fill with lead very quickly (inside 1000 rounds) and be the devil to clean out. I only run my Ciener kit in a rifle with an A2 flash hider. The barrel should also be thoroughly cleaned before you revert to .223 ammo. HTH

If you plan to add a suppressor, you need at least 10.5", with 11.5" being better and 14.5 better still... the 7.5" presents a significant risk of damaging a suppressor very quickly by (1) gas cutting, and (2) baffle strikes. With the short barrels, the dwell-time (time the bullet is between the gas port and the muzzle) is critical - shorter dwell-times are associated with unreliability. The 11.5" has a longer dwell time than the 10.5" or 7.5". The 14.5" has an optimized dwell-time (about the same as a 20" rifle-gas gun). Accuracy and barrel length have no relationship. Velocity increases with barrel length. Higher velocity = flatter trajectory and improved terminal ballistics (if important to you). With the above said, I built a 7.5" SBR. I built it strictly as a fun gun, with no pretense of serious use, and I figured that "short" should mean SHORT:

I shoot Tac Iron, meaning these days that it would be harder to find a rifle to borrow. For major matches I always bring a spare rifle, pistol and shotgun. My spare guns are not exact copies of my primary guns, but they are better than nothing. I have been shooting 3-gun for many years and have never needed the spare guns, nor even pulled parts off them, but it is comforting to know they are there. I only attend matches I can drive to, so the bulk/weight is not an issue. If I was flying, then I would make a different choice.

I use a DMPS rear sight (standard A2 configuration) and a JP Globe with a crosshair mounted on the gas block of my 20" gun. I zero using the Santose IBZ, allowing me to use the elevation markings on the A2 drum out to 800m if need be Overall, I really like this configuration.

Are you talking about me or my shotgun ? The stock is the older Choate model (before they added the adjustable length feature). It is styled after the FN-FAL. I like the look a lot, and it feels great in the hand.

Its a personal thing. I love pistol grip stocks - for me, they increase my control while not in any way slowing me down. For the record, I "turn and burn", cupping the receiver in my weak hand and feeding shells one at a time with my strong hand, and am very competitive. Avoid the AR15 stock adapters, which put your head too high. I like the older-style Choate stock: