R & R Targets Saiga Opinions / Reviews / Pictures

[mrwhite1]

I had posted in the gallery requesting pictures for R&R Targets Saiga 12.

I am seriously looking into purchasing one, but like all my gun purchases I am thoroughly researching them.

I have spoken to a couple people (thanks Doug and 35WLN)

Could I get some opinions / reviews / pictures from people?

I started talking about them on another thread and hate to get that thread side tracked so I thought we could move conversations here.

[scubadds]

I'm curious too..

[AFH]

I have shot various R&R Saigas a few times and have really enjoyed the experience. One of the best times I have had with one was watching my wife shoot it at the sight-in range of the Pan-American Shotgun match. She is rather small, but was able to shoot quickly and accurately without getting knocked around by recoil. She usually doesn't consider shotgunning a pleasant experience, but she really had a good time with Robert's Saiga!

Andy

[Mark K]

I have one - sort of. I bought a Saiga-12, and then bought the bottom metal, stock adapter, and red-dot sight mount, and installed them all myself. I added a screw on muzzle break, but then had Robert install the left hand bolt carrier handle. And I bought 4 modified magazines.

It works great for me. I have just today asked Robert for a quote to totally it out with the barrel comps, AR Safety, etc.

SO, I am doing it in steps, but for me it has been great. Robert is one of the Good Guys to deal with.

Mark K

[grywlfbg]

Wife picked mine up from FedEx this morning so I'm itching to get home and check it out. I'll try to post some pics soon.

Trying to figure out what ammo to run in it. Robert cautioned me about the Wal-Mart value pack target loads which I run in my 1100. He recommended 1300+ fps ammo so I'll poke around wally world soon to see what my options are. Also going to be digging through threads here as I'm sure this has been covered before.

Edited August 31, 2010 by grywlfbg

[scubadds]

Wife picked mine up from FedEx this morning so I'm itching to get home and check it out. I'll try to post some pics soon.

Trying to figure out what ammo to run in it. Robert cautioned me about the Wal-Mart value pack target loads which I run in my 1100. He recommended 1300+ fps ammo so I'll poke around wally world soon to see what my options are. Also going to be digging through threads here as I'm sure this has been covered before.

Well tell us what you got? Pics?

[Mark K]

Wife picked mine up from FedEx this morning so I'm itching to get home and check it out. I'll try to post some pics soon.

Trying to figure out what ammo to run in it. Robert cautioned me about the Wal-Mart value pack target loads which I run in my 1100. He recommended 1300+ fps ammo so I'll poke around wally world soon to see what my options are. Also going to be digging through threads here as I'm sure this has been covered before.

The problem with the Winchester value pack stuff has really thin plastic cases, and the Saiga jams up. Spend about $8 more per 100 and buy the Remington AA rounds, and you will be just fine, for bird shot.

Mark K

[Stlhead]

AA super handicap 1 1/8 oz, 7.5 shot. Wolf 1oz slugs work great in mine. Super X 2 3/4 9 pellet buck. Replace the recoil spring often (before every match). Keep the puck clean as well as the gas cylinder and the ports and it will run. Enjoy your new gun!

[35WLN]

What kind of problems are you having that you need to change out the recoil spring so much?

[Chuck Anderson]

I ran Win AA's and they were awesome at the Ironman. Federal Red Recoil Slug and Buck sucked though. Robbie recommended the Fiocchi stuff, I just didn't have enough time to get any.

[Charles Bond]

I ran Win AA's and they were awesome at the Ironman. Federal Red Recoil Slug and Buck sucked though. Robbie recommended the Fiocchi stuff, I just didn't have enough time to get any.

Chuck if you are running AAs the Fiocchi is not going to be "better" but it does run well and is often cheaper than the AAs.

For those of you buying Win AAs and especially if you are doing so mail order, I think they still have a rebate program.

[grywlfbg]

Well tell us what you got? Pics?

Sorry for the delay - work has been busy.

I sent Robert a Saiga I already owned for the full Open treatment. The magwell that is installed on the gun is California legal - the law requires that a tool be used to detach mags so you just stick a rod into the hole (I'm planning to bore it out slightly so a .223 round can be used) which depresses the mag lever. I also have a stock magwell for when I'm out of state.

Note to California Saiga owners, I worked w/ Robert on this mag-lock design and he is making this available to anyone who's interested.

Edited September 2, 2010 by grywlfbg

[grywlfbg]

1st range report...

Ran 100 rds of my current Federal Value Pack (3dr, 1 1/8oz, 7.5, 1200fps) and had 2 FTE's. Frankly I was expecting a lot more jams as Robert specifically cautioned me about running anything less than 1300fps. So I will continue to use that ammo for practice.

Next I tried 100 rds of Winchester AA's (1 1/8oz, 7.5, 1300fps - I think they were AASC127) and had 0 problems. They are ~40% more expensive than the Federal's but for matches it's a small price to pay. This will be my match ammo.

I also tried my current slugs - Federal LE127RS 1oz 1300fps low recoil. I loaded 9 into a mag and shot them all as fast as I could with no malfunctions however I have not checked them for accuracy.

In all I'm very impressed. It did kick more than I thought it would but in the end I was able to shoot faster w/ the Saiga than I could w/ my 1100 so clearly something is working. Looks like I'll be switching to Open for Ft. Benning. Now to practice my reloads.

Edited September 6, 2010 by grywlfbg

[Chuck Anderson]

I ran Win AA's and they were awesome at the Ironman. Federal Red Recoil Slug and Buck sucked though. Robbie recommended the Fiocchi stuff, I just didn't have enough time to get any.

Chuck if you are running AAs the Fiocchi is not going to be "better" but it does run well and is often cheaper than the AAs.

For those of you buying Win AAs and especially if you are doing so mail order, I think they still have a rebate program.

I was referring to Fiocchi for the slugs. The AA's worked awesome and I'll keep using them. The slugs and buck just need to be sorted out.

[Stlhead]

The recoil spring is the same spring used in a 1911. Is is inexpensive and easy to replace. We have found that if you replace it every 1000-1500 rounds (or sooner wont hurt) you will eliminate the nagging failure to go into battery failure that can crop up and cost valuable seconds on a stage. Even if it just makes me feel better it is worth the 8.00. Shells are $6 a box so a $8 spring every 4 cases seems cheap insurance.

The green Remington gun club shells also seem to work well and have a very stiff hull, possibly more suited to reloading, at a similar cost. I have had a case of the 7/8 Fiocchi slugs on backorder since before the Ironman, I hope they show up this season.

[Doug H.]

The recoil spring is the same spring used in a 1911. Is is inexpensive and easy to replace. We have found that if you replace it every 1000-1500 rounds (or sooner wont hurt) you will eliminate the nagging failure to go into battery failure that can crop up and cost valuable seconds on a stage. Even if it just makes me feel better it is worth the 8.00. Shells are $6 a box so a $8 spring every 4 cases seems cheap insurance.

The green Remington gun club shells also seem to work well and have a very stiff hull, possibly more suited to reloading, at a similar cost. I have had a case of the 7/8 Fiocchi slugs on backorder since before the Ironman, I hope they show up this season.

I just got an email that the Fiocchi 7/8 slugs are in stock at Able Ammo so I ordered a case. They shoot like a rifle out of my R&R Saiga but have been hard to get this year.

Doug

[Stlhead]

Cool, that's where my backorder was.

[gose]

The recoil spring is the same spring used in a 1911. Is is inexpensive and easy to replace. We have found that if you replace it every 1000-1500 rounds (or sooner wont hurt) you will eliminate the nagging failure to go into battery failure that can crop up and cost valuable seconds on a stage. Even if it just makes me feel better it is worth the 8.00. Shells are $6 a box so a $8 spring every 4 cases seems cheap insurance.

The green Remington gun club shells also seem to work well and have a very stiff hull, possibly more suited to reloading, at a similar cost. I have had a case of the 7/8 Fiocchi slugs on backorder since before the Ironman, I hope they show up this season.

I just got an email that the Fiocchi 7/8 slugs are in stock at Able Ammo so I ordered a case. They shoot like a rifle out of my R&R Saiga but have been hard to get this year.

Doug

Ugh.

I ordered some Monday and just got this:

"Thank you for your order. Due to an electronic inventory error, these products are out of stock. The manufacturer has them backordered at this time without an estimated shipping date. We are unable to backorder this for you. We do apologize for this inconvenience. We have cancelled your order. The pending credit transaction will be voided."

[Fireant]

The recoil spring is the same spring used in a 1911. Is is inexpensive and easy to replace. We have found that if you replace it every 1000-1500 rounds (or sooner wont hurt) you will eliminate the nagging failure to go into battery failure that can crop up and cost valuable seconds on a stage. Even if it just makes me feel better it is worth the 8.00. Shells are $6 a box so a $8 spring every 4 cases seems cheap insurance.

The green Remington gun club shells also seem to work well and have a very stiff hull, possibly more suited to reloading, at a similar cost. I have had a case of the 7/8 Fiocchi slugs on backorder since before the Ironman, I hope they show up this season.

What weight spring do you use?

[Doug H.]

The recoil spring is the same spring used in a 1911. Is is inexpensive and easy to replace. We have found that if you replace it every 1000-1500 rounds (or sooner wont hurt) you will eliminate the nagging failure to go into battery failure that can crop up and cost valuable seconds on a stage. Even if it just makes me feel better it is worth the 8.00. Shells are $6 a box so a $8 spring every 4 cases seems cheap insurance.

The green Remington gun club shells also seem to work well and have a very stiff hull, possibly more suited to reloading, at a similar cost. I have had a case of the 7/8 Fiocchi slugs on backorder since before the Ironman, I hope they show up this season.

I just got an email that the Fiocchi 7/8 slugs are in stock at Able Ammo so I ordered a case. They shoot like a rifle out of my R&R Saiga but have been hard to get this year.

Doug

Ugh.

I ordered some Monday and just got this:

"Thank you for your order. Due to an electronic inventory error, these products are out of stock. The manufacturer has them backordered at this time without an estimated shipping date. We are unable to backorder this for you. We do apologize for this inconvenience. We have cancelled your order. The pending credit transaction will be voided."

I know, I just received the same email today. Guess I'll have to make my last 50 rounds last!

Doug

[Mark K]

The recoil spring is the same spring used in a 1911. Is is inexpensive and easy to replace. We have found that if you replace it every 1000-1500 rounds (or sooner wont hurt) you will eliminate the nagging failure to go into battery failure that can crop up and cost valuable seconds on a stage. Even if it just makes me feel better it is worth the 8.00. Shells are $6 a box so a $8 spring every 4 cases seems cheap insurance.

The green Remington gun club shells also seem to work well and have a very stiff hull, possibly more suited to reloading, at a similar cost. I have had a case of the 7/8 Fiocchi slugs on backorder since before the Ironman, I hope they show up this season.

What weight spring do you use?

11#

Mark K

[Alaskapopo]

I had posted in the gallery requesting pictures for R&R Targets Saiga 12.

I am seriously looking into purchasing one, but like all my gun purchases I am thoroughly researching them.

I have spoken to a couple people (thanks Doug and 35WLN)

Could I get some opinions / reviews / pictures from people?

I started talking about them on another thread and hate to get that thread side tracked so I thought we could move conversations here.

I love mine here are some pics.

The gun likes stiff hulled cases like Winchester AA. I have had some issues trying to run Estate ammo. Occaisionally the guns would deform upon feeding causing a malfunction. One thing I noticed about the gun is its a bit more sensitive to limp wristing for lack of a better word than other semi shotguns I have shot. Meaning this. I had the gun running fine and I let a friend of mine who is thin shoot it. It failed to cycle every round. I take the gun back and it works fine. I look at his stance and he is not holding the gun tight and into his shoulder. I tell him to lean into the gun a bit and it runs fine again.

I have had malfunctions when I was shooting from akward positions until I started to focus on keeping my shoulder tight into the gun. Then things go smooth.

The mag release system is awsome. reloads are really fast. The fast fire II sight that came on the shotgun crapped out on me on the last stage of the last three gun match I shot. I have switched to an Aimpoint R1. Which I like better anyway. Rob has been very helpful to me when I did have issues and always answered the phone and did his best to help me out. He is a great guy.

The only issue that I have remaining is the 20 round magazine I purchased has not worked 100% for me. I am sending it back with the gun to Rob to have him work it out for me. The 12 rounders and the 5 rounder works great.

I found after experimenting with shot loads and slugs that if I zero my shot load in at 15 yards like Rob recommended Federal reduced recoil slugs hit dead on at 50 yards. My Breneke reduced recoil slugs hit 6 inches high at 50 yards with this zero but they do hit dead on at 100 yards. My plan if I go to a big match with the Saiga is to use the Federal slugs inside of 50 and use the Breneke slugs for any long slug shots.

Overall I am very happy with my Saiga purchase. It has given me a huge advanatage in Alaska because up until recently I was the only one at the matches with one and it helped me place much better than the speed loader guys. It even makes up for the fact I can not yet afford an open pistol and I am still using my STI edge limited gun to compete in open in three gun.

[Alaskapopo]

Here are some vides of me with the Saiga from R&R.

[Alaskapopo]

[grywlfbg]

How far are those poppers? What load and choke are you using?

On my 1100, I have a 22" barrel and use a Light Mod choke w/ 1200fps 7.5's for most shooting - sometimes heavy 6's or 4's for distance stuff.

What I'm struggling with is figuring out w/ the 4" shorter barrel whether I should shoot Lt Mod, shoot Mod, or leave it IC and count on hotter loads (planning on 1300fps Win AA's) to give me the same amount of force on target even if the spread is larger.