Nearly perfect day today, so I decided to call up my dad and give the Texas Weapon System AK rail a try today on my Saiga .308.
Installation was a breeze until I had to mount my Nikon scope. The front of the scope was too large and it bumped the top of the TWS mount, even with high clearance mounting hardware.
****!
Thankfully, my father is ready for a brigade of zombies to invade SW Kansas. He had an extra Leupold 14x just "sitting around". We did a quick check, and sure enough it was within a **** hair of touching the TWS rail mount, but still fit. Off to the range.
Well, what can I say? It sucked ass. 5" MOA was the best I could muster (100 yards), minus a lot of fliers, even after shooting 2 1/2 to 3" groups with the iron sites a few months ago.
Conclusion: A Saiga .308 simply is NOT made to handle a scope IMO. It is a 200 and in gun, period. I know the AK guys will attack me to no end, telling me I can't shoot for shit or that I didn't mount it right, but we tried EVERYTHING to get this to work.
On a high note, to build my confidence back up my dad brought out his 24" DPMS AR-15 with JR trigger. Less then 1/2" groups at 100 and less then 2" groups at 300
. I even did a sitting free-style shot and hit a 3x3 target at 300.
It is obvious to me that I will probably go to a 24" DPMS .308 with bipod. My Saiga will turn into a conversation piece, only to be brought out to be scorned.