Saiga shotgun in 3 gun IPSC?

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wayneinFL

New member
I'm thinking of getting a shotgun to shoot 3-gun in IPSC, don't want to lay out a lot of money to get started, and was looking at the Saiga 12 ga. I've only been to a few 3 gun matches, but I haven't seen one there. Is there a reason they're not more common? Or are they common elsewhere?

It just seems like it would be easier for me to do mag changes than learn to use speedloaders in a tube magazine.
 
I THINK they are only legal for Open class due to the detacheable mag. And....since you can't find anything bigger than 8 round mags for them, they aren't competitive. Don't take it as Gospel though.
 
since you can't find anything bigger than 8 round mags for them, they aren't competitive.
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Aren't competitive with what? Pump or auto shotties with tube mags that hold 7 or 8, and take much longer to reload?

Seems that the Saiga would work fine, if not great. Only possible problem I see is if you have to shoot from a very low prone under an obstacle, and the long mag keeps your longgun from going as low to the ground as you need it to go. Or if it fails to cycle properly - that's the big question mark I have about them - do they run with reduced 2.75 loads?
 
They aren't as competetive as the Open guns which have longer tubes that hold more than 8 and have comps. Also the saiga mag "rocks" in and is not quite as quick as say, an AR15. Not that it couldn't work.
 
The Open gun limit is 10 in the mag which already puts you at 2 rounds down. You also ignore that they can use speedloaders in this division. The speedloader is a tube that holds shells and loads all the shells in the guns tube at one time. Very slick.
 
They do operate reliably with all loads. They do need to be broken in a bit, some report failure during the first 200 or so rounds. The mags lock in just like any AK, it is very fast if you are used to it. I am sure switching magazines can be done as fast, if not faster, than using a speedloader. Someone on the Saiga-12 forum uses switched to one for competition and won 2 of 3 matches, he was sold on it to say the least.
 
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