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looking for a scope to use on a Saiga .223, but unsure of which would best suit me and the Saiga m3, down the range ? Anyone have an idea, I'm able to purchase either.

Posp 4-8 scope
Or
Simmons or nikkon, ( examples)

Thanks.

POSP, ooman, a POSP. You wouldn't put furry dice in your Rolls-Royce motor car would you ?

meles meles wrote:POSP, ooman, a POSP. You wouldn't put furry dice in your Rolls-Royce motor car would you ?

No I wouldn't, but neither owning a rolls or furry dice makes any personal judgement lacking somewhat smile2

I have a Simmons Whitetail Classic 1.5-5x20 on my saiga 7.62x39 and it's really nice, I also think it looks right at home on the side mount.

Cheers sconie, well I think in hindsight the posp will be a bit over kill for my club range distance, so may just source a rail and fit a scope to this... Makes better sense..seen one for around $84 and looks better than the utg.

POSP 4x24 with a Simonov reticule are good on an AK based rifle, infact the original PSO-1 scope issued with the Dragunov was a 4x24.There is also a 3-9x24 variable zoom version available but these take some tracking down.Beauty of the these scopes is they are built to last and have illuminated reticules as standard (usually red but green and yellow leds are available) and are relatively cheap compared to western optics plus they hold their zero when removed and refitted thanks due to the dedicated clamping system purposely designed to fit AKs etc.Pretty much everything from the big 1pn34 and 1pn58 night vision scopes to the modern Russian military issue red-dot sights all fit the same rail, one notable exception being some optics designed specifically for the Dragunov.If you shoot relatively short ranges one of the red-dots like a PK-A or PK-01v may be an option, the PK-01v is handy as it sits centred over the bore and will co-witness with the ironsights if the rear sight is set to "1".Another point to mention is that pretty much all Russian/Belarusian optics for the Saiga/AK platform sit offset to the left of the bore when using the siderail mount and most do not have variable diopter, the correct eye relief is achieved by using the rubber eyepiece,but I don't find it a problem at all and actually shoot my Dragunovs with both eyes open, same with the red-dots.

snayperskaya wrote:POSP 4x24 with a Simonov reticule are good on an AK based rifle, infact the original PSO-1 scope issued with the Dragunov was a 4x24.There is also a 3-9x24 variable zoom version available but these take some tracking down.Beauty of the these scopes is they are built to last and have illuminated reticules as standard (usually red but green and yellow leds are available) and are relatively cheap compared to western optics plus they hold their zero when removed and refitted thanks due to the dedicated clamping system purposely designed to fit AKs etc.Pretty much everything from the big 1pn34 and 1pn58 night vision scopes to the modern Russian military issue red-dot sights all fit the same rail, one notable exception being some optics designed specifically for the Dragunov.If you shoot relatively short ranges one of the red-dots like a PK-A or PK-01v may be an option, the PK-01v is handy as it sits centred over the bore and will co-witness with the ironsights if the rear sight is set to "1".Another point to mention is that pretty much all Russian/Belarusian optics for the Saiga/AK platform sit offset to the left of the bore when using the siderail mount and most do not have variable diopter, the correct eye relief is achieved by using the rubber eyepiece,but I don't find it a problem at all and actually shoot my Dragunovs with both eyes open, same with the red-dots.

Cheers snayperskaya, good write up and much food for thought

A site worth a look at is russianoptics.net

Plenty of good writeups and photos on there and the guy that runs the site knows his stuff, he has a very nice collection of Soviet/Russian optics and some nice AKs' and Dragunovs'

snayperskaya wrote:A site worth a look at is russianoptics.net

Plenty of good writeups and photos on there and the guy that runs the site knows his stuff, he has a very nice collection of Soviet/Russian optics and some nice AKs' and Dragunovs'

Finally got home from work :roll:

Cheers mate will take a look, was offered a posp and rail, but seemed a bit over kill for a 50m range, but he wouldn't split the rail,which wasn't surprising.
Had a text off Fsu saying the rails on his site won't be available till November, but you have to order now, they do however seem superior to the rails I've found on eBay coming in from the east.

One thing you may find is if you get a Weaver type mount that fits the Saiga side rail and then mount a scope on top of that you may find it sits uncomfortably high and you may not get a decent cheekweld.russian optics with the built in mount will give a more comfortable cheekweld because as the mount is integral with the scope itself they generally sit lower.Another thing is that because most Russian optics sit offset to the left they allow the ironsights to still be used with the scope fitted, so if your ironsights are zeroed correctly you have the best of both worlds.

Is your rear sight graduated out to 1000m or has it got the civilian sight thats only graduated to 300m?.If you have the 1000m sight it will have what looks like a letter "N", this is the "battle" setting and allows a centre mass shot from 0-300m without altering the sight setting (it roughly equates to a 300m zero).