I have a feeling this is either going to be good like Brazilian FALs or it's going to be god awful like Brazilian shotguns - even though it seems to be a slightly simplified CNC design interpretation.
The PT1911 turned out to be fine. Clearly not made by the same grade of moron that made Boito shotguns.
Also, went with Der Stig and a random Australian friend of Der Stig's to the range today. The Saiga, as always, was a crowd pleaser. These were the last couple drums worth of ammo and neither was full.
Der Stig's final blasts:
[video=youtube;xruczW4Ns-c]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xruczW4Ns-c[/video]
Random ex-RAAF Australian:
Possibly more later - I think DS got a really cool picture of the Saiga smoking while I was working to zero the remounted red dot and pop-up BUIS.
And the shotguns were made by Boito, not Taurus. However, my experience with Brazilian made firearms seems to be that they're either good or that they're horrible POS - and Taurus has done both. They don't seem to have anything in between those two points.
The Saiga smoking on a quiet, dark range after firing off half a drum - I was zeroing the reinstalled red dot and recently installed Magpul backup iron sights.
The Saiga produces a significant amount of smoke after repeated firing, probably has something to do with the enormous gas piston and tube on top of the barrel. The flashlight (which you can see illuminating part of the smoke) is actually the best sighting device for the weapon. The barrel casts a shadow in the projected light that culminates in the flashlight's hot spot. Basically a big black finger pointing to where the projectiles will go.
I put one of these on lay away this week. Can't wait to pick it up the day I turn 21. +1 for the LGS that was willing to hold it for a month with no extra charge.