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Statistics is a serious thing to reckon with. If you tell me, shotguns in
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Saiga-410K-01 (Cossack) with AK-type buttstock and handguard,
equipped with experimental 10-rd magazine.
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gauge .410 make about 5 to 7 per cent of the gross sales volume of shoulder
fire arms, I’d say: “Now, wait a bit. Look at what the Russians are doing at
Izhmash.” ( Ref: IZHMASH Joint Stock Company, founded as an Arsenal in 1807
in the city of Izhevsk, West Urals, is a home of the Kalashnikov weapons).
In 1994 the factory designed and introduced into its marketing activity a
series of smooth-bored semi-auto shotguns designated as “Saiga-410”.
Pretty soon “Saiga-410” shotguns became a popular selling item in the
IZHMASH sales program. In the last six months of 1995 the factory
distributed about 30,000 sports fire arms in the Russian market. About
22,000 of these were shotguns in gauge .410, particularly - the short
version with folding stock “Saiga-410K”. The gun is successfully used by
Russian Private Security Agencies. The guns come in three main
sub-configurations:
- “Standard” - with the 570 mm-long barrel,
- “Medium” -
with a 518 mm barrel and
- “Short” - with the barrel 330 mm long.
As could be seen from the photos, there is a significant resemblance between
the “Saiga” and the AK rifles. Receiver, top cover, fire-mode selector,
buttstock, pistol grip are exactly the same. As for the bolt group and
trigger mechanism, there are a few alterations.
- The bolt is adapted for a larger size of ammunition.
- Rate reducer and an automatic sear are eliminated.
- The end of disconnector is shortened so that it is not held down by the selector lever.
- Automatic sear spring as well as a notch on the hammer are eliminated.
- The sear trip projection on the bolt carrier is removed. The area is flat.
- The slot on the right-hand bolt guide rail is removed.
- The size of the bolt neck of the Saiga guns and the AK assault rifles are made different so that they could not be interchangeable.
Since the trigger mechanism of ”Saiga-410” has no auto-sear, the selector
functions in two modes: “S” stands for safety and “F” - for fire.
Like all AK assault rifles, “Saiga-410” has no gas regulator. Nevertheless,
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Saiga-410. With quickly detachable buttstock and pistol grip.
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the shotgun operates with two types of commercially available ammunition -
regular 70-mm and 76-mm long “Magnum” shells. To enable operations with the
above cartridges, the weapon comes complete with two plastic magazines of
the two sizes. Magazine capacity is “Standard” 4 rounds or “Special” - 10
rounds.
Barrels of “Saiga-410” can be made either cylindrical or with the choke of
0.6 mm.
Cylindrical barrels may be optionally equipped with various muzzle devises,
such as: “paradox”, half-choke or choke. The gun works perfectly well with
all brands and types of ammunition.
Initially, “Saiga-410” was designed as a light weapon for sports and
hunting. Later test showed, however, it could be successfully used for
service. Being a smooth-bore weapon, “Saiga-410”, a short version in
particular, needs no special and complicated procedures of registration and
legalization like, say, a pistol or a rifle. Its effectiveness, on the
contrary, is superior in comparison to most hand arms.
Following is Table 1 to show that gauge .410 ammunition has definite
advantages over most common brands of handgun ammo.
Table 1.
Comparative features of ga .410 and handgun ammunition.
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Type of ammo | Makarov 9x18 | TT 7.62x25 | Para 9x19 | Nagant 7.62x39 | .410x2 1/2 | .410 x 3
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Bullet/slug
weight, g | 6.1 | 5.5 | 8.0 | 7.0 | 5.7 | 7.7
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Muzzle velocity,
m/sec | 315 | 440 | 330 | 290 | 500 | 535
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Muzzle energy,
Joule | 304 | 530 | 432 | 294 | 716 | 1,099
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The slug fired from the “Saiga-410” at a wooden block at the range of 50 m, for example, is capable of penetrating 105 mm.
Following requests from the customers in the Private Security sector, I did a number of tests to show the potential of the “Saiga-410” equipped with various brands of ammunition and muzzle devices.
Table 2.
Additional tests of the Saiga-410 shotgun.
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Type of ammo | Range and type of target | Result
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Federal, 2 1/2, Foster slug | 50 m, wooden board of 50 mm thick | 100% penetration
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Remington, 3, Brenneke slug |
50 m, a stack of red clay bricks,1/2-size thick |
destruction of bricks in 100% of impacts
| | ditto | 50 m, front door of a LADA-FIAT
car (with the door glass up) | 100% penetration
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Winchester, 2 1/2 Foster slug | 50 m, R-13 tire | 100% penetration
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ditto | 50 m, R-14 tire | 100% penetration
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ditto | 50 m, R-15 tire | 100% penetration
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During my last trip to Kazakhstan for the purpose of testing the
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Saiga-410 magazine, knocked down.
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“Saiga-410” under various climatic and operational conditions, I fired at a
block of cylinders of a “LADA” car from a distance of 30 meters, using
“Federal .410” 2 ? “ equipped with the Foster slug. As a result of an
impact, the slug made a hole of about 30 mm diameter in the side of the
cylinder block.
Construction of sights makes aiming easy and effective. Unadjustable front
sight of a knob type is located in front of the hand guard at the gas
regulator. Rear sight with the U-notch can be zeroed for both elevation and
windage.
Accuracy of operational fire as well as hit probability can be enhanced by
using an optic scope which can be attached to a standard AK mount located on
the left side of receiver (optional).
IZHMASH has the following designation for the “Saiga-410” series:
(a) basic “Saiga-410” features a non-folding stock and a barrel 518 mmlong;
(b) “Saiga-410C” has a retractable stock, pistol grip and a barrel 570 mm long;
(c) “Saiga-410K” has a folding stock, pistol grip and a barrel 330 mm long.
It should be noted, that the “Saiga-410K” becomes deactivated as soon
as the buttend is collapsed. Deactivation is achieved by locking both the
bolt group and trigger mechanism. This device is engaged each time the stock
is folded depressing a knob located on the left side of receiver. To unlock
the mechanism and bring it into operation the stock should be extended. By
doing so, the knob is released and the whole mechanism is ready for
operation. Such a feature is provided to meet Russian Regulations for
safety.
Table 23
Technical specifications.
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Saiga-410 | Saiga-410C | Saiga-410K
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Weight without magazine, kg: | 3.4 | 3.4 | 3.2
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Overall length, with extended stock, mm | 1,107 | 1,080 | 840
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Length with collapsed stock, mm | - | 835 | 600
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Length of barrel, mm | 518 | 570 | 330
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Magazine: | plastic, detachable, box-type, 4 or 10-rd capacity
for 70 and 76 mm-long shells
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Optimal operational range of fire, m:
fired with shot
fired with slug | 25 - 35
75 - 100
| 25 - 35
75 - 100 | 25 - 35
75 - 100
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Designed on the basis of the AK-47 assault rifle and, hence, acquiring
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Saiga-410K. With folding stock and short barrel.
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certain similarity in appearance, “Saiga-410”, as a service weapon,
inherited the psychological effect of the original too. The usage of a new
semi-automatic shotgun in several operations showed that its demoralizing
effect is high enough to prevent further progress of a conflict situation
before fire for effect became inevitable.
STANDARD OPERATIONAL PROCEDURES.
All modification of “Saiga-410” have the following operational procedures.
After the primer ignites the propellant, part of combustion gas escapes from
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Saiga-410C. With folding stock.
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the barrel into gas chamber through the opening in the barrel side. The
piston receives an impulse and pushes the bolt carrier towards rear until
pressure drops to a safe level. The slot on the inner side of receiver turns
the bolt to the right and releases its two locking lugs from recesses in the
barrel block. The bolt carrier travels on, the empty shell is extracted and
then ejected from the receiver. While the bolt group keeps on moving, the
return spring is compressed generating an impulse. The hammer rolls down to
be retained by the sear. As soon as the carrier slams the rear wall of the
receiver, driven by the return spring, the bolt carrier commences its
forward motion.
On the way forward, the bolt strips a new round from the magazine and rams
it into chamber. The bolt turns to the left to lock the barrel. By pulling
the trigger, the sear releases the hammer. The hammer rushes forward to
strike upon the firing pin. The shot is delivered. The whole cycle is
repeated.
(2) As mentioned above, the trigger mechanism of “Saiga-410” is a replica of
that of AK original assault rifle with the only difference that the
automatic sear has been removed from its construction. At all times the gun
is capable of delivering only single shots while reloading is done
automatically. Each time an operator wishes to shoot the next round, the
trigger should be released and depressed until the magazine runs out of
ammunition.
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