John, enjoyed the Sauer 303 article in Rifle (no.257) - good write-up as always but I just had to laugh about you waiting until the last paragraph to pop the price tag on the gun -$4000! Quite the pricey pig gun!

It is a classy rig but man, my cheapo Saiga 308 (that I converted to pistol grip config) delivers almost as good accuracy - 1-2 MOA depending on the ammo and certainly good enough accuracy for pig hunts. And if eradication is your mission, the 8-round standard mag is 5 better than the Sauer's.

Anyway, it was good to see an article about something different even if it was a $4K deal.

Glad you enjoyed the article, but guess you missed where I mentioned the 303 is also accurate enough for 500-yard shooting. Does your Saiga average 1" with just about any kind of factory ammo, or shot well under 1" with some?

As for the price, I've known quite a few rifle loonies who willing to pay $4000 (or even much more) for a rebarreled Remington 700 with an aftermarket plastic stock--and then are just as willing to brag about it.

No, the Saiga will only give 3 shot groups of 1" with handloads taylored to it. It does shoot 2" groups (again, 3-shot) with good quality fmj milsurp ammo though which really pleased me when I first discoved this. That's with optics installed (4x scope). I can count on it to give 1.5 - 2" groups with 150 grain soft points.

I wasn't suggesting that it's of equal quality to the Sauer - no way, just that for pig hunting, it'll do the job just as well and maybe even better if you're out to drop as many as you can find.

Part of it's performance has to do with the Power Custom fire control group that I dropped into it - it's their 308 Veper model and is fully adjustable. I have it adjusted to single stage mode and fairly light - breaks very cleanly.

The stock Saiga's trigger is a nightmare.

Here's a picture of it sans optics and with a 20 round aftermarket mag:



Notice that this is a 16" barreled version - and the barrel is rather beefy. That too contributes to the accuracy I think.

Yeah, I have heard the stock trigger isn't all that hot!

I had a Colt-Sauer in 06 for many years. It was the smoothest bolt action that I have ever shot, and a very nice looking rig as well. It went for around $1250 at the time, but that was when $1250 was a wad of cash too. It was a sweet shooting rifle, and I regretted trading it away every day since it departed. The things a dad will do to keep his kids fed well. Happy Father's Day to all!