You may remember my son turned 18 at the end of last year. With that came his liberty to buy and possess firearms - yes even here in anti-gun, tyrannical, ultra-liberal New York. He was surprised to learn that now he could indeed go out and make a purchase of his own firearms without me in tow. Somehow though, I thought he may have lost interest in getting himself his first self purchased gun, I guess simply because he has not said much about it in several months.
Tonight though he surprised me. he told me he had been in a gun shop just a few blocks from our house (small store, but exceedingly high prices on some things I have seen there) and that he had checked on the availability of SAIGA rifles. They have a SAIGA in .223 for the price of $350. I guess not too bad considering I can buy one online for $329 plus shipping, plus an FFL fee (probably at least $50 around here,but likely to be more). He did not ask the gun shop clerk, but my guess is it comes with one magazine (10 shot for .223 I think). The one online comes with 4 10 shot magazines. Still though $350 is not all that high from what I can gather. He was also told by the store clerk that they would be getting them in 7.62x39 soon. I told Brendan that he should consider getting one in .308, a much better round than either of the others. He is going to go back to the store to inquire if they can get one in that caliber.
The rifles are not bad at all from what I can gather. They are sturdy work horses, based on the AK design, and are fairly accurate out to 200 to 300 yards. They are available with a 16.3" or 21.8 inch barrel, and come with either wood or synthetic stocks. They are manufactured or imported by Russian American Armory, see this link for more info: I should point out, I also told Brendan that if he really wants one he should save up his money for one of these rifles. Then Brendan told me that he has been saving all of his change toward just that end. That was a pleasant surprise for me. I don't know how much he has saved, but my guess is he could save $400 or so in change, enough for the rifle plus tax and maybe an extra mag and some ammo, in about a year or less. We will see how this works out, and I'll keep you advised of any real progress toward this goal. If I am lucky he will save enough for two of them and buy one for me too.
It seems I have planted the seed of an American Rifleman within the soul of my son. That my friends is a good thing indeed.
All the best,
Glenn B
