Some information about the new Saiga-9 Carbine has begun appearing recently, and we thought it was interesting enough to give you a brief introduction here.
The Saiga-9 from Izhmash is the civilian-legal version of the Vityaz-SN 9mm submachine gun pictured below (photos from gunsholstersandgear.com).
According to information published on Gunsholstersandgear.com, the basic specs of the Saiga-9 will be:
- caliber: 9×19
- weight (without magazine/accessories): 6.4 pounds
- length (buttstock folded): 23 inches
- length (buttstock extended): 31.7 inches
- magazine capacity: 10 rounds
Based on additional photos that appeared in places like the Predator Intelligence blog, the Saiga-9 Carbine will have a barrel length of 16″ and the 30-round magazines of the Vityaz-SN will also fit it.
As you can see, the Carbine is also equipped with a Picatinny rail on top of the AKSU-style hinged receiver cover, and also has short Picatinny rails located at the 3, 6 and 9 o’clock positions on the hand-guard. The pistol grip is a standard MOLOT type, and the side-folding stock is also a standard metal skeleton type. The safety / fire selector is also the standard AK-type.
So, in summary it appears to basically be a slightly modernized, 9mm version of an AKSU. That’s maybe not really a “bad” thing, but I can’t help thinking that it could have been much more of a “good” thing if they’d gone a bit further and fitted an improved safety / fire selector, an improved folding or adjustable stock, and also offered in .40 and .45 calibre (especially for the US market that is now proving so critically important for Russian small arms makers).