I just wanted to take a sec and thank Templar for encouraging me to come out and shoot IDPA! "How is that relevant to an AK47.net forum?" you ask!

Templar has been encouragimg me to come out and shoot IDPA for a long time, but when he mentioned that he would be running a rifle side match and that I could use my "new to me" SAM 5 in 5.56mm, and that the targets would be "up close and personal"; well how could I refuse?

Now I must confess that I was a bit nervous. You know! New rifle! New sport! Plus, Templar noticed right away that I was equipped with surplus bakelite magazines that I bought from accuaintences for a Romanian SAR3. Templar asked me if I had function tested them in this SAM 5 rifle. (Well, honestly I had shot a hand full of rounds through each of them, but I had not loaded them to capasity and shot them dry yet!) Templar warned me not to go into "battle" with untested gear, but I stubbornly pushed ahead and tried anyway!

It was a good thing that this was not a real life sceanrio! I must give credit to Arsenal. My "new to me " rifle ran as well as it could with the magazines that I had! I had one failed to feed at the very beginning of the scenario. (I was alowed to change magazines before actually firing the first shot!) I had one failed to feed after firing seven rounds in an eight round string. (Magazine was loaded with eight.) (I think that I shot a total of 33 or so rounds of US surplus, brass 5.56 ball ammo.)

The previous owner of this rifle had installed a windage adjustable rear sight, and I had trouble seeing the front sight with this set up.

Templar wisely advised me to order a number of 5.56 Bulgarian waffle mags from K-var as soon as I got home!

The bottom line: I had a great time! I learned a lot! I want to learn more! I am very pleased with my rifle! (I want to replace that rear sight!) I took Templar's advise and ordered the replacement mags this morning!

Thanks again mate!

Yours,
Thumb Clip Pull Pin.

Templar, is a great guy and a master in his trade. I would recommend him to anyone for anything about firearms.

Quoted: Wanted to add that one of the things I was afraid would happen when using the 5.45mm bakelites that were converted to 5.56mm for the SAR-3 in the SA-M5 happened.....the feed profile is lower and one of the rounds hit the feed ramp and pushed the bullet waaaay back in the case as it was feeding....luckily it jammed and didn't feed into the chamber. Bad juju that........the M5 series really only works with the Bulgarian waffle pattern magazines.

Roger that!  I have five mags on order right now!  This is really is a nice rifle!  It seemed solid as a rock.  I have to admit that the boys with the heads up display type electronic sights on their ARs were really making me wonder, "How good would that work on my SAM 5?"

Thanks for the heads up on the windage adjustable rear sight.  I did not realize that it was a standard item on this rifle right from the factory.

Hey!  Can I (IDPA side match) legally paint my front sight post with some hi vis orange paint?  There is not a lot of contrast between the little tiny notch in the rear sight and the gray/black front sight post!

Yours,
One Rusty Nut.

aka Thumb Clip Pull Pin

Sorry!  Double tapped!

Quoted: Yeah man, you can paint that thing fire engine red if you want....if someone's using optics I'm not gonna bitch about a paint job.   Doug Ford (Tantal) is a great guy to deal with and he can hook you up with some optics.  Do you have a scope rail on that SA-M5?

Yeah!  I kind of figured that a painted sight post would be okay since many were using glass and laser optics.  I was just checking because I am such a new b.

Yes sir!  My rifle is equipped with a scope rail.  I have been looking at some of the cheepy scope rail attachment thingys that you so often see at the gun shows.  Does anyone have any opinions on which one of these might be good to buy?

Yours,
One Rusty Nut.

Hey!  Thanks for the link!  That looks like a high quality mount!  The price is right too!

Yours,
One Rusty Nut.