Saiga (Saiga-12)

"This pre-war automatic shotgun is very reliable and has a high rate of fire, which makes it a great weapon for dealing with packs of mutants."

- In-game description

The Saiga-12, known in-game simply as the Saiga, is a magazine fed pre-war automatic shotgun available only in Metro: Last Light. Unlike some Last Light weapons featured in Metro 2033 Redux, it acts as a stand-in for the Abzats from Metro 2033, a powerful automatic shotgun, though the Abzat was later added to the game by purchasing the Season Pass. It's also one of the last weapons Artyom comes across in the game, first purchasable in Undercity and found on numerous enemies afterwards.

Overview
With a layout similar to the Kalash (AK-74), it is able to accept most attachments available for the Kalash, including the Suppressor, Laser Sight, Red Dot Sight, and IR Sight.

The Saiga-12 is superior to all other shotguns in the game due to its fast reload (on par with an AK-74) and potentially massive magazine size when upgraded with the 20-round extended drum magazine. Thus, it has massive firepower, second only to the Abzats. Even with the drum magazine, it does not sacrifice its rapid reloading capabilities, allowing for massive sustained firepower. This is the most effective weapon at close quarters for players who do not have the Abzats. Compared to the Abzats, it is easier use and quicker to reload, however, because the Saiga-12 has a high rate of fire, shotgun shells may become scarce - constant scavenging for shotgun shells and spending MGR for them at shops can mitigate this problem.

Compared to the Shambler, the Saiga-12 has a higher rate-of-fire, reload speed, and magazine capacity, capable of holding 10 shells. It does not have the ability to fire multiple shells at once like the Duplet, however, but its full-auto capability makes up for it. The only disadvantage compared to the other shotguns is the absence of the extended barrel attachment - meaning it suffers greatly at range compared to shotguns with the attachment. The Saiga-12 is recommended for mutants, especially in Undercity level; it can fire full-auto, but to conserve ammunition, firing single shots is recommended. Only use full auto if you find yourself in tight situations, getting cornered, or low on health. Due to the short effective range of the Saiga-12, it is best utilized in confined spaces.

Variants and Customization
As Saiga is a Kalash-pattern shotgun, its upgrades are similar to the Kalash. However, as a shotgun, it can't equip a 2x optical sight, because its range is too short to benefit from its magnification.

Variants
Saiga-12 variants in Metro: Last Light
 * The first sighting is when Pavel uses one while escaping the Nazi station in Reich level, some are later seen being carried by guards in the Theater. But none of them are obtainable.
 * The first one that can be used is found inside the Church outpost that you can buy from the salesman.
 * Another can be found in Undercity on a dead body, however a Nosalis will jump the player and take the dead body along with the Saiga. If the player is quick enough, shotgun rounds can be taken before the Nosalis takes the body away.
 * It becomes common during later chapters when facing Reds.
 * It can be bought from the Depot traders.
 * One can be picked up for free at the D6 trader during the last battle.
 * It can be seen in Armory Station in the Metro 2033 Redux, but is unobtainable.

History
The Saiga-12 is a rotating bolt, gas operated, magazine-fed, semi-automatic 12-gauge combat shotgun. Developed in the 1990s, it has seen use in the Russian military, and is also in use by civilians for sport or hunting. The shotgun was built on the famous Kalashnikov action that has proven itself reliable over decades of use in combat.

Trivia

 * In reality, the Saiga-12 is only semi-automatic, although it uses a standard AK-style trigger group and converting it to full-auto is entirely possible for a skilled weapon-smith - this is probably what has been done to the Metro Saiga.
 * However, the full-auto shotgun will usually create a lot of recoil, while aiming is difficult unless the user can handle the wild kickback force, though tuning the weapon's rate of fire could mitigate this. Since the Saiga-12 is a close range weapon, although the recoil is quite heavy, it can still score hits even at full auto so long as the user is not using slugs.
 * In reality, most Saigas modified for fully automatic fire have a rate of fire around 600-650 same as a normal AK74 compared to the much slower and easier to control rate of fire in Metro: Last Light.
 * The Saigas seen in the game appear to have started life as civilian models, as evidenced by the hand guard design, although its original hunting stock has been replaced by one from an AKS-74U.
 * The Metro-made Saiga uses an AK-style 12-gauge curved magazine, loosely based on the 10 round box magazine found in real life. The real-life Saiga-12 can use smaller magazines with capacities of 2 or 5 rounds, and larger 12-round stick magazines and 20-round drums also exist in reality. Drum magazines, however, exist solely on the American market for imported Saiga-12's, and are unknown in its native Russia.
 * If left idle, Artyom will play with the charging handle.
 * The Saiga-12 is the only pre-war shotgun in the game, the rest are metro-made or modified.
 * The Saiga-12 replaces the Shambler as the primary enemy shotgun near the end of the game. They are used by enemies in DLC levels as well.
 * In the Redux version, an NPC is seen carrying Saiga-12 with modified grenade launcher.
 * Strangely enough, you can also obtain the Saiga in Metro 2033 Redux, but only outside of the map in Depository. You can even glitch back into the level and keep it for the rest of the game if you get to the door that transitions to the next level.
 * The Saiga is absent from Metro Exodus, but there is a stick magazine available as an upgrade for the Shambler, giving it similar reload characteristics.

Glitches

 * When certain attachments are installed, the HUD icon of the Saiga is displayed incorrectly.

Gallery
Сайга-12