I recently wrote about the Shotgun 2015 World Shoot was held September 13-19, in Agna, Italy. With about 700 competitors it’s the largest IPSC Shotgun competition ever. It is no secret to the readers of this blog that the Kalashnikov Group is looking at competitive shooting and also developing models more focused for this sector.

A recent example is the test shoot we did with the Saiga 107 “AK-15” in .223 Remington at the European Rifle Championship in Hungary. You can read our review here: Kalashnikov AK-15 (Saiga 107) Review.

Apart from the competition itself, large Championships like this are a great way of meeting old friends and meeting new ones. Getting to shoot the new Kalashnikov 340 and then sharing about it on TFB is a great example of this.

The Saiga-12 model 340 features a stronger receiver and is said to have an improved and quicker recharge system.

The owner had added some personal modifications, and not having a stock example side by side it’s difficult to know exactly how a stock 340 would shoot and exactly how it compares.

For instance the owner changed the hand guard. It’s actually not made in carbon fibre, but rather aluminium with cosmetic tape. Looks great, but got pretty hot while shooting. Gloves are highly recommended, but that goes for most shotguns. The magazine release has also been modified.

We tried a mixture of bird, buck and slugs with no malfunctions. The buck shots created a lot of smoke, as can be seen in some pictures. Good thing is you can see how the compensator works, and where it pushes the hot gasses upwards and to the sides.

The gun moved to 2 o’ clock while shooting, and felt a bit unsteady as you get a circular movement getting back on target. I would prefer it to recoil backwards, and perhaps a little upwards, only.

The sight is made by C-More Railway Systems with a very small dot, felt like a 2 MOA. To each his own, but I prefer a slightly larger dot in a shotgun. Having tried the 9 MOA Aimpoint, it’s not a bad experience at all. Don’t say no until you have tried, I’m sure it would work great on rifles too.

The shotgun seems to have worked fine in competition, and helped the owner to a Top 40 position out of 166 in the Open Division.

Story and photos: Erik B – IPSC competitive shooter in pistol, rifle and shotgun. Usually also armed with a camera and a sharp lens. Likes fast cars too, and has two FIA International standing start acceleration records. Ended up at 32:nd place in the World Shoot and 4th in Team for the Swedish Open Team.