The Kalashnikov Saiga MK-17, the first ever civilian version of the rare balanced recoil AK-107, is set to go on sale in Europe next year. For years we have speculated on how well a balanced recoil system will work in the real world and so I cannot wait to get my hands on one and find out for myself. The first video of the MK-107 “in the wild” has just been posted on Youtube. It shows two Russian competition shooters shooting the MK-107 and the AR-15 side by side. In this (very unscientific) test the MK-107 appears to handle the recoil better.

Thanks to Val for the tip.