SKS home defense

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tony19

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I recently purchased a norinco SKS for $260. Unfortunately, Bubba got his hands on it before I. It is missing the factory mag and bayonet. I quickly removed the cheap scope that it came with. It sports a synthetic stock which I believe is an ATI monte carlo stock which i find very comfortable. Despite some of its shortcomings, this gun is in good condition and has been 100 percent reliable.

This is my only firearm and my home defense weapon. I am not concerned at all about over penetration as I live in a rural area.

As much as dont want to modify this firearm anymore than it has been, I think it is important to have a light. Any suggestions to mount a light? I plan on trying the Tapco mags and using them if they are 100% reliable, if not I will purchase a fixed mag with stripper clips. I am also concerned about seeing the black sights at night, suggestions? My final question would be regarding ammo, I think the hornady steelcased SST is my best choice as it expands and isnt overly expensive?

Sorry about the long post. Appreciate the suggestions on light mounts, ammo selection, and sights to get my SKS ready for its home defense role.

-Tony
 
Thank you for the response. I have heard mostly good things about Tapco. What I've found for the light mount, were the barrel mounts but I have heard that they mess up barrel harmonics and accuracy. If I go to the range with my mount on am i going to see a real world effect? I would assume at hd ranges it would not be an issue.
 
Welcome to THR, Tony! Hopefully some others will chime in; I had an SKS many years ago but not currently. I'm not sure I'd worry a lot about barrel harmonics if this is a home defense gun. I can't see accuracy being affected to the point where it won't shoot minute-of-bad-guy. The Tapco mags should work, just test them at the range. Fixed mags aren't ideal for a defensive gun.

The SKS should serve you well! The 7.62 x 39 is pretty potent, and ammo is cheap to practice with.

BTW, mine was also a Norinco. It ran well. I replaced it with a Norinko AK back when they were cheap and plentiful.
 
Look around for some "USA" brand mags. They all seem to work perfectly. I have never had one fail to feed my SKS in the 23 years I've owned it. I changed it to detachable mags the first day I bought the rifle and it has worked perfect ever since. The only problems I've ever had with that rifle were a result of me adding parts (no bubba stuff) and from bad ammo. It has been amazingly dependable in fact.

BTW the cheap commie bloc ammo you can buy seems to work fine in my rifle. No it won't expand but we're talking a pretty powerful rifle. It does a lot of damage without needing to have expanding bullets. Do whatever you like but you should at least try some of the Russian made ammo to see if it works well enough for you. I've never doubted the ability of 7.62 x 39 to do serious damage. I know what it can do in fact. I shot a dog with my SKS once. It blew it's head completely off. I haven't shot anything else with it since. I don't need to see that kind of thing and it's not exactly a hunting rifle. So I just do plinking with it. But I have it where I can get to it just in case. I live in a rural area also.
 
SG Works makes a Bullpup conversion kit for the SKS that looks pretty interesting and gets good reviews too.
 
Return it back to as close to factory as possible and it will last you forever. kwg
 
What state are you in? Some places you have to be very careful about what mods have been done, and what ones you are going to do, or undo.
 
The SKS begs to be "bubbaed". There's so much aftermarket and the things aren't exactly perfect as they come. Both mine have been modified for different reasons. My Norinco paratrooper carbine is more a range toy than anything else, kinda useless. I put a folding stock on it, 20 round Chicom magazine, and ambi safety (I'm a left handed shooter). I don't know where either bayonet went, but I don't know why you'd be concerned with that. The bayonet is useless weight.

On my Norinco rifle, I've put a Choate camo sporter stock, had a scope on it, but took it off. I put a 5 round mag on it that's flush with the stock making it a lot handier in the field now that it has no scope. Ambi safety, of course. I cut off that useless bayonet lug, just bothered me by hanging on brush everywhere in heavy cover scaring off every deer within ear shot. A slick bottom is much handier on a field rifle. I used to hunt with the gun, but have far better hunting rifles, but it has taken a couple of deer over the years. My main gripe with it as a field gun is weight, it's a heavy gun. My Remington M7 is just SO handy and light and far more accurate. The trigger on the SKSs suck, but my rifle had one of the few crisp triggers I've ever felt on an SKS. Most have so much creep it's like shooting DA. There are smiths to fix that, but they're cheap. I gave 75 bucks for the rifle and $115 for the paratrooper 25 years ago. I don't have $250 in each of 'em with all the (what I see as) upgrades. Ain't like they're some sort of historic arm in short supply. The main reason I bought 'em is they were cheap fun. But, they're handy, especially the rifle, the carbine no so much. I might add one more thing to the rifle, a receiver mount peep sight. My eyes beg for one, though I did shoot a nice 9 point with the stock sights a couple of years back.

As a home defense gun, one HELL of a lot of muzzle blast indoors, but they can serve. I'll keep a couple of my handguns and shotgun handy, though, and continue to store the SKSs in the safe with their other buddies.

If I were to want to keep one for a home defense gun, I'd probably go with a 123 grain soft point (NOT HOLLOW POINT) commercial load in it. I like 154 grain Wolf/Tula for hunting, but I'd go with a lighter soft point for self defense. At least you don't have to worry about over-penetration. I live in the sticks, too, but keep the shotgun handy because of night predators on occasion around my chicken coup. Lots of yotes out here, danged little likelihood I'll ever have to deal with a home invader. I live 2 miles down a private dirt road at the very end. You gotta be careful driving the road. I'm saving for a tractor/box blade to maintain it. I saw a little Chevy compact car bust an oil pan on a rock on this road a while back. Helps to drive a truck with some ground clearance. :D But, few homies would ever find this place, let alone wanna drive their Civic fart can car down this road. LOL If I lived out on the highway, I'd worry more about it.

As to a light, there are clamp on lights available. I have a clamp on laser mount that I HAVE used for clamping a mini mag on my rifle, but I bought a better light with a clamp on it that clamps to either a shotgun or a rifle scope, but there are clamps that can clamp under the barrel of the gun. Look around at places online like Sportsman's Guide or such and do some googling. I have no doubt such a barrel clamp light is available.
 
Cee Zee Pretty much nailed it IMO about ammo. You get so much cavitation with 7.62x39 rounds that I don't think ammo choice is a big deal beyond making sure it is reliable.

The only concern I would have about using it as my home defense weapon would be the possible hearing loss associated with it. They make a mighty boom in an inclosed space.
 
They make a mighty boom in an inclosed space.
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So does a 12 ga. and everyone thinks they are top notch HD weapons. Hearing protection is the only way to go. Muzzle flash is liable to blind you too in a dark room. But sometimes you just have to do what you have to do. My main use for an SKS would be outside anyway. Extremely unlikely I would ever need it for HD against a bunch of people attacking my house (firing on it from 100 yards or so would be a possibility where I live). I'm not up nights worrying about it. I worry more about the gubmit if that tells you anything. The things they are doing in drills concerning civilians is very disconcerting to me. I wouldn't put much past some in the gubmit. But I trust our troops not to attack their fellow citizens.

Where I could see a use for an SKS for HD would be possibly someone living near the Mexican border in a place where a lot of drug activity takes place. Those guys play hard ball and if I lived there I'd want the ability to at least try to fight back. The SKS is battle proven as a pretty solid weapon. There are certainly better choices though.
 
An SKS should serve you well. Norinco ones are decent. Get some good soft point ammo for it and you'll wreck anything's day, whether it walks on two legs or four.

On a note: unless your Norinco SKS has been refitted with a firing pin retraction spring, make sure to keep the firing pin channel clean. The stock SKS has a free-floating firing pin. This can cause the rifle to slamfire if the firing pin gets stuck or if using very soft primers.
 
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If you don't want to do the flashlight on the barrel itself, another option would be to replace the stock with something that has a rail built into it or, if you like the Monte Carlo style you have currently, would be to buy a separate rail and install it yourself.

Another option would be to buy a replacement housing cover with installed rails.

Stock with rails
http://www.atigunstocks.com/rifles/...e-side-folding-stock-w-scorpion-recoil-system

Rear Cover with rails
http://www.firequest.com/LK949.html

Gas Tube with Rail
https://www.buymilsurp.com/sks-gas-tube-with-handguard-black-p-3973.html
 
Home defense gun? I can tell you first hand after being shot by one is I always stopped what I was doing. That was fifty years ago and it seems like yesterday.:(
 
The 7.62 round that the SKS uses is a ballistic twin to the classic old 30-30. Commercial hunting ammo should work very well on any mammals in the 100-200 pound range.
 
I can tell you first hand after being shot by one is I always stopped what I was doing.
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How many times is "always" in your case? Doesn't sound like a lot of fun to me.
 
I'm the first to admit as to having modded an SKS - did so 20 years ago with the duck-bill magazine and folding stock. However, I have in time found the SKS to be at its best when it was in simplified form. Light, slim, with few protrusions to grab onto anything, they have an elegance all their own straight from the factory.

Does the barrel have the bayonet lug? If not, it was not Bubba but the importer who removed it. In that case, a light attached at the barrel just behind the front sight housing could be all you need. What ever magazine you get, test it for reliability. The fixed 10 round magazines worked flawlessly and kept the overall package slim.
 
SG Works makes a Bullpup conversion kit for the SKS that looks pretty interesting and gets good reviews too.
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There's just something about having the bolt operating THAT close to my face (especially an SKS) that makes me uncomfortable....and the trigger pull is horrendous from what I've heard
 
Home defense?

12 gauge pump, short barrel, extended magazine, 00 buckshot. Works every time.
 
kwg020 said:
Return it back to as close to factory as possible and it will last you forever. kwg
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Having owned a couple of SKS's over the years, I would have to agree with returning it to stock.
Nice little Carbine that will serve you well, but making aftermarket changes is one of the ways to make it less reliable rather than more so.
 
I wouldn't worry about any harmonics issues with mounting a light to the barrel for your purposes. It may cause greater POI shift than usual as the barrel gets hot, but it's not enough to worry about unless you're in a shooting competition or some other paper-punching endeavor. For putting rounds in a dude's chest at likely combat distances, it is a non-issue, and the benefit of a light is well worth it. You want to be able to turn it on and off in a shooting position though. So either position the end cap where you can reach it with your support hand, or use a remote tape switch.

I agree with those who said to get some soft points.

I gotta say for home defense, I would prefer an original com bloc stock over a Monte Carlo. They are uncomfortably short for normal positional shooting, but are just the ticket for close quarters use. Just like on a shotgun, a short LOP stock makes it more maneuverable indoors and works well with a more squared-up close quarters shooting position. And home defense is definitely a close quarters game.

For sights, it is hard to beat the factory ones IMO. Aperture sights are great on the target range, but suck for low light use (the whole looking at the target through a little pin hole thing). For close quarters in low light, you can just get your cheek weld and put the circle of the front sight hood on the target, and not even worry about finding the rear sight. Good enough for a center mass hit at inside-the-home distances. Also if you hit the target with your white light, it will silhouette your sights.
 
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I have one of these on my AK if I need to put a light on. It's a picatinny rail, I put a TLR-1 on it when I feel I need to have a light on my carbine.

http://www.leapers.com/prod_detail.php?mitem=Mounting Systems&itemno=MNT-BR002S

As far as SKS's go, I had a Norinco Para model with 16" barrel and it outshot a Norinco 20" model version, not to mention it was much handier. I did the hi-cap mazagine thing too, but considering what the carbine is, it's better off to stay stock. Keep some loaded strippers around and it reloads pretty quick, 10 rounds is nothing to sneeze at.
 
and the trigger pull is horrendous from what I've heard
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The triggers were put together by peasant laborers who didn't understand what they were doing. The design actually works fine if it's tuned right. Send the trigger off to Kivaari and you'll be amazed at the difference most of the time. Very few triggers came from the factory working the way they should. But they can be fixed by someone who knows what they're doing. A trigger job will improve accuracy too.
 
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