SKS Rifles

[winchester1886]

I would like to state my opinion on the SKS platform. I have owned Chinese,Russian, and now a Yugo 59/66. I have owned or used numerous weapons including the AK 47. I really like the SKS for several reasons.It is a simple weapon with a short stroke piston and very little recoil.It is very reliable and you can shoot it in the prone position without interference from a long magazine.I first became impressed with the 7.62x39 in Vietnam with the VC cutting down bamboo with it. I realize that it is not a long range weapon, but shooting long range has it's own

problems. I guess the Russian is my favorite the bluing is nice and so is the fit and the laminated stock I like. Oh by the way my SKS will out shoot my AK47. The Yugo has it's problems.It is muzzle heavy with a useless grenade launcher and sights.The worst thing is the gas valve.When it starts to leak it will cause FTE & FTF problems the gas valve will have to be replaced. I keep a spare gas valve on hand just in case.

 

[LoonWulf]

First time i ever saw one was a guy with a 30rnd mag. Guy who had it dumped the entire mag at a herd of goats at 50-75 yds, running along the rocks near the ocean where we though we had them trapped, and didnt drop any (we later found a few with holes in them from his fmjs). He got mad and tossed the gun in the water and bailed. My buddy dove in and got it back, we took it home shot it out with the hose and tried to return it but the owner didnt want it (not one of my friends). My buddy that salvaged it didnt have a gun at the time, and he used that thing the entire time we were in highschool. Shot a ton of deer, goats, and pigs with it. It never failed to go bang, and when used with the right ammo reliably put down everything he pointed it at.
Ive always wanted one, but they have been a back burner want....

 

[entropy]

They are handy; my only complaint-the trigger group is a PITA to remove and reinstall on some of them.......

 

[IFFV68]

I've owned several SKS's.
I had a New in the Box Russian. The Russian ones seem to have a tighter Quality Control. Nothing wrong with the Chinese. I never cared for the Yugo's. They looked a little out of place with the piece of Iron at the end of the barrel.
What I don't really care for is the Short Stock. The V.C. & N.V.A. had shorter arms than I did. I'm glad they only hold ten rds.
They all had Hard Chrome Chambers and Chrome Lined barrels. Bury them, a month and dig them up. They still worked. The Ak's etc. I saw were pretty beat up but worked.
The addition of the 30rd. Mags were a Gimmick the Chinese modified for import to the U.S.A. The Real Deal never had that.
You can find them at any Gun Show around here. The Russian are very hard to find. The Chinese always pop up but the price has gone up on those.
Have Fun.

 

[winchester1886]

One thing I really like about the SKS is you can throw it behind the seat in a p/u until you need it.

 

[FL-NC]

I still have one from back when they were $75. Its an adequate deer rifle within 100 yards. I used mine for a couple of seasons after a divorce that caused me to sell most of my stuff to pay lawyers. I installed a scope and mount ($30 for the kit from cheaper than dirt) and killed a couple of deer with it in Tn. Now its back in the standard configuration and just goes to the range every once in a while. As is, its a great gun for hunting wild hogs in a swamp- after you finally get it zeroed with that stupid tool!

 

[bikerdoc]

My second favorite weapon behind my M 1 carbine.

 

[Speedo66]

Even at the time I bought my Norinco, $79 was ridiculously cheap for any center fire rifle, especially a new semi auto. Fit and finish were military quality, not commercial, but who cared at that price? Ammo was also very inexpensive at $10 per hundred.

Even at the prices today, maybe $350, I think it's still a good deal for a semi auto battle rifle. Compare what Garands and Carbines are going for, and Russian steel ammo is still a bargain at $20-25 a hundred.

 

[Wishoot]

I'll take my SKS over an AK any day.

 

[boom boom]

One thing that makes a SKS better--Tech Sights--just saying. Especially better if you have old eyes.

 

[Reloadron]

Those little rifles started a business for my wife and I. Kathy,my wife got a bonus check for about $3,000 so we spent an extra grand on Christmas that year, saved a grand and having an FFL but not doing much we spent the last grand buying something like 15 SKS rifles and several cases of ammunition from SOG (Southern Ohio Gun). These were before Norinco started shipping new production guns so I got 15 rifles buried in cosmoline. Stripped everyone down and took them on a road trip to the do it yourself car wash and power washed them. We made a small package deal where each rifle came with an owners manual, a box (20 rounds) of Norinco ammunition and two loaded 10 round stripper clips. Scheduled a gun show and sold out of all 15 on a Saturday morning. While my guns were priced higher they were clean and we had a nice presentation. Then we moved on to the AK variants like the MAK 90 guns and soon had a full line of SKS and AK accessories. Eventually we got the brick and mortar store and eventually sold the business but the who affair began with a few SKS rifles. I still have one from those early batches. Haven't shot it in likely 20 years.

Ron

 

[kBob]

In the way back my Chinese SKS shot as poorly with Chinese military ammo as folks said they would......still it was better than a smooth bore 12 gauge with Foster slugs at 100 and when I did get to shoot 200 it was way better. I had a US M1 Carbine that shot way better at 100 than the SKS with Chinese ammo.....but with a lighter slower bullet. Though as powerful as my Winchester 94 and able to shoot semi auto and ten times the lack of accuracy with the SKS was dissapointing

The Keng's Firearms began improting Lapua FMJ. Groups sizes shrunk by more than half and no nasty Red Chinese army ammo smell!

The Russian steel case is cheaper and while not as accurate as the reloadable Lapua cases is closer to that than the Red Chinese Army stuff.

My one mod was a rubber butt extension that screwed on over the existing steel butt plate and gave me another inch LOP. The bayonet and cleaning rod have migrated on and off over the years (currently both on to prevent loss).

I will say that back in the 1990s I was sorely tempted by one of the "Cowboy" models with a 16.25 inch barrel and no bayonet, and with the original ten round stripper fed magazine. I thought that and a decent folding stock would have made a dang near perfect "truck gun". Still have not seen a folder I liked though.

At one point around 2000, US customs told me in a phone call that they estimated that as many as SIX MILLION SKS type rifles had made it into the USA.

Around year Y2K the Russian inspired, at the time mostly Chinese built, (with a sprinkling of others) SKS was considered by many to be the American Volks Gewahr.

They are still out there some where and as us Baby Boomers that bought them as a Just In Case for "The Coming Nuclear War", "The Great Socio-Economic Collapse" , and "Y2K" get old, I rather imagine the SKS will begin to become more common on the market again.....along with sealed 440 round spam cans of ammo once the widows figure out it they are worth something.

-kBob

 

[22250Rem]

This is a real interesting thread........ At least for me. I picked up my first SKS in 1992 brand new for the princely sum of $107. 00 including tax. It was one of those Norinco's that were coming here in large numbers at the time. Got it from a dealer at a gun show that had numerous crates of them, (did they come 10 to a crate?) and I think he sold out that day. It's not a tack driver but it does what it should and three years later I picked up one of the rebuilt / unfired Russian SKS's when they were being imported. Said to be superior due to a threaded in barrel as opposed to a pinned in barrel and features more milled parts and it's in a very nice laminated stock. That one is still sitting in my safe unfired and now that I'm retired I'm considering selling it to thin out the safes. Then in 2013 in another moment of weakness I bought a third SKS at a gun show. A used Chinese model that shoots as well as the Norinco. In 2013 I also stocked up on steel case 7.62x 39 ammo and I should be all set for the rest of my shooting days. So like kBob says; in the future us baby boomers will probably be unloading all those SKS's and spam cans of ammo as we age, or our widows will be doing that at reduced prices due to lots of that stuff being on the market again.

 

[someguy2800]

I hardly every see any of them around. I remember when I was a kid (I'm not that old) that they would be on sale all the time at the local stores for $159 or so. The sardine can ammo too. At that time I heard of lots and lots of people that shot and hunted with them. My father in law used to have one. He bought a bunch of russian FMJ ammo for it and him and a buddy pulled all the bullets with an impact puller, poured the powder back in and seated soft point bullets in the cases. He shot one deer with it and lost interest and gave it away to a relative that needed a deer gun. I still havn't figured out why he bought it in the first place as he normally turns his nose up at cheapo guns.

 

[Reloadron]

Said to be superior due to a threaded in barrel as opposed to a pinned in barrel and features more milled parts and it's in a very nice laminated stock.

Now I remember, the early imports from China were threaded barrels and the later Chinese imports were actually new production rifles having the pinned barrels. Then there were the "paratrooper" versions which were a new production shortened rifle and rather humorous as the Chinese Army did not have paratroopers. There was also the SKS Hunter Rifles and between all the variations plus the Russian, Yugo and I forget how many other variations but millions poured into the US till Clinton managed to ban all the fun stuff from China. I regret never keeping a Russian version for myself. I still have the Chi-Com I got early on in the safe and as I mentioned I have not shot that thing in 20 years and likely still have a few thousand 7.62 X 39 rounds laying around.

Ron

 

[Gun Master]

I (heart) my Norinco SKS !

 

[FL-NC]

The last one i saw "in service" was taken from a tali in 2006 who didn't need it any more. It was beat up pretty bad and... soiled. I hung it up on the wall in the team room (soiled) over there along with all the other "unusual" stuff we "picked up". There was a Brit STEN, a Krinkov, a RPG launcher with a bullet hole in it, and a few other mementos. Who knows what happened to them all.

 

[Gun Master]

I still have one from back when they were $75. Its an adequate deer rifle within 100 yards. I used mine for a couple of seasons after a divorce that caused me to sell most of my stuff to pay lawyers. I installed a scope and mount ($30 for the kit from cheaper than dirt) and killed a couple of deer with it in Tn. Now its back in the standard configuration and just goes to the range every once in a while. As is, its a great gun for hunting wild hogs in a swamp- after you finally get it zeroed with that stupid tool!

I never scoped mine. I did replace the original metal rear sight with an "improved" plastic one.
Don't know if it improved the POI. Haven't had to shoot it in years.
Now limited in choice of ranges and physical abilities.
It is still in the closet, to be ready with a mere retraction and release of the bolt.

 

[Jackal]

My primary faults with the SKS is with the short factory LOP and the abhorrent trigger 99% come equipped with.

 

[22250Rem]

Reloadron; you gave my memory a wake up call and I did still have this around. It's a page from the March 1st, 1994 issue of Shotgun News. Those are dealer prices that are shown. Saved it because I bought one of those laminated stock ones.. IIRC I paid $225. for it in late '94 or early '95 from a guy with an FFL who had bought a crate or two and still had some unsold ones kicking around 8 or 10 months later. It's still an unfired safe queen after all these years. P.S. the ad's from Southern Ohio Gun.

 

[Reloadron]

Thanks for sharing that old add. Between those SKS rifles and Southern Ohio Gun we built a business.

Ron

 

[ridgerunner1965]

i remember when the sks was first imported. my first exposure was a casing i found at a bridge where people were known to shoot. i had never seen 7.62x39, i showed it to a veitnam vet i worked with.

he said he had seen thousands of those in veit nam but didnt know a lot about the guns.

soon the market was flooded with sks rifles. 69$ for a good rifle and 1,50$ a box for ammo.

i got a rifle and started shooting it..

i invited my vet buddy out to shoot and check it out.

his review was chilling. he said "i always knew their rifles were better than ours"

he was in nam in the early days of the m16.. he said they had a lot of probs with their rifles but the enemies rifles would shoot all day with no attention.

i went on to shoot that rifle almost every day and thousands of times without much cleaning or maintenence.

i could hit a brick just about every time with irons at 125 yrds.. it was unreal what this rifle could do even with its long gritty trigger and rudimentry sights once your were really used to it.

i still have a good one and would not part with it for anything.

 

[Ignition Override]

Both of my Yugo M59s (not the 59/66) are C-series, and suffered violent popped primers. Stay tuned before jumping to conclusions.

Mr. Murray of Murray's Gunsmithing in Bowie TX explains on his forum at SKSboards that he suspects that certain SKS were manufactured with too little 'freespace' in the chamber.
The ammo which might have contributed was Tula.

In just one of the rifles, the Firing pin was blasted Out the Rear of the SKS' bolt !!
A buddy saw the result.

Shipped both rifles to Murray's and they were (return) shipped To My Door in TN . For a modest charge he 'cures' any SKS and eliminates the possibility of it happening again. Certainly worth the moderate cost!
I really like shooting my SKS rifles just as much as my group of AK derivatives.

 

[dak0ta]

 

[Mosin Bubba]

I have a Norinco I got for $280. It's a shooter: the stock is in rough shape but it works fine.

People don't always think of an SKS as a milsurp, but in my mind, it's a lot closer to an M44 Mosin than an AK. It's got that near-indestructible construction typical of its day, with a heavy hardwood stock and milled steel receiver, plus a huge bolt that I'm sure will come down on my fingers some time. Punching those fat cartridges into the magazine, dialing in the range on the rear sight, I don't know, it just feels like a world-war era rifle. It gives me those same kind of warm, fuzzy milsurp feelings as a Mosin or a Mauser, but the 25 cent non-corrosive ammo and total lack of kick means it's often a lot nicer to shoot. SKS's are fun guns to have, and I'm glad I own one.