What to look for in an SKS

[railroader]

I had 2 yugo 59/66's and I have 2 chinese sks's. I got rid of the yugos which looked very nice but the chinese rifles handle better and had better triggers. The yugo 59/66's tend to be front heavy with all the extra stuff up front. Mark

 

[BMW2]

Wow, thanks for all the responses. I'm leaning toward getting a yugo from J&G as they have them on sale right now. If I do get a used one from a private party , how do I check the gas valve condition? Is full disassembly required or is it something I can check quickly? Thanks again.

 

[Evenflo76]

Try www.classicarms.us My gas block worked well without being replaced. Just make sure to remove all of the cosmoline from the gas block and everywhere else.

If the rifle is covered in cosmoline, you probably won't be able to move the gas block. You'll know after you clean it. Then test fire. It's all part of the fun of resurrecting the rifle... Good Luck

 

[Technosavant]

how do I check the gas valve condition?

Usually this is related to the condition of the rest of the rifle. You aren't likely to find a corroded gas valve if the bore looks great. You also won't find a good gas valve if the bore is corroded to heck and gone. Personally, I go for as good a grade as I can (my Yugo was purchased from Classic Arms as a "new/fantastic" grade. There wasn't all that much cosmoline in the stock, but the rest of it was covered in the stuff. If you go for a shooter grade or lower, you might well run into gas valve issues, but like I said, those are quick and easy to replace; the part is about $30 or so (they've gone up, used to be half that). It is only a problem in guns that had lots of corrosive ammo fed to it and then received mediocre cleaning. Again, those will be the lower grades.

 

[woad_yurt]

I've owned a Yugo SKS and now have two Chinese ones. The Yugo felt & weighed like a telephone pole compared to the Chinese type. The Chinese ones also have a chrome lined bore, which the Yugo does not. I have a friend with a gorgeous Russian one and we both can shoot better with my Chinese jobs. I recommend a Chinese SKS if you are going to get one.

 

[Dr. Peter Venkman]

The best way to check any SKS up-close would be to disassemble it and make sure the parts function. They are pretty easy to take down and put back together. I don't know if the shop owner would let you do that though.

You can find instructions for that here:

http://www.surplusrifle.com/sks/disassemble/index.asp

Try this next time you go in at either model SKS (Russian, Yugoslavian, etc):

Pull the bolt carrier all the way back (just grab the handle) and it should lock. Take a look at the face of the bolt and see if there is any gunk/pitting. If there is a little bit of grime, try to see if it will easily wipe off.

Bring a small flashlight that you can shine through the chamber and look through the muzzle. See what kind of condition the rifling and grooves are in (if they look worn), if the bore (the innards of the barrel) is shiney or dark/worn looking from excessive use or lack of cleaning, or if you can see some pitting in there.

Ask the shop owner if he (or you) can take off the handguard that has the gas cylinder inside of it to check out both the cylinder and piston for pitting or corrosion.

As a last bit, ask the shop owner if you can stick the bullet-end of a 7.62x39 cartridge into the muzzle to check how tight the rifling it is. Typically the tighter the fit the more accurate it will be.

I own a Russian and Yugoslavian M59 (the one that never had the grenade launcher) SKS. The Russian SKS has a chrome line barrel which makes cleaning a cinch, and the M59 is just as nice as the Russian one, but has a steel barrel. They are both decent shooters and you can't go wrong with either.

 

[Halo]

I second the suggestion to remove cosmoline from the metal parts in boiling water. After you get the rifle totally disassembled (as mentioned, make sure you disassemble the bolt too), you can put all those little parts in a pot of boiling water. In my experience it removes all the cosmoline very quickly. When you pull the parts out, they're so hot that the water quickly evaporates off of them. A little coat of oil and they're ready for reassembly.

Cosmoline melts at about 130 F. You can use this to your advantage, because that's still cool enough to avoid damaging the metal or wood. I used to go the solvent route, but found out simply heating things and soaking up the liquid cosmoline worked much better and doesn't bleach the wood or raise the grain like some solvents can do.