buying sks

[blind as a bat]

Thinking about buying a sks. I don't really know that much about the sks? can anyone give me some hints when buy one? what is a better sks? russian, chinese,yogo and so on.is there a mod i should be on the lookout for? is the 7.62 a good round at 500+ yards? any info is good info. thanks

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[dobeman]

I've had a Norinco (Chinese) SKS for years. Very happy with it. Durable little bugger. Not sure I would rely on my SKS for 500 yards LOL for one, they are not the most reliable platform for mounting a scope and the stock sights certainly are not 500 yard sights unless you have superman vision. So, I give a for Norinco SKS anyway. From what I've seen, an sks is an sks - sure some are prettier than others in wood, but the mechanics are the same.

 

[bugeye]

I have a norinco too, the pinned barrel type. As doberman said scope mounting is a problem. I drilled and tapped my receiver and put on a Choate scope mount. That works pretty good but there are few groves for the scope rings so they end up too far apart for putting on the tiny compact scope I bought for it, so I had to put a longer scope on it, and when you do that you have to fabricate a shell deflector or the spent shells with hit the scope (the tapco deflector I bought will only fit the receiver cover type scope mounts). Without a shell deflector the case travels way up in the air and to the right, yell 'FORE' before fireing. The trigger on mine has tons of creep but when it is ready, and you really can't tell when that is, it goes with little force, it's very strange. My SKS is only good for about 4moa at 100 yards with wolf military ammo, the older chinese norinco ammo shoots about 3moa. I've never shot the rifle at distances greater than 200 yards but it will hit an 18 inch gong (big deal, lol). At 500 I would think the thing would be useless but you could check the drop with a balistics calculator, there are a lot of free ones on the web.



Mine has also been reliable and strong, and willing to operate with very minimal care. I have mine in a tapco stock that works fine with tapcos 20 round mags. I keep it and a bunch of rounds for zombie attack, or to let new shooters try it out at the range.

 

[Chipperxd]

I just purchased a Yugo SKS from a member here. I haven't had a chance to shoot it but I really like this rifle. The bugger is a bit heavy but for plinking at the range, that shouldn't really be a problem. I did have to saw off the bayonet lug as the dang screw was pinned in and couldn't get it off even with an impact gun...

 

[Blitzkrieg]

Even the best SKS is no more than a 350-400 yard gun, due to ballistics/accuracy levels

I got rid of my Norincos years ago, they just aren't near the gun the AK is. They can do for an inexpensive truck gun, though

 

[elsullo]

The Chinese Norinco SKS mostly were specially made for commercial sales to the USA public, and so was a brand new gun and the basic quality was high compared to military surplus guns. Other nations' SKS are used military turn-ins (though some are only barely used) or are assembled or rebuilt from mostly used military parts, which might not fit so well together. This is why buyers look for "all matching serial numbers" to get a gun not made up of random parts.

Random thoughts: China made the bulk of its SKS commercial production in the late 1980's-early 1990's, though they are still made on a very limited basis for parade units. The Russian SKS is considered the best by many and gets the premium price, but its producton stopped in 1953 or so. Several other nations made their own version of the SKS from the Russian specs, but they all stopped making them in the 1950's, I think. The whole Soviet Bloc switched over to the AK-47 and put their SKS into warehouses, except for militia use and employment in active war zones, like Viet Nam. Used military SKS were resold to the Third World everywhere, though the AK was much more popular.

All SKS have a chrome-lined bore EXCEPT for the Yugoslavian variant. The Yugo-SKS is popular because it is built "beefyier" than the others and it is less expensive because of a recent flood of imports. However it has goofy grenade launcher parts on the muzzle end and thus needs a two-position gasblock valve which sometimes leaks on these old guns.

Keep in mind that the safety only locks the trigger, not the action. Also, the floating firing pin was designed for "hard" military cartridge primers and can "slam-fire" with "soft" commercial ammo primers. A replacement spring-loaded firing pin is a very common modification by owners.

No, it's not a 500 meter weapon. The cartridge just was not designed for that, and the gun is hard to put a useful scope on anyway. It was designed to be a bombproof close combat weapon that any peasant could run reliably with minimal maintenance, and it's great for that. I find the brutal simplicity of the design to be beautiful!

There are TONS of SKS sites and messageboards on the internet. A good place to start is the wonderful encyclopediacal site, www.theAKforum.net with a whole section on the history, breeding, and selection of the SKS................................elsullo

 

[onearmedswordsman]

I have a Yugo. Pro: you may still possibly find an unissued rifle. Cons: bbl not chromed lined. (don't think it is a biggies as long as you maintain your rifle).

IMHO, SKS ~ 200yd rifles, mostly due to 7.62x39 ballistics. Normally, I'd say 4 MOA, but I've heard people handloading and getting close to 1 MOA. In general, they can be more accurare than an AK, but not more reliable. I made several mods to mine, some I have removed. For instance I installed a weaker hammer spring, but put the factory spring back when accuracy went south. Milspec ammo have hard primers and need the stronger spring to get a consistent burn it seems. I scoped and it works but it but it is a pain ib the a** for cleaning. Got a few Tapco 20rd mags which work fine on the Yugos. Many metal mags don't work at all on Yugos.

IMHO, get it and resist the temptation to bubbafy it. The original 10 rd mags is perfectly fine. Will probably get a Russian SKS and will do no changes to it.

 

[Sun195]

All SKS have a chrome-lined bore EXCEPT for the Yugoslavian variant.

Also, the floating firing pin was designed for "hard" military cartridge primers and can "slam-fire" with "soft" commercial ammo primers. A replacement spring-loaded firing pin is a very common modification by owners.

Just a minor correction: early Russian models did not have chrome lined bores but did have spring-loaded firing pins. But, the vast majority are as you describe.

 

[spence.smith]

Spammer

 

[Ballistic]

I just bought a Russian SKS. Lovely gun and fun to shoot as the 7.62x39 doesn't kick very much. The front sight is fully adjustable (height and windage) just get the little tool designed for that. I think it'll be a great plinker, since it really isn't a long range shooter.

Stripper clips are nice, but there is no "need" for one. I simply loaded one round at time from the top.

 

[raftman]

...Stripper clips are nice, but there is no "need" for one. I simply loaded one round at time from the top.

Be careful with that. One false move and the bolt slams shut and you get pinched bad enough to break the skin and draw blood. Saw it happen to a friend as he was loading my Norinco round by round like that. Sure it can be avoided, but clips can be had for something like 30 cents so there's no reason not to get some.

 

[jib]

I would look for a Russian made. As already stated range is limited, I'll say 2-300yrds. My Russian SKS has been 100% reliable with over 1,500 fired and that's including the cheap surplus and Wolf stuff. At one time this was one of the best deals going.

 

[Dr.Peppers]

You really can't go wrong with a Yugo in new condition. They are easy enough to find because they are packed in Cosmoline. You can find a good deal on one at a gun show. The barrel is a few inches longer because of the grenade launcher, but it protects the crown from damage too. They are a very accurate stock rifle. With iron sights you can pop a balloon at 200 yards, but that's about it. The 7.62 x 39 is a 'rainbow round' because it drops fast at long distance. The round is good enough for deer hunting with the proper bullet selection and lots of practice.

About the only upgrades I would recommend are a black Advanced Technology Monte Carlo Sporter Stock for $40 and maybe some Williams Firesights for $40 too. If you really want to make it more accurate get a trigger job by Kivaari. Some increase in accuracy can be found by shooting boat tailed ammo like Golden Tiger too. The Yugo surplus ammo is powerful and cheaper, but it's not worth the extra hassle and risk to clean off the corrosive residue, especially since a Yugo's barrel is not chromed.

Many people will tell you the SKS is an accurate rifle, and it can be. But most are bench shooters who measure groupings after shooting off sand bags. It can be fun to shoot offhand with a sling, sitting or prone. It is more accurate than my AK-47, but not by much. It kicks less than my AK-47 too because it weighs a couple pounds more. So it really depends on what you want to use it for: plinking or hunting. I think an AK-47 is a lot more fun to shoot, in general, but I still have my Yugo and Norinco SKS's too.

 

[rob.greenlee]

Spammer

 

[Ballistic]

Be careful with that. One false move and the bolt slams shut and you get pinched bad enough to break the skin and draw blood. Saw it happen to a friend as he was loading my Norinco round by round like that. Sure it can be avoided, but clips can be had for something like 30 cents so there's no reason not to get some.

Good advice to be sure!

I regularly shoot my Hakim, so i've learned to be quite wary of bolts.

 

[Russianfist]

Look for matching numbers on all the parts when you buy one if you intend to sell it later on as this will keep its value a little higher. The Yugo's can be a little on the heavy side as I think they were ment to be used as "clubs" when the solder ran out of ammo .
The Yugo's also have a built in grenade launcher and sight with a switch on the gas port to make them single shot for grenade work.
If you find a Chinese SKS with the original bayonet parts it is a collectors item and snag it.

Thsi site should help you with every question that you would ever have about the SKS and types, http://www.sksboards.com/smf/index.php?PHPSESSID=5b3f493d6cf3fea9d4b849ec38729b1d&

They are great guns and will lay down fire like nobodys business.
Hope you get one

 

[Bon Sauvage]

Russian and Sino-Soviet carbines have a certain collector appeal if that's what you are looking for. For my purposes I find that the Chinese factory 26 made carbines fit the bill. I have one manufactured in 1968 that is oh, oh so sweet.