Educate me on my first SKS(s)

[da3bous]

I know it says CAI, but I'm not sure what else. Is being a recent import a good or bad thing?

Ill give you the gps coordinates to my lair in forest park......its secure.

 

[trainsktg]

I know it says CAI, but I'm not sure what else. Is being a recent import a good or bad thing?

From my readings there was a batch of these imported in the 80s. Barrels are no longer allowed to be marked (it must be the receiver) and Century hasn't been at St. Albans VT for over 10 years, so St. Albans marked rifles wouldn't be recent imports. So...if they do say St. Alb. they may have been languishing in a Century vault for the last two and a half decades and just released, or someone who bought them back then just decided to recently unload them. Hard to tell. Either way, they aren't your average commercial variety. I'd clean 'em up, keep the original stocks original or buy new stocks to refinish. Although with comparatively little collector value now, over time unmolested examples always go for more money.

Keith

 

[Joe Link]

Gotcha, that makes sense. So I just went and looked, they do have the cyrillic N on the rear sight leafs, as seen here: Yooper John

On the barrel they say C.A.I. Georgia, VT then below it they say China SKS Type 56 7.62x39.

 

[novamind]

I'd dig a hole in your back yard and through them in there......FOR THE REVOLUTION!!!! don't forget to pop smoke beforehand bro

With your underground bunker/tunneling expertise not a good place.

 

[WasrNwarpaint]

I strongly urge you to research the after market spring loaded firing pins that are designed to prevent the slam firing....you will find people begin to have firing pin problems when they do install the spring loaded ones ....for the longest time one manufacturer's springs were breaking, pins were breaking & bending and they were also causing popped primers....cheap ammo & popped primers it was blamed on, however I understand the company has announced they have new pins with less temper to the steel , still in all most that have problems have found when the go back to the original configuration their problems stop

I suggest you keep your bolt and firing pin clean as long as the pin rattles inside the bolt when you shake it ....your good to go....these rifles have been around and seen service without spring loaded pins...."not all new improvements are good ones" .....neither are the plastic buffers that are being marketed for the SKS's and the AK-47's there are reports of these causing short stroking FTE's Fail To Eject begin...after these guys go thru hell diagnosing the problem some one asks if there is a buffer installed and when its removed the weapon cycles again

 

[jimboshooter]

The pin definately can stick, especially if there is cosmoline or grease in the bolt. Gets all jammed up and auto fires. Kinda dangerous unless you are religious about keeping the bolt super clean. Huge pain to clean too as the bolt retaining pin is hard to remove. I upgraded the firing pins on my Yugos using Murray Gunsmithing. $37 for a new pin with two springs. Or you can send it in to him and he will install the pin for you and clean up the bolt. You get an extra spring and the original pin. All that for $47 and that includes shipping. You can download his ATF letter from his site showing the modification does not violate 922r.

FYI, the retaining pin on the bolt was such a major pain to remove, I ended sending mine in. Well worth the money. Link included below. He had great reviews on sksboards.com.

<broken link removed>

Survivors SKS Boards

 

[trainsktg]

Gotcha, that makes sense. So I just went and looked, they do have the cyrillic N on the rear sight leafs, as seen here: Yooper John

On the barrel they say C.A.I. Georgia, VT then below it they say China SKS Type 56 7.62x39.

OK, these are probably from the recent 'Albanian' batch then. Definitely do not alter it (unless you get a replacement stock). Folks will pay more for these down the road.

Keith

 

[Toxic6]

Sweet - those should have the barrels threaded into the receivers then. Do they have milled trigger gaurds? The Sino-Soviet i owned had Russian arsenal inspection marks on the barrel, the whole rifle looked like it had been assembled with mix-matched used Russian parts on a Chinese receiver lol.

I didn't realize the serial numbers went up so fast (in reference to the 3million comment). In my defense, it has been a while since I thought about SKS'....I sold my final one last year and it was much prior to that when I actually researched them lol.

 

[JackThompson]

The Russian ones have more value than the Norincos, but I love my Norinco. Shoots forever.

Works best with the stock magazine though.

I have a few tapco 20rd mags on the way. The noname 30's stink!

 

[soberups]

Stuff I learned the hard way;

1- The easiest way to clean the cosmoline out of the firing pin is to just drop the entire bolt into a pot of boiling water and leave it there for half an hour. Do NOT use one of your wife's nice pots for this, unless you dont mind sleeping on the couch for a month.

2- Do NOT waste your money on aftermarket "duck bill" magazines. They are jam-o'matic pieces of poop, and technically illegal due to 922r issues. Instead, buy a whole bunch of stripper clips and practice using them. You will be surprised at how fast you can reload with stripper clips once you get used to them, and the gun is a lot easier to shoot off of the bench without a huge mag sticking out of the bottom.

3. Do NOT waste your money on dust-cover or gas block-mounted scope mounts. You will never get the scope to hold zero, since these parts must be removed in order to clean the gun. A scope will also make it hard/impossible to load the rifle with stripper clips due to clearance issues, and ejected brass will beat up the bottom of your scope. The sad fact about SKS's is that there really is no good way to mount scopes on them.

Bottom line; SKS's can be fun shooters and decent SHTF/zombie guns as long as you leave them in their original configuration.

 

[ernurse]

I have discovered the ultimate degreaser and dent remover for surplus firearms......THE SCUNCI STEAMER....... I swear by this lil gem, the wife was peeved when I stole it for my own evil uses. you could probably add some light solvent to it even. but its way quicker and does a better job then baking, soaking, and or just plain scrubbing alone. I also use when I shoot corrosive ammo in my old warhorses and with a good scrubbing and oiling never any problems with rust etc. In the corps we used everything from easy off on the M60 to early CLP and LSA. Try it youll find a thousand other uses for it in the home and shop as well. As an aside most chinese SKS rifles are the ultimate frankenguns as each piece was farmed out to different factories and villages and then assembled at the plant stamped on the receiver. they always work, are decently accurate and alot of fun. Scott

 

[WasrNwarpaint]

SKS rifles are the ultimate frankenguns as each piece was farmed out to different factories

this is why detachable duckbill mags are trouble for most.... different tolerances from so many variants of different countries making them...and sadly the SKS world has blinders on...someone asks about drum mags or metal mags EVERYONE says they suck dont waste your money...therefore the sks community says metal mags are jamomatics just as reported above....but they are also pretty snobish group and unwilling to listen or try ....they are experts..you know its the internet!!....dont buy this, dont buy that, must do it this way ... experts abound

That being said...if you realize the drum mags which are reported "THEY DONT EVEN FIT THE GUN" yes thats true but again isnt it unrealistic to think one aftermarket manufacturer can make one size fits all...a little mechanical aptitude, manual dexterity and a file and they run fantastic...SAME CAN BE SAID ABOUT THE OTHER AFTER MARKET MAGS metal or polymere....

there are videos on youtube "how to custom fit your sks drum....how to cutom fit your Tapco polymere mags....I made the videos....people that watch them GET THEIR MAGS WORKING
when you buy a drum mag from centerfiresystems.com they send you to the how to custom fit the drums link on youtube & the returned drums stopped comming....

If you want a drum for your SKS they are pretty much the only drum available still ...cause they dont fit dont ya know!
<broken link removed>


get your HI CAP detachable SKS Drums & Mags if you want them, providing you have a little mechanical aptitude

 

[Russianfist]

Saying the people of the SKS world are a snobish group is a pretty bold statement. The reason they say metal mags don't work is because you shouldn't have to buy a mag just to customize it to work for you before you use it. Never had to do that with a Tapco mag. Also, the tin mags are so poorly made I could bend the lip with my bare hands.

But hey, if you can make them work then go for it. I've just never been a fan of Duckbill metal mags.

Also,if you plan to bubba one up try this badboy out....

Shernic Gun Works

 

[soberups]

Basic SKS math:

1 original condition SKS rifle--- ------- $350 beginning value
1 "duckbill" 30 round aftermarket mag--- +$30
1 dust cover scope mount------------- +$25
1 NC star or other cheap scope-------- +$25
1 aftermarket folding stock w/pistol grip +$75
1 Folding bipod-------------------------+$20
1 "tactical" rail with "tactical" light------ +$35
___________________________________ ________
-------------------------------------$250 ending value

 

[Joe Link]

Heh yeah, I'm definitely not going to bubba these up. I have decided to clean the cosmoline and fire them, but I won't be refinishing and/or modifying them. The potential value in leaving them coated in cosmoline is not worth the potential value of having them in working order if I ever needed them (as remote as that may be).