[heypete]

I have a Yugo 59/66 (first of many yet to come, no doubt) with the California-legal muzzle brake :barf: , and am curious to see what others have done with their rifles.

Mine has only a few minor modifications:
* California-legal muzzle brake.
* Ben Murray's spring-retracted firing pin. (http://www.murraysguns.com/sksown.htm) (Significantly reduces the odds of a slamfire.)
* Tech-Sights TS100 AR-15 style rear sights. They mount via a rod through the takedown pin hole in the back of the receiver cover. Very handy.

I've put tons of Tender Loving Care into refinishing the stock. Some sanding, steaming, and many, many coats of Birchwood Casey Tru-Oil and Gun Stock Wax has the stock exceptionally smooth, shiny, and water-resistant. The serial number cartouche is still intact, and thee are no other markings on the rifle at all.

What have you done with your SKS? Is the stock unfinished? Any changes or modifications? Let's see!

(No mocking my pictures -- self-portraits with a camera on a tripod is not terribly fun. Now that I think about it, that 7.62mm hole seems much, much larger at that angle. :eek: )

[railroader]

Nice pics. Where did you get the cali yugo with that brake? I have one but it has a different brake that is tack welded on and is imported by century arms. Mark

[g56]

I replaced the front sight with a Williams Fire Sight and the rear sight with a Williams aperture sight, works extremely well although it doesn't have the sight radius of the one that mounts on the rear of the cover, it goes in place of the standard rear sight. That Fire Sight lights up like a red dot sight!

[heypete]

railroader: Nice pics. Where did you get the cali yugo with that brake? I have one but it has a different brake that is tack welded on and is imported by century arms. Mark

I actually bought the Yugo from a friend of mine. The brake is the "AK-74 style" one that one can find online in several places. It's not welded on, but only threaded. I couldn't stand to ruin the value with a spot weld -- I have no idea how he got it without the brake welded on. Maybe he bought it before the CA DOJ declared the grenade launcher illegal and required brakes, so he just bought one and threaded it on? It tends to slip around on the threads a bit, so I put a little piece of masking tape on the threads and turn the brake on over it -- when it heats up, the tape melts into goo and holds it quite firmly. It can also be removed by applying an appropriate amount of torque (not much needed) to the brake and removing it. Alas, Loctite wouldn't work, as it's "break" as the barrel heats up.

g56: I replaced the front sight with a Williams Fire Sight and the rear sight with a Williams aperture sight, works extremely well although it doesn't have the sight radius of the one that mounts on the rear of the cover, it goes in place of the standard rear sight. That Fire Sight lights up like a red dot sight!

Hmm. The AR-15 style rear sight is pretty nifty, but is hard to see in the dark. The small aperature makes it difficult to see the ring of the rear sight. Alas, since I had to dremel out the retaining pin for the receiver cover latch, there's no way I can put the pin back in. Are there replacement pins with a ball detent or something that can be easily installed?

The Williams Firesight looks pretty cool. I'm not really concerned about sight radius (I have a Rem 700 in .30-06 with a 9x scope for longer range work), but rather about visibility and ease of use. Although the Ar-15 style sight is very similar to what I've used in the army, I'm willing to try out the Williams sight. SurplusRifle.com has favorable reviews as well, which is nice. Any specific comments or whatnot on the sight? Anything I should look out for?

[g56]

You can buy the front Fire Sight by itself, that's really all you would need with the rear sight you already have.

You can buy a tool to adjust the front sight, it can also be used to remove the front sight, unscrew the post, then the pin it threads into can be punched out, I was cheap, I made a tool from some aluminum to unscrew the sight post.

Although I didn't try it, you could probably use the standard rear sight with the Fire Sight front sight also.

[browningguy]

Here's mine, standard Yugo 59/66, ProPoint red dot on rear sight mount, Beartooth stock sock to raise the comb, and a trigger job.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/jcm9371/Rifles/sksmodified.jpg

[SmershAgent]

Mine are both in their original configurations. I got a 59/66 last September, and its new brother, the 1969 Albanian, arrived last week.

[Lennyjoe]

Fresh out of the UPS truck last spring.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid115/p6dd2be2a68a801d0e6183e7f0fa7b085/f8c10731.jpg

Haven't done a thing to them except for clean off the cosmoline. Its a C&R thing. ;)

[BusMaster007]

I can't look at this thread. :what:
I can't buy another gun until March 8, 2006. :eek:
Thanks for showing your nice new SKS, though! ;)

[heypete]

I can't buy another gun until March 8, 2006.

Why's that? That's a long time to wait.

Lennyjoe: I hate you. *shakes fist at lots of SKS'*

I really want to get a Yugo M59 or a Russian SKS. Something a little smaller, little lighter, and a little more controllable. That shouldn't be too hard once I get my C&R...it's been 3 months and the ATF still hasn't responded. :/

[Lennyjoe]

Lennyjoe: I hate you. *shakes fist at lots of SKS'*
:D :D

[bjbarron]

Here is what I did...

Remove bayonet
Remove bayonet lug permanently
Remove night sights permanently
Remove grenade launcher permanently
Remove grenade launcher sights permanently
Remove cleaning rod permanently
Cover threaded barrel permanently with US made muzzle break (solder)
Replace Yugo bolt carrier with Albanian bolt carrier
Replace single firing pin with a two-part US made Ben Murray firing pin safety system
Replace Yugo stock with composite US made Ramline stock of like configuration including gas tube.
Replace all springs with US made Wolff springs
Install a Weaver US made telescopic sight base permanently on receiver frame
Replace fixed 10 round magazine with fixed 5 round magazine
Replace fixed sights with US made Williams sights

Note: I sent a letter to the BATF about this on April 11th...haven't heard anything back.

Here is the rifle before I fixed the brake on...
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/bjbarron/blogfiles/KIF_0194a.jpg
Work in Progress...
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/bjbarron/blogfiles/sks_work7.jpg
The frame-fixed sight base has removable top assemblies. I have one with a long scope, one with a short scope, and one with a holosight. The last two allow the use of stripper clips. The longer scope (shown) has a shell deflector permanantly mounted.
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/bjbarron/blogfiles/sks_works14.jpg
I mounted a fixed 5 round mag...
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/bjbarron/blogfiles/KIF_0138.JPG
I also mounted a picatinny so I could have a Harris on the forearm stock, not the barrel...
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/bjbarron/blogfiles/sks_picatinnyadapter.jpg

Note: All that 'remove permanently' stuff at the top was part of my letter to the BATF. Nothing was destroyed in removal, and could be reassembled with a couple of hours of work. With all the changes I made, it shoots about 2-3 MOA instead of Minute of Blimp.

[Okiecruffler]

Starting to wish I had kept it.
http://www.hunt101.com/showphoto.php?photo=66231

[jrfoxx]

heres mine as i got it from gun shop. plan to maybe try some alterations/additions of my own in the future possibly.

http://home.comcast.net/~seanncarole/sks_2004_495x270.jpg

[Gewehr98]

Yugo 59/66 with a NoUglyGuns.com East German Rain camo stock:

http://mauser98.com/yugosks-3.jpg


Here's a beat-up Norinco that I spent some time and ripped apart, muzzle end cleaned up, muzzle brake, free-floated, glass-bedded, trigger job, minimal gas tube, detachable 5-round magazine, Weaver K-6 scope, and recontoured gas block. It was a what-if attempt to make a 1 MOA SKS, and was set up for benchrest target work. With my handloads, I succeeded. I still have to grind off the rear sight ladder, once I figure out a better brass deflector installation. As a result of all the work, it weighs less, so it'll probably make a good woods rifle, too:

http://mauser98.com/targetsks1.jpg
http://mauser98.com/targetsks2.jpg