[dave3006]

I live in Kalifornia and want to buy an SKS. Searching online, I can buy either one in "very good condition". The Romanian costs $179 plus shipping. The cali legal Yugo is $149. Unfortunately, you don't get to see the rifles before they ship. J&G has the Yugos. KY imports has the Romanians.

Which would you buy?

[DMK]

The Yugo will likely be in nicer condition. Some of the Romanians are pretty beat up. The Yugos also have nicer machining.

However, I like the Romanian better. It's lighter and shorter like the Chinese Norincos, but made better than the Norinco. My Romanian is well worn with little bluing and a rough stock, but it is also my most accurate SKS, or at least the one I can shoot the best. Plus, they are more rare than the Yugos. You'll be able to buy Yugos for a while still, but the heyday of the Romainans is waning.

I'm not sure about KY imports reputation. I've never done business with them myself. Perhaps somebody else can comment on that.

[Dave Markowitz]

One thing that you might consider is the fact that the Romanian rifles have chromed bores, while the Yugos do not. If you shoot corrosive ammo and don't get to clean the gun shortly thereafter, having the chromed bore will be very handy.

[cool45auto]

I think Romanians have the the threaded barrel and not the pinned one also.

[Malone LaVeigh]

I think Romanians have the the threaded barrel and not the pinned one also.I'm guessing the threaded is better? There was a guy at the range yesterday who seemed to be indicating the pinned was better.

[cool45auto]

I've read the threaded ones are better but don't know the difference myself. I've only got one SKS and its a Romanian one so I've only read up on those particular ones.

[Dave Markowitz]

Given my druthers I'd take a threaded barrel, but the difference isn't all that it's made out to be, IMO. AFAIK, both the Yugos and Romies have threaded barrels, while some of the Chinese have barrels that are press-fitted into place, then pinned.

I have a Chinese SKS that I bought in May 1988. At the time, nobody talked about the difference between pinned and threaded barrels. My SKS turned out to have a pinned barrel. Over the past 15 years I've probably put 2000 - 3000 rounds through the gun without any problems.

[Malone LaVeigh]

The same guy at the range said that he had fired an sks for a year without cleaning it and never had a problem.

[chadintex]

If you go for the Yugo, check out the gas shut off valve for corrosion. I bought one the other day and had problems with short cycling. Numrich sells a replacement part, but the dissapointment sucks. I have no experience with the Romanian.

[gobabygo]

I picked neither. I got a Russian. :D I'm in Kali also and it seems ridiculous to me to buy a $150-180 rifle and pay $50 in DROS/fees.

If you don't have it already go get your C&R license and pick up a Russian for just a little more net of all the fees.

If you're in So. Cal. Turners has Yugos for $180+tax and you can obviously take your pick of these. They've been cleaned up too, so you don't have to deal with that, and the ones that I saw looked pretty nice.