[Kentucky Rifle]

I'm reading this from their advertisement. (Which also has a picture.)
"Yugoslavian SKS Unissued Rifles. Special price $189.95. Comes with cleaning kit, cleaning rod, sling, screw-in barrel. Milled trigger group".

Think it's one I should go and look at?

Thanks for the opinions.
KR

[Mike Irwin]

Who's selling them?

I've not kept up on the prices for SKS rifles, but I figure any time you have the chance to get a decently made, reliable, and moderately powerful rifle for not much money you have an obligation to yourself to think VERY hard about it. :)

[Dave Markowitz]

Hey, it never hurst to look, right?

The Yugo SKSes are generally quite well made. They are rugged and reliable. The only downside they have compared with other SKSes is the lack of a chromed bore.

[MonkeyMan]

That sounds like a decent price for an unissued Yugo. It sounds like you're close enough to actually "look" at it so yeah, I'd go and at least look. I'm planning on adding a Yugo to my (small) collection but I had to get an Albanian while they're available. My only problem with the Yugo's is the GL makes them a bit barrel heavy and longer than my Chi-com, not as quick handling. From what I read the Yugo's are generally well-made with acceptable accuracy. I like shooting mine, they're a neat, fun, interesting part of history.

[Rockrivr1]

You can't go wrong for the price. I picked up my Yugo SKS about a year ago and I've shot at least 1000 rnds through it so far. The only problem I ever had was a very very infrequent slamfire, which can be a whole different kinda fun.

The only thing about getting one of these will be getting all the cosmoline off of it. If you like working on your weapons, this will be a lot of fun. I thoroughly enjoyed taking mine all apart. I even baked the stock to bleed out the remaining protectant. If you don't like that sort of thing, you'll hate cleaning this weapon up.

[iamkris]

I just bought "unissued" Yugo 59/66A1 from AIM for $149 delivered (!!!) It's in really great shape and is a pretty good shooter. Add $20 for FFL xfer or nothin' if you have your C&R. www.aimsurplus.com

If you don't mind not seeing it before hand, this is a great way to go. 1-1/2 weeks to my door. It included cleaning kit, oiler, leather ammo pouch.

[Kentucky Rifle]

The gun shop that is selling these things is indeed close. Under 10 minutes away. *We won't discuss what my wife just called us all*.~~Just joking. She doesn't give a hoot what I buy. She's going to a "yard sale" (?) tomorrow that's going to have glassware. She'll spend AT LEAST as much as that new SKS costs. I do hate cosmoline though. Won't kerosine do a pretty good job of cleaning it off? I can't quite remember what it was, but I watched an airplane mechanic take cosmoline off with something...what was that...gotta give him a call, I guess. (If I buy the rifle.)

KR

[Omaha-BeenGlockin]

My first Yugo was so nice---I went and bought a second one---$169 each--------used WD-40 to get the cosmo off----spray it good and let it soak in----wipe the stocks with lemon oil after I'm done with the WD-40---seems to help get all the gunk out of the wood.

The firing pin is near impossible to remove from the bolt----I give it a good soaking in WD----then spray the bolt and firing pin with WD before I go shooting----no slamfires yet------make sure the pin moves freely in the bolt.

[Rockrivr1]

I also used WD-40 on the metal parts. I couldn't for the life of me get the firing pin out so I used a LOT of WD to spray out the gunk. Working with the wood was a lot of fun. I washed down the wood with mineral spirits and then put it in the oven at 170 degrees for about 10-15 minutes. This got all the cosmo out of the pores but didn't warp or bake the wood. (Stinks the house up some and you really need to put tin foil down under it. Better to do this when wife/girlfriend is not at home ;) ) I put several coats of lind seed oil on it after and the rifle looks very sharp once it was put back together. It was a lot of fun.

Once I had it cleaned and shot it a few times I put a cheapo scope on it that was mounted to the dust cover. The whole setup was around $40. Some people say the recoil will wreak havic on my zero, but so far I haven't had to fine tune the scope hardly at all. I'd recommend it. Just makes plinking a lot more fun.

[SteelyDan]

If it's unissued, $189, and close enough to avoid shipping and transfer fee, it's a good buy.

I cannot recommend ever using WD-40 on a firearm; too many horror stories. There are many other options that work better and cost less (e.g., disassemble and heat in oven at 150 to melt off 90% of it, use brake cleaner for the rest). But one of the cool things about the Commie guns is that the WD-40, or battery acid for that matter, probably won't bother them too much.

[Ian Sean]

The price seems about in the average range, I would go for it.

Any light oil will cut and dissolve cosmoline, I have used WD-40 for this and Kero as well as #2 oil, Just don't use them for a gun lube.

Having a parts washer at my dispoasal now I no longer have to clean cosmoline the hard way but prior to this what I did was:

1. Wear old clothes and put on favorite music.

2. Go outside or in the garage spread a good layer of newspaper around.

3. I prefer using Kerosene, its cheap. Get a soft bristle scrub brush and a tooth brush for the small parts.

4. I used an old spray bottle and filled it with Kero.

5. Don't forget lots of rags.

6. Take down the rifle, start spraying, soaking and scrubbing.

7. Repeat as often as necessary to get all the gunk out.

8. My peference for pourous wood was to scrub afterward with simple green, its a good grease and oil cutter. I used it as a preclean on really oily stocks prior to Tru-oiling. I wish I could post a picture of my SKS it came out nice.

I have done 2 Mausers, an SKS and 2 FAL parts kits this way and they came out great with no bleed out when they got hot.

[SodaPop]

I cannot recommend ever using WD-40 on a firearm; too many horror stories.

FELLAS!!!!!! Don't use WD-40 on the SKS. It is the WORST possible thing you can do.

Do a search over at www.thefiringline.com for more info on this. Its a NO NO!!

[Greg L]

If you have a C&R FFL then the price is on the high end of average. If you don't then it is a fairly good deal (no shipping or transfer fees). Either way you will be getting a solid rifle for around $200.

As far as cleaning goes I actually made a tank to soak the receiver/barrel in. I took a 4" diameter piece of pvc pipe, capped one end and put a removable cap on the other & filled it most of the way with mineral spirits (about 2 gallons). Drop the receiver group in there for a couple of days (swish it around if you happen to think about it when you are walking by) and the cosmoline will melt off. For the smaller parts I usually boil them in water for a little while (use an old pot for continued domestic tranquility ;) ). After either treatment the parts will still need a quick cleaning/oiling but it is nothing like trying to get the cosmoline out straight out of storage. I had a few that came out of storage to do all at once so it was worth it to build the tank contraption. If you've only got the one then strip it down and take it out to the driveway and pour boiling water on the receiver. For the stock the oven method works well or you can place it out in the sun on a hot day. Either way be sure to wipe off the cosmoline that weeps out every now and then.

Greg

[Newton]

Do NOT use WD-40 to clean the firing pins on these guns. WD-40's main job is as a water displacer and is not primarily designed as a lubricant.

If not cleaned off all srfaces it leaves a sticky gunk form of residue, when the rifle gets hot, this will harden and the pin will stick. Hello runaway rifle.

Use Gun Scrubber, carb cleaner etc. Much, much safer.

[SodaPop]

I'm pretty sure there was a post over at TFL, where a member witnessed someone get killed when an SKS slam fired. If the gun is slam firing and you are using WD40, you may be endangering yourself and everyone you are shooting with.

Sometimes we take new shooters to the range and an untrained shooter may not know how to handle a firearm that goes full-auto on them.:eek:

[Newton]

Sodapop - You raise an interesting point.

Just what is the best method of hanging on to a rifle that goes full auto on you. What techniques do you teach to specifically minimize the risk of losing control.

[Caliburn]

Paint thinner works great

[SodaPop]

I never put more than one round in a rifle or pistol the first time I put in the hands of a new shooter. I always start with one round and then move on to 3rds.

Make sure the person is holding the rifle properly. If the gun goes F/A, someone holding the rifle properly will most likely just close their eyes for the 2 seconds it takes for the gun to unload.:uhoh:

I do tell people about the importance of eye protection and tell them about how a mag got blown out of my FAL. I got a bloody nose from the brass shrapenel (very small cuts nothing serious).

[45R]

My local FFL dealer found some NIB Chinese SKSs that was sitting in some distrubutors warehouse in the very very back!!! :what: