35 Whelen
Member
I posted a review on another forum, but thought it might be of interest here.
I recently sold off quite a few rifles in which I had lost interest, including an AK-47. I really like the idea of a 7.62x39 for a utility rifle around the place. I also prefer rifles, or actually carbines, that are trim and don't use detachable magazines. So, I figured I'd try a Chinese SKS.
I found them on sale at Atlantic Firearms and shot an order to them. They were advertised as NRA Fair to Good and "...will be coated in Cosmoline for protection." Well it arrived in no time, but it wasn't coated in Cosmoline, it was coated in GREASE! And not just coated, the stuff was everywhere including the bore.
Out of curiosity I weighed it before I cleaned it-
I took a lot of elbow grease, Purple Power degreaser a trip to the carwash and time to clean it, like 4 hours. It was unreal how much grease there was.
When I finally finished I weighed it again. I had removed 3 oz. of grease-
I removed the bayonet and cleaning rod and dropped the unloaded weight to just over 7 1/2 lbs.-
The stock was a mess after the cleaning, so I stripped it...
Then re-repaired the cracks and gave it a couple of coats of Tru-Oil.
I then set about regulating the sights with some of the Golden Tiger ammo I have on hand-
First 100 yds.
Then 200 yds.
It shot pretty well, but the coarse front sight is too thick for my almost 60 year old eyes. So, I ordered a couple of KNS replacements; a .052" and a .072".
Compared to the original front sight, they're much better-
I installed the .072" and re-regulated the sights. The rifle was much, much easier to shoot with the smaller front sight. It took me but four rounds to get the sights tweaked and the rifle grouped quite well, putting the last six shots into almost exactly 4" @ 200 yds.-
POI could probably come up an inch or so, but I'm not going to mess with it.
I have to mention too that the trigger, while having the typical SKS creep, was surprisingly light at 4 lbs.
I may trim the barrel back to 16 1/2" later, to make it a bit lighter and handier, but until then she'll be doing what I bought her to do!
35W
I recently sold off quite a few rifles in which I had lost interest, including an AK-47. I really like the idea of a 7.62x39 for a utility rifle around the place. I also prefer rifles, or actually carbines, that are trim and don't use detachable magazines. So, I figured I'd try a Chinese SKS.
I found them on sale at Atlantic Firearms and shot an order to them. They were advertised as NRA Fair to Good and "...will be coated in Cosmoline for protection." Well it arrived in no time, but it wasn't coated in Cosmoline, it was coated in GREASE! And not just coated, the stuff was everywhere including the bore.
Out of curiosity I weighed it before I cleaned it-
I took a lot of elbow grease, Purple Power degreaser a trip to the carwash and time to clean it, like 4 hours. It was unreal how much grease there was.
When I finally finished I weighed it again. I had removed 3 oz. of grease-
I removed the bayonet and cleaning rod and dropped the unloaded weight to just over 7 1/2 lbs.-
The stock was a mess after the cleaning, so I stripped it...
Then re-repaired the cracks and gave it a couple of coats of Tru-Oil.
I then set about regulating the sights with some of the Golden Tiger ammo I have on hand-
First 100 yds.
Then 200 yds.
It shot pretty well, but the coarse front sight is too thick for my almost 60 year old eyes. So, I ordered a couple of KNS replacements; a .052" and a .072".
Compared to the original front sight, they're much better-
I installed the .072" and re-regulated the sights. The rifle was much, much easier to shoot with the smaller front sight. It took me but four rounds to get the sights tweaked and the rifle grouped quite well, putting the last six shots into almost exactly 4" @ 200 yds.-
POI could probably come up an inch or so, but I'm not going to mess with it.
I have to mention too that the trigger, while having the typical SKS creep, was surprisingly light at 4 lbs.
I may trim the barrel back to 16 1/2" later, to make it a bit lighter and handier, but until then she'll be doing what I bought her to do!
35W
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