I picked up an SKS today

wish i had the cash for one now, they bring about $600 here in ny, you will still find there is some cosmoline there somewhere, the simple green works good.

You still have good wood on yours. Nicks and dings mean nothing if it shoots well. I say you did great.

Great rifles, I always have one on mine with me when I’m going to the farm. I love it for its ease of use, decent enough accuracy with irons, and ruggedness. Manually cycling the bolt is also enough to deter the neighbor’s dog from crapping in my yard.

I had a decent Yugo SKS back when I lived in PA. It had a few issues ( it was my first military surplus rifle and I don't think I got all the cosmoline out of the action).

I was forced to sell it, and I thought I'll just grab another other one someday. Who knew how much they would cost someday

Surprising that you found one priced under 400 bucks. IIRC they start at about 600 bucks in NY state nowadays, as Troy Fairweather previously mentioned. Just checked my records; last SKS I purchased was a Norinco from a dealer at a gun show in Jan. 2013 for $450. plus tax and I considered it a good deal at that time. They don't exactly have tack driving accuracy but offer a no frills, rugged, dependable, semi-auto centerfire that's compact and handy. If you like it, hang on to it, as the prices only seem to go up.

I remember when you could get a SKS in cosmoline and a case of 1,000 rounds for $150. Its hard for me to accept that they cost as much as an AR15 now.

FL-NC said:

I remember when you could get a SKS in cosmoline and a case of 1,000 rounds for $150. Its hard for me to accept that they cost as much as an AR15 now.

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In the 90's the SKS was cheap,65$, and an AR was not. I bought one for the wife so she could shoot the DCM matches that the club had.
When I got around to getting one for myself they'd gone up. To 75$...
Funny how things change.

Since the OP is recently back in the SKS game, I'll mention this.

My local indoor range, like most, doesn't allow typical bi-metal (steel projectile) Russian ammo, like the different variations from Wolf. Tula has recently started selling, $4.19 a box at AIM Surplus, brass jacketed/lead core projectile steel cased ammo. They call it "Range Friendly" on the box.

I took my SKS to the range yesterday, range officer checked it with a magnet and pronounced it good to go. It shot fine. Good inexpensive alternative to pricier brass ammo for indoor use.

For those who worry about steel tipped ammo prematurely wearing out a barrel, this should be a no brainer.

Ahhh I remember the first gun I bought in a store was an SKS, back around '98 or '99. A Norinco and it cost me about $100 if I remember right.

Friend of mine bought a norinco at a show in January for 340, still had cosmoline in it. It's still sitting in the corner by his safe waiting to get cleaned up.

My first SKS back in the 90s was a Chinese made one that was so battle worn that the dried-out old stock looked like it had been made from a 2X4. But it was dirt cheap, like $75.00, and the action and bore looked fine, so I bought it. And, it shot very well.
$500.00 for an SKS is ridiculous. Even one with nice wood.

I have two Norinco's. One is the 16" Paratrooper and the second is the 20" regular rifle. The Paratrooper I got when my dad passed away. We had bought two of these but I sold mine. His had never been fired. I picked up a second one off GB NIB for about $280. I was the only bidder. Both have been fired 80 times each. I have had a couple others I shot a lot more and then sold. I like the SKS a whole lot more than the one AK-47 I owned.

Here is a thread I started long ago when I first joined the forum and asked about the SKS rifles from Norinco. Post # 5 tells it all.

https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/has-anyone-wore-out-an-sks.318230/

Ratshooter said:

I have two Norinco's. One is the 16" Paratrooper and the second is the 20" regular rifle. The Paratrooper I got when my dad passed away. We had bought two of these but I sold mine. His had never been fired. I picked up a second one off GB NIB for about $280. I was the only bidder. Both have been fired 80 times each. I have had a couple others I shot a lot more and then sold. I like the SKS a whole lot more than the one AK-47 I owned.

Here is a thread I started long ago when I first joined the forum and asked about the SKS rifles from Norinco. Post # 5 tells it all.

https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/has-anyone-wore-out-an-sks.318230/

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The Norinco SKS is better made that the AK, but of course the AK draw is the 30 round mag.

Several years ago I remember my buddy's uncle had a Norinco that just seemed to shoot above it's head. He had done a trigger job on it and it felt nice for an sks, thats probably what helped it shoot so well.

Well, that guy made some poor decisions (with that sks) and became a felon a few years ago and sold that gun to his nephew, my buddy. He asked me if I would be interested in it and I said sure, he said $100. I couldn't hand him the money fast enough.

That was 2-3yrs ago and I still haven't fired a round with it. I need to take it out and see if it shoots as well as I remember it shooting.

In the early days of the cheap Norincos they arrived with a thick reddish lacquer/ varnish on the stock. I stripped both of mine down and the stocks revealed the dents and scratches of actual use. One has a shiney chromed look to the bolt and the other isn't. I added a pad to one which helped the LOP and sight alignment a lot.

USSR made SKS refurb, I traded a P38 for it and the SKS seller threw in two hundred dollar bills, no ammo.
I figure that at the time WWII P38s were going about $400? So I got a Soviet refurbished Russian SKS force matched for $200. And it was even completely clean.

I picked up 3 Yugo's on my C&R license back in 2001 for $85 each. Still have them and have no desire to part with them.

Shanghai McCoy said:

In the early days of the cheap Norincos they arrived with a thick reddish lacquer/ varnish on the stock. I stripped both of mine down and the stocks revealed the dents and scratches of actual use. One has a shiney chromed look to the bolt and the other isn't. I added a pad to one which helped the LOP and sight alignment a lot.

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I got my Norinco brand new for under $100 at the time they were importing them. I also didn't care for the orange lacquer, stripped it off, redid the stock with walnut stain. Came out pretty good.

I haven't fired too many rounds through it, maybe 500-600, but I've never cleaned the gas system, just the barrel. Has never missed a beat.

OP: good luck with yours, I think you're going to enjoy it.

I enjoy mine as sort of a mild shooting general-purpose rifle.
Not the super value they used to be (obviously), but still a good buy for what it is in my opinion.

The cheap bulk ammo is a real plus.
Some people like Tech Sights; I just practiced with and got used to the stock irons.


Good luck to the OP, I think you will enjoy it also.

Acrmny said:

I've owned one in the past, it was a great rifle. Some actually use it for hunting, but you'd have to change out the mag to restrict ammo capacity. Ammo is cheap, it's fairly accurate, but you're gonna have to change out the stock unless you're 5' tall and have small arms. I put the "Monte Carlo" stock on it, looked decent. You can beat the hell outta that rifle and it will just keep shooting. There aren't alot of "tactical" accessories you can get for it, just mags, stocks, scope mounts, etc..

Something that I didn't like about the Yugo model was the grenade launcher attachment. It made the rifle too long.

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The launcher gas valve is the Achilles heal of the Yugo guns. Eventually it will erode and allow enough gas leakage to cause short stroking. There were a couple of guys making stainless replacement valves a few years ago, but I dont know if they are still available.

I also saw a Yugo safety snap clean in half once- we popped out the trigger group, removed the safety and kept shooting.....

BigAppleRanch: yours looks like the classic Type 56, despite having the spike bayonet vs. the blade, which I thought was much more common.
The wood is much harder and durable than on the semi-military common Chinese SKS with the really soft, yellowish wood. Even with some dings in your wood, it looks better and has the dark military appearance.

Classic probably imported these from Slovenia or Albania, avoiding the total (George Bush Senior?) ban on Chinese guns. There seem to be none of these SKS left in any "Third Countries" for import.
Some guys on AKfiles claim that Classic's "hand picks" only means that they are grabbed by Ben's hands, versus his feet. Did your bolt handle still have the short piece of garden hose on it?

I stumbled across a pristine Tula with beautiful laminate on it last year for a great deal. Gorgeous rifle, great shooter, and quite accurate. Congrats.

Thanks for sharing. A lot of people like the SKS because Simonov used a scaled down design of his anti tank's action as a model for the SKS. It is a tough reliable firearm and with usually a bit better accuracy than the AK. One thing is advisable though. Thoroughly clean out the bolt firing pin channel--if you lack the ability to break it down, then spray clean the heck out of it until the residue runs clear several times or maybe use an ultrasonic cleaner. Dirty firing pin channel, especially with gummy cosmoline or hardened oil residue, can lead to the firing pin being stuck in the forward position causing doubling or worse.

FWIW, there used to be a guy on the SKS boards who went by Kivaari that did trigger jobs via you sent him your trigger group and he fixed it up and sent it back as a unit for easy replacement. Murray's Gunsmithing has throwback to the older original Russian design with a firing pin and spring that some like (you do not risk 922r issues with it as Murray does have an ATF letter) with no permanent alteration to the firearm. The Murray spring and pin is especially useful if you are firing handloads using non-military type primers to avoid UD's. If you stick to Russki bulk ammo, it will have the hard primers so the alteration is really not needed.

Taking down the SKS bolt to install it though can be a bear depending on wear, use, and your ability with hand tools. As mentioned above, TechSights, which I installed on mine, is a peep type sight at the rear of the action cover. Most importantly, it does not permanently alter your firearm and is not considered a 922r issue. Gives a bit longer sight line than does the issued open sights. If your eyes are good and you like open sights, then keep them as they are decent as far as it goes.

Got mine a couple of years ago from a pawn shop for $275 OTD. It's a Chinese, but not Norinco-branded, and cannot be dated. It's still in Cosmoline; I just have never gotten around to digging into it. No bayonet. Surface rust on the bolt handle/carrier. The wood is in very good shape.

Definitely feels good in hand. Maybe this summer it will finally get shot.