I picked up an SKS today

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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?

Nope. no garden hose lol. I've never ordered from Classic Firearms before, but Ben probably grabbed this one with his feet lmao!.
 
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.

Thanks for the info man! I definitely had to strip it all the way down, and the firing pin was gummed up, so I tore the bolt down and cleaned the poop out of it. The gun shot well. I did have one failure to feed, and one round where the entire action and magazine started smoking... but it fired fine after that. I recorded the whole process and I'll be uploading it to youtube on Sunday.
 
Thanks for the info man! I definitely had to strip it all the way down, and the firing pin was gummed up, so I tore the bolt down and cleaned the poop out of it. The gun shot well. I did have one failure to feed, and one round where the entire action and magazine started smoking... but it fired fine after that. I recorded the whole process and I'll be uploading it to youtube on Sunday.
Wow, I suspect that some old oil/cosmolene/crud went up in some smoke. Good that you cleaned the bolt firing pin channel first. That tends to be an issue in a lot of old milsurps whether causing soft primer hits in bolt actions or the firing pin sticking out in semi autos.
 
Over the last few years I've picked up a Yugo M-49, two Chinese M-56s in black plastic (one in a folding stock with a red dot, the other in a Monte Carlo with a 3x - 9x scope), one plain-Jane M-56 and a SKS Type "M" with a fairly nice catalpa-wood Monte Carlo stock. This little gun works fine with steel 5 to 30-round magazines but chokes on every plastic magazine that I've tried.
I have less than $1,000 in the five of them and each has been a lot of fun.

I love gun shows and small, local pawn shops!
 
Over the last few years I've picked up a Yugo M-49, two Chinese M-56s in black plastic (one in a folding stock with a red dot, the other in a Monte Carlo with a 3x - 9x scope), one plain-Jane M-56 and a SKS Type "M" with a fairly nice catalpa-wood Monte Carlo stock. This little gun works fine with steel 5 to 30-round magazines but chokes on every plastic magazine that I've tried.
I have less than $1,000 in the five of them and each has been a lot of fun.

I love gun shows and small, local pawn shops!
Hang on to that M model as those can bring a premium especially with the 20 inch barrel. The D model brings more but I suspect that the M model is better adapted to hunting.
 
Nice score, I like the old worn look
Not to long ago...picked up 2 navy arms sks, standard and carbine version.
 
Years ago (2010ish) I got a smokin' deal on craigslist on a Yugo SKS. I picked it up from the guy for $75. I was young and dumb and had just started my firearms collection. I really didn't know how good of a deal I got. I ended up selling it a few weeks later for $175 and thought I had just made the deal of a lifetime. Now, you can hardly even look at one for under $500 at a show. Classic firearms had a sale on their remaining stock of Norinco SKS rifles, and they lowered the price to below $400! I jumped on it, even though they warned on their website that these were what was left over. All of the hand picks and higher grade rifles were gone, so I expected some imperfections. Well, she may not be the prettiest one out there, but I think it has character. It shoots great, and I couldn't be happier with it. All numbers matching except for the stock. It came packed in about 200 pounds of cosmoline, but once I got it cleaned up I didn't think it was too bad at all.


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As long as it's a straight shooter. If you ever decide to scope it use the choate that drill and taps on side. The instructions that come with it make it easy to do. The dust cover mounts are too subject to movement.
 
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.

I owned a 1953 Tula rebuild, with a new barrel, bolt, and a few other new parts. The new barrel and bolt were laser etched with the importer name, and the overall condition was excellent. Functioning, not surprisingly, was 100%.
As supplied, it required some sight adjustments, but fortunately I own a front sight elevation adjustment T-wrench.
A lot of people get quite snooty about the SKS and will dismiss it as inferior junk, which is both unfair and just plain untrue.
In truth, it's an inspired design, well-made, easy to detail strip for cleaning, and reliable as hell.
The real problem with SKS rifles is that the trigger pull is generally horribly heavy, which limits practical accuracy a lot.
Otherwise, accuracy is simply a matter of ammunition quality IMHO.
 
As long as it's a straight shooter. If you ever decide to scope it use the choate that drill and taps on side. The instructions that come with it make it easy to do. The dust cover mounts are too subject to movement.

They used to make an aluminum S&K Insta-mount that replaced the action cover. However, this is no longer made.
S&K produces a drill and tap side mount with rings now.


SKDT465.jpg

This one mounts through the action cover retaining pin hole. (Brownell's)

l_794001056_1.jpg
 
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I owned a 1953 Tula rebuild, with a new barrel, bolt, and a few other new parts. The new barrel and bolt were laser etched with the importer name, and the overall condition was excellent. Functioning, not surprisingly, was 100%.
As supplied, it required some sight adjustments, but fortunately I own a front sight elevation adjustment T-wrench.
A lot of people get quite snooty about the SKS and will dismiss it as inferior junk, which is both unfair and just plain untrue.
In truth, it's an inspired design, well-made, easy to detail strip for cleaning, and reliable as hell.
The real problem with SKS rifles is that the trigger pull is generally horribly heavy, which limits practical accuracy a lot.
Otherwise, accuracy is simply a matter of ammunition quality IMHO.

Quite frankly, two of my favorite guns to shoot period are that SKS and M44 Mosin. With those two triggers and the recoil and blast particularly on the Mosin, hitting your target is much more satisfying and rewarding than any optic mounted rifle I own.

I'm very familiar with AKs and the challenge at times that can be accuracy, but when I saw my first group while sighting in my SKS, I knew I was going to enjoy it.
 
Shake your SKS or AK bolts and make sure the firing pins move freely.

A photo of an article from the "Sacramento Bee" described a fatality at a gun range there. His SKS "slam-fired (very sticky bolt) and the rising muzzle killed him with the last round. Hard to picture how it might have happened.
It was suspected that he used US-made ammo with Boxer primers, because the softer primers are easier to ignite.

boom boom: Moderators at AKfiles claim that no 'end-users' have ever been taken to court due to any 'post-assembly/build' 922r 'changes (unless already facing bank robbery or other felonies), partly because components are not required to state the origin. Very complicated subject you realize. But people believe that Their personal gun will be randomly checked (!).....despite nothing able to be proven about foreign origin.
 
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Shake your SKS or AK bolts and make sure the firing pins move freely.

A photo of an article from the "Sacramento Bee" described a fatality at a gun range there. His SKS "slam-fired (very sticky bolt) and the rising muzzle killed him with the last round. Hard to picture how it might have happened.
It was suspected that he used US-made ammo with Boxer primers, because the softer primers are easier to ignite.

boom boom: Moderators at AKfiles claim that no 'end-users' have ever been taken to court due to any 'post-assembly/build' 922r 'changes (unless already facing bank robbery or other felonies), partly because components are not required to state the origin. Very complicated subject you realize. But people believe that Their personal gun will be randomly checked (!).....despite nothing able to be proven about origin....
For sure. It's very important to make absolutely sure the bolt be thuroughly clean at all times. I picked up a rem 742 very cheap. Was told it would occasionally not fire. Well I was lucky to get 4 of 10. Dropped the bolt in vibro cleaner and it shoots every time now. Owner did not have enough brains to learn how to maintain it.
 
I just passed on a couple of Albanian/Chinese SKSs.
Both of them looked good, mechanically, but their wood looked rough as a dry cob.
Soaked in cosmoline, too.
Priced at nearly $700 each.
Nope. Can't justify it.
 
I think it was 1991, and I paid $110 for a new in the cosmoline Norinco SKS, the first gun I actually bought, at the age of 13.....loved the rifle, but hated the stock....put an aftermarket stock on it that fit me better, and still have it today. Im lucky in the fact my trigger seems nicer than most Ive tried, making it easier to shoot decently. I've used it to shoot everything from prairie dogs to badgers to deer, but its a plinker these days for the most part.
 
Quite frankly, two of my favorite guns to shoot period are that SKS and M44 Mosin. With those two triggers and the recoil and blast particularly on the Mosin, hitting your target is much more satisfying and rewarding than any optic mounted rifle I own.

I'm very familiar with AKs and the challenge at times that can be accuracy, but when I saw my first group while sighting in my SKS, I knew I was going to enjoy it.

No doubt the SKS is much more accurate than the AK, last Saturday at the range I was hitting the steel plate at 220 yards 2-3 time out of five shots, and I'm not the greatest shot.
 
I just passed on a couple of Albanian/Chinese SKSs.
Both of them looked good, mechanically, but their wood looked rough as a dry cob.
Soaked in cosmoline, too.
Priced at nearly $700 each.
Nope. Can't justify it.

Wonder what it would cost to build a Norinco-quality SKS today.
 
I have a Norinco, great gun, but I'd always heard the Russian version held that honor.

I bet the Chinese could pop out Mini-14's today for less than a quarter of the US street price. Even less for the SKS which they already have the tooling for.
 
For a rough equivalent, Norinco makes a 7.62x39 version of the M14 that sells in Canada for roughly $500 USD.

I have a Norinco, great gun, but I'd always heard the Russian version held that honor.

I bet the Chinese could pop out Mini-14's today for less than a quarter of the US street price. Even less for the SKS which they already have the tooling for.
 
A Chinese $500 M-14 version vs. a US $1200-$2000 M1-A sounds like a pretty good deal to me. From what I've read they also come in .308.
 
Shake your SKS or AK bolts and make sure the firing pins move freely.

A photo of an article from the "Sacramento Bee" described a fatality at a gun range there. His SKS "slam-fired (very sticky bolt) and the rising muzzle killed him with the last round. Hard to picture how it might have happened.
It was suspected that he used US-made ammo with Boxer primers, because the softer primers are easier to ignite.

boom boom: Moderators at AKfiles claim that no 'end-users' have ever been taken to court due to any 'post-assembly/build' 922r 'changes (unless already facing bank robbery or other felonies), partly because components are not required to state the origin. Very complicated subject you realize. But people believe that Their personal gun will be randomly checked (!).....despite nothing able to be proven about foreign origin.

On compliance with sometimes murky federal laws such as the 922r issue,
Associate Justice Holmes said it best, "Men must turn square corners when they deal with the Government."
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. in Rock Island, Arkansas & Louisiana R. Co. v. United States, 254 U.S. 141, 254 U.S. 143 (1920) The law itself gives no exemption for end users as compared with importers/manufacturers to alter their imported firearms under the law, even formal permission from the ATF, technically does not grant immunity, although it could be used as a justification or mitigation (depending on whether intent is part of the criminal statute). See Federal Crop Ins. Corp. v. Merrill, 332 U.S. 380 (1947) where a person relied on erroneous legal information from an employee of the government agency itself. Merrill was still found to have violated the law and had to pay civil penalties. As far as the IRS is concerned, I had to call them once regarding some confusing regulations whether or not a particular fellowship/scholarship was taxable at the time. The IRS employee gave me advice and then told me that his advice was not binding on the IRS who could reach a different result.

Just like bumpstocks, the proper way to use an arm brace, or open bolt firearms, the ATF can and has changed its enforcement priorities through formal rulemaking despite past practice using informal agency rulings (letters). What might fly today could very well be problematic tomorrow and regulations, as a civil matter, are exempt from ex post facto constitutional prohibitions which then can trigger underlying criminal penalties for violating the regulation. The problem with using open court records unless you have access to the expensive TRAC system, is that it does not track plea bargaining where a number of charges are levied in order to get a plea.

Best to play it as safe as one can. Remember the foo-fah-rah over the definition of gunsmithing so that the government could require ITAR registration and fees?
 
anyone willing to make a ballpark guess at what a Russian Tula sks with laminated stock would go for these days?
450 ish, around here anyways. Since FL doesnt have any goofy detachable/high capacity restrictions they dont command the premium they seem to in more totalitarian states. I regularly see SKS around here as low as 350, though granted often with the bayonet missing and ugly TAPCO stocks.

There is a mint D model languishing at one LGS for $450. Been there for months at that price. Id grab it, but Im already flush with SKS and AKs.
 
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