SKS vs AK47

They are both great rifles. Simplicity and reliability is about equal.
If you want high-cap magazines, get an AK.
The SKS is cheaper and somewhat more accurate. Tapco's 20 rounders are the only reliable, readily available high-cap magazine option. The original 10-round mag is great, however, keeps the rifle very low-profile, and is easily topped off with stripper clips.
Both have tons of ninja aftermarket parts available.
I have both. For a fun day at the range, I'd take the SKS. For SHTF or TEOTWAWKI, I'd take the AK.

I have both and prefer the AK.

I prefer the SKS.

the sks has a longer barrel, so it has a slightly higher muzzle velocity than the AK, as well as being more accurate. tends to be built tighter than most AKs ive handled/shot.

so it is pretty much agreed that you get a more accuarte rifle with an sks, then an ak?

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As a very basic rule of thumb, yes. Bear in mind, however that there are some high-end AKs and the vz 58 (AK/SKS hybrid) that may be as accurate, perhaps more.

There both alot of fun i like my ak better than my sks i do like my sks when i wanna be a lil more accurate try get both.

norinco. friend of mine got one, and the wood the stock was made from was rather soft. heck, my fingernails could dig in fairly deep.

quality listed in best to worse

russian
chinese
yugo

^i disagree^


my yugo is of great quality, but i've also modded it out to fit my wants/needs.

I have both. All my SKS's are Chi-Com with the 16" barrel. ( The same as the AK.) I have a SAR 1 and a Stg 2000. I like both, AK and SKS. To quote my wife, "I like them both, but they are different.

The triggers are totally different. The SKS trigger and action is more complicated than the AK. The trigger on my SAR 1 is better than the trigger on my Browning BAR. ALL my SKS's shoot tighter groups than my AK's.

Plus for the SKS (IMO).
Fixed magazine, and can be hand fed. Reliable action, inexpensive, shoots a inexpensive but reliable round. Was designed for semi-auto fire.

Plus for AK
Detachable magazine, better trigger, lighter, Usually had optic mount.

Minus
Designed for auto fire, ergonomics could use improving


Minus
Heavier than the AK, more complicated trigger group, hard to mount optics with a STABLE mount. (It can be done, but usually requires drilling and taping.)

Is the sks a better firearm then the ak47 if they are BOTH semi automatic?

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My wife has a fine SKS (1952 Tula), and I have a civilian AK (Romanian SAR-1).

To me, the civilian AK has the advantage in nearly every area. The SKS has slightly better sights and a longer sight radius, and as a result may be slightly more accurate than a typical iron-sighted AK, but other than that, the advantages are IMO in the AK's court, unless you view a straight wooden stock and a low-capacity fixed magazine as must-haves. The only real disadvantage to the AK compared to the SKS is the placement of the safety.

The SAR-1 is shorter, handier, lighter, even more reliable than the SKS under adverse conditions (yes, I speak from experience here), is easier to field-strip and clean, offers far more flexibility with mounting optics, has the ergonomic benefits of a pistol-grip stock, is easier and quicker to reload under pressure, and has a more useful magazine capacity.

As far as accuracy goes, in my experience, both guns are more accurate than the ammunition they are typically fed. An AK with a 1x optic will shoot as well with Wolf ammo as an SKS will, in my experience. The SKS is easier to benchrest (less muzzle jump off sandbags), but shooting from the shoulder or from prone, accuracy is comparable within the limits of typical imported ammunition.

If you could get hold of some Lapua and a machine rest, you might see a bit more accuracy with the SKS. In real-world shooting, with typical ammo, the AK is limited by its sights, not by the intrinsic accuracy of the system itself.

Both are dead nuts reliable.

The SKS weighs more.

The AK holds more ammo.

The AK replaced the SKS for military use.

Get whichever is cheaper. Either will do well for you.

The SKS has a few more parts in the trigger group. The AK is no more complicated than one of the old cap guns. SKS does have a little more to offer in the accuracy department. Both are equal in the enjoyability dept.

The SKS is a fine general purpose semi-auto rifle that is affordable, and fun. However, the AK is an improvement in almost every area IMO. Better action, better trigger, significantly shorter and handier than the standard SKS, has the best detachable mags ever (and still cheap, stock up), etc.

If you fancy having an AK, the SKS is not a substitute. If you're happy w/ the SKS w/ the factory sights, factory stock and magazine setup, then go for it. Otherwise do not get an SKS and expect to change it into something more like an AK. You'll just end up w/ a ugly, less reliable bubba'd SKS that you've sunk enough money in to have bought a real AK...

SKS hands down for ONE really good reason.

You can get a TechSight for an SKS.

You can't get anything for an AK that offers much improvement over it's mediocre sights.

A techsight equipped SKS might only hold 10rds but you'll make so much better use of them over an AK variant it's not even funny. And if you're lucky enough to score an SKS-D, well, you have the best of both worlds

SKS hands down for ONE really good reason.

You can get a TechSight for an SKS.

You can't get anything for an AK that offers much improvement over it's mediocre sights.

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Actually, according to the Tech-sights website, sights for the AK are "coming soon."

I have both. I vastly prefer the AK-47. Mine has the NATO stock, which is a tad longer and the entire set of furniture on it is Polymer.

The SKS is fine though and I think both rifles are excellent in terms of reliability, and "minute of freezer" accuracy.

The SKS is more of a rifle, the AK is more like a small machine gun. It depends on what you are going for. Nonetheless, I can manage to hit the gong all day at 300 yards with my Yugo AK.

You can't get anything for an AK that offers much improvement over it's mediocre sights.

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A simple Google search will prove this baseless quote to be vastly wrong. There are quite a few options for upgrading the AK sight system.

You can't get anything for an AK that offers much improvement over it's mediocre sights.

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Yes, you can...





On my SAR-1 (above), the factory irons are BUIS, not primary sights. That's a Russian Kobra collimator sight, BTW.

And unlike the SKS, most civilian AK's have the milspec optics rail to put it on (and it holds zero when removed and replaced). It is hard to mount an optic to an SKS without gunsmithing, unless you go with a scout rail on the gas tube, and that puts even more weight up front, or replace the rear sight with a no-gunsmith mount, and then you don't have any backup iron sights.

But if you really like irons, and don't mind paying a lot of money to get them, you can put an AR-15 style rear sight on an AK at the rear of the receiver, and get a flattop receiver rail to boot:


http://www.krebscustom.com/PartsPages/KalashnikovParts.shtml

Note that the rail and sight are locked to the stock tube at the rear trunnion, not to the receiver cover, so they are rock-solid and hold zero. The unit flips up to allow removal of the cover for cleaning.

solving this age old problem, i say get both. if your wife/girlfriend/mother complains, just have her read this thread. im sure she will then see why you needed both

OK first off red dot's aren't iron sights

on the other set up yes that is an improvement unfortunatly it'll cost you several hundred dollars and requite almost a complete reconfiguration of the platform to do the same thing a $60 tech sight does for the sks

yes Saigas and others come with a standardized mount for optics that works rather well for mounting optics. I have a rather nice red dot on my Saiga. But just like the SKS receiver cover mounted sights/optics suck just as badly if not more so for an AK variant than they do for the SKS. The sights that remain in the original location still suffer from a comically short sight radius. These two characteristics alone rule out 90% of what's out there from the aftermarket as being a real improvement.

It is hard to mount an optic to an SKS without gunsmithing,

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While I agree with you on this point oddly enough my SKS has a factory receiver mounted rail for a proprietary scope mount.