All American SKS. Would it sell?

For all our "buy American" and "pay more to support local businesses" bravado, we are, at heart, cheap bastards. At least we can safely admit it here.

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I'm a cheap bastard because i won't pay 4x the price to see "made in the USA" on the barrel of an SKS? I won't pay $400 for an American SKS the same reason I won't pay $100 for a Snickers bar....I'd be crazy to do it when an identical tasting candybar is availble at a price of $1.00. I don't have the disposeable income to pay more for an identical product because of where it was made. If I can buy American and get the same quality, at the same prices, I'll more than happy to do so. I won't pay multiple times the price of a weapon just becasue it was made in the USA however, and take offense to being called a cheap bastard for admitting to what I see as common sense......and if the "US-made SKS" is such a good idea.....why is Century having such an issue getting rid of their US made Ak's? Is it maybe because wapons of equial quility are avaible at a fraction of the price? I'm betting that has something to do with it..... One person's "cheap bastard" is another's "smart shopper" or "intelligent consumer"

Fact is, there isn't much separating a surplus SKS from a Mini-30, except price. Buy some stripper clips, and the lack of detachable magazine becomes a non-issue. You can even buy larger fixed magazines for them that work well. Depending on who you ask, and the individual SKS, the SKS may even win in the accuracy department. Fact is, an American-made SKS would have to compete with:

(1) Mini-30
(2) Saigas
(3) AK-47's (including Arsenal-converted Saigas)
(4) Surplus SKS's.

There's no fewer than 4 guns that already fill that niche, and 3 of the 4 can be had, in some form, for under $500. Nobody is going to buy a $500+ commercial SKS over any one of these guns. A 16" Saiga 7.62x39 is both cheaper and more practical, as it's easily scoped with the side-mounted optics hardpoint, and is as accurate as any SKS ever was. This concept is best left at conjecture only, as modern commercial rifles would not only perform better but be more cost-effective.

"The only reason I bought an SKS long ago is the same reason people are buying Mosin Nagants now. They were dirt cheap and ammo was dirt cheap, too."

Exactly. I paid $69 for mine. And I wouldn't pay a penny more.

While this is likely true I still wonder about it. Look at Arsenal AKs. They are American made AKs that are much more expensive than imported rebuilt AK yet they still do business. An upside to an all American built SKS would be no need to play the stupid 922r game with it.

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Arsenal AK's ARE NOT "made in America".....they are either Bulgarian AK's modified to meet 922r, or Saiga rifles copnverted back to military configuration. The only 100% (supposedly) US made AK is distributed byt Century at a price of $800-$1000, and they ARE NOT moving very well AT ALL from what I've read.

If it had American quality and a fair price than I think it would sell. American made AK's sell for top dollar so why wouldn't the SKS sell?

Price point ( I got this Sino-Soviet for a very good price ) makes the SKS a good platform for a inexpensive Urban Carbine. I have about $400 combined into this gun ( all compliance parts included ) and would pay that for same, but not a dime more because then I could just get a Surplus SKS for a couple hundred........WVleo

If it were made following the existing design, then no. Why bother making it?

On the other hand I love a top bolt design, if a new SKS styled rifle with a Tapco G2 quality trigger, guaranteed 2 MOA accuracy, AK type side mount optic rail with a better cheek weld, and uses either an AK or AR magazine, then I'd be all over it - if it's over $800 I'll be sticking with the AR.

American made AK's sell for top dollar so why wouldn't the SKS sell?

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No, they COST top dollar (it seems), but they don't SELL for it because no one is really buying the ONLY US made AK, the Centurion by Century

If it were built as a weaker, unreliable imitation, as was done for the so-called "M-1 Carbine" by Auto-Ordnance (my first actual gun purchase, and brand-new, in Oct. '07), would not even consider it, no matter what the price or sights.

That error in judgement on my part led me immediately to acquiring a used Mini 14, 30 and SKS. What a stark contrast!
I had the very naive, mistaken impression that a brand-new rifle built in the US would be dependable, rugged, and that a new "M-1 Carbine's" bolt would not jam itself solid during normal operation, requiring a free factory repair.

"We," the collective. All of us, including me. If the opposite of "cheap bastard" is "indiscriminate spender," I'll gladly be a cheap bastard. Hopefully you understand I was not calling you a cheap bastard personally.


I considered elaborating farther, and decided against it.


In the spirit of on-topic discussion, I agree that an American made SKS would price itself out of the market before it even got started.

If I had a mill I'd make my own SKS, I've been fond of the tilting block design for quite some time

I think itd be an interesting project.

I'd rather have the original Soviet version than some USA-made knockoff. I like my Soviet's sovietness. The best part of ending the cold war is getting those commie bastards' surplus rifles.

I'd like to make one as a project. Not sure I'd pay a lot more for an American made one though. The cheaper imported ones do exactly what they were designed to do and they do it well.. And cheaply. If you really want a 7.62x39 that does more, there are better platforms to build one on.

Oh yeah, making an SKS would be lots of fun, didn't mean to discourage that sort of thing. Turning steel into weapons is a useful pastime.

I'd just like to see a decent 7.62 x 39 bolt action carbine at a reasonable price point. It would make a great youth deer rifle, or a handy little rifle for anyone in the woods. 7.62 x 39 makes a great deer cartridge for the "brush", but the SKS accuracy leaves a bit to be desired. Plus, there's plenty of cheap practice ammo. Not trying to hijack a thread, but that makes more sense to me than trying to build an american SKS.

To my knowledge, CZ is the only one that makes one, and its $$$. If only Remington or Savage wanted to build one in one of their value line trims.

bigfatdave said:

<sarc>Don't they call that the M1 Garand?<,/sarc>

I don't think it could be done for a price point under $400, maybe not under $500 ... and where would you get enough Cosmoline?

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Blasphemy! I have shot and owned both and the SKS is like a toy compared to the M1, but I think you were trying to get a rise out of some. I do like the peep sights better than the blade sights on the SKS.

I don't see how you could make an SKS in the US and compete, at least a milled version.