A few points of note on the SKS and the market

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marksman13 said:
Ever noticed the the AR doesn’t need a forward assist? In 37 years, I’ve never used one, including my military career. There’s a reason Stoner didn’t include it in his original design. By all means, keep shooting your 2x4s, but the rest of the world has moved on to more effective weapons.
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I agree. The SKS has its defenders, and I actually own three of them and have shared them here.

But they are extremely outdated. The 10 round clip fed magazine is archaic at best and the aftermarket detachable mags range from dubious to flat out junk. The sights do indeed suck terribly compared to proper peep sights. Very tough to add any kind of modern optic efficiently. They don’t balance well and are longer and heavier than the caliber warrants. The triggers also tend to be godawful and are very difficult to safely lighten due to the very crude engineering of the mating surfaces.

They’re a fun piece of history that are good enough to blast cans with in the desert but as a defensive rifle they are awful and I find their shooting characteristic mediocre at best. They had their time and place, a mass produced half-baked stopgap weapon to arm the cannon fodder for an invasion of Western Europe before the AK-47 could be finalized. I plan on selling mine soon as their are tons of people out there that are paying insane prices for them, great sellers market. P.T. Barnum would be laughing right about now.
 
I think if you buy the SKS to be a modular, modern, hunting and tactical rifle, you will be disappointed. Just get an AR. They’re probably cheaper, certainly more customizable, easily scoped, and can be had just about any way you want.

But today I don’t think many people are cross-shopping ARs and SKSs. Maybe it was so in 1993, but not now. (“Why should I buy this AR for $1300 when I can get this SKS for $99?”) And at that time with the lack of optics compared to now, it was doubtless harder to make the argument that the AR was literally 13 times the gun the SKS was, to justify that price jump. So doubtless, lots of guys who really wanted ARs, bought an SKS instead. And they were ok for plinking or hunting. But they weren’t an AR.

But in today’s market, the SKS buyer gets one for $300 (if he’s lucky) to $650 (average price?) as a fun gun for plinking, or the history. Not because it’s a cheaper option or poor man’s AR. And it’s still a good deal. When a low end surplus bolt gun is $300-400, getting a semi auto for $500 is pretty cool. They’d be $1000+ except that so many were imported.
 
The claim is the SKS was combat evaluated during the push to Berlin in its original 7.62x43 chambering. in late 1945, the mid powered cartridge case was shortend to 7.62x39 and finalized.

The Russians like the STG concept, but not the gun, so they refused to copy it.
The SKS is a scaled down Simonov Anti Tank Rifle the 14.5 PTRS 41.
The SKS won a semi auto battle carbine competition, a separate competition than the Kalashnikov was put in. It was trialed and adopted in 1945 while the AK was being developed and trialed.
The SKS hung on while the AK was brought into production with a major delay as they scrapped the original sheet metal designed receiver into a forged receiver.
After the AK was adopted, the SKS became a guard, ceremony and training rifle in the USSR.
2 of my daughters own 3 SKS's, and two are dead on and reliable, often carried and used.....while one lingers in the twilight zone of accuracy, yet perfectly reliable the whole time, sits on their gun rack collecting dust.
 
I missed the opportunity to buy an M1 carbine for $25, so my $125 SKS will have to do. It's handy, pleasant to shoot, and inexpensive to maintain and shoot. Beauty and value is in the eye of the beholder, but I am glad I picked mine up when I did and have had fun with it.
 
I traded an ar for an sks... Does that make me stupid? No, it does not. An sks may be a very antique style of rifle, but so is a k98 mauser, m1 garand, and many others. It really doesn't compete with an ar15, but it does make a decent deer and camp rifle, or range blaster. Ammo is cheap, and they are easy to use once you figure them out. I had one that would outshoot a lot of bolt guns, and it was fun to bet unsuspecting people in shooting challenges. So, an sks is not an ar, but it is still a great little rifle. But the sights suck...
 
SKS sights aren't optimal for bullseye target use, they were designed more for "minute of man" shooting.

They actually work better than peeps in rain or low light.

For shooting after dark, I far prefer the flip up tritium sights on my 59/66 SKS to the issue sights on the M16 A1's and A2's I carried 40 years ago.
 
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marksman13 said:
Ever noticed the the AR doesn’t need a forward assist? In 37 years, I’ve never used one, including my military career. There’s a reason Stoner didn’t include it in his original design. By all means, keep shooting your 2x4s, but the rest of the world has moved on to more effective weapons.
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that is not what my old man and uncles said about the early ars in vietnam .also they said the aks and sks rifles you could pick up out of a mud puddle and run.
 
Swampman said:
But a butt smash is still a butt smash...unless you try to do it with a wiffle bat...
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You ever been hit in the face with an M4 butt strike or hit in the head with the muzzle of an M4? I’ve seen the results. One, I don’t want to be on the receiving end of that. Two, we pretty much decided there were better options than clubbing each other to death on the battlefield once gun powder was invented. Three, I’ll never argue that the AR is a better club than the SKS. It’s a freaking 2x4 for goodness sake. Of course it makes for a better ball bat than the refined machine that is the AR-15.
 
There’s no reason to turn this topic into what’s better, AR vs SKS because, that was decided several times over already. Just have a look at how long both rifles were used as a primary weapon by the military and how many different countries used the rifles.
The SKS is a fun gun to shoot, even with it’s poor sights and fixed magazine. Some have good enough accuracy for hunting.
My brother uses his on the farm to dispatch feral dogs and other critters. He keeps it behind the seat of his old pickup truck and pretty much has it with him on the farm all the time.
 
GunnyUSMC said:
There’s no reason to turn this topic into what’s better, AR vs SKS because, that was decided several times over already. Just have a look at how long both rifles were used as a primary weapon by the military and how many different countries used the rifles.
The SKS is a fun gun to shoot, even with it’s poor sights and fixed magazine. Some have good enough accuracy for hunting.
My brother uses his on the farm to dispatch feral dogs and other critters. He keeps it behind the seat of his old pickup truck and pretty much has it with him on the farm all the time.
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Exactly. The SKS is not a modern military rifle by any stretch of the imagination, but a rugged and versatile truck gun, and an excellent choice for a civilian in a SHTF scenario.

Sights are crappy, but it's easy to fit a proper aperture sight on the rear of the dust cover, adapting one of the many aftermarket or milsurp sights available, either by drilling and tapping, cutting a dovetail, or soldering/brazing/welding. BTW, I never understood why so many people spend so much energy and money trying to turn the thing into an AK, but do not address the darn sights first...
 
JCooperfan1911 said:
But they are extremely outdated
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Context is always important and often ignored or forgotten. Is a Brown Bess an effective fighting rifle? For a long time a whole lot of folks sure thought so!

The SKS is an evolutionary stepping stone from the bolt action repeating rifles of WWI/II which was almost immediately eclipsed by better designs. There is nothing inherently wrong with the gun. If anything in stock form they tend to be extremely durable and reliable. Within the design envelope of the cartridge of 300-400 yards, only a fool would want to be exposed over open ground (same goes for the AK too). But let's be honest here and acknowledge none of us will actually use them for such.

As a 2020s paper puncher the SKS leaves a lot to be desired. Then again, so do a lot of other older designs.
 
marksman13 said:
At least the M4 is a crutch adjustable for the height of the end user. I guarantee the cracked bolt on this SKS turned it into a crutch.View attachment 1011937
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71594380-5ACE-4BC4-9DA5-420E6C6338E3.jpeg B8D513B6-BB8B-4070-BCCE-B8171A105D9C.jpeg 4526E178-2948-44A6-A6AD-D1765251A42C.jpeg


Par for the course?


But the cotter pin, that's a weak point in the design. Drop it in the grass after dark, and you'll remember cuss words you didn't even know you knew.
 
Let's see here . . .

Sights = Like any other non-USA mil-surp bolt gun made in the two world wars. Plenty usable if your eyes are young enough.
Optic mounting = It's a milsurp and will have similar mounting challenges as all old milsurps.
Weight = Lighter than most contemporary autoloaders by about a pound. Still not light enough? Take some weight off the muzzle by removing the bayonet.
LOP = Seems short to Americans, add a thick butt plate if you wish. In my long term usage I'd say the SKS was meant for short LOP shooting. Consider the folks these days that would rather have an A1 stock or other shorty stock on an AR.
Construction = In my Norinco's case, old school milled steel with a screwed in barrel. The hardwood stock allows you to hold the steel bits in your hands well.
Trap door in butt stock = An evil contraption that makes you not want to use the commie cleaning kit.
Reliability = Excellent.
Ease of take down = Excellent.
Hinged magazine = Excellent. Keeps you from having to buy a pile of extra magazines. Load it one by one or with fun to use stripper clips, just like any old milsurp.
Trigger = Stinks. With some work, it will merely smell.
Accuracy = Surplus steel cased ammo combined with a stinky trigger can make this an interesting challenge.
Felt Recoil = Mild.
Blaster rating = Excellent.

All in all, an SKS can be a good addition to a milsurp collection. If one doesn't want a milsurp, the SKS probably isn't the gun for you.

View attachment 1012157
 
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brunowbe said:
So is Molot in Russia:
https://molot.biz/goods/op-sks.html
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Well I'll be... That is a pretty SKS. Never thought I would say that. Interesting the Russians say it's for medium and large game, proven in Africa even. Aha! just knew the 762x39 ammo in the US was downloaded :DI do wonder if the Molot rifle has more refined sights since it appears to be sporterized somewhat by the factory?
 
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