Any opinions on SKS with canted front sight/gas block?

[MCMXIautomatic]

Back in late January, I picked up a surplus Yugo M59 SKS at my annual club gun show. I looked it over pretty closely before I bought it, but somehow I managed to miss that the front sight base or gas block is slightly canted. This wasn't something I noticed until just recently. I have examined this rifle very closely, looking down the length of the barrel as well as the entire length of the gun from the buttstock forward. It's a little bit difficult for me to tell for sure exactly which is the case, but I can see that either the front sight base is slightly canted to the left, or the gas block is slightly canted to the right. Right now, I'm inclined to say that it's the latter.

I got this rifle in freshly imported condition, with plenty of cosmoline still on and in it. It was manufactured at Zastava for issue to the Yugoslav Peoples' Army, so I know they would have taken care to build it within specs and put it together right (although I know mistakes are made sometimes). I think that it came that way from the factory. It has also clearly been issued and seen at least some use by soldiers, and there's even the marking "1.TRZ" on the buttstock, which I understand means that it has had arsenal work done to it at some point.

All things considered, I'm inclined to think that someone would have noticed and corrected this if it was a problem, so I'm assuming that it probably wasn't a big deal. To be clear, though, I'm not really worried about the sight/gas block being slightly canted if the rifle will still function normally, and I can still zero it and hit what I aim at. I know that this is an issue that is commonly encountered with AKs (and apparently SKSs too), and I know that these mass-produced commie rifles are not exactly built with great precision. I haven't shot this rifle yet, but it if works, I think I can live with a slight bit of cant.

So my question is this: Since canted sights/gas blocks are apparently such a common thing on commie service rifles, do you guys think it is something that should be considered normal for these guns and not something to worry about? Have you ever personally experienced this with an AK or SKS? In your experience, has it interfered at all with the practical use of the rifle? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[Tommygunn]

Shoot it and see where the poi is. That will inform your decision.

 

[mokin]

I second Tommygunn. I recommend at least 200 rounds to get the barrel nice and hot. Don't just dump the magazine, but make sure each shot is well aimed.
Load it with stripper clips if you have them to save time. That way you can see where they string as the barrel heats. Maybe use four targets to see how the poi changes. At this point, you're just getting to know the rifle and have fun. Don't get too scientific.

Be safe and have fun.

 

[Coyote3855]

Shoot it and report back. I have a couple SKSs and one AK. They are not precision machines but all three work reliably and shoot to point of aim.

 

[Slamfire]

I guess you are too young to remember the Yugo.



It was a Fiat built in Yugoslavia. The design was typical, cheap, car, but as built in a Socialist Worker's Paradise, it was junk. A bud of mine bought one, he said it was "not bad if you do 20 hours of quality control". He found wiring harnesses not placed within the frame hooks, so the things were just hanging down unsupported. Nuts and bolts were not torqued, or missing, or stripped. Communist block workers just did not give a flip, they could not be fired, and no matter how good the design, if quality practices are not adhered to, the end item will have issues.

Your rifle was probably built during the time of Tito, so, things like offset sights are not going to be uncommon. That is why SKS/AK sight tools are good things to have:



Remember, "front sight opposite". If the group is printing to the right, you move the front sight, right! If you run out of windage adjust, trying to zero the rifle, trade it in and find another. These things were not expected to be target rifles, Soldiers were not trained to engage targets beyond 300 yards, most of them probably just pointed and squirted. Communist rifles were designed to be simple and reliable, and they are.

But, lets not point fingers too much at the Commie's. Go look at replica blackpowder firearms. If you find a blackpowder revolver, all made in Italy, with a front sight perpendicular to the bore, buy it. It is perhaps the rarest variation of a blackpowder revolver in the world, one where the sights are not canted. The Italians will ship BP revolvers with the front sight at 11 O' C, 1 O'C, and all orientations in between. American distributors know this, and don't care. Seems hardly any BP shooters care if their pistols shoot to point of aim.

 

[Mosin Bubba]

There's not much way to answer that question other than sitting down on a bench and shooting it. I'd probably splurge on some brass ammo or a box of Hornady SST's to eliminate one variable.

 

[Ignition Override]

MCMXlautomatic:
My M59's (viewers-these are Not 59/66 series) front sight post is adjusted just a very tiny bit to the right, much less than the width of the post. It is hard to notice.

Yours might also have come from So. Ohio Gun, as were both of mine, when bought by the tiny retailer who sold them to me.
If you buy the adjustment tool, it can really help to first shoot about twenty rds., in order for the heat expansion to allow the sight drum to be moved, as with my AKs.

 

[lemaymiami]

One additional consideration... if the front sight is canted - that's an issue and it will need to be corrected - as already noted after having run enough rounds through the weapon to verify that it's not shooting where you want it to... If the gas block is "canted" - it might not have any effect at all on the weapon's proper cycling... If it does then you do have a problem...

 

[ColoradoMinuteMan]

Back in late January, I picked up a surplus Yugo M59 SKS at my annual club gun show. I looked it over pretty closely before I bought it, but somehow I managed to miss that the front sight base or gas block is slightly canted. This wasn't something I noticed until just recently. I have examined this rifle very closely, looking down the length of the barrel as well as the entire length of the gun from the buttstock forward. It's a little bit difficult for me to tell for sure exactly which is the case, but I can see that either the front sight base is slightly canted to the left, or the gas block is slightly canted to the right. Right now, I'm inclined to say that it's the latter.

I got this rifle in freshly imported condition, with plenty of cosmoline still on and in it. It was manufactured at Zastava for issue to the Yugoslav Peoples' Army, so I know they would have taken care to build it within specs and put it together right (although I know mistakes are made sometimes). I think that it came that way from the factory. It has also clearly been issued and seen at least some use by soldiers, and there's even the marking "1.TRZ" on the buttstock, which I understand means that it has had arsenal work done to it at some point.

All things considered, I'm inclined to think that someone would have noticed and corrected this if it was a problem, so I'm assuming that it probably wasn't a big deal. To be clear, though, I'm not really worried about the sight/gas block being slightly canted if the rifle will still function normally, and I can still zero it and hit what I aim at. I know that this is an issue that is commonly encountered with AKs (and apparently SKSs too), and I know that these mass-produced commie rifles are not exactly built with great precision. I haven't shot this rifle yet, but it if works, I think I can live with a slight bit of cant.

So my question is this: Since canted sights/gas blocks are apparently such a common thing on commie service rifles, do you guys think it is something that should be considered normal for these guns and not something to worry about? Have you ever personally experienced this with an AK or SKS? In your experience, has it interfered at all with the practical use of the rifle? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

The site and the gas block are 2 different and unrelated parts. Until you've shot it I wouldn't worry about it. If you find that it's significantly off you can use the sight adjustment tool shown above.