buying sks...

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trigga

trigga

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i've been wanting an sks for a while now not that i have been looking or anything. everytime i see them, the prices keep going up. my cousin asked me if I had wanted to buy his for 250. I don't think I will find a better deal these days. I don't really need it right now but i also don't want to miss the opportunity.

first of all, i don't know what make it is. It doesn't have a bayonet attached nor a cleaning rod and the wood looks very much like my wasr-10. I have the original stock for this gun and on the left side of the butt has a letter followed by four numbers. import marks? it also has a gray rear sight. I don't have the gun so it's kind of hard to figure out.

I'm guessing it might be a romanian. I'm the kind of guy who likes "original" guns in their natural form. If I buy this I want to put a bayonet back on, re-blue the finish and restain the wood. if by any chance would it be illegal to put a bayonet on if it didn't come with one? I read something about the chinese models but still could not find a straight answer on whether or not it was legal to put the bayonet back on them. I thought it was just for import reasons but again there is 922r...
 
nothing illegal about it unless it violates local laws and I'm guessing that WI has no weapons bans in place so you are good.

as for staining, rebluing and other stuff that is kindof counterintuitive. if you want to maintain it's authenticity then simply oiling the stock and leaving the metal as is it the thing to do. refinishing ruins the collectability.

now if you want a pretty gun to look at that's all well and good and I wont try to stop you but there is a difference between original/authentic and nice. as for bayonets I am not up to date on which style you need but I'm fairly certain that the Chinese spike style is not the kind you need. more than likely you'll need a blade style like the ruskies and early style chinese.

the problem is "assembling from parts"
this is under section 922R of the US code where an SKS is expempt from this ban as long as it is collectable and considered a curio or relic(as per section 925D). in their as issued state they are completely legal, however as soon as a person changes the configuration they are "assembling from parts" a military grade weapon that is banned from import. in this case you are required to have no more than 10 foreign made parts from a specific list of parts and you have to install a number of US made parts to make the "assembly" legal. however this gun is only illegal to "assemble" not to possess so if it came to you in non-compliant condition there is nothing that anyone can do about it and as soon as you put that bayonet back on then it will be back in as issued condition and will be once again expempted from 922R under 925D.

I hope that cleared up some things rather than confusing the hell out of you.
 
If you post some pictures you will get better information. From the description of the stock it could be Russian. Without the original stock, cleaning rod and bayo the $250 might be fair price. A complete Russian in good condition goes for $350-$450 around here.
Post pictures of the top and side of the receiver and the whole gun.
 
thanks tahunua001. so it would be legal to put a bayonet back on. I get what you're saying about original. I might just keep it that way until I get tired of it or perhaps too worn. This is the only good picture I have of it. The owner put a dragonov style stock on it.

DSC00055.gif
 
condition would be fair. the wood is scratched and worn in certain areas. butt stock rubber needs replacement. missing bayonet and cleaning rod. Also missing cleaning kit in stock (if any like the ak). some of the bluing is worn on barrel. I'm not a big fan of scopes on sks nor 30 round mags. fires 100%. $250? also considering what people had want for it for just a few months ago, if you could find one....

don't even know if the dragonov stock with 30 round mag is legal. The mag was an experiment and the stock is to give more length to the shoulder. he did get the scope bashed in his eye a few times with the shorter wood stock.

DSC00056.gif
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I'd turn that sucker back to original, and re-install the proper bayonet. I put two inch rubber butt pads specifically made for the SKS on my two Russians. LOP is perfect.

I can't tell country of origin, maybe a Romanian? Are there any markings you can describe? Also that looks like an aftermarket upper receiver. Does he have the original, and if so can you take a picture of the top?
 
not it's not an aftermarket receiver, it's a scope mount which mounts poorly in the back and on top of the dust cover. unreliable. I plan on getting rid of that too. Sorry I don't have the gun so can't tell you much about marking. i'm trying to get him to send me some pix of the marking.
 
Russian refurb, laminate stock
and looks to have the BBQ paint.
Buy it.
 
buy it and do what you can to de-tactical-ize it. put a 10 round fixed mag back in and lose the scope mount cover. personally I like the ramline tradition rifle stock. It adds some much needed LOP. for under 300 the sks is a great gun. A steal at the good old days of $90. (stupid bush norinco ban.......you know you can buy a norinco m1a for like 400 bucks in canada? grrrrrrr)

Much over 300 and you would do better to buy an AK or AR.
 
alrighty then.

putting the bayo back on would technically be illegal with that setup as the scope mount dust cover is also not as issued. if you put a standard dust cover on along with the bayonet and you'd have to use the standard capacity mag instead of the modified AK 30 rounder then it would be legal.

personally I prefer the 10 rounder loading from stripper clips to the high cap mags. as I have said before possession is not illegal, assembling it is... if that means anything.
 
I picked up an SKS this year for $200 cash. Its a chinese Factory 26 (the good kind) type 56 SKS and had the bayonet, extra 10 rnd mag, 30 round mag, and extra receiver cover. They are FANTASTIC weapons. I have never had it jam on me, though, I am under the impression that my front sights may be canted.. more range time is yet to be pursued. Get them now while you still can..

Sc(+)ped
 
I wouldn't be to concerned about putting it back to it's original configuration with what ever the Russians built it with. I've never heard of anyone having a 922R problem.
It does look like a Russian refurb with the bbq paint and the stock looks Russian and refinished.
 
trigga said:
don't even know if the dragonov stock with 30 round mag is legal.
Click to expand...
Use this worksheet to determine if it is 922r compliant in any given configuration:

http://gunwiki.net/Gunwiki/BuildSKSVerifyCompliance

At a glance, it appears that you would be compliant with that Dragonov stock with a detachable magazine and no muzzle attachment. If for some reason you need one more US made part, there is a seller on eBay that offers very nice US-made stainless steel gas pistons for around $25 shipped.
 
My experience with my Russian SKS. The 30 round mag looks cool but you might as well just have an AK. I have a Topco stock for mine which, once again, looks cool but you might as well have an AK. I had the dust cover and no matter how I tightened it down it wouldn't hold a zero so I went back to the original cover. I may get a side mount for a scope and try that out or aI may not.

I bought a wood stock and took mine back to "original" with the 10 round mag and it looks and shoots better for me. It is easy to load one round at a time or with stripper clips. Absolutely awesome shooting gun that I personally prefer shooting over the AKs.
 
Not all 30 round mags fail to work. Mine works perfectly on my Norinco. Still I might go back to the original setup because it's easier to carry a lot of ammo and just as fast to use stripper clips. I have a Yugo that is still stock. $250 is not a bad deal at all. And I wouldn't trade it for any of the AK's I've ever shot. Both of my SKS's are more accurate than any AK I've shot. Of course I doubt that's always true. I just don't see the point of spending more money to get the AK myself.

BTW I have a top cover scope mount for an AK that I can't even give away. My friend made it for me custom and it's mounted to the cover really well. But of course the cover doesn't stay put on the rifle.
 
don't even know if the dragonov stock with 30 round mag is legal.
Click to expand...

Assuming its a US made removable magazine it would be legal as you need to remove four of the 922(r) listed parts on the SKS stock, hand-guard, magazine body & magazine follower gets you there and adds an "extra" US made part in the floor-plate which the original SKS lacks. Actually the dragonov stock and original magazine would be manufacturing a non-compliant imported non-sporting rifle. Silly, but that is the way it is. I see a lot of "civil disobedience" SKSes and gun shows and have never heard of anyone being hassled for them, but do you really want something else to worry about?

If it didn't come with a bayonet, odds are it'd be illeagal to add one unless you make it into a US made rifle and would likely need a US made bayonet unless you can find a US made SKS gas piston. The import date is the key issue here, which can be tough to be sure about.
 
wally said:
magazine body & magazine follower gets you there and adds an "extra" US made part in the floor-plate which the original SKS lacks.
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It seems that the magazine body and floorplate are considered one compliant part.
 
does it matter? you can add a million compliant parts but unless you have less than 10 foreign parts it is still illegal. the law is no more than 10 foreign made parts, not no less than X american parts.

oh and I just learned something today, apparently the bayonet does not have to be intact for the gun to still be considered a C&R so all you'd have to do is change out the dust cover and keep the wood stock and it would be AOK as far as ATF is concerned.
 
tahunua001 said:
does it matter? you can add a million compliant parts but unless you have less than 10 foreign parts it is still illegal. the law is no more than 10 foreign made parts, not no less than X american parts.
Click to expand...
We're talking about replacing foreign parts with US-made parts. So, yes, we're all on the same page.

See the link in post #17.
 
It seems that the magazine body and floorplate are considered one compliant part.
Click to expand...

Yes because the imported standard SKS doesn't have a magazine floor-plate as a separate part, you can hang all the extra US made parts you want on as long as there are no more than 10 of the 20 parts on the 922(r) list are foreign made.

This means you need to replace 4 foreign parts on a Chinese or Russian SKS but 5 on a Yugo with the muzzle attachment (Grenade launcher).
 
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