Friend Bought HD SKS. Any tips for him?

[mortablunt]

My friend bought an SKS because he goes to college in Western NY (RIT). He rents an apartment and to defend it, he took it upon himself to buy an SKS. Do you have any tips for him? And tips that tell him to take another course or otherwise drop the SKS are unwelcome.; he's bought the gun and taken a class. Thank you.

 

[Fred Fuller]

A 7.62X39 is apt to be pretty penetrative if not overpenetrative in an apartment situation, depending on construction of course. What are the fire walls between apartments, if any, constructed from? Exterior walls? Anyone else in the apartment? Etc.

As with any home defense situation, having a good home defense plan is paramount, and any number of things are as important if not more important than which firearm is chosen for the task...

 

[9mmepiphany]

I seem to remember Jeff Cooper saying the the SKS was really the gun that made all men equal...back when they were $79 and you could get Norinco 7.62x39mm ammo for $1.99/20 in a LGS.

My only concern in an apartment setting is the power of the round...that 122 grain slug is going to go through a lot of sheet rock

 

[JShirley]

Peter Kokalis claimed that the problem with using the cheap 7.62x39mm HP ammunition was inadequate penetration. (Of course, he also said 185-grain .45 ACP JHP didn't penetrate enough, either.) Expanding bullet designs usually have more dramatic expansion and sometimes fragmentation as bullet speed increases. Your friend just needs to test his intended ammunition.

Use milk jugs full of water for testing. If the round being tested doesn't stop in the 2nd or 3rd jug, it's too penetrative for use in an apartment. If it stops competely in the first jug, on the other hand, it doesn't have enough penetration.

 

[hso]

Regardless of whether the comments are unwelcome, a 7.62X39 rifle is an uninformed poor choice for apartment defense considering the serious over-penetration issues of that caliber. It is especially so when a shotgun can be had for the same price and light ammunition to feed it is readily available that will not penetrate as many layers of apartment wall material.

You should trade a Maverick shotgun to him so that you'd have the SKS and he'd have something useful for the stated purpose.

 

[JShirley]

Only FMJ has "serious overpenetration issues". This is just too easy to test instead of imagining we already know the answer.

 

[mortablunt]

Thanks for the feedback, ya'll. I'll relay this to him ASAP.

 

[JShirley]

Remember: test.

Rifle rounds can be terrific for home defense (assuming ear pro, hopefully), or horribly overpenetrative, depending on what ammunition you're using. There are dedicated antipersonnel bullets available from companies like CorBon, but cheap HP ammo MAY work well. Just test it.

John