I bought my first rifle! (and an ammo question...)

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TMM

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In a couple days i'll be picking up my first rifle i've bought, a russian SKS. i purchased it at what i thought was a slightly overpriced $445, but i didn't want to lose it waiting for cheaper ones (i waited a whole month for a cheaper yugo or something, but no luck). good looking dark laminated stock, internal mag, bayonet...
Anyway, i picked up ammo for it, and some of the stuff (chinese make) seems to be all steel, bullet and case. the case seems copper plated and then laquered, and the bullet just plated. anyway, i'm worried about the copper wearing away on the rifling immediately upon firing, leaving a steel-to-steel bullet-to-barrel contact... do you guys think this is bad for the barrel? i've only got 300 rounds of this stuff (and i've got other ammo), so no real big issue, but...
lastly, what's your opinion on the removable SKS mags? i've seen good reviews for the Tapco's, so i thought i might pick up a couple in case i wanted one (i like being able to remove all the ammo at once)... and, i live in CT, which still has a state-AWB :barf: , so would that removable mag give it the possibility to be an evil rifle? (it only has one evil feature of a bayonet, but if i put a flash hider or compensator on it, i'd be over the "evil feature limit"...) i'll ask the guy at the gun store, he mentioned the removable mags, but didn't say they could make it into an "assault weapon"...

anyway, thanks in advance,
tmm
 
ah TMM i'm glad i found this, i am also a sad "citizen" of the state of CT and i was looking into purchasing an SKS. Unfortunately the stipulation is that the SKS is banned by name for having a removable magazine. If you want to own an SKS in CT you must have the internal magazine...
as far as removing ammunition i don't know what to tell you, but for fast loading i advise buying some stripper clips and keeping them close to the weapon. they're cheaper than hell but you can only use one clip (metal) 3-4 times before the tabs on the end break, this of course may vary depending on what clips you buy. i hope this helps.

-kirk

EDIT: also, a compensator is legal in CT law. It's the flash-hider or the threaded barrel that's an evil feature. Re:ammunition, do you have pictures? and as i recall the steel jacket may be the only problem, i've heard of them splitting when you shoot and perhaps jamming but i have no personal exp with them.
 
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yea, i know about the stripper clips, have nothing against them. i'll buy a couple bags of them when i get the rifle.

ah, i do believe you're right about the compensator vs. flash-hider. i should have known that a flash hider is horribly evil, capable of killing people and shooting down planes...

i could get photos if you want, but it really just looks like 7,62x39 with a copper colored bullet and copper colored case. never heard of steel cases splitting, at least not Wolf. as long as it's good low carbon steel it should be fine. *shrug*

tmm
 
Just shoot the ammo, don't worry about it.


Can't believe what these things (SKS) are going for. I always wanted one back in the early 90's when I was in H.S. 100 bucks back than, never bought one. Found a Yugo SKS I think three years ago for 110.00 and now wish I would have bought ten of them.
 
My son bought a Russian SKS at a garage sale for 200.00 !!!!!! I believe they are the best you can get, at gun show they were around 700.00....It will shoot anything you put in it, just steel case ammo can't
be reloaded...I'm not sure your bullets are steel, that is usually for armour piercing, most bullets are copper coated anyway an I wouldn't worry about it hurting your rifling, in
fact it should keep it cleaner, all lead bullets in a .22 well leave more trash behind than copper coated...you should see my boy BUMP fire his SKS, full auto anyone.
 
the ammo is all steel - don't believe me, argue with the magnet.

i filed away a small area on the bullet tip, and i easily revealed a silver-colored metal. i suppose it could be steel core, lead jacketed, and then copper plated, but that seems like a PITA to make. it's not steel jacket, the whole cartridge is pink copper colored. maybe if i really feel like it i'll do some surgery on a bullet...

i'm not worried about copper fouling, i'm worried about the soft copper wearing away, leaving only the steel to grind against the rifling.

TMM
 
wow $445? Dang... I just bought a really nice1966 Chinese for $250 out the door and thought I got a deal. It has the 10 round fixed mag. Ive got another lined up and it has a promag 20 rounder with it. Its not in as nice of shape but I can walk out the door with it for $200. Ill buy a 10 round fixed for it.

Just adding a Tapco mag is actually a violation of Section 922.
You'll have to study up but if you're gonna change one part of the gun you'll have to change 4 or more depending on which model.

Its 4 parts to change on a Chinese to get them to comply.

Your best bet is to leave em stock. You can oad 10 rounds pretty darned fast with stripper clips.
 
The ammo is likely steel core (hence drawing a magnet) with a copper jacket (swaged) not plated. The copper jacket is softer than the steel barrel whose rifling will engrave it. I would be concerned about whether it is corrosively primed more than anything else.
 
allamerican: yea, it was a bit costly, but i had already bought ammo for it, and i didn't want the supply to dry up. and it's a really pretty gun. i was waiting for a chinese or something, but none came, so i jumped on it.
...i guess i'll drop the removable mag thing... oh well.

yea, i was pretty sure it was good to fire... though i do see a silver metal when i filed the bullet a little bit.

yea, i have no idea if it's corrosive or not, but i plan on learning how to disassemble the gun and clean it before i even shoot it once, so once i do shoot it i can clean it properly, right away.

is there any way to see if it's corrosive? i just had a thought to keep one of the fired cases (which are steel) and look inside after a day or two and see if it's rusty in there... think that would work?

TMM
 
what's your opinion on the removable SKS mags?
Click to expand...

Bad idea IMO. I would rather worry about cheap stripper clips than worry about overpriced plastic mags that may turn my rifle into a jam-o-matic mess. What is it with people that want to mess with a perfectly good rifle? Anyways you live in a ban state so the attached mag is a good thing, don't you have a hi cap mag ban also?.
 
Leave it with the internal magazine and use stripper clips. They are faster if you practice. Also, you don't have to worry about carrying around extra mags.

Don't worry about the ammo. If 20 million other commie guns are shooting them throughout the world, I don't think it will hurt yours.
 
All surplus ammo is all steel.. case and bullets..copper washed, thats all..

keep your stock clip and use striper clips.I have the big capacty clips..they're ok for the range,
but for home defence,, keep it stock,you'll never have a failure,when you need it to go bang,..
 
My son with the Russian SKS says to keep your stock mag, he's tried after
market ones an 2 different kinds just
don't fit an work right, so he just loads an shoots 10 rds.
 
we don't have a hi-cap ban here... but if you have a removable mag you can only have one evil feature. two evil features makes it an evil, deadly assault weapon.
how about those 20-round fixed mags? yes, i know, it works great as it is, but i'm just curious.

snakeeater... yea, i didn't want to buy the rifle for a while because i thought it was overpriced. everything is artificially overpriced now - a chinese or yugo is going for about 200, the Russians on gunbroker are about the same price i paid. i might look back in several months and wish i waited, but i also might look back and wish i bought it...

yea, i figured the ammo would be alright... well, in about a week i'll have pics and a range report!

TMM
 
Actually, the 20 round Tapco mag will count as 2 -922 compliant parts and then you'll still have to change a few more.

The SKS forum has a spreadsheet which you add in the changes and it tells you if the SKS will then conform.

Best to leave it stock and buy the stripper clips. Remember a stock SKS is not on any proposed ban list. Not that Ive seen. Ones with removeable mags are.

I love mine in all its stock glory. Beautiful rifle and my choice as a SHTF gun.
 
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