Impulse Buy SKS good deal?

[AJAX22]

I walked into a gun store today with the intention of looking up a new bipod for my .22 target rifle, and spotted a druganov looking sks with a synthetic stock.

it had a machined bolt like the old russian ones, the guy said it was a ugo they had gotten in trade, the stock was choate machine tool and it had an aftermarket receiver cover with a weaver rail on it.

bore looks good, finish is pretty nice, and it still has the bayonet lug so I can stick a bipod on it easy.

no scope, but I have one coming that might work (check out optics thread for pics)

anyway, it was 199 bucks, came to like 241 after fees and taxes. did I do good guys? it just felt good and with the current situation down here in LA, I figured a good medium power semi would be prudent.

 

[model 649]

Sounds like fun. If you like it what the hey? How many times you goin' around? Gotta have some fun once in a while. What ever happened to all the fun in the world? $250.00 for a dolled-up Yugo? Can't get too far wrong. I've been disappointed for double that money.
Josh

 

[kjeff50cal]

I think it was a good buy but with any "new to you" SKS check it out throughly. Take it apart check the bolt/firingpin for cosmoline sticking. Cosmoline in the firingpin hole can and will cause slamfires and unitended full-auto discharge that may get the unwanted attention of certain law enforcement types.

And do not change it into a pseudo-AK47 mainly because any changes to the original configuration of the rifle may cause you to be guilty of creating a illegal assault rifle in violation of BATF regulations 922r, 922v, the Import ban of 1989 and others.

 

[Limeyfellow]

Just make sure its legal, ie has no naughty assault weapon type features or has the compliance parts to make it allowable.

 

[dfaugh]

I have a similar one...SKS-M (takes AK mags) with ATI (I think) Dragunov style stock, scope mounted on the receiver. It one of my favorite guns, paid $325 at a gun show, and called it a good deal. Note that you'll need a "short" scope to use the reciever mount, otherwise the brass (which is ejected VERY forcefully) will hit the scope.

 

[ball3006]

All bolts on SKS...

are machined.......When you see a bubba SKS on a shelf, you should ask yourself, "why did the privious owner get rid of this rifle?". Most likely reason, a bubba sks will not shoot as well as a stock sks........chris3

 

[AJAX22]

I've been hearing mixed things as to the legality of switching the sks over to a 10 round detachable. or even having a detachable sks mag when you are in posession of an sks.

when the ban went into effect I was too young to buy the guns I wanted, so I bought a ton of magazines for various rifles.

is converting a regularly stocked sks with no bayonet lug andn no flash hider over to detachable magazine illigal? or would it then be the same as having a mini 14?

I don't plan on switching anything out of the sks, although it would be nice to have a couple of 30 round detachable mags sitting in the closet in case shtf.

Thanks for all the help guys.

 

[chunk]

you could buy 2 stock yugos & 500 rounds of ammo for $250

 

[hso]

If you're a tall guy the extra length of pull on the Choate stock could be worth it. $89 Yugo SKS, $67 Choat "Dragunov" SKS stock, $20 for the mount you describe. Around $177 as seperate parts to purchase. If it started life as an "unissued" Yugo add another $60.

 

[dfaugh]

Ajax, the the overwhelming consensus on detachable magazines for "standard" SKSs is--DON'T BOTHER (never mind the legalities). I've never heard anyone that could get them working properly, mostly a waste of time and money. My SKS-M was factory made to take AK mags, and it works flawlessly, but the aftermarket detachable mags are entirely different. If you want to be able to sustain a high rate of fire, get some stripper clips and practice loading from them. Much cheaper, and they work. This is how the gun was meant to function.

 

[AJAX22]

Thanks for all the heads up,

I think I got an ok deal, I don't know where I could have gotten the "2 yugos and 500 rounds for 250$' but it woudn't have been in this state, not without getting a C&R of my own. most gunshops I've found tack on an extra 50 or so bucks on any special orders, now that I'm down in Los Angeles I only have like three gunshops to choose from anyway. I figured it as

SKS in any condition of any type 90$ ish
Choate Stock 80$ ish
receiver scope rail 20$ ish
tax registration and assorted b.s. 50$ ish

All the other sks i've seen available locally down in LA are around 200$ sometimes you can find one for 150 but its mostly chinese.

If I use an aftermarket mag on it, I'll be feeding it with stripper clips, I just would like to have a bit more time in between reloadings.

Anyway, thanks for all the input guys I'll throw a pic of it up on the 22nd.

 

[Dacoda]

Defnitely consider the stripper clips. heck, I can load two stripper clips by the time you figure out how the detachable mag re-attaches. those things are such a waste.

hey also, you can pull off the grenade launcher from the yugo, and put on a cool muzzle break.

 

[railroader]

Do not use any detachable mag with an sks in california. This makes it an assault weapon. It doesn't matter if it is 10 rounder either. Mark

 

[Stiletto Null]

Be pretty neat to put one of those Kalinka PO or PU scopes on there. Short little tubes, 3.5x.

 

[AJAX22]

I was actually planning on trying it with the scope I'm trying to identify on the other forum, I think its some kind of night vision thing,

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=199646

I'll have to get some kind of shell deflector to make it work, if that doesn't work, I'll figure out some other kind of scope for it.

 

[AJAX22]

I finally went and picked it up, its a sweet gun to shoulder, deffinitly needs a scope.

I have a polymer gas tube cover to replace the wood, but I rather like the look, and it seems to be a pain to replace.

I took it appart to give it a light cleaning, and someone never cleaned that gun. the piston was frozen in the gas tube with carbon (I guess I figured out why they sold it cheap) but no matter, a little WD40, a love tap with a punch, and she cleaned up ok.

here are some photo's like I promised.

Any suggestions for improvements?

 

[Stiletto Null]

Sure. Go back to the wood stock.

Consider a scout-mounted red dot or low-magnification scope? (Leupold FX II 2.5x28 comes to mind.)

 

[AJAX22]

I'd love to have the wood stock for tearing off into the hills with, they seem alot more durable than synthetic for some reason, that being said, It didn't come with one.

How would you go about mounting a scout style scope to the sks? I don't know of any reliable forward rail systems.

 

[Stiletto Null]

These lovelies replace the rear sight assembly with a Weaver rail.

SurplusRifle review of the mount.

 

[CZguy]

you could buy 2 stock yugos & 500 rounds of ammo for $250

That may be true about the SKSs, but have you bought any SKS ammo lately? It's really gone up in price.

Also there just has to be a nicer way to say that.