Joined the SKS club yesterday...

[Hacker15E]

I just purchased a Yugo M59/66 SKS yesterday. I'm usually only into US battle rifles (have a Garand, M1903, 1917, and an AR-7), but the price over at AIM Surplus for the SKS was just too good for me to pass up. I've been pretty snobbish over the years about the SKS, mostly because my only experience with them was with a commercial Norinco about 12 years ago. The gun looked and shot like trash, so I have always thought of them as crappy.

I have read a lot of reports here and elsewhere about the 59/66, and how the quality was relatively high (for an SKS!), so I figured "what the he11" -- how could I go wrong for $140? Besides, I'd kick myself if I passed up buying one cheap now only to have the prices go up later. I don't really *need* an SKS, so I figgered I'd just buy it and see what I thought.

In between the time I purchased it and when it arrived at my FFL, I purchased one of the springed firing pins for $35 from Murray's Guns. I'm not sure what the SKS community thinks of the firing pin spring mod, but for me it just added an extra level of safety that I was willing to pay the extra $35 for!

Rifle arrived yesterday, about a week after purchase. It's a 1978 model with a nice walnut-looking stock (teak?). Metal finish is just as advertised..."excellent". It's clearly been issued and handled, as the blueing is slightly worn on the muzzle and heel, but otherwise it looked damn near perfect. As usual, it was covered in cosmolene.

I fired up the steam cleaner last night, poured a bowl of mineral spirits, and got to cleaning her up. Cosmo was saked everywhere inside and out...not as bad as some CMP rifles I've had, though.

While it was apart, I decided to open up the bolt and replace the firing pin. What a pain in the a$$! It was tough to get the retaining pin out, and even tougher to get it back in...but the job's done, and the new spring-pin seems to be happily in place.

For the stock, I hit it first with the steam nozzle to get the cosmolene off, then followed it up with Murphy's Oil Soap. I let it dry overnight.

The stock seems so awkward when compared to US rifle stocks. The wrist is huge and squared-off, making the grip a bit uncomfortable. The butt is also short...it would be nice to have a stock that is sized and contoured similar to the Garand or the '03.

So...today I'm going to finish the stock with some BLO, put her back together, and pop off some rounds later this afternoon.

 

[Scoupe]

Congrats on the "new" SKS.

There are extended butt pads available to lengthen the pull. TAPCO, among amny others carry them. See them at gunshows all the time as well.

The wrist on the Yugos does seem to be large, the Chinese seem to be the thinnest (at the forearm as well), but I don't find an SKS awkward to shoot.

Have fun and report back on how much fun you had. BTW, there are dummy grenades available too. Lots of fun to launch those puppies a couple hundred yards.

 

[Slimjim]

Make sure you disassemble the bolt and clean the cosmo out of it, or your first shot might surprise you.

 

[Scoupe]

Um, I think he did that when he replaced the firing pin, no?

 

[DMK]

It's my understanding that the Yugo 59/66 has a beefier stock to better handle the abuse of launching grenades. Other SKS varients have much more slender and lighter stocks.

 

[Thin Black Line]

The Jugo SKSs don't have a chrome-lined barrel, so avoid corrosive ammo
unless you like the extra cleaning involved.

 

[Hacker15E]

Make sure you disassemble the bolt and clean the cosmo out of it, or your first shot might surprise you.

Yeah, I read about that problem on a number of websites, and that was actually one of the driving factors for purchasing the springed firing pin. Hopefully that won't be a problem now -- that *would* be a big surprise!

I did break the whole rifle down as far as I could (did not disassemble the trigger group...) and have it a bath in mineral spirits, then a spraying with the steam cleaner nozzle, then finally wiped down with CLP before reassembly.

This morning I gave the dried-out stock a rub-down with 0000 steel wool, then applied a coat of BLO thinned out 50/50 with mineral spirits. Applied the oil with steel wool, hand-rubbed it in for 10 minutes or so, then let it dry. I went back this afternoon and applied a second coat, which I'll let dry overnight now. I use the same technique with my CMP rifles and the results are usually good, so hopefully this Yugo wood responds just as well.

Photos and post-range report soon, hopefully!

 

[Tropical Z]

I gave up trying to disassemble the bolt on my Yugos.That retaining pin is insane.I do know how to do it as I did it on my Norinco no problem.I'm not sure what the secret is to removing the Yugos other than possibly a maul!

 

[Hacker15E]

I was lucky to have a correct-sized punch on hand. I started hitting it with a rubber mallet, and that wasn't working. I moved on to an actual hammer and started hitting it harder and that worked fine. Putting the pin back in was easier, but still required some very hard metal-on-metal hits with a hammer that made me cringe.

 

[cracked butt]

I'm not sure what the secret is to removing the Yugos other than possibly a maul!

That's the secret!

I used a large lead hammer, set the bolt on a pair of lead ingots, used a steel punch and smacked 'er really hard.

 

[The_Antibubba]

I got a yugo last year, and while the rifle is cool (of course), one of the best accessories to come with it was the care and testing log. What a neat little piece of history!

 

[cracked butt]

I got a yugo last year, and while the rifle is cool (of course), one of the best accessories to come with it was the care and testing log. What a neat little piece of history!

Yup, and preserved in cosmoline just like everything else in the package

 

[Moonclip]

Hope you like shooting it. Most people whom I known to resist getting one liked it after all. It does not make sense not to own one when ammo and guns are so cheap and you are getting a semi auto that has ballsitics roughly equal to a 30/30.