Should I Bullpup my chinese SKS?

[rduchateau2954]

I have this chinese SKS. It was my fathers gun. It wasn't it's favorite gun but it was cheap and it could kill deer in the swamp. I shot my second deer with it.

The thing is; I don't really like it. The stock is hideous as well as being too short for me. My face is almost touching the receiver when I shoulder it. I keep saying that I am gonna sell it but I just can't bring myself to do it.

I won't sell it, but I don't shoot it. For years now it has been collecting dust. I don't even have any ammo for it.

It irks me to have a gun I don't shoot. I have had this link bookmarked for the last couple years but haven't pulled the trigger on any modifications for fear of having a "tacticool" version of a rifle I don't want to shoot.

http://sgworks.com/

What should I do?

 

[okiewita40]

I love my Norinco SKS for deer hunting. Works great for the short range shots I get here in the hills of N.E. OK. You can bullpup it if you want. If it were me I would try adding a thick recoil pad to it. Not that it needs it but for the L.O.P. factor. Or maybe try a monte carlo type after market stock with a longer L.O.P.

Also you can go to survivor sks boards and find tons of info on the sks. Best of luck to you on whatever you decide to do.

 

[bainter1212]

I also have a Norinco SKS and consider it the best rifle I could have possibly gotten for so low a price. For the LOP problem (and the "ugly" issue) you might want to look at getting a new stock. Check out "Timbersmith" stocks, they make really nice ones for the AKs as well as the SKS. A Pachmyr "Decellerator" recoil pad will add an inch or two to the LOP as well. Keep in mind the upper handguard wood can be very difficult to replace, as I understand it is held on to the gas block by a pin that is usually peened and hard to remove. A gunsmith might be advised for that step.

"One Fish" Bainter

 

[Davek1977]

I'm all in favor of modding a weapon if it actually means you'l use the gun rather than let it collect dust. That being said, there's a variety of options I'd go with BEFORE bullpupping my SKS. A black plastic Monte Carlo stock took my SKS from merely functional (to me) to USEABLE. I can shoulder and shoot the gun far more comfortably than I could in its stock configuration. One thing to consider with nearly ANY Bullpup design is that the trigger is likely to be horrendous due to the way it has to be manipulated to work in that configuration. While the trigger on an SKS is hardly designed for matches as is, I see no reason to make a bad trigger worse!

 

[Ash]

The problem with modifying a gun is - and this is particularly true with the SKS - you often get something less useful than what you had to begin with. A Rice Boi who modifies a small compact, usually Japanese or Korean, car rarely actually ends up with a Tokyo Drift. He usually ends up with a grey primer POS.

The only real problem with the stock is its short length, which facilitates heavier winter coats. If you don't shoot it for that reason, just get a 2-inch extension. That will take care of the length problem. Most modifications available - and done - on SKS's make them unreliable and unusable. As they are, they are compact, relatively light, easy to manipulate, and reliable carbines. Bullpups, ATI stocks, 30 round magazines, most other mods, turn them into awkward, unwieldy, unreliable junk. The SKS is not an AK, yet folks try to make it into one. The 10-round magazine is not high cap for sure, but it is reliable, compact, and allows the whole package to be slim. I have never actually encountered a stock that actually improved it beyond LOP, and that is more cheaply accomplished by spacers/extenders. As to bullpup conversions, the wire-mechanism used to actuate the trigger, as mentioned, makes it mushy and often unreliable. I'd stay away.

If you want something other than a slim, compact carbine, get something else. Modding an SKS almost never gives you what you want. 17 years ago I modded my Chinese SKS and what a turd I created. Lesson learned.

 

[pseudonymity]

I'm all in favor of modding a weapon if it actually means you'l use the gun rather than let it collect dust. That being said, there's a variety of options I'd go with BEFORE bullpupping my SKS. A black plastic Monte Carlo stock took my SKS from merely functional (to me) to USEABLE. I can shoulder and shoot the gun far more comfortably than I could in its stock configuration. One thing to consider with nearly ANY Bullpup design is that the trigger is likely to be horrendous due to the way it has to be manipulated to work in that configuration. While the trigger on an SKS is hardly designed for matches as is, I see no reason to make a bad trigger worse!

The trigger was the first thought I had also - even with a bit of work, my Chicom SKS still has a pretty lousy trigger. I can not see the bullpup making it any better. I tried an ATI Monte Carlo also, but just never really warmed up to it. I went back to the wood stock with a 1" extender and added Tech Sights and a smaller front post and it seems like a much different rifle. I like the cheek position on the stock much better with the aperture sight. The trigger is still so-so, and the grip is a bit too short for my hand but I find the rifle much better suited to plinking now.

 

[carbine85]

I don't have any first hand knowledge of these stocks but it's my understanding they really make the trigger pull longer and heavier. I love modifying and working with guns but I think I would spend my money elsewhere. I don't see any real benefit here.

 

[Girodin]

No, guns that are designed to be bullpups generally suck when one tries to turn them into one. If you want a bullpup buy a real one.

 

[rduchateau2954]

Alright, it is just gonna sit in it's corner then. I completely forgot about the horrible trigger.

 

[RustHunter87]

you can get a 6 position tactical stock for them, that might spice things up a bit, and could solve your LOP issue as well

 

[mberoose]

Slap on a recoil pad for a longer length of pull, and sit on it for a few years. Why not make a few bucks down the road rather than strip it of its' value?

That's my thought process anyways.

 

[adelbridge]

you can put all the window dressings you want on it and it is still an SKS. I see so many 18 year olds at the gun shows trying to sell their TAPCO fiasco SKS for $500 and they no doubt have that money into them.

 

[Sheepdog1968]

Keep as is lest you go from a reliable firearm to a less reliable firearm. Save the money you would spend on it for something else. This could make a good trunk gun as is.

 

[rcmodel]

My face is almost touching the receiver when I shoulder it.

Wait till you bullpup it!

Your face will be laying on it then!!

Bad idea all the way around!

rc