Should I buy an SKS?

[natedog]

Look, here's the scoop- I'm 14, so I don't have very much money, and I live in CA. I already own a Mini-14, which is loads of fun to shoot and accurate. However, I see these SKS going for $150 (after being modified for sale in CA). A case of ammo is only $80. I know that in a few years, this deal will have disappeared. I don't need this rifle in any way, shape, or form. My Mini is a cheap enough blaster, and can still give out decent groups. Should I go ahead and go for the SKS, too? I fear that one day these may be banned in CA, so I'd like to snatch one up- but, it's not that important, because I'm not planning on taking residence here after school. Should I just spend the money on ammo and more magazines?

 

[Flying V]

Get the SKS. The Yugos won't last forever, and if you don't, you'll wish you had.

 

[Kenneth Lew]

Depending upon your transfer fees, what the heck. I see the non-California legal ones for sale @ 99.95 ea. Buy them before someone buys several pallets of that stuff.

Kenneth Lew

 

[Braz]

Yes, buy it now.

Really, it's the best deal going at the moment and that's the reason they're so popular, and why they're going fast. A case of Wolf ammo and a cleaning kit is all you need for thirty caliber fun. At 8 cents a round! It will take deer and then hold 10 rds of hole punching power for self defense. I see my SKS complimenting my mini-14, and extending it's life by being so much fun and cheap to shoot. Have fun.

 

[foghornl]

Natedog:

I realize that you are 14, and that your discretionary funds are probably not unlimited, but the proper question is "How many SKS variants should I buy?"

{p.s. I'm 50+, and I just recently got my first SKS, so I hafta give ya a little poke in the ribs... }

The others have nailed it, though. The SKS series are tough, dependable rifles, simple to maintain, with a decent power cartridge. Can you shoot the wings of a gnat at 800 yards with it? Probably not. But with just a bit of reasonable care, the SKS will go Bang! when you need it to for many years.

Plus, you can frequently find ammo for less than $2/box of 20, even buying in small lots. The Gander Mountain store near me had Wolf HP for $1.79/20 a couple of weeks back....works out to $89.50/1,000 rounds, plus tax. Slightly less than $0.09/per round

 

[Red_SC]

Definitely get one. You could always get your money back out of it later if you wanted to. I remember a 10 or 15 years ago when they had British .303's for $50 and Mosin Nagants for $40 at the local Roses. I bought one .303- now I wish I'd bought a dozen. You won't regret it!

 

[Ben Shepherd]

Lets see here.......

A couple bushmaster ar-15s? Yep.
An FAL? Yep.
A lever action 30-30? Yep.
A mini-14 Ranch? Yep.
A Bolt action 30-06? Yep.......

An SKS? Nope.
(Closer to a dozen examples of this rifle) Total price tag for ALL the sks' equals the ONE bushmaster with glass on it.

Know what? Anything man sized within 250 yards is dead meat with either rifle. Think of the SKS as an inexpensive semi-auto 30-30.

 

[mondocomputerman]

YES, get it. I am senting off my C&R license today. Red_SC is right, you can get your money back later if you wanted to. But please, please don't bubba it.

 

[Country Boy]

natedog - I just bought a Yugo SKS, and my only regret is that I didn't get one sooner. Mine shoots about a 2" group at 100 yds. Ammo is cheap, the rifle is friendly for people that are recoil sensitive, and there are many ways to customize. If I was 14 again, I would definitely use my discretionary funds for one. They are certainly a "best buy"; snatch one up before they're gone!

 

[albanian]

Buy now and you won't have to kick yourself later like all us old timers.

You know your getting old when you start remembering gun prices that you should have jumped on and are now kicking yourself for not buying them. What is really bad is when you calculate inflation and the price comes out about the same but it was SOOO much cheaper in dollars. For example, my dad is really old and he keeps telling me that he could have bought a 1911 Colt back in the 1950 for about $50. Considering that you can get a new Colt 1911A1 for $450, and the ones he was talking about were military surplus, it was not such a great bargin at the time. Now that they are collectable, it is a bargin but at the time, they were just old and used.

 

[thefitzvh]

I'll answer this the same way I answer all of the "Should I get... " questions...

a RESOUNDING yes

It's my next purchase, myself... after I've cleared myself of the mosin bug.


James

 

[Braz]

Well,

Did ya get one Natedog? Join with us, resistance is futile.

 

[natedog]

Maybe if I get a job this summer...I just can't justify the cost right now for a rifle that does the exact same thing my current rifle does. $150 is quite a bit for a jobless freshmen who has a passion for guns and paintball.