Should I pay $450 for this rifle?

[ObsceneJesster]

Hi guys. I understand this Rifle could be had much cheaper 3 months ago but I have always wanted a SKS and being a Maryland resident, I think my days may be numbered. Should I purchase a never fired, unissued Yugo SKS for $450?

 

[Fremmer]

Not too bad of a price if you like the rifle.

 

[Pointshoot]

Pre 'panic', I think it was about 6 months ago - I bought an SKS on consignment at a local gunshop. I paid $350 for it, and thought I mighta paid too much. But I had never gotten around to buying an SKS all these years figuring I 'could always pick one up'. Since I was able to check it out in person and it was in great, unfired shape - I bought it and am very glad I did. From what I've seen in crazy gun prices these days, $450 doesnt sound too bad. I'd jump on it if in your situation. Hope you have ammo for it, though. That seems to be challenging to find nowadays.

 

[Jhass]

Not unless 500 rounds come with it.

 

[soloban]

$450 for an SKS?? No way.

 

[Cee Zee]

It's a good price for right now. In 6 months it may be way more than it should cost. But it also might be way less. The SKS might become the rifle of choice for the person wanting a semi-auto battle carbine since it won't be on the AWB list. But all that stuff could dry up and blow away in which case the SKS might drop back down in price to what I paid for a never issued Yugo about 18 months ago which was $250.

It's a crap shoot right now on the value. If you can afford it grab it. Ammo is always the real cost of owning a firearm anyway. I could easily shoot up double that $450 in a year in that rifle even at the old ammo prices. Those things will burn ammo like crazy if you get rolling.

 

[Fleetman]

I say go for it while you have the opportunity....I agree your gun-purchasing days for certain arms is probably going to be very limited in the months to come.

Those naysayers that don't live in Maryland will never understand the archaic-minded politicians that dictate, er, I mean, run the State of Maryland.

Buy it now, be thankful you found it, and enjoy your purchase!

 

[Pointshoot]

Maybe its different in various regions in the country. I dont see them available in my neck of the woods, except for prices even higher than that. For an SKS ?


I advised various people I know to pick up an SKS and bulk ammo for it over a year ago. They didn't listen. Now they wish they had.

 

[Fleetman]

I meant your gun-purchasing days in MARYLAND will probably be severely restricted.....wasn't trying to be the Bearer of Doom but Maryland residents have some hard months ahead of them....New York City has nothing on O'Malley.

The latest posturing by the anti-gun bozos are exactly what he's been waiting for!

 

[adelbridge]

Its the same batch of guns that once sold for $69, $89, $99. I paid $129 for one back in 1997 and remember feeling ripped off. Probably cost $25 to make way back when. Your call.

 

[ApacheCoTodd]

Here's one way to look at it. i wouldn't sell any of mine right now for $450 but based upon condition and regional availability I might pay it.

Or

What if you like it so much that you keep it forever and the perceived percentage overpaid didn't matter in the long run?

Or

What if availability never increases and cost doesn't really go down.

I paid $450 a while back for a "parade grade" Russian and while all the folk scolded me for overpaying - I have it, can't get another and don't care at this point since I love the rifle.

East coast, these days, uncertain future? I'd pop for it. Though, I'd still offer $390 just to see.

 

[119er]

Buy it and don't look back. At some point ammo will come back and you will have much fun with it. I have an unissued Yugo from 1984 best I can tell, and it is the most accurate one of the four that I own. Read a few Cosmoline removal threads and get to work!

 

[JVaughn]

Just purchased an unissued Yugo for $380 + tax at a small shop in Southwest VA, he said he had about 6 of them. I got it because you can't find them anywhere around here for less than about $450.

 

[ObsceneJesster]

To make a long story short, I didn't get the Yugo. I did however get a factory new mint condition Norinco for $425.

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Cee Zee]

Probably cost $25 to make way back when

In China in the early 1950's? Probably so but what would it cost to build the same rifle in the USA today? It's be a heck of a lot more than $25 and likely more than the $450 mentioned. The SKS continues to be a great deal based on what you get for the money you pay. No it's not 1990 and you can't buy them for $60 each but at the same time it isn't 1920 and 1903's aren't $20 each either (a bunch of them were sold at that price still packed in cosomoline). Countries aren't trying to make money on their milsurp gear. It's about selling obsolete gear for whatever you can get for it. Just like those Springfields were worth more than $20 (a new Remington at the time cost about $100) the SKS is still worth more than it sells for. It's a very solid rifle that is very reliable and plenty accurate enough for what it was designed to do.

 

[Savage99]

I bought one of those junk SKS's when they were cheap. Now I want to get rid of it to make room for something good.

I brought it into a gunshop and they offered me $100 for it!

I would not take one for nothing.

Don't offer me anything for it.

I do not sell to private individuals. I will sell it only to a dealer with an FFL and get a receipt.

I should have dumped it for the $100.

 

[chris in va]

I had a Yugo. There's a lot of extra junk on the barrel that makes it unwieldy. I sold mine and got a Saiga, which I converted soon after.

Good job getting the Norinco.

 

[Cee Zee]

Well guys my "junk SKS" has had about 2 dozen failures in 21 years and through thousands of rounds. And every failure can be traced to a bad firing pin and a bad box of ammo. I put a new firing pin in it to prevent slam fires and it wouldn't fire at all because of light strikes. I put the original back in and it has worked fine for many years since. The only other time was when I had one bad box of ammo. As soon as I got through it I stopped having problems.

If you want to call that "junk" that's fine but most of these rifles have been very reliable. I don't like the extra junk on my Yugo either but I like pristine barrels and parts that were likely never fired at all. The gun has a small crack in the stock which most people would never see if they didn't look hard.

One other thing. If you have some personal conviction about selling to individuals more power to you for sticking to it. But how about having the courage of your convictions and not complaining about it?

I would agree about it being good to have gotten the pristine Norinco. Those are few and far between these days and that isn't a bad price for one in that condition. I wouldn't pay that much for a Yugo even in mint condition because I don't like the grenade launcher either. But they are still fine rifles that are extremely reliable.

 

[Savage99]

Military gun buying frenzy!

I brought that same SKS into another shop today to see if they wanted to bother with it.

The owner's eyes lit up when he saw it. (It's just a refinished Norinco SKS).

I said I wanted to sell it and he immediately offered $300 cash right there but suggested consignment as it would yield me $425. He wrote out a tag to sell it at $495 and said to call him by the end of the week as it should be sold by then!

This shop was full of customers. I had to wait 10 minutes to get waited on. The shop that offered $100 last week was empty!

A busy CT gunshop.

 

[Cee Zee]

You mean it was last week that someone offered you $100??? I'd be ticked too. That was a very insulting price. The parts are worth more than that any day.

 

[Roadking Rider]

Man I love my Yugo. After your done shooting what you shot, you can slice it , dice it and put in a pot all by using the same rifle.

 

[ObsceneJesster]

Here is the unfired and unissued Norinco I got for $425. I think I did okay. I know I could have probably got this thing for $300 a year ago but hey, what are you gonna do. If I could predict the future, I would have purchased crates of these things 10 years ago. I also would have purchased 20 AR's last year..:banghead:

 

[denton]

Good plan, going for something without the grenade launcher. That's weight you don't need to carry around with you.

 

[ObsceneJesster]

Good plan, going for something without the grenade launcher. That's weight you don't need to carry around with you.

It also doesn't have the bayonet which if it did I would just take off. I may still get one just to have it though. Do you still see the bayonet lug on the rifle? This is my first SKS and I don't know much about them yet. Does anyone know if it's still possible to mount the bayonet on this rifle?

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Cee Zee]

Do you know if it's a milsurp Norinco or is it a made for the US market model? There are a lot of different Norincos actually. If you got a milsurp you got a great deal. And I looked at every SKS I could find about 18 months ago. I'd be shocked if you could have found that for $300 back then. I saw lots of Norincos for $300 but they were shot out or one of the really cheap versions made for the US market. BTW the one you have does not appear to be one of those. The stocks looked different. The wood was lower quality. In fact I'd say there's no way you got one of those recent import jobs. They were all pretty full of crud too. They certainly weren't packed in cosmoline.