SKS = Entry Level?

[gunNoob]

I met my GFs father the other day and he is a gun owner/lover like I am. We were talking about our guns and he said something along the lines of "SKS are more entry level guns"...

Maybe he meant price? Besides the price, I don't see what would make them "entry level"? They shoot 7.62x39 and are semi auto. Mine it pretty accurate too.

This comment just confused me. Anyone else think so?

 

[daskro]

He's referring to price. You'll inevitably run into some gun owners who have been collecting for years and tens of thousands of dollars worth of firearms.

SKS's are entry level, they one of the cheapest semi-automatic milsurps out there. In fact everything you list in your signature would be considered entry level. The mosin is the epitome of entry level milsurp bolt actions. Nothing wrong with that, firearms are an expensive hobby and if you don't have a lot of disposable income then those guns are all you can really afford.

On the full auto side a a m11/9 would be considered entry level.

 

[heron]

I'd have to say price, though even that is kind of iffy. I think of a .22 as "entry level."
You'll just have to ask him what he meant.

 

[aka108]

Entry level to me is more a matter of price paid for a given firearm. As the collecting hobby goes on, the toys tend to be higher grade and more expensive. Some of the highest priced arms I've shot or own are 22rf. (one was a $18,000 custom benchrest 22rf, not mine) and that is far from enty level.

 

[Rubber_Duck]

I agree with the above comments. The SKS is a serious gun. But with an "every-person-can-have-one" price tag.

 

[Lonestar.45]

He meant to say it was a "gateway gun", like a gateway drug. A gateway into the world of cosmoline and milsurps. It sure was for me.

Seriously, he probably meant price. What other semi-auto large caliber rifle can you get for that price? It's a perfect starter for those entering into the military rifle world.

 

[gunNoob]

Thanks for the comments guys. He meant price I'm sure. Guess I need to get some non entry level guns

 

[TehK1w1]

Eh, nearly all of my guns are "entry level". Some of those "entry-level" guns outshoot much more expensive ones.
It's not the gun, it's the shooter.

 

[gunNoob]

^ same. I like my guns and a gun is a gun is a gun is a gun. Right?

 

[zoom6zoom]

SKS's are the Lay's potato chips of firearms.

Can't have just one.

 

[Ben Shepherd]

Ain't that the truth. I used to snatch them up by the case when they were under $100 each.

 

[bang_bang]

I have an SKS that my grandfather gave me. It's in its original wood, all numbers match. I think he paid $125 for it with 100 rounds of ammo at Roses...

 

[Fire_Fight]

cant remember exactly how the saying goes but " Be cautious of a rifleman with only one rifle, for he knows how to use it".
Remember.... each gun is like a glove, it will not fit everyone!

 

[shotgunred]

well a sks is a shooter not a collector.
people buy guns for a lot of different reasons. you buy a sks because its cheap and shoot well.

Its actually quite under priced for the reliability and accuracy it delivers.

 

[mljdeckard]

I think they are serious guns, but agt the same time, I can see that they attract beginners to shooting. Less now than when they were selling for $80, but they are a cheaper rifle that a beginner can grow into. The sights, action, and trigger are not the greatest, they are actually more challenging to learn than a tuned custom AR. If you can be proficient with an SKS, you can do it with just about anything.

 

[jgatsios]

He's definitely referring to price. The SKS is a fantastic battle rifle, it just got one-upped by the AK. The original, Russian-manufactured SKS's are very nice and shoot well. Even the cheapie Chinese SKS's are good shooters.

 

[bang_bang]

The concept and design was made to withstand abuse and weather elements, and they do that quite well. Only a few years after the SKS was born, the AK sprang alive and quickly replaced the SKS as a governments standard issue rifle. Since then, they have worked side by side in combat.

SKS is simple and very easily disassembled and reassembled. They are well made and quite frankly, one of the stoutest designs ever made. Entry level, for battle rifles. I've never broken down an AK, but can field strip a SKS in the dark with only a empty casing or screwdriver of any type.

And some of the Russians are beautiful rifles, with the reddish tint wood and dark bands in the grain.

 

[Dr. Fresh]

I have an SKS.

I am near-broke.

I guess that makes it entry-level. I also have a Mosin, haha..

But I'd rather have the SKS than a lot of supposedly "better" rifles. I'm thinking here of the WASR.

 

[Ignition Override]

Dr. Fresh, bang bang, King G. and others put it in a nutshell. If Dr. Fresh ever adds a Makarov handgun to his family, he will have the complete reliable set to cover various distances (only requiring low-cost ammo) with only the lowest-priced guns.

Even many people who are no longer broke (unlike years ago), find very dependable, low-cost combat (or c-styled) rifles to be the only guns which exert a strong appeal, maybe a bewitching seduction.
Not only are the SKS and MN valuable weapons, the SKS with a single hollow-point round can stop a large feral pig (photo evidence), and two shots from a MN 44 can kill a large black bear. So-called 'entry-level' rifles have very large followings and good 44s are now becoming difficult to find in many places.
The Finns and Siberian Eskimos (using iron sights) among others still hunt large land and ocean animals (walrus etc) with MNs in order to put meat on the smoking, sizzling grill. I've got the photos.
If the SKS and MN are 'entry-level' yet quite effective, then who needs advanced rifles under those conditions?
"SKSboards" and "Gunandgame" can be helpful.

A friend in my company still shoots on the Navy Rifle Team (ARs) at Camp Perry etc, though retired from the Reserves.
He had a Russian SKS several years ago and told me today that he regrets having sold it.

Two MN 44s, SKS, two Minis. Another SKS is my long-term goal . Just a simple, unlettered conscript 'Russian peasant' who only enjoys iron sights and blowing solid objects to pieces, on land or water. An SKS shooter who hits the target is just as deadly as an AK shooter who can do so.

 

[Old Jimmy]

I like mine just fine,