SKS or AK47

Status
Not open for further replies.
Jack Package

Jack Package

Member
Joined
Aug 8, 2014
Messages
76
Location
The Great Country of Texas
Okay so my buddy wants to get a new rifle to take away the pain of breaking his leg in football. He really wants a SKS and at the most recent gun show I found a few but didnt really like them. On the other hand I got to talking to a gentleman about them and he said just save up and by a AK47. What do you guys think? SKS or AK47. I say AK but thats because I might kinda be a fanboy:D and I am not really familiar with the SKS. I mean I got a SVT40 but thats like comparing apples to really big and long oranges. Any responses would be greatly appreciated.
 
A nice Chicom SKS can be found around $400 plus FFL and shipping at gunbroker. Make sure it has the screwed in barrel. And the 7.62 x 39 can deliver a potent punch without a doubt.
 
Okay so my buddy wants to get a new rifle to take away the pain of breaking his leg in football. He really wants a SKS and at the most recent gun show I found a few but didnt really like them. On the other hand I got to talking to a gentleman about them and he said just save up and by a AK47.....
Click to expand...
I think you answered your own question..... ;)
But MY opinion is AK all day everyday, I couldn't careless about a SKS.
 
To be honest, I'd say an AR-15. The availability of cheap 7.62x39 going forward concerns me given the idiocy of a certain Russian president, and our president's distaste for all things firearm and importation thereof.
 
I have both and at $400 for an sks and $550 for an AK, buy the AK imo. I have had a paratrooper sks-m (takes detachable AK magazines) for a while and like it a lot, but I just acquired a standard SKS and after one range trip am pretty much over it. Hate loading it, ergonomics are ho hum for me, and that extra barrel length kills it for me.
 
I had an SKS for several years and never was a fan of it. The Yugo model I had in particular was just very forward heavy and I didn't like the feel of it. I ended up selling it.

I don't own an AK but have fired one. It LOOKS like it would be terrible but when you actually pick one up they don't handle too bad.

Between the two I'd opt for the AK.
 
I have both the SKS and AK-47 and I like them both. When my son and I go to the range of course he likes the AK-47 but to tell the truth I would probably pick the SKS anyway. I'm a big fan of the SKS and I feel they are more accurate and easy to shoot than the AK-47. Even though there is minimal recoil with the AK it's almost nonexistent in the SKS.

If your friend wants an SKS he won't be disappointed IMO. They are quick to reload with 10 round stripper clips.
 
If he wants the AK, check the Zastava O PAP . It feels really good once shouldered bec of the longer buttstock.

zastavam70o-pap.jpg
 
Last edited:
Lets be honest, at current prices for SKS and low-end AK47s, dollar for dollar the AK is a much better deal. The only thing the SKS really has a significant advantage is in a historical value since they are not made anymore.

SKS is cool, but they are really over priced right now. I don't think they will be going down ever, I don't think there have been any imported recently.
 
Between a cheap Century AK and an SKS, I would take the SKS. The AK just feels short and awkard. IMO, it's not all that comfortable to shoot. The SKS is a more traditionally styled rifle, and at least for me that seems to work better. And the $100-$200 difference in price would buy a lot of 7.62x39 ammo.

If your buddy wants an SKS, he won't regret buying one.
 
Last edited:
Having owned and shot many variants of each, I have come to not like the AK as much as the SKS. As others have suggested, some like blondes, other brunettes, yet others redheads. I think what clinches it for me is the machinework in the SKS that is not evident in the AK. It is more old school, and has a conventional rifle architecture rather than the pistolgrip. Even more I like the SVT40! The SVT40 and SKS just seem to me to be better made, and just look nicer to my way of seeing things.

One nice thing about the used gun market, if you get a nice example of either, shoot it for awhile, and grow disenchanted, you can always sell or trade for something else.

Too, your uses for the rifle may dictate which would be the better choice. For me, I employ slow fire, pause, rest, fire again. Others like bump firing.

With out of the box triggers in comparison, I prefer the AK or "Garand" style trigger for feel, but with a trigger job, the SKS really is a pleasant alternative.
 
AK takedown is much easier, quicker, simpler.
SKS requires some strong arm-wrestling, couple of skinned knuckles, and some loss of religion (my personal experience, anyhow).

I no longer own an SKS, but have owned a few. Still got my AKs.
 
^ Normandy, you must be doing it wrong. That's all I'm saying.

I prefer the SKS, but the OP didn't specify what his friend was going to use the gun for. If it involves any type of defensive use or wanting to make the gun "tacticool", get the AK.

If it involves mostly target shooting and hunting, SKS all the way. Make sure to stick with an un-bastardized, original military issue SKS with the wood stock and fixed 10 round magazine. Tell him to thank me later on that one.

Now if it's just a knock-about plinking gun... again I say SKS. :uhoh:

Hear me out, and this is just personal opinion, but I find the SKS and it's stripper clip system really fun to operate, more funner than mag changes on an AK. There's something really satisfying stripping those rounds off into the magazine with that "kl-kl-kl-kl-kl-kl-kl" sound. I enjoy the soft SKS recoil, and prefer the longer sight radius and more muzzle heavy feel vs. an AK, it just makes it easier to hit things with it. Also, I think the SKS is more fun because they all come with bayonets and you can atack cardboard boxes and melons with them!

So yeah... tell him to get an SKS, or get both!
 
I have a Norinco SKS and a Zastava N-PAP AK-47. I will not be getting rid of ether of them any time soon. In fact I am always looking for a good price on a SKS, AK or handgun chambered in 7.62 x 25.
 
I have both. You can debate for days, but its his gun and his choice. Neither is wrong nor right. There's a difference between helping him out and telling him what to do.

Good luck regardless and tell us what he ends up getting
 
It was one thing when you could get a SKS for 80 bucks. Today they are almost as much as an AK. Of course he might like the SKS more. Go to a gun show and fondle both and see what he walks away with.
 
If he wants an SKS, he wants an SKS. Having shot both extensively, I much prefer a light 16" AK, though.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

D
  • Locked
Selling the SKS for an AK47
2
Replies
28
Views
1K
Adam123
A
B
  • Locked
What is more fun to shoot, AK47 or SKS?
2 3
Replies
53
Views
3K
XD-40 Shooter
X
X
  • Locked
Why the SKS is a better than the AK47 for civilian use
2
Replies
40
Views
5K
javjacob
J
S
  • Locked
SKS just as good as an AK 47?
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Replies
211
Views
10K
Art Eatman
A
M
  • Locked
ak47/sks and a thompson
Replies
7
Views
757
marlas1too
M
Back
Top