SKS vs AR

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Both are $700 +
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you're shopping the wrong places if those are the prices you are seeing for those rifles. Buds has the Sport, at this very moment, for $609 and free shipping. I've seen the Sport advertised below $550. http://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/...71969/S&W+M&P15+Sport+30+1+223REM5.56NATO+16"

On the topic, if I had a choice btween a $110 SKS and a $700 AR (prices I paid for my personal examples).....I might got with the SKS. With prices on both approaching $500, I'd buy the AR every time.
 
I just put together an AR using del-ton lower and PSA's PTAC upper (on sale) for $430. I realize this is no match gun and I am OK with it. This is an AR for predator control around my cows and chickens (aka mangy coyotes). I do know that it will outshoot my SKS in terms of accuracy and reliability. Just sayin.
Both are fun but its not really fair to compare the SKS to the AR platform even if the price of the SKS is inflated to be close to the AR.
 
AR or SKS? Depends on the job. You don't wear oxford dress shoes for a run, but you can't put a shine on a sneaker.

SKS is inherently less accurate and more crude without the ability to add all sorts of wonderful toys but it's cheaper to own and cheaper to shoot. With the prices on 5.56 doing the panic bounce that may be a consideration for the guy who rips through 30-round mags during a plinking session - sometimes it's better to have to reload after every 10 with ammo that costs a third less. On the other hand, when the idea of making golf balls jump at 150+ yards is the order of the day the AR is the right tool for the job.

Get both and use them for their best purpose.
 
Davek1977 said:
you're shopping the wrong places if those are the prices you are seeing for those rifles. Buds has the Sport, at this very moment, for $609 and free shipping. I've seen the Sport advertised below $550. http://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/...71969/S&W+M&P15+Sport+30+1+223REM5.56NATO+16"

On the topic, if I had a choice btween a $110 SKS and a $700 AR (prices I paid for my personal examples).....I might got with the SKS. With prices on both approaching $500, I'd buy the AR every time.
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I just clicked on the links of the first post.

I think I'm gonna go AR. Since I will be loading, the. 300blk is tempting. Gotta start googling
 
A ton (the majority) of what your hearing is subjective opinion from people that love their AR's. Numbers alone suggests the AR is worth a look, but none the less they are opinions and no one will know what yours will be.

I personally have owned an AR and an SKS. I have sold them both, I wouldn't sell the SKS if I had it to do over again. The AR I don't miss at all, I wish I'd have sold it sooner so I could finance another gun, one that I actually like.

I'd suggest you buy a couple hundred rounds and find a buddy with an AR. It should be easy as everyone other than me owns one.

My 2¢, worth exactly what you paid for it.
 
DeepSouth said:
A ton (the majority) of what your hearing is subjective opinion from people that love their AR's. Numbers alone suggests the AR is worth a look, but none the less they are opinions and no one will know what yours will be.

I personally have owned an AR and an SKS. I have sold them both, I wouldn't sell the SKS if I had it to do over again. The AR I don't miss at all, I wish I'd have sold it sooner so I could finance another gun, one that I actually like.

I'd suggest you buy a couple hundred rounds and find a buddy with an AR. It should be easy as everyone other than me owns one.

My 2¢, worth exactly what you paid for it.
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That's a good idea
 
Go for the AR-15 build. While I like that platform I have both and both are a lot of fun. As you are building take your time and shop around. Carefully select and buy your parts and make the best rifle you can. You'll learn a lot about the operating system and how different rifling twist rates, leade lengths, etc. affect ballistics. I like the AR-15 but it's hard to beat the SKS.
 
I would definitely want to shoot an AR before I bought one. There are differences between them and your average deer rifle. I know people use them to hunt and do so effectively but I'd want a different rifle for hunting. That's just my preference I guess but to me an AR. So if you're thinking of using the AR to hunt at all I'd strongly suggest you give one a try. The AR's I've shot were accurate but they weren't bolt action rifle accurate. And I've shot quite a few AR's. Even the AR-10 I shot (in .308) couldn't compare with the bolt gun I had with me that day. We were shooting at targets right at 500 yards away and the AR was close but I can nail a target with that bolt action rifle at that distance. I can't do it every time because wind works on a .223 bullet at that distance but most of the time I am on target though. Not so with the AR I shot and it was a solid build with a good brand name although I can't remember what it was now. I just remember thinking it was a good rifle and it was. But if you're primary focus is hunting I'd have to say a bolt action rifle is better.

I know this isn't actually relevant to the OP's question. I'm just adding this info in case there is some question of using the AR to hunt.
 
As Cee Zee said above bolt rifles are inherently more accurate than either the AR or SKS. If you are going to get into reloading, the bolt rifle may have more room for developing super accurate combos as opposed to the semi-autos. Just a though. 300 blackout is basically a semi auto 30-30.
 
ldlfh7 said:
As Cee Zee said above bolt rifles are inherently more accurate than either the AR or SKS. If you are going to get into reloading, the bolt rifle may have more room for developing super accurate combos as opposed to the semi-autos. Just a though. 300 blackout is basically a semi auto 30-30.
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Sold my tikka t3 lite stainless. 270 about 4 months ago. Been there done that.
 
I'd rather have a super nice SKS, than a crappy AR-15. That's what you're looking at for $550.

The SKS is a soft shooting, powerful, reliable and fun rifle that reminds me of a "20th century lever gun."
 
rduchateau2954 said:
Shtf gun.
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What does your SHTF look like? AR is far more accurate, just as reliable, way faster to reload, easier to get parts for, easier to modify to suit particular needs, takes more of a variety of ammo for different uses, less subject to corrosion and easier to get support gear for. Seems like a slam dunk to me. The single thing that the SKS has going for it is cheaper ammo and if thats an issue you'd be better off with an AK.
 
I agree AR is a good idea. I have heard some people say a 550 AR is crappy. Most of the parts of all of them are made by one of 4 factory's to the same spec and they are interchangeable mostly. I I have never shot an AR that is less than 1.5 MOA. This puzzled me until I saw guys shooting at the range. Yeah the way some people shoot neither is accurate. Tested by rated expert and certified instructor like me there is a big difference in accuracy.
 
d2wing said:
I agree AR is a good idea. I have heard some people say a 550 AR is crappy. Most of the parts of all of them are made by one of 4 factory's to the same spec and they are interchangeable mostly. I I have never shot an AR that is less than 1.5 MOA. This puzzled me until I saw guys shooting at the range. Yeah the way some people shoot neither is accurate. Tested by rated expert and certified instructor like me there is a big difference in accuracy.
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Yes, you're half right. A lot of ar parts are made by the same small handful manufacturers and branded accordingly. The differences the tolerances, a high tolerance mated pair of forged receivers from MWI is going to be better in fit and finish than your 40 dollar bravo company blems. The difference, one rifle will fit together beautifully and the other will rattle like a spray paint can. Apply accordingly to barrels, hand guards, etc. fit and finish matter people, and at the end of the day the thousand dollar LMT will our perform your 550 dollar smith and Wesson in every category. Most people will never shoot their ar-15 enough to ever see this though, so make your decision based on your shooting habits when it comes to ARs.
 
Cee Zee said:
If that's the best your SKS will do there's a problem with it. Mine will do 1"-2" at 50 yards all day long. They are generally pretty accurate IMO. I remember when I bought mine the whole deal with them was that they were cheap AND accurate.
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#1 problem with my SKS is, while it may have good accuracy potential, it is harder to shoot well than any other rifle I own.

Yes, it will do fairly tight 3-shot groups at 50 yards or even respectable 3-shot groups at 100 yards. However, once that barrel warms after a magazine full, it's basketball time. That's why I was referring to plinking and not shooting for groups.
 
I have both. I paid $69 for the SKS and around $600 for the AR. If I had another $600 hundred burning a hole in my pocket I would get another AK-47.
 
less subject to corrosion
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I would agree with all your points except this one. My Norinco has never developed a speck of rust despite firing thousands of rounds of corrosive ammo through it and not bothering to clean the bore with anything. My Yugo didn't take too well to that treatment though. It got some rust in the bore in no time after I shot some corrosive rounds and didn't clean it. I got rid of the rust quickly and never shot it again without cleaning it but aside from that problem it never had corrosion issues either.

However, once that barrel warms after a magazine full, it's basketball time.
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I just never had that problem even with a barrel so hot it had the stock smoking. BTW that's one failing of the SKS. They do run hot. Very hot. But that probably had more to do with me running 30 rounds through mine in a few seconds then loading another mag and doing it again. They weren't really built to do that.
 
Cee Zee said:
I would agree with all your points except this one. My Norinco has never developed a speck of rust despite firing thousands of rounds of corrosive ammo through it and not bothering to clean the bore with anything. My Yugo didn't take too well to that treatment though. It got some rust in the bore in no time after I shot some corrosive rounds and didn't clean it. I got rid of the rust quickly and never shot it again without cleaning it but aside from that problem it never had corrosion issues either.
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Ok. I'll admit that one was a bit of a generalization. Just like your Norinco vs. Yugo it depends on the quality and type of materials of the components of the AR in question. My admittedly limited experience with SKS's has been almost entirely with Yugo's. Sounds like they may be more prone to that issue than others.
 
Chinese SKS Select Used at Aimsurplus . Still a good deal for the budget minded. Its battle proven in Nam and all the revolutionary hotspots in the world that calls for freedom or what not.
 
7.62x39 hole size is 2x of 5.56 and give you some recoil to have the feel of shooting a real gun. I have several ARs and AKs, but recently I go shoot my SKSs more. AR is indeed feel like a mouse gun, AK group size is much bigger than SKS. If you can only have one, go AR but you will still come back to AK then SKS.
 
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You mentioned the rifle of your choice would be for SHTF.

The SKS will win the durability and reliability contest over the AR every time
in times where constant meticulous maintenance and servicing products are not available.

If I had to go into the wild with one of these choices with no idea when I would return to civilization, I would take the SKS and my second choice would be an AK47. The AR would not be on the short list.
 
FSJeeper said:
You mentioned the rifle of your choice would be for SHTF.

The SKS will win the durability and reliability contest over the AR every time
in times where constant meticulous maintenance and servicing products are not available.

If I had to go into the wild with one of these choices with no idea when I would return to civilization, I would take the SKS and my second choice would be an AK47. The AR would not be on the short list.
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Come on man. Stop with the wives tales. AR does just fine without a lot of maintenance and babying. Search Filthy 14. You'll be dead a long time before your AR needs cleaned.
 
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