I am glad I got my Chinese SKS when they were selling for $69.00! Use military primers, clean out the firing pin channel, and the slamfire issue is controllable. Unlike Garands or M14’s, which slamfire in battery and out of battery, I have not heard to date of an out of battery slamfire with an SKS. Simonov put design features that really reduce the probability of an out of battery slamfire. It is safety critical to keep the firing pin channel clean to prevent the firing pin from being wedged in a forward position. Here, Murray performs an insanely risky test with an SKS. He has wedged the firing pin forward and the gun fires until the rifle is empty.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xj3QtnUWCwQ The primary reason the rifle does not have an out of battery slamfire is due to the titling breech face design of the mechanism, but given a long enough firing pin, I don’t see any reason why an out of battery slamfire could not happen.
Here is a video of an SKS which the owner claims is well maintained and it slamfires in battery.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPn97vz0Vyw Slamfire reports have been reported in every military rifle with a free floating firing pin, and that includes AR’s, SKS’s, AK’s, FN’s, FAL’s, MAS 49/56’s, Garands, M14’s, M1 carbines, Tavors, etc. The only one without a slamfire report is the German roller bolts.
Look, always be aware that any of these military semi auto's and any civilian semi autos with free floating firing pins can slamfire. Just be aware of your muzzle and wear shooting glasses.
As for the trigger, yes it sucks. Still, I think the SKS an interesting historical design, it was issued in WW2, Korea, Vietnam, and probably a bunch of bush wars that the US never got involved in. So, it is a battle tested design, and a fun rifle.