The sks rifle. your thoughts

[230RN]

I have two. One is a full-up folding bayonet, grenade launcher, kit, and sling, which is so pristine it was either NIB or issued to an officer. Nice soft recoil because of weight and gas action. Haven't shot it much but it seems to hit where I look. I liked the gas valve because I could prevent it from throwing brass around and I could single-load it., I put in an "anti-slamfire-firing pin" from https://murraysguns.com/sks-firing-pins/ . I did this because I was expecting to use mostly American ammo, which supposedly had softer priner cups and were more prone to double taps and mag dumps in those guns. That was the wisdom at the time.

I got a Norinco equivalent to a "Ranch Rifle" with no goodies which would not function at all until I completely stripped it down to parts and cleaned it. Shot fine after that, but on viewing the trigger group, I disliked the complicated mechanism including that long disconnector arrangement and the fact that the magazine catch spring was also the trigger spring. Worked fine, but I just disliked the arrangement, and since it was a widely-used infantry rifle, I guessed it all worked out despite my concern.

That one became my "corner of the room by the front door" rifle for a long time. It's now in my bedroom with a spray can cap on the muzzle to keep bugs out, and I keep a half-dozen full stripper clips around.

Terry, 230RN

 

[chicharrones]

I still have my Norinco commercial version I bought "unissued" back in the day.

Dead nuts reliable. Came with a super crappy trigger that I modified some to be regular crappy. Accuracy is a let down if paper punching. Accuracy not so bad for shooting bigger targets.

I only keep my Norinco for sentimental reasons since it was the first firearm I ever purchased. If a nice Spanish FR8 would have been on the rack next to it back then, I'd have that gun instead.

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

Tomorrow finally i should make it to the gun club. Im taking the SKS and my AR ''47'S''.

 

[Bazoo]

I owned for years, and shot several thousands of rounds through an SKS. It was a great gun; Solid, rugged, reliable. I wish I still had it.

 

[maxxhavoc]

With good ammo it should do much better than that unless it has a problem of some sort.

I agree on the Garand and Swedish Mauser accuracy #s.

It's a Norinco if that matters. I put tech-sights on it assuming the short sight radius was a big part of the issue, but not really. Similar results, just made it harder to disassemble and reassemble, so I piut it back to stock. Maybe I'll take a look to see what it's issue is if the consensus is that there is more accuracy in there somewhere. It was $100 brand new in cosmoline, including 2 spam cans of Chinese ammo. It has been WAY more fun than it cost.

As far as the ammo, my Ruger American Ranch throws the same Wolf/Tulammo into 1.5" groups...not a fair comparison though.

 

[silicosys4]

A shot of the sporter. A buddy of mine had the thumbhole stocked version. I like the thumbhole version much better, if I can ever find a stock for sale.

 

[Hillbilly Hydrographics]

The Yugo I have kept over the years is a miss matched so no real collector value and the stock took some pinning and wood filler to smooth it up. But it is a great shooter compared to others I've had is why it has stayed with me. Since it doesn't hold a higher value I did a hydrographic finish on the stock and added a saddle mount pic rail which has a red dot on it now. Here's what she looked like when I first got the hydrographics finished and everything reassembled.

 

[JohnKSa]

... Maybe I'll take a look to see what it's issue is if the consensus is that there is more accuracy in there somewhere. It was $100 brand new in cosmoline, including 2 spam cans of Chinese ammo. It has been WAY more fun than it cost.

There have been some posting here that they were able to get 2-3MOA from one which is what I would expect with good ammo. The really cheap import stuff probably won't provide the best results.

 

[Show Me]

Piece of the wrong side of history. Helps to have cheep ammo. Stands guard over many homes. Just fine to have owners pride. Those that naively complain about accuracy are wanting to make a drag racer out of a tow truck . I had a plastic stock made in china version that was my first center fire hunting rifle. My brothers friends have it for farm rifle . Just my thoughts.

 

[chicharrones]

There have been some posting here that they were able to get 2-3MOA from one which is what I would expect with good ammo. The really cheap import stuff probably won't provide the best results.

Very true. I mostly blasted steel case commie ammo out of mine. The only brass cased American ammo I tried was still range fodder, but it came in prettier packaging.

 

[Big_Al]

I have one that was purchased many years ago. Less than $100 I got the rifle, cleaning kit & bandolier and small can of ammo. It's reliable, seems a little clunky and accuracy is ok considering the sights & my old eyes. I wouldn't pay current prices for one.

 

[cfullgraf]

I have two that I purchased around 1990's. They work but accuracy is nothing to write home about.

I got involved in Service Rifle competition and even a basic Colt Match Target AR-15 was more accurate than the SKS. As Col. Whelen said, only accurate rifles are interesting.

 

[HB]

I have two that I purchased around 1990's. They work but accuracy is nothing to write home about.

I got involved in Service Rifle competition and even a basic Colt Match Target AR-15 was more accurate than the SKS. As Col. Whelen said, only accurate rifles are interesting.

I sold mine after purchasing an AR pistol. Shooting them back to back on paper at 100 yards, both with peep sights, the AR pistol halved the groups of the SKS. I suppose I am not a collector.

The SKS does have an interesting look and design but it was obsolete before they were ever fielded.

 

[35 Whelen]

Many years ago Century Arms ran a U-Fix-Em special on Yugo SKS; buy three and pay $99 each, so I did! They all had very minor cracks in the stocks. I sold two, kept one to which I added a Tech Sight and it was reasonably accurate at 100 yds. with commercial ammunition-

But I personally thought it was too long and too heavy for what it was, so I got rid of it.

Fast forward several years and I decided I wanted something of the utility variety to carry on the tractor and in the pickup/ATV in the pasture, so I grabbed one of the grease-covered Chinese SKS's from Atlantic firearms. It fit the bill perfectly and is ideal for the hogs that wonder up to the house from the creek.

The only thing worse than all the grease was the front sight that was about the size of a baseball bat. I replaced it with a .072" KNS which made a HUGE difference in accuracy.

I have to chuckle at 200 yard torso hits being realistic and adequate, but again that's up to you.

I have to chuckle at your chuckling. This is the 200 yd. target I fired with my Chinese SKS and commercial ammunition in the process of regulating the POI with the new front sight. First shot was low, adjusted the front sight, the next three were high, made the final adjustment and fired the last six-

On that note and after reading posts on forums for years, I've about decided that what many shooters deem as a lack accuracy in firearms, really boils down to the fact that as a group, they have become very dependent on aiming devices that either use batteries or reticles (or both) and mostly don't understand how to use iron and aperture sights. Just my 2¢...

35W

 

[d2wing]

Many years ago Century Arms ran a U-Fix-Em special on Yugo SKS; buy three and pay $99 each, so I did! They all had very minor cracks in the stocks. I sold two, kept one to which I added a Tech Sight and it was reasonably accurate at 100 yds. with commercial ammunition-

But I personally thought it was too long and too heavy for what it was, so I got rid of it.

Fast forward several years and I decided I wanted something of the utility variety to carry on the tractor and in the pickup/ATV in the pasture, so I grabbed one of the grease-covered Chinese SKS's from Atlantic firearms. It fit the bill perfectly and is ideal for the hogs that wonder up to the house from the creek.

The only thing worse than all the grease was the front sight that was about the size of a baseball bat. I replaced it with a .072" KNS which made a HUGE difference in accuracy.




I have to chuckle at your chuckling. This is the 200 yd. target I fired with my Chinese SKS and commercial ammunition in the process of regulating the POI with the new front sight. First shot was low, adjusted the front sight, the next three were high, made the final adjustment and fired the last six-

On that note and after reading posts on forums for years, I've about decided that what many shooters deem as a lack accuracy in firearms, really boils down to the fact that as a group, they have become very dependent on aiming devices that either use batteries or reticles (or both) and mostly don't understand how to use iron and aperture sights. Just my 2¢...

35W

Wow. You proved me wrong. I was able to get decent accuracy from a Saiga, but I didn't have any luck with my SKS or other AK's. I am surprised and kudos to you.

 

[d2wing]

Yeah, I didn't have any luck with rear cover mounted scopes either since it wasn't tight. With the Saiga I mounted a side mount scope and used commercial ammo. I was able to get sub 3 inch groups as I recall. I didn't use handloads. I though only Saiga's were capable of decent accuracy and didn't believe claims of accuracy with any SKS but I believe your posts. Thanks. But still range is an issue for me.

 

[Terry G]

I bought two NIB Chinese SKS's from NORINCO. One Standard and one "Paratrooper". Both have been good shooters, my Son nailed his first Whitetail with the Paratrooper. I also bought five Yugoslavian 59/66's on a $600.00 delivered to my door as C&R. All brand new, and thankfully no cosmoline. I sold one recently for $650.00 and was told later that I sold too cheap.

 

[Twisted Chemist]

Never had one. Many swear by them but I'll stick to my MAADI AKM.

 

[230RN]

I have two that I purchased around 1990's. They work but accuracy is nothing to write home about.

I got involved in Service Rifle competition and even a basic Colt Match Target AR-15 was more accurate than the SKS. As Col. Whelen said, only accurate rifles are interesting.

Heh. And Jack O'Connor supposedly said he wasn't interested in ten-shot groups, five shot groups. or even three-shot groups. He was only interested in the one-shot group.

Terry, 230RN

 

[greyling22]

I sold my norinco after I shot 30 rounds at a piece of computer paper off a sandbag at 100 yds, then shot 30 out of an AR @ a sheet next to it. Using irons.
Sks: 11 rounds on paper.
Ar: 30 rounds on paper.

My cousins and brothers are more accurate. Trigger/sear engagements on all 3 are crude to the point of rubbish, and the firing pin/firing pin block on the one that got shot the most were of such poor quality they wore to the point where the firing pin jammed in the forward position and caused slamfires. Easy enough to replace, but definitely not quality parts.

That said, I like the overall design, especially on the 16" "paratrooper" version. I wish the scoped better (my eyes are garbage) and were lighter. I also wish I bought a vz58 when they were $400. Oh well.....

 

[Savage30L]

I used to have an AK, then a Mini-30, but got rid of both. I had about 3K rounds of assorted 7.62X39 ammo squirreled away around the house, with no gun to shoot them. Then I inherited a Norinco SKS (not NIB but in great shape) along with another 1.5K or so of ammo. Which brings me to the chief virtue of the SKS: in my case, it costs me almost nothing to shoot it.

I haven't shot it much yet, just a few dozen rounds to see where it shoots, and I'm getting about 5MOA with it using the iron sights. I have plenty of scoped, quality rifles for hunting and don't need the SKS to be a tack driver. I keep it in the (extremely unlikely) event that I should ever have to confront rioters at close range.

A comment about SKS accuracy: Historically, Soviet military doctrine did not emphasize marksmanship for conscript troops. Small arms were to be used by such troops to pin down adversaries with bulk fire until the artillery could be trained on them, after which the enemy would be blown to smithereens. What the Soviets wanted, and got, was a simple, rugged, reliable firearm that would work in harsh environments for poorly trained conscripts. Within those parameters, the SKS is about as good a semi-auto carbine as I can think of.

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

Had mine out today. I was nailing the steel out to 200 yards. I took it and my one AR in 7.62x39. It was great to get out. Tomorrow the weather looks good too. 223 day.

 

[CapnMac]

What the Soviets wanted, and got, was a simple, rugged, reliable firearm that would work in harsh environments for poorly trained conscripts.

Very much the case.
In 1946, after what they called The Great Patriotic War, the Soviets looked at the weapons used, and what it had taken to manufacture them. So, that looked like the meter and a half long Moisin, a couple of carbine variants of same; 2.5 versions of self-loading rifles; and four different SMG. All of which had presented manufacturing difficulties (especially the self-loaders) during the just barely four years of the GPW.

They had seen any number of weapons pointed at them, and they really cottoned to the notion of the intermediate cartridge. Any one who has cranked on a Moisin bolt knows why they were keen to get a self-loader.

Simonov's self-loading carbine looked like a winner to the Soviets. They also embraced the notion of Kalishinov's automatic carbine to replace all their SMGs, too. After reviewing the Korean War, the Soviets dropped the notion of SMGs in their massed formations, and quietly dropped the SKS in favor of the AK. Especially since, by 1953, the AKM, with its simplified stamped construction was finally available.

Most of the limitations of the SKS come from how it only really got about 5 years of "product improvement" over its service life from 1947 to 1956-7 (when it was widely exported as surplus). The AK line was tweaked and improved for close to two decades in 7.62x39, and having nearly all the Warsaw Pact nations tweak their own nationally-made versions. This slowed a bit, in the seventies, with the switch to 5.45x39, but never really stopped.

 

[Lefty38-55]

SKS prices for a Russian and Norinco, near Boston as of 08Feb24 - yikes! But that shop is notorious for high prices …

 

[bigpower491]

I've got the original Norinco I bought 30 some yrs ago. Over the yrs I've had a few others, some Yugos, but as I got into other things I sold them off. Never found a decent enough Russian at a fair price to own one. Speaking of prices, I'll be at the OVMS Show of Shows in Louisville KY in a couple weeks. Last yr the Norincos were average $750, Russians a hundred or so more. They're way over priced these days IMO, but most other things are also.
I will tell you all what I wished I would've bought a few of back in the day. Tokarev SVT40. Back around '98-'99, you could get one with 2 mags for $189. I usually see them, and that's not very often, at right around $2800. If you can find the mags, they're right around 200 per. Kick myself in the backside for being dime wise and dollar stupid back then....