Tricking out an SKS. What are some practical suggestions?

[Mudcat Stew]

Picked up a Norinco SKS the other day. It was $200, had a bright bore and was mechanically sound, though I did have to put a bit of time into removing the cosmoline.

My impetus to purchase one, was my discovery of a 160 rds. of ammo I had from a previous one that I owned.... Not that I need much of a reason to buy a gun. Guns are cool and I suppose that is enough reason in and of itself.

The only modifications to the weapon I have noticed are that the bayonet and cleaning rod are gone, and that the front sight has been replaced with an aftermarket.

I was getting a 3 inch group at 50 yds. using the hood of my car as a "rest". This weapon shot much better than my first and I suspect that the trigger may have had a bit of work.

All in all, I felt pretty good about the gun after that and have decided to make it my SHTF assault weapon, should I ever need one.

Before a discussion ensues about how for a few bucks more I could have had a this or that and how much better they are than my lil' SKS. Let me say, I am not to interested in that discourse. I like the gun and am thinking about tricking it out.

They make collapsible stocks (about 70-80 skins), and I am considering that. Never owned a gun that had one. What are the con's if any to such a choice?

I have thought about a scope. Seems "see thru" type receiver mounts are readily available, so your iron sights aren't unusable. I don't like mount the position for obvious reasons, but have heard epoxy seems to help. Anybody had success with scoping an SKS that way?

Stripper clips and the factory mag work for fairly quick reloading. But high capacity mags is another question. Has anyone had successful experience or feeding problems with them? Do stripper clips work with them?

For the record, I am a bit of a tightwad and am looking at inexpensive improvements that actually have merit at improving the weapons performance.

Regards,

Mudcat

 

[firemanstrickland]

Tapco man, tapco. need i say more?

 

[bigfatdave]

leave it stock, the only thing most SKSs need is nicer iron sights, I'd go with Tech-Sights, as they ount to a non-moving part of the gun.

Mounting a scope will either require drilling and tapping and a goofy side-mount, or can be done badly to the dust cover or gas tube cover, both of which will move relative to the barrel/action

 

[Shadow 7D]

don't
save your money and blow it on more ammo and something like tec or Mojo sights

 

[25cschaefer]

I bought a dust cover with scope mounts built in with a cheapy 4 power scope for like 20 bucks on ebay and it would hit 4 inch groups at 100yds which was way above my expectations and the scope was short enough for stripper clips. I bought a 30 rd mag but had to beat it into place, had to use screwdriver to take it out, so I just left it in place and fed it with strippers. I would have a jam, usually fail to feed, about every 40-60 rds.

 

[greenlion]

The most practical suggestions; A Murray's firing pin with return spring to prevent slamfires, and replace any super stiff trigger group springs with new ones to improve the trigger pull. Other than that, leave it stock.

 

[bigfatdave]

Murray's firing pin with return spring to prevent slamfires

oh, yes, I forgot that
(mine is waiting for a project day to go in - I want some before and after brass to compare)

 

[Mudcat Stew]

Thanks for the responses so far.

@firemanstrickland

I was looking at a Tapco collapsible stock. I dunno if there is much advantaged to it in regards to overall weight and so forth. They do look really cool though.

Do you think firing a rifle with a pistol grips creates problems or does it make and easier pull?

@Shadow 7D

Thanks for the advice, I'll check out the sights you mentioned.

@25cshaefer
Should have said "dust cover" in my OP. I was looking at that sort of thing, like you have installed. I haven't taken mine at a 100 yds with open sights, but if there is significant deviation, I may add a scope.


@greenlion
I have the rifle as clean as a whistle, are slam fires something the SKS is prone to when not gunked with cosmo?

@CJ 74
I dunno what markings should be expected, but the aftermarket front sight was originally a white sight that someone very poorly painted red on the observable part.

I picked it up at a pawn shop. I am guessing the previous owner made a the inexpensive modification of installing a smaller diameter front sight and removed the weight of the bayonet and cleaning rod for better handling. Just a guess of course.

D24073106 is on the reciever, all other visible numbers match the 73106. I agree the cosmo makes me thinks it was surplus as well... but I don't know enough about the Norinco SN# to tell.

All in all for a couple of hundred dollars I think it was a good buy.

Kind regards to all,

Mudcat

 

[firemanstrickland]

Mudcat, I had a yugo (recently sold) outfitted with the t6 stock and tapco's gas piston and piston chamber (chamber took slight modification), and the full size verticle grip. Personally i loved the pistol grip, but thats something you are gonna have to try on for yourself. and not to start a fight but alot of the guys here will try to tell you ah leave it how it is, dont add stuff do it like vg's bipods' and colapsible stocks. but why? honestly. this is a HOBBY rite? we all enjoy this. so why not make it more fun. come on guys. Try it on for size if you think you might like it, and I can attest to Tapco's customer service, TOP NOTCH. couldnt ask for more, Good luck mudcat, let me know if i can help.


have a look see= http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/ItemListing.aspx?pagesize=1000&catid=2198

 

[billdeserthills]

I just noticed that www.centerfiresystems.com
is selling a 75 round drum for the SKS- need I say more??
Scroll down to "SKS" and then click on accessories, it is
on page 2 at the bottom

 

[savage1r]

Center balance systems has a pretty sweet "spike" bullpup stock.

 

[Vaarok]

Techsights, a Kiivari triggerjob, Murray firing pin mod.

Maybe. All of them are pretty much lipstick on a pig. It's a SKS, it's meant to work, put holes in a man-size target out to 300, and load from strippers. Simple, soldierproof.

 

[wlewisiii]

For what you want, get a different rifle. Or learn to live with the SKS. It's a good carbine, but it's not what, it seems to me, that you are looking for.

 

[bigfatdave]

ignore those who say the rifle is a pig. It is a fantastic rifle.

correctBut it isn't barbie, and it isn't "tacticool" even though it IS a real battle rifle designed with real tactics in mind, rather than a mall-ninja black plastic accessory-hanger.

I respect my SKS for what it was designed to be, a simple and reliable rifle issued to ignorant peasant soldiers in many cases. If I tried to turn it into a wannabe assault rifle (which it ISN'T, as it isn't select-fire, and "assault weapon" is a nonsense phrase dreamed up by the idiots at the Brady Campaign) I'm sure I would be disappointed.

 

[shiftyer1]

I really enjoyed the tapco t-6 stock on my chinese sks's. Never had 1 issue and they seemed to be handier to me. Folding stocks break often but it seems collapsible lasts quite a bit longer to repeated beatings. Yes, so does wood but you don't get the versatility.

I have had one slam fire so I always recommend the firing pin spring, aside from that they are/were cheap and are excellant at what they were made for.

 

[Beak50]

On My Paratrooper I had a Pistol Grip"All I did at work was drill a hole in the rear of the trigger group to install.I had a Flash hider but couldn't use the spike Bayonet with it.I mounted a Leaper's compact 3x9,Had 20,30 and 50rnd clip's for it.and a special ribbed steel tube to cool it down faster then the wooden handguard you alway's see on sks's.I still don't believe I sold it but they were practically $50.00 a piece back then before the gun ban."gun Ban"what a waste of time and tax payer's money.Join the N.R.A. I'm a lifer

 

[Patrick_Henry]

Hey Mudcat!

Don't be to discouraged by some of the advice you are getting on here. The SKS is an awesome rifle and can fit the role you want it to play, but only if you make the correct changes.

The TAPCO stock works fine, I have used several of them on SKSs and AKs with no problems through what is now probably several thousand rounds. In my experience the pistol grip increases how well most SKS rifles handle.

If you want after market mags the TAPCO ones really are the only good ones, the old USA mags are reliable but they aren't nearly as easy to change. The 20 round TAPCOs swap nearly as easy as an AK mag. I wouldn't try to use anything else as the other mags tend to be unreliable and difficult to swap out. I have HEARD that the TAPCO bolt will also allow you to swap mags without the bolt being locked back, but I have never had need to use one so check me on this one, TAPCO's website seems to be down right now.

I would also recommend adding the Tech Sites, as several others have mentioned. These add significantly to the accuracy of the SKS at longer ranges. The dust cover scope mounts are less than usable and because the SKS ejects out the top you will either have to use a shorter scope or a shell deflector to keep ejected brass from beating up your optics.

If you do anything to it though, make sure that you are 922r compliant. There is good info on this in our archives and at sksboards.com

 

[Michael R.]

i would throw some tech-sights on that if i were you
http://www.tech-sights.com/

 

[Japle]

I went with the Tapco stock and 20 rnd mags and a 2X scout scope.
The cheek piece was designed for an AR, but works fine on the Tapco stock.

 

[firemanstrickland]

Why on earth would some of you tell the man " o...well! it looks like you have the wrong rifle for what you wanna do! get an AR or AK"

THats just ignorant, the guy said hes on a pretty tight budget with a 200 dollar rifle and you tell him to go buy another?....come on guys....if you dont have any good advise to give keep it to yourself

 

[Mudcat Stew]

Thanks again all for the input.

I understand there is a bit of disparagement from some of the posters on the SKS. I don't plan on getting into that sort of line of discussion, but thanks for your comments.

Sounds like Tapco is the way to go if I want to replace the stock.

Thanks for the Tech Sights link. I have never done well with peep type sights in the past, but this is likely due to a lack of training.

I am curious if the Tech Sights will work with one of those "see through" dust cover scope mounts?

@ Patrick Henry
Thanks for the thoughtful response and all the info.

All the best,

Mudcat

 

[henschman]

+1 for Tech Sights. It is amazing how much it improves practical marksmanship to go from tangent sights to aperture sights, and to double the sight radius. The Tech Sights give you both. Plus they don't mess up your ability to load from stripper clips, the way most scopes do. Unless you have eye issues, you don't need a scope to put an SKS to use within the ranges it is effective at. If you know your come-ups, anything man-sized under 400 yards is dead meat with those Tech Sights.

 

[Andrew Wyatt]

Stay away from tapco.

Put tech sights on the gun.

wipe hands on pants.

 

[brow_tines]

I went with the Tapco stock and 20 rnd mags and a 2X scout scope.
The cheek piece was designed for an AR, but works fine on the Tapco stock.

I'm thinking about buying one, found one for $225 with around 300 rounds. And this is what I would do

 

[Onward Allusion]

Since it's a ChiCom SKS, get the Chinese fixed 20 round mag and a bunch of 10 round stripper clips. You'll find that it's almost as fast as swapping out mags on an AK. It's also a heck of a lot lighter than carrying around a bunch of loaded mags. Invest in some decent sights, a spring loaded firing pin, & a 2" butt pad. Other than that, I'd keep everything else stock and spend the money on ammo.

BTW, receiver scope mounts don't hold zero. It'll be an exercise in frustration.