What is more reliable in YOUR experience, AK or SKS?

[albanian]

Based only on your actual real life experiences (not what you have read or heard others say), what has been more reliable?

I know that many people have not had the chance to shoot both the AK and the SKS so if that is true, please don't vote in the poll but feel free to post a reply stating what you have found. Also, there are many makes and models of AKs and SKS, for this poll, it doesn't matter. I have a SAR-1 and Yugo and Albanian SKSs. My experience is limited to those guns only so I might have the worst AK and the Best SKS or vice versa. It doesn't matter, I am just trying to see if there is a clear winner or if it is too close to call.

 

[Mike Irwin]

Quite frankly, I've never had a malfunction with either.

I own an SKS, and a friend has an AK, and there's not been a single bobble between the two.

 

[goalie]

My SAR-1 = NO Malfunctions of any kind in about 2,500 rounds

SKS a friend has had a stuck case on the very last round of a long shooting session we had one day. I am pretty sure the SKS has 3,000+ rounds through it. Overall, both are pretty darn reliable.

 

[rde]

Can't vote either because I have 2 of each and none of the 4 have ever given me a problem (other than either running out of ammo or not having enough time to go shoot).

 

[DMK]

I can't vote. I'd say they are equally reliable.

I have one SAR-1, which is probably one of the cheapest, lowest quality AK rifles you can get. I have had zero problems with it in over 600 rounds.

I have a whole slew of SKS from various countries and shot thousands of rounds through them. None have ever given me any problems unless I did something dumb with them (like using cheap aftermarket magazines). Perhaps a very poorly maintained Yugo SKS with a corroded gas valve could cause cycling problems, but I'm not going to vote based on that though because it's not something that would happen suddenly. It would happen after a long time of not cleaning your weapon properly.

Albanian, have you ever had any problems with either your SAR or one of your SKS?

 

[G.I.Jew]

I have a Yugo SKS with a crappy gas tube/gas valve fit, and it jams about once every 40 rounds(gotta get a new gas tube). I have put about 2000 rounds through it. I fired an SAR-1 10 times, and it didnt jam. Just for the record, I also fired an AR-15 11 times, and it didn't jam either.

 

[OEF_VET]

I own a SAR-1 that has malfunctioned a few times, but nothing too bad.

I've owned 2 SKS's in the past, a Russian and a Chinese. The Russian would frequently slam-fire and/or go full-auto. The Chinese was set-up for detachable mags when I picked it up. The plastic mag that it came with was as useless as udders on a bull, and the metal one I bought was prone to jamming.

So, given my track record with SKS's and my SAR-1, I voted in favor of the AK. One day, I might try out the Yugo SKS's with the original 10 round mag. However, it would take a really impressive display of reliability to convince me to buy another Simonov carbine.

Frank

 

[Redlg155]

I'm with the rest of the group. I've never had a real problem with either one, SKS or AK.

I will say that when things get down and dirty the AK will probably do a bit better. It definitely has more vigorous ejection than my SKS.

On another note, I did check the velocities between my Russian SKS and Romanian SAR1 AK.

With Wolff 122gr FMJ

AK= 2392 FPS
SKS= 2464 FPS

I expected the SKS would gain a lot more velocity due to the longer barrel length, but that wasn't the case.

Good Shooting
Red

 

[vega]

I heard a lot of Yugo SKS jams a lot. How do you correct this?

vega

 

[PATH]

I have the Norinco short SKS and never a problem. I also have a Norinco AK and again there is no problem. Thousands of low end rounds put through both and they have yet to fail me. I do so love them though!

 

[Captain Scarlet]

AK's have been more reliable

never had a problem with AK's, sometimes my SKS jams during extraction, but very rarely happens...

 

[MiniZ]

I didn't vote, as I have found them equally reliable.

 

[Onslaught]

I didn't vote, as I have found them equally reliable.

Ditto

2 SKS's, 1 AK, no malfunctions.

 

[albanian]

I have had a few FTF jams with my SAR-1 but zero in my five SKSs (now six ). I bought the SAR-1 used and after a good cleaning, it has been 100%. I don't think it had a speck of oil on it when I got it, I think it just needed a little oil.

Both have been very reliable even with the cheapest Russian ammo I can find. I was just wondering if there was a clear winner but it appears as if both are ultra reliable.

 

[glocksman]

My Maadi AK had zero malfunctions.
My WASR-10 hicap can't make it through a magazine without at least 2 or 3 failures to feed (bolt won't close on partially chambered round) due to a canted gas chamber and welded on gas piston.

My Chinese SKS and my Yugo SKS have been utterly reliable.

I vote SKS.

 

[Feanaro]

I've put several hundred rounds(if time and money allowed, it would be thousands...) through my Norinco SKS without a single malfuction, save for a slam-fire on some UMC ammo. I don't really blame the rifle for that, it wasn't designed for soft primer ammo. Went through another box of UMC after that without incident.

Not too much AK experiance(By choice) but all the ones I've seen/held/fired at the ranges were pretty reliable.

 

[Dorrin79]

In my experience, the SKS is slightly more reliable.

However, it is less idiot-proof, as you can turn it into a straight-pull bolt action by fooling around with the gas port cutoff (I've managed to do this twice now!)