Whats the point of owning an SKS?

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What advantages does a SKS have over an AK? I just realized that it has barely any.

Fit and finish: about the same, maybe a little better on the SKS compared to a WASR.

Capactiy: AK clearly wins.

Size: AK wins.

Weight: AK wins.

The only things I can think of that an SKS has over an AK is very minor accuracy increases and the lower price.

I just want to sell my SKS right now and get an AK. Theres nothing that the SKS has that the AK doesnt. Its just a heavy, huge rifle which uses stirpper clips which are hard to transport loaded unless you have a bandoleer or pouches, and lacks the magazine capacity that an AK has.

Im not trying to bash the SKS, I just realized that want an AK now and im trying to come up with reasons why I should keep the SKS instead of selling it.
 
There is no point of owning an SKS. I've never even cleaned the Cosmoline off of mine. The Yugos don't like regular ammo, many ranges don't like steel cases, the gun has the ergonomics of a tree branch attached to a sewer pipe.

But here in California, we buy whatever "evil" rifles that are still legal and that we can afford, just to thumb our noses at Bill Lockyer, one of the worst human beings ever to walk the earth, as well as our Attorney General. I've bought a few things for that reason alone.
 
Price: SKS wins
Recoil: SKS wins
Accuracy: SKS wins
Legality: SKS wins

Just because you don't like them doesn't mean they are useless. I have both and don't plan to get rid of either of them.
 
What is the point of owning an SKS?

Lemme see.

If you are deer/hog hunting, and the rifle falls 20 feet out of your elevated blind to the ground, big deal. Better for it to fall out than your Weatherby or Lazzeroni or something like that, and the SKS will still work afterwards.

If it rattles around in your truck for forever and a day, big deal. Better for it to be in your truck if your truck gets stolen. Then you are out 150 bucks for an SKS instead of 2000 bucks when your ubertactical pimped out AR-15 with all the trimmings is stolen out of your truck.

If you shoot somebody, they are going to take the firearm used into evidence, and it could be in the evidence room for years through the trial and the appeals and all that stuff. Big Deal. What would you rather have rusting away in a damp, humid evidence room, a 150 dollar SKS, or your 3500 dollar Wilson Combat Super Grade .45?

There ya go...a few reasons to own an SKS. Besides being cheap to shoot(not as cheap as they used to be but still pretty cheap), brutally reliable, and virtually indestructible, if something happens to it, big deal :).

Just my .02,
LeonCarr
 
Many SKS's are real milsurps (piece of history). With few exceptions an AK is either a parts kit gun or a semi-auto clone of a real military rifle.
 
I see only 2 possible advantages with the SKS.

First is that visually it doesn't project the same image as an AK-47 clone. This is only an issue if one ever has a "social need" to use the rifle.

The second advantage is only realized with the addition of a Tech-sight. This improves sight radius and sight picture immensely (IMO), which translates into better precision shooting. The trigger still needs working over to improve, but in the end you can end up with a more accurate rifle with these improvements.

Personally, the AK-47 is more versatile, but I can't get rid of my SKS. It's the rifle I'll leave in my trunk for months without worrying about it getting beat up. I just can't see selling a very reliable rifle for $150, in order to fund a HEAVIER and more costly rifle in the same caliber, with no improvement except increased capacity.
 
SKS: Some of them qualify for C&R.
SKS: Techsights are available that easily beat the sight picture of standard AK sights any day, and give longer sight radius than Mojo sights.
SKS: Slighty better ballistics from the 20" bbl.

another person, if you haven't seen the "paratrooper" versions of the SKS, that might interest you. I have one w/o a bayonet lug and it's just as compact and about the same weight as a standard stamped AK. You still have the magazine capacity issue, though.

jm
 
Generally speaking, the SKS rifle was actually manufactured from scratch and assembled as a front line rifle of a national military. The AK-47s available to Americans were manufactured and assembled for the American civilian market by people who knew that no military armorer was going to evaluate them for serviceability, and no one will be going to the gulag if a bunch of them are assembled incompetently or get soldiers killed due to inferior parts or assembly.
 
The Yugos don't like regular ammo, many ranges don't like steel cases, the gun has the ergonomics of a tree branch attached to a sewer pipe.
Click to expand...

I have never heard of Yugo's being temperamental, unless you mean US made ammo with soft primers. I have two Yugo's with several thousands rounds through both, using a variety of ammunition with only two malfunctions, which were due to a bad extractor.
 
unless you mean US made ammo with soft primers
Click to expand...

That's what I mean (for hunting especially).

I encourage anyone who wants to, to buy 10. It's not that I don't like them. I do, in a way.

I might grab another one; I got a nice-looking original Model 59 with no launcher, so I kinda want to keep it as-is. If I get a de-milled 59/66, I'll tear off all the extraneous crap and put a modern stock on it; then it'll make an acceptable hunting carbine.

You don't need a "point" to get an SKS.:)
 
its easier to fire the SKS from the prone
if you kill an intruder with an SKS, it will look better in the media than an evil AK hahaha.

uhh...NJ wont let me have an AK unless it has the thumbhole stock and 10rd magazines. and even then they charge 800 bucks.

My sks was 150
 
If you are deer/hog hunting, and the rifle falls 20 feet out of your elevated blind to the ground, big deal. Better for it to fall out than your Weatherby or Lazzeroni or something like that, and the SKS will still work afterwards.
Click to expand...

True. But a Marlin 336 won't fire a couple times when it hits the ground.:p

Still, I think that everyone should buy an SKS or two, even if they stay in the closet. We might need them one day. You don't need an excuse to buy a $150 ($180-200 in PRK) rifle. You generally need an excuse to buy a Weatherby or Lazzeroni, especially if the kids are gettin' skinny.:D
 
ArmedBear,

If it fires a couples of times when it hits the ground:

1. It might wake you up if you are taking a nap in your blind, or

2. It might kill a deer or a hog :).

Just my .02,
LeonCarr
 
Another advantage:

If you're sitting in someone else's tree stand with an SKS, people won't ask you to leave.

Sorry, bad taste.
 
The SKS is more compact, vertically, than the AK. It has a longer sight radius. It looks friendlier. It is cheaper. The weight issue becomes muddier when you add the weight of a load magazine for the AK. Tech sights.

What's the point of an AK when you don't need 20 more rounds? :evil:
 
Because the SKS is so god-awful ugly and cheap, you're not going to care when the Lab puppy chews on it, the cat uses it as a scratch pole, it falls out of your truck when driving down the highway, your wife backs over it, and your teen son leaves it outside in the rain for a few days. The good news is that, even after all of the above, it's still going to go BANG when you pull the trigger. :)
 
I have both.

I'd rather shoot my SKS any day over the AK. Only accurate rifles are interesting. I'm waaay past the stage of thinking that high capacity mag dumps are fun.
 
if you kill an intruder with an SKS, it will look better in the media than an evil AK hahaha.
Click to expand...

Don't know about that. Since the SKS's became readily available at very low prices, they have been a popular choice of thugs who don't have the coin for an AK, and are quickly earning a reputation with the media. Though not as infamous as the AK, SKS's (especially with hi-cap mags) are easily villified by the media. They are also often misrepresented by said media as AK's. The addition of a 30 rd. mag and a pistol grip stock give the SKS a very AK-like silhouette, easily mistaken by sheeple. Me thinks it's the unmistakable curve of 7.62x39mm magazines that gets the recognition.

If you are worried about being PC in a defensie shooting, use a S&W K-frame or single-shot 20 gauge.

Me? I'm interested in saving my bacon and will use my AR-10 if necessary.
 
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