which SKS to buy ??

[goatman54]

Any help with decideing which SKS to purchase. RUSIAN,CHINESE OR YUGO ? I`ve been leaning toward the russian models. Any ideas would be appreciated.

 

[improperlyaged]

Depends on how much you want to spend. Chinese are considered lowest quality but they are still great shooters. I have 2 <deleted> sks rifles and they have been nothing but flawless. I have also had Romanian and Russian, considered to be the top of the line when it comes to SKS, and yet they went boom just as much as the chinese.

 

[greyling22]

I would rank them as russian>china>yugo because I don't like the grenade launcher on the yugo. The russian cycled better than the china. I would take a china paratrooper model over a russian regular model though. I would not pay more than 75 extra for a russian over china.

 

[Guns&Religion]

I really like my Norinco Chinese model, and based on my own experience tend to favor that one. The Chinese models usually come with chrome lined barrels, which can be really helpful, especially if you buy a used rifle that has had a few hundred rounds of cheap corrosive Russian ammo put through it.

If you find a good deal on a Russian model, just check the rifling to make sure it's in good shape, (good policy when purchasing ANY firearm in my opinion).

SKS's are rifles to shoot cheap ammo and have cheap fun with. Mine does that quite well.

 

[Jackal]

Russian, Chinese then Yugo. Yugo's arent bad rifles, they are just heavy and carry unnecessary weight forward on the barrel/no chrome lining. If you can find a nice Arsenal 26 Norinco, grab it, its the best SKS made aside from an original Russian. I recently scored this one unfired, still in cosmoline for $325.

 

[nathan]

All of them are good. My first one to have was a Russian 1950 non refurbed so naturally i like it . But the trigger break was horrible. I did kill my first wild hog with it at closed range in 1996. So lots of memories...

My Chicoms were original PLA issue and has the sweetest and smoothest trigger break like breaking glass. I like the slimmer woodstock though making it more pointable. The chromelined barrrel is a breeze to clean .

The Yugos of late were heavy but very accurate with their heavy barrels. SInce im used to the weight it doesnt matter now. I hit target with ease even at 100 yrds if i do my part.

 

[Speedo66]

Are all the stocks the same length? My Chinese model, even with the addition of a 2" pad, still feels short.

However, it's probably one of the most reliable firearms I've ever owned, and I shoot the cheapest ammo there is. It has all been non corrosive though.

 

[lobo9er]

I have enjoyed a Yugo for the last 6 years now.

 

[aka108]

At one time I owned 3 Russian, one Polish and a Norinco "paratrooper". One of the Russian's was a decent and reliable shooter with a laminated stock. Gave it to my son. The other two Russians did not function reliably so sold them to a dealer. The Polish was a new rifle but not too accuate. The Norinc is the jewel of the 5 I've owned and is the only one I have kept over the years. Guess you know what I'd recommend.

 

[Steel Horse Rider]

I love my Yugo's and would buy another (or 2 or 3) if they were available at a reasonable price, but I also have Russian and Chinese models. The Russian is probably the best looking, the Yugo's are my favorites to shoot, (I am not detered by weight or the bayonet as I regularly carry 50 to 100 lb loads in my course of work) and the Chinese is my least favorite. Other opinions may differ.

 

[fteter]

Own a Chinese myself. Great rifle. Extremely reliable.

In all honesty, I don't think you can go wrong with any of the top 3 types (Russian, Chinese or Yugo)...but I'm personally not a big fan of the grenade launcher.

 

[Palehorseman]

Guns&Religion

I really like my Norinco Chinese model, and based on my own experience tend to favor that one. The Chinese models usually come with chrome lined barrels, which can be really helpful, especially if you buy a used rifle that has had a few hundred rounds of cheap corrosive Russian ammo put through it.

If you find a good deal on a Russian model, just check the rifling to make sure it's in good shape, (good policy when purchasing ANY firearm in my opinion).

SKS's are rifles to shoot cheap ammo and have cheap fun with. Mine does that quite well.

When it comes to doing damage, there is little to no difference between firing corrosive and noncorrosive ammo in rifles. The problem comes when not promptly and properly cleaning the weapon that corrosive ammo was fired in.

 

[silicosys4]

Some variations of the norinco's take ak mags. Those are fun but harder to find

 

[justice06rr]

Russian, Chinese then Yugo. Yugo's arent bad rifles, they are just heavy and carry unnecessary weight forward on the barrel/no chrome lining. If you can find a nice Arsenal 26 Norinco, grab it, its the best SKS made aside from an original Russian. I recently scored this one unfired, still in cosmoline for $325.

+10000

That's a very nice Chinese SKS you have. It looks identical to one that I used to own. Don't ever sell it!!! I regret selling mine now

Russian SKS are considered the best, but I've seen some very nice unissued Chinese SKS Norinco that are in excellent shape.

I owned a Chinese SKS Arsenal 26 and it was one of the nicest I've ever seen. Unfortunately I sold it when times were tough; I'm currently looking to buy another chinese. I also owned a Yugo 59/66. Was a decent rifle but the wood was beat up and the barrel and recevier had some scratches and rust spots. Its hard to find a Yugo in perfect shape, but you sometimes you can find a Chinese or Russian that is in perfect shape.

 

[Cee Zee]

I don't know where the idea came from the Norincos are inferior to Yugos. They aren't in my experience and yes I have one of each. Both are dead reliable and about equally accurate but the Yugo has about 4 lbs. of extra stuff on it that I won't be needing. And those Yugos can be tricky to change configurations on.

 

[nathan]

The easiest way to clean out corrosive salt s from nonchromelined barrels is to just pour hot water down from the breach to the muzzle . If im at the range i have a empty water bottle. I fill it with hot water from the range rest room area. Once i finish shooting, i just remove the bolt carrier and bolt. And pour down the hot water down the breach just to wash off the corrosive salts. I let it drain for a minute then pack up and leave. This process takes only a minute or two.

Or i could go to full cleaning with rod and patches at the range table. Either way it takes care of the gun cleaning and keep my toys nice and comfy.

 

[Ignition Override]

goatman:
If you are very fortunate, you might be able to spot a type of Yugo which is hard to find. These M59s were mfg. withOut the gr. launchers.
Therefore No gas valve etc. A guy at a recent show here had one in excellent condition. Yesterday I took my typical Chinese to his personal shop and traded it for a second M59.

If you find a really good Russian for the right price, not only do they have harder, more attractive wood than most of the commercially-produced "military" Chinese, but also (should have) the blade bayonet and will have the chrome-lined bore.The Chinese are not C&R because the ATF has no access to the required Chinese govt. data.

Have you checked "SKSboards"? They even have a forum for the Romanian variety. A ton of reference data and some photos
are at "YooperJohn's" website. For example, he lists the Yugo A-C (Pre-grenade launchers) as serial numbers 15,000-49,200. The 59/66 began in '67.

 

[justice06rr]

Since we're on the topic of SKS's, I have a question about Chinese ones.

Are the Norinco Arsenal /26\ SKS much more superior or collectible than a regular Chinese (non-26)???

I found a Chinese without the Arsenal /26\ marking, with dark cherry red stock at a local pawn shop for $400. Bore, stock, and receivers look good, and serial#'s all match. I know its not the best price, but its the only one I've found locally that's not over $450.

 

[improperlyaged]

I know its not the best price, but its the only one I've found locally that's not over $450.

That price seems ridiculous. But if it is all you can find under 450, then you will not be disappointed. I would say go for it.

 

[grimjaw]

I would have recommended the cheapest version you could find (which for awhile would have been a Yugo). If they've been cared for they will all shoot pretty much the same, considering the sights involved. Now that they are all running about the same price (i.e. too high), if it's going to be a shooter I'd recommend anything except the Russian. That's not a knock on the quality of those versions, just their rarity and possible resale value as collector's items. I personally like the Yugo, since I can't get much else with a grenade launcher. If not the Yugo, I'd recommend a Romanian if you can find it in good condition and for a reasonable price. You can match it with Tokarev (and possibly a Mosin Nagant) built in the same country close to the same year for a matching set.

 

[Cee Zee]

I have a Norinco and a Yugo. I much prefer the Chinese rifle. Both are fine rifles but all that weight is something I could do without. I can shoot the Norinco off hand easily and pretty accurate. It's much harder with the Yugo because it's so front end heavy. It's hard to hold it steady with all that weight up front. That's basically the only difference IMO. I don't get why people think the Chinese rifles are worse. Some are I guess but if you get one of the 26 models instead of the made for the US market models you will have one fine rifle. The recently released Norincos I've seen didn't look that great though. The stocks were like cross ties and the barrels looked like they had a few 100 thousand rounds through them. I have no idea how well they shoot though.

But any SKS you get is likely to be a good rifle unless it has been shot hard and put up wet. You will see some with corrosion in the barrel from firing corrosive ammo. I've seen them so gunked up the firing pin wouldn't function right which is a bad thing. They just need a really good cleaning but that takes some work. And some of the made for the US models (like the Cowboy Companion, etc.) aren't as good. But a true milsurp SKS is about as reliable as it gets.

 

[SuedePflow]

I'm partial to the Yugo as it is the only one that allows me the enjoyment of launching dummy grenades.

 

[tahunua001]

russian is your best quality but also most rare as it lost out early to the AK47 and is also more expensive.

Chinese is your most common SKS and the early type 56 are essentially a russian SKS as they were built on russian equipment under guidance from russian advisors.

yugos are pretty common and are good guns but they have a smaller gas port so it's easier to rust itself shut and turn the gun into a straight pull bolt action(you have to manually cycle each round). they also usually have a grenade launcher/flash hider which adds another part that must either be replaced or removed as per 922R should you decide you want to change the design up.

the Chinese is likely your best bang for your buck. I own one, love it, will likely never sell it. my entire family has always had low opinions of SKS because of how cheap and plentiful they were in the 90s but my chinese type 56 is rapidly changing their minds... especially when I was hitting pill bottles full of tannerite at 70 yards with mine with open sights every shot...

 

[TRX]

Find one you like. Buy it. Be happy.

Back when they were cheap, I thought they were ugly, sneered at the fixed 10-round magazine, and 7.62x39 ammunition was expensive. If I had put forth the effort to learn a bit more about Simonov's rifle, I'd be sitting fat and happy and telling you stories about when Sarco was selling them three for $89.95. [sound of head hitting wall]

Besides, SKSs are like Mosins. You'll probably wind up with many more than one eventually... they're light, reliable, handy little carbines and a blast to shoot.

 

[tahunua001]

Back when they were cheap, I thought they were ugly, sneered at the fixed 10-round magazine, and 7.62x39 ammunition was expensive

what? when was this? I remember when a can of 7.62x39 cost about the same as a brick of 22lr... and I'm not that old.