Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles Thoughts on the SKS variants?

Going to look at an SKS next week. The guy isn't quite sure what he has, so I've been doing research to learn a bit about what's out there. He's a shooter and a friend, so it's going to be a fair deal regardless. I'm just wondering about folks experiences with (and opinions about) this platform.

For those who might be wondering about my experience, this will be my first semi auto, combat-type rifle.

Thank you.

I have bought and sold a boat load of SKS rifles. The platform had a very short life as a 'front line issue' weapon.
Other than being cheap, I can't think of a single reason to have one.

I've owned two. One, a Chinese Norinco, felt cheap. It would sometimes slam fire, which is dangerous. It had a cruciform bayonet and chrome lined barrel.

My current one is a Yugo 59/66. No chrome barrel, but is rugged, high quality and accurate. It's only con is that it is a tad heavy. It has a knife blade bayonet.

SURVIVORS SKS FORUM

I'd call it the poor man's Mini 30. I bought mine, a Norinco, for $70 in 1990. Trigger sucks, sights are adequate, and the stock is built for someone of smaller stature. I put a Butler Creek composite on mine so I wouldn't bump my nose against the back of the receiver. It was worth what I paid for it.

I have seen them going for up to $500 nowadays, so I guess I could sell mine for a profit, but I would seriously consider putting my money in an AR-15, especially if the guy is asking more than $200 for it.

If you want a cheap, reliable MilSurp that shoots cheap ammo, go with a Mosin-Nagant. You can pick up one of those for less than $100, and they are surprisingly accurate.

If you want a military style semi auto, again, go with an AR-15, they are accurate, and flexible IRT caliber, and even if you restricted yourself to 5.56, there would still be many choices of bullets which could stretch your use beyond prairie dogs and targets and into deer/antelope.

If you want an "old school" military semi auto at a reasonable price, get an M1 Garand from the CMP. I have just about all of the popular military semi autos, and the SKS would be the last one upon which I would spend a great deal of money. That money would be more wisely spent on another platform.

WHAT?!?!?!? I totally disagree and think everyone should have at least one. when I go shoot in the desert everyone that shoots the sks tells me they want one too. Its a very fun gun to shoot. I did have a problem with slam fires with one that I had, but the problem was when I got it for $65 back in 1993 I never cleaned out the gas system. yeah I cleaned the barrel and action out, but it was caked with cosmoline and the gas system needed to be totally taken apart. once I did that the gun ran like a champ. I personally like them better than an AK. they are a bit longer and easier to shoot longer distances.

about 7 years ago they released a ton of yugo models which have milled parts, I was stupid not to buy a truckload at the $79 price. I could also get albanians at that price too, which have really turned out to be rare and thus the price skyrocketed. again I think everyone needs at least one they are so fun to shoot.

I think for the price point NOW, they aren't worth it. When you could get 'em for under $100, yeah, throw one in the stable and have some fun with it. For the price of a complete PSA AR-15, I just don't see throwing money at one when you can get a quality AR for a few bucks more...

Agreed, they are overpriced now, but mine was $100, shoots great, still looks practically brand new, and has never had a failure of any kind in well over 1k rounds, without any more than a boresnake through it.

It's pretty much my wife's gun now, she's kinda scary accurate with it, truth be told.

From a defensive rifle standpoint the SKS offers one very significant advantage; it's the REAL thing. 100% of the parts are military spec, no 922r or made in the USA junk. The SKS will take a licking and keep on ticking.

With regards to the poor man's Mini 30 comment...sorta, and not. The Mini 30 has no where near the quality of manufacture as the SKS; the SKS is a real military rifle, the Mini 30 is most certainly not.

Most are turned off by some of the things American sportsmen find lacking. The SKS is:
Heavy
Not especially accurate; but sufficient for it's needs
Not very accomodating of a scope

On the plus side:
It's cheaper than the mini 30 and FAR more durable and reliable.
It's dead nuts reliable, and chances are you'll never have to replace a single part for as long as you own the rifle.
That is...if the weapon has been properly de-greased (Cosmoline removed).

The most accurate tend to be the Chinese. The most desirable are the Russian. The coolest, and highest quality manufacture are the Yugo's.

You need to understand the SKS is a military rifle. If you understand that, you'll be happy with it. If you expect it to be a sporting rifle, you'll always be unhappy with it.

Here's a link to my article on the Yugo if you're interested: http://shootersjournal.net/sks-review-yugo-59-66a1/

I found the link helpful. Regarding the comments in it about the SKS being a real mil-spec rifle, does that apply to the Norinco ones? I had always assumed the Norinco rifles were produced for the U. S. civilian market, not the Chinese military. Are they equal to the military ones?

Yes, they are Mil Surplus all the way when you find them in military configuration. If not in military configuration, then someone has changed them and who knows.

I once bought one and 1K rounds of surplus ammo for about $150 bucks, I was not impressed in the least even at that price. An AK with from Arsenal with an aimpoint on it is a much better bet.

I have a couple Chinese and a Yugo. I like the Chinese better - lighter weight, a chrome lined bore, and a better trigger than the Yugo.

Removing the bayonet greatly improves handling.

For honest values, you should look at completed Gunbroker auctions.

I only have one, a Chinese. The thought of a worse trigger is horrifying. I shoot it once a year at a fun match we have for old mil-surp stuff. I does every thing I could reasonably ask of it.

I have an Albanian, and it's just a blast to shoot.

I'll take it over an AK any day.

I bought one back in the early 90's or may have been the late 80's. Cost me $79.00 and ammo was less than $2.00/ 20 and has never missed a beat for any reason. I put a 2" extention on the stock, its much better to shoot now. I have not shot it in years, but I still keep it and clean it. It's a Norinco still like brand new and does shoot quite well. No thoughts of selling it though.

I personally don't like them but a lot of people do. They are much more accurate than the AK's

That's a pretty fair synopsis. Judging the gun on the basis of what some would like it to be, versus what it was designed to be, misses the mark.

Personally, I own one Russian gun which I purchased long ago because it was both cheap and fun to shoot. Collectors would likely have my head on a stick for what I did to it -- some easy mods that vastly improved handling and performance. These mods consisted of: removing the bayonette, dropping it into a Butler Creek sporter stock, removing the factory sight and installing a Tech Sights rear peep sight and a recoil buffer. The end result is an utterly reliable gun with improved handling and accuracy. The Tech Sights sight, for example, gives you a much longer sight plane and -- wonder of wonders -- returns to zero after cleaning. It still wouldn't be my first choice in a gunfight, but if I ever had to use it in a serious way, I would have no qualms doing so. It will pretty much centerpunch a man-size target at 100 yards all day long, shot after shot after shot, without hiccuping. That is NOT a bad thing. Here's a pic, just for grins. It's uglier than sin. For what the gun was designed to do, that's OK, too.

what would have been interesting is how legendary the SKS would have been if not for the AK. another milsurp that is awesome is the k31, broke mine out today, clamp on mounted scope still dead on after sitting for about 7 years. paid $79 for it shipped to my house. 3# trigger and all.

While the days of the $99 SKS's were grand, I really want the days of $80 per 1,000 rounds of commie ammo to come back.

I once had a Paratrooper short barrel "D" model IIRC. It took AK mags, and it was accurate for the cartridge's purpose. It never missed a beat, but I didn't run that much ammo through it. It was a part of a trade to raise funds for a Thompson in semi-auto. They are heavy and have a short LOP, but my trigger was alright. The guy that I got it from did some work on the trigger. I had a buddy that could hit soft ball sized clods with it out to 225 yards or so with open sights, but his eyes work better than mine. I have always thought more highly of most SKS' than I do most AK's, though there are good examples of both platforms that I've seen. I'd still prefer a SKS "D" to an AK, if that was my only two options.