brushbustin

I was looking through shotgun news last night and noticed all of the sks's that they have and how cheap they are.I got to looking at some of the accessories for them and i saw that they can be tricked out just like an AR.Now i think that im going to buy one and buy a tatical stock and put a scope on it.Now is there anyone type that i should not buy?How accurate are these gun?I just want to know what you guys think of these gun overall.Thanks!!

driftrider

They can be tricked out like an AR, sure, but they sure as heck won't shoot like one! The best you can hope for with an SKS is to hit the ground with every shot! If you're going to spend a lot of cash to put on a bunch of accessories, I'd say save up and just buy an AR. SKS's have been made by every former Soviet Bloc and almost every third world ****hole in the world at one time or another. They are designed to be cheap, sturdy and reliable, but they weren't put together with accuracy being a priority. I've owned two (one Russian and one Chinese), and neither were worth bragging about. The Soviet one would shoot about 6 MOA with a 4x scope, and the Chinese one would be lucky to keep 10 shots in a row on a 12"x12" target at 100 yards with the open sights. The trigger SUCKS as is, and you'll spend almost as much as the gun's worth to improve it and it'll still be a crappy trigger. But they went bang every time and the ammo was dirt cheap, so I had fun with them until I decided that I wanted to own rifles that could reliably hit what I was aiming at. My brother and I used to have more fun guessing where the empty cases would land than where the bullets would go cause the SKS slings 'em pretty good (I hope you don't plan to handload, 'cause keeping track of brass will be next to impossible). They are fun to blast away with in their stock form, but not (IMO) worth dropping one dime into for accessories and custom parts.

Like I said above, if you want a semi-auto to put money into, you might as well get an AR so you'll have something to show for your money. Buying an SKS and dumping hundreds into semi-custom parts is like putting Dubs and one of those big wing spoilers on a rusted out POS '95 Cavalier, just doesn't make sense. You can't polish a turd. An AR will cost more, sure, but you'll actually be able to make it perform (most are MOA rifles, and some are considerably better than that!). Plus, once you have a complete lower reciever, you can buy different uppers for different purposes (without an FFL I might add), and have a totally modular rifle system in any number of different cartridges and configurations for different purposes if you want.

I got rid of my SKS's, and all my other cheapy ComBloc guns cause I've come to appreciate quality of quantity. If I want to just burn ammo for plinking, I'll shoot my 10/22. The only one I regret selling is the Tokarev SVT-40. I sold it for $450, and now they're going for as much as $750 in the condition mine was in (near mint).

Bottom line, it's your money and you can do what you want with it. I'll just say that if I could go back to the days when I was spending a lot on many cheapy ComBloc guns knowing what I know now, I'd have saved the cash and bought a few quality rifles instead of many POS ones. Up to you.

Mike

Briman

Don't waste your money on tacticool gadgets for the SKS- they simply will not make them any handier or shoot better. If you want to mount a scope, have the receiver drilled and tapped- the mounts that replace the dust cover are worthless. If you want a decent shooting one, buy a Yugoslavian 59/66 preferably in unissued condition- you should be able to find one around $200, $100 will get you a badly worn example that will go bang every time and that's about it.

A SKS in good condition is capable of decent accuracy, the things keepign them from shooting close to MOA is a really bad trigger, short sight radius, and the tendancy for owners to shoot piss poor Wolf or surplus ammo through them. They are capable of much more with better ammo (handloads) and a trigger job, the sight problem can be overcome with practice.

Check out this site for trigger jobs: http://www.kivaari.com/
I have't had to send mine out for a trigger job. The trigger has a 12lb pull, but I'm used to shooting 2-stage triggers and am sensitive to their nuances- mine has a positive sear engagement and I can feel the point in the trigger pull where the hammer is moving backward right before it breaks- its really easy to shoot once you get used to it.

http://www.tech-sights.com/
If there is an accessory worth getting for an sks, its these. Tey lengthen the sight radius and give you a rear peep sight.

brushbustin

Thanks guys for the good info.I already have an AR all decked out,so i thought i would get one of those cheap sks's.I would really prefer that has a little more accuracy than what you described.I probly won't get one,so thanks for saving me some money.

Pavomesa

Brush, I beg to differ with my fellow shooters. I used to own a Ruger Mini 14 and a Chinese SKS at the same time. The SKS outshot the Mini so bad it was pitiful. Most people I know who have seriously shot them say the same thing. They are usually very accurate for what they are. Mechanically the SKS is very OVER-built. The bolt and receiver are massive things and the chrome lined barrel is something they put a lot of effort into as well. The really weak parts of the gun is the stock is such cheap stuff I doubt it will even burn and worse yet, the trigger assembly is the biggest piece of trash you will ever encounter. Yet, in spite of these shortcomings, the dang things will shoot and shoot welland probably function forever. The 7.62x39 cartridge will seem very slow and short range compared to your AR.

I wouldn't get one and spend much money tricking one out. But I think it's quite wrong to tell you they are garbage and don't even look at them. Depending on your uses, you very well might have a blast with one.

oldsmellhound

I have a pre-ban Norinco SKS, and I don't think it's THAT bad. Mine seems to be pretty well made and put together. It's certainly the toughest, most durable gun I own - I think that you'd have to try really hard to break that gun.

My main beefs:
-Stock that is made for a 12 year old- way too short
-Horrible factory sights
-Bad trigger

I wouldn't spend any large amounts of money tricking out a SKS, but in my opinion, they're not worthless either. With the factory sights and trigger, mine shoots 2.5" groups at 50 yards - not great, but certainly good enough for plinking and close range varmit and deer hunting. A new trigger and decent sights could probably improve on that some.

Briman

That's what I like about the Yugoslavian SKSs- they have a thick rubber recoil pad on them that bring the length of pull up to the length of a normal rifle.

The stock on my Yugo is really stout and very well fitted- it had to be, the rifles were made to be part time grenade launching platforms. The only downside to the Yugos versus the Russian and chinese version is that they are very heavy due to the extra lumber, the grenade launching attachment and sights, and more than likely more metal on the receiver and barrel- I've compared My Ygo to a friend's chinese model- the Yugo is a much higher quality piece.

matters

They are fun to shoot and thats about it. The scopes for them are clumpsy due to the mounts. Just buy one and shoot them open sights for fun. They will kill a deer with in there limits quit nicely though.

Badger Boy

to be fair, the mini 14 it not know for its accuracy, especially out of the box. To say it out shoots the mini-14 only places it in the decent range.

srwshooter

back when they first started showing up at gun shows i bought a brand new one ,not one of those old guns that has been gone over. i think i payed 110.00 for mine . most people are shooting the surplus cheap ammo in them and with that ammo you won't get good groups. i bought a few boxes of remington ammo . i can shoot 1 1/2 groups at 100 yds with good ammo . i deer hunted with it some when i first bought it and did take a nice 11pt with it. the stock on mine was alittle short so i added to it and raised the cheek because the scope was way high . i just keep mine for fire power ,i have about 2000 rounds on hand for it.