# Opinions on SKS



## ReconCraftTheta

I've been looking at an SKS model at a surplus store in Onieda, and I was wondering if anyone had expirience with them, as in reliability, accuracy, and ease to use. This is coming from the hunter, classic gun nut, and survivalist in me. Any info would be great, thanks!


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## saintsfanbrian

Many people swear by them as cheap reliable source of protection and hunting.

I don't personally own one but know many who do and they love them and they are almost as indestructable as the AK.


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## ReconCraftTheta

*Thanks!*

Thanks man!


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## saintsfanbrian

No problem. I am sure others will chime in with more personal knowledge but you shouldn't go wrong with one as long as it is in serviceable condition.


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## kyfarmer

I have two and love to shoot either one. I use one for my deer gun and have great luck with it. As long as the ranges are with in the scope of a 30 calb. Around 150 yards or so. They are best as a brush gun for a quick follow up shot. Never had any deer go farther than 30 yards. Shot placement has a lot to do with that. Say what ya want about the heart shot thang, thats fine but a well placed neck shot and they drop like a rock. I like AKs to nothing wrong with them for sure. Price wise $200 up to $400 for a bubbaed SKS where an AK will start around $400 and up. Look for a clean nonpitted bore and a reciver that don't look like its had a ball pin hammer took to it and ya should be fine. Warning! ya can't get just one ;D hey ya gota have a parts one to.


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## mosquitomountainman

ReconCraftTheta said:


> I've been looking at an SKS model at a surplus store in Onieda, and I was wondering if anyone had expirience with them, as in reliability, accuracy, and ease to use. This is coming from the hunter, classic gun nut, and survivalist in me. Any info would be great, thanks!


Reliable - A plus
Accuracy - B
Ease of Use - A plus

Easy to field strip and clean.

The stripper clips take some practice. If you wiggle the front of the top cartridge while pushing down on the base of the top cartridge they'll slide down great.

They are nearly indestructible and will still fire after much neglect.


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## GroovyMike

I think the SKS is the best bargain for a semi auto rifle on the market today. If you can get one under $200. Buy it. Consider buying two. Since the trend is for anything that is this well made to double in price pretty quickly. When I first bought an SKS they were selling at about $99 each. I expect them to top out in the $500 range although it may take a few years for them to get there.

These are not rifles to reach out 300 yards, or to shoot competition clover leafs with, but they are rugged, reliable, and effective at +/- 100 yards.

Just in case you wondered if the SKS rifles were suitable for hunting white tail deer - here is my experience using them for that:

God blessed me with my 3rd and 4th deer in 1997 when I was carrying Chinese made SKS using semi jacketed lead point ammo made in Germany and China respectively. Those bullets cost 9 cents each. On the opening day of NY’s southern zone regular deer season I had a tag for one antlered deer and one antlerless deer. I left my home before dawn and decided to hunt just a few hundred yards behind the house as the sun rose. I was hoping to catch deer passing along a deer trail that linked feeding and bedding areas. I stood between two maple trees leaning against the down hill tree and hoping that the other would block me from the sight of any deer uphill on the trail. The sun rose behind me turning the dark to grey and tingeing the sky with pink. I heard fat grey squirrels come down from their nests to search the fallen leaves for acorns and watched them play. One worked his way toward me, climbed a tree about 5 yards away and ran along a branch a few yards over head and into the tree I was leaning against. I saw a partridge hen fly down and feed through my field of vision. Both moved off to my left. My plan was to watch this trail during sunrise, then slowly work my way uphill and southward in an attempt to drive deer to my hunting companions if I didn’t see any. As the morning wore on I continued to hear the squirrels and partridge off to my left but paid little attention as I had seen the small animals already. But when I decided to move I worked my way in that direction walking quietly and cautiously along over the stone wall and from rock to rock to minimize the noise of my foot steps. I had travelled about 50 yards when I heard footsteps ahead of me. Well I thought – it’s waaaay too noisy to be deer but I’ll take a look to see what it is. 

Peering down hill I saw not one, but TWO deer. The fork horned buck was following tight behind a doe. He must have heard, smelled, or sensed me because he looked back over his shoulder just as I settled the SKS’s hooded front site post into the V notch of the rear sight on his shoulders. They were +/- 70 yards away from me and about 20 feet down slope. The buck swung his head forward and launched himself into a bound that should have carried him safely out of sight safely behind thick brush – except that his lady friend was squarely in front of his chest mere inches away. He rebounded off her butt and twisted sideways bringing his front shoulder out of alignment with her hind quarters. That was the opening I had been waiting for. She was no longer in the bullet’s path. I sent the 123 grain projectile high into his left side, just over his heart. The bullet angled down and through the offside leg at the elbow. 

Stunned by the noise and impact of the buck from behind, the doe wasn’t sure what was going on. I let her go. Somehow it just seemed greedy to drop them both. The buck fell about 5 yards away and was still breathing when I walked up to him for the coup de grace.

On the last day of the same season. I hunted up to the top of the hill and on to the adjacent property. I had attempted stalks on deer bedding at the top of the hill several times since opening morning without success. Each time they went down the hill on the far side as I approached and into thick pines where I could not see them. This time I followed them after I jumped them and tracked them into a stand of pines too thick for me to crawl through. I gambled that they were still in the thick growth and circled the grove to wait for them to emerge. I took a position inside a group of tall straight hardwood trees. It was a park like setting without undergrowth so from behind a large tree 50 yards away I had an unobstructed view of the pine thicket. 

I waited patiently. I waited impatiently. I counted all 317 trees within sight. And then I waited longer. 

Finally three does emerged from the pines and fed into view browsing on low growth just 50 yards away through the hardwoods. It was the last day of the season and I had a doe tag to fill. Which one should I take? I resolved to take the first one that offered an unobstructed shot. They fed bunched up for several yards until at about 75 yards one of them stepped away from the others offering the opportunity to squeeze a shot between two trees and through her heart. At the sound of the shot she leapt into the air and hit the ground dead. She folded on the spot with the single shot entering through the near side (knocking out an inch sized chunk of rib), then passed through the heart and exited between the ribs of the far side. She collapsed so suddenly that the other does looked at her curiously but did not flee until I began to walk toward them and shooed them away. 

When I dressed the doe I found that the bullet had passed cleanly through her heat and the chunk of rib had slashed through the center of the heart horizontally cutting through all four chambers. When I opened her chest cavity warm blood literally poured out. Before I had finished field dressing her a rustle in the leaves and movement caught my eye as a snow white ermine flowed over the brown leaves like liquid silk drawn to the scent of blood. The little carnivore came within 5 yards before it spotted me, reversed direction and disappeared like white furred lightening. That was a very special moment. I felt like I had been visited by a woodland nymph. The memory is even more special because those stately park-like hardwoods were logged off the next spring. I probably had the last hunt of anyone in those old trees.

The Chinese made SKS certainly proved itself as a capable deer rifle with that double harvest. While the range was short (in both cases about 75 yards) I had two clean one shot kills with the bullets passing completely through both deer. I did give a second shot to the buck but it was only to speed his passing, he would have expired with a hole through both lungs rather quickly even without it. The jacketed soft point ammunition worked admirable and I have to believe that most soft point 7.62x39 would perform equally as well at ranges up to 100 yards or slightly beyond. Just how far you are willing to take a shot depends on your experience but I would say that if you practiced the shot and could reliably hit your target, that the SKS is fully capable of cleanly taking white tail deer out to 150 yards.


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## Magus

I love the darn things,I've had ten or so over the past 25 years and I've only had ONE that gave me trouble,if you ever see SN#7000,0001 out there,leave it to rust!the rest were absoloutely fabulous!

I'd buy a thousand rounds of reloadable ammo or brass,they seem to prefer the American .308 sized slug to the .311.


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## ReconCraftTheta

*Thank you!*

Thank you everyone for the great reviews and opinions on this rifle!

Is the bayonet usually included with the rifle, if so, is it hard to sharpen and clean?


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## mosquitomountainman

ReconCraftTheta said:


> Thank you everyone for the great reviews and opinions on this rifle!
> 
> Is the bayonet usually included with the rifle, if so, is it hard to sharpen and clean?


Sometimes it's included. If it's the knife type bayonet it can be sharpened. The spike type doesn't need sharpening.

The best use for the bayonet is to extend it and drive it into the ground to hold the rifle upright while you do other things ... in short, it's just extra weight. The spike type make good tent stakes once removed from the rifle.


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## ReconCraftTheta

mosquitomountainman said:


> Sometimes it's included. If it's the knife type bayonet it can be sharpened. The spike type doesn't need sharpening.
> 
> The best use for the bayonet is to extend it and drive it into the ground to hold the rifle upright while you do other things ... in short, it's just extra weight. The spike type make good tent stakes once removed from the rifle.


Thanks. I'd actually look at it for a bit of added fun with rec. shooting with family and friends.


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## GroovyMike

My advice is to ignore or remove the bayonet.
In my experience a 308 diameter bullet is WAAAY too small for any of my SKS. Some do well with .310 and most on up to .314.

Here's my thread on reloading the 7.62x39 cartridge.

http://www.preparedsociety.com/forum/f15/reloading-7-62x39-3522/


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## Magus

IF you're good with tools,you can turn a piece of 3/8" rod into a nifty folding monopod in an evening.


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## Bigdog57

I have owned four SKS rifles, and still have two - the 1959-production Chinese military /26\ model and the 70's production Yugo M59/66 with grenade launcher.
The SKS all, except the Yugo, have chrome-lined chamber and bore, so can tolerate lack of cleaning better than many milsurp rifles. The longer barrel and sight radius, as well as fixed stock, make it generally more accurate in aimed-fire than the AK. A good SKS can give one MOA with good commercial or handloaded ammo. Most owners just use the steel-cased surplus crap - even 'commercial' Wolf, Brown Bear and Silver Bear ammo are made to military specs.
Reliability is superb - thought he more heavily used Yugos CAN have problems with their gas-valves - all other SKS lack this feature.
If handloading this caliber, best use .310-.311 bullets - easily available.
I have not used mine for hunting yet, but would have NO reservations doing so - I just happen to have two good Thutty-thutties that ARE better in that usage.
I would NOT scope the SKS - I have done so, and have never really seen any increase in accuracy up to 100 yards - if shooting longer, the scope would make it easier for old eyes to see the target though. It's also hard to find a scope mount truly secure without having to bolt it to the reciever side.
Prices for Norinco SKS was as low as $69 back in 'the day'......
Now inmy AO, expect to pay $250 to $300 for a basic Norinco or Yugo, more for a Russian.
I'd say if you want a good shooter, go with Norinco (lighter and handier) or Yugo (heavier, less muzzle jump) - if you want collector value, then it's the Russian or Chinese military "Sino-Soviet" manufacture in mid '50s.
DO NOT sharpen the blade bayonet - they are not deesigned for it, the bayo is fixed and can't be used as a knife, and any good drill sargent will tell you - the only thing more dangerous than a sharpened bayonet is a Second Louie with a compass!


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## HozayBuck

everbody has said about all that can be said about the SKS, my $0.02 is just filler...

I've owned one, I had it for 4 years and made a game out of not cleaning it, I shot well over 4000 rounds out of it. It never failed once, I converted mine to take the 30 round snout nosed mags and after 4 years one of them wouldn't feed the last round , other then that never a problem, it was filthy to the point it would have gotten me drummed out of the Corps.

These rifles can be dragged thru a swamp behind you and come out shooting on the other side.. 

They are the pound for pound , dollar to dollar best semi auto in the world maybe second only to the AK.. they ain't pretty but they do the job with never a whimper.

I shoot Wolf Poly coated ammo for the most part and it too is outstanding ammo, a bit stinky as far as powder goes but oh well...

You won't go wrong buying one.


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## sporto100

The SKS is an absolute "spade" and an invaluable tool in your WTSHTF tool box. I keep one around with a sealed 1120 rd can of Czech surplus for anyone that shows up to my place without a weapon. My go to rifle will be my Robinson Arms XCR in 223. Love it! 

That being said.... The SKS was $250 and the 1120 rd case was $199. A reliable rifle accurate out to 200 metres with a 1100 rds for less than $500, priceless! Might also be a great bartering tool amongst friends of course! IMHO.


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## Magus

mosquitomountainman said:


> Sometimes it's included. If it's the knife type bayonet it can be sharpened. The spike type doesn't need sharpening.
> 
> The best use for the bayonet is to extend it and drive it into the ground to hold the rifle upright while you do other things ... in short, it's just extra weight. The spike type make good tent stakes once removed from the rifle.


Nah,I've roasted meat with mine.LOL

K,here's an idea,cut a 1X3" piece of 1/8"steel and spot weld it to the spike and use it for a monopod like on the old Akrisa rifles.


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## Bigdog57

With few exceptions, rifle bayonets should NEVER be sharpened - makes them more dangerous to the shooter...... 

I have swung the SKS bayo down to use as an ersatz monopod!


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## BadgeBunny

mosquitomountainman said:


> Reliable - A plus
> Accuracy - B
> Ease of Use - A plus
> 
> Easy to field strip and clean.
> 
> The stripper clips take some practice. If you wiggle the front of the top cartridge while pushing down on the base of the top cartridge they'll slide down great.
> 
> They are nearly indestructible and will still fire after much neglect.


Beat me to it!!  We had a couple (his and hers) and the stripper clips always gave me ten tons of grief ... :gaah:

I finally sold mine and got me an AR ... not because there was anything at all wrong with the gun ... I just got tired of fiddling with it. "Operator Error" was what the hubby would say every time I got to messing with it! :gaah:


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## ar15bob

own a chinese 30 round mags shoots wolf 762.39great gun shoots like hell the first day I got mine shot it untill the barrel was smokin hot not an ar but shoots threw anything easy to clean requires almost no care


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## ajsmith

About 20 years ago me and a friend went to a pawn shop and each picked up one. I think we paid about $79 for each. We converted them to those ugly looking 30 round clips, bought lots of surplus ammo and went out and had a great time for a couple years. Those guns worked great, I wish I still had it but I sold it to my friend when I "up graded" to a NHM-91 (civilian version of AK with a heavy barrel), had a 75 round drum for that, talk about some fun


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## UrbanMan

ReconCraftTheta - I get the SKS question all the time. I responded to a reader on my site with much the same question,...SKS or M4...that article is here.

If I only had $1000, rather than stick it into an M-4 or variant platform, I would buy an SKS and use the rest of the money for ammunition and other essential survival food and gear. I would not feel under armed with the SKS either.

I have a Norinco SKS, shoots well and is very reliable. I only use Wolf ammunition, simply because I started with that brand, it works well, and I'm a creature of habit. Currently Ammoman.com offers 640 rounds of 122 grain 7.62x39mm for $179 delivered.

be safe

UrbanMan
Urban Survival Skills, Survival Equipment, Survival Planning and Preparation


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## Wolf1066

I bought an old Russian SKS to use as a bush carbine as I frankly could not afford a Norinco AK-47 copy (Chinese) - IIRC the SKS was around a quarter of the price of the AK-47 copy.

The first thing to go was the bayonet lug - wandering through New Zealand bush with a slung rifle is a never-fail recipe for getting the barrel snagged on ropey lianas as it is, without having something jutting out at right angles to the barrel to act as a hook.

So I took to the lug with a hacksaw and smoothed it off with a file then sprayed the barrel with VHT paint from an automotive-supply store to stop it rusting - seems to have done the job adequately.

Later, our benighted politicians made a law restricting ownership of "guns that look really mean" - as obviously they are "more lethal" and "more likely to turn you into a serial killer" than any other firearm :gaah:

That law required a special (read bloody expensive) licence and special (read *really *bloody expensive) storage for any "Military Style Semiautomatic" - defined as any semiauto rifle having any one of the following:

Free-standing military-style pistol grip
Bayonet lug (with or without a bayonet)
Magazine that can hold or _*appears to hold*_ more than 7 rounds (major calibre) or 15 rounds (.22lr) - because _looking _high capacity is just as deadly as actually having a lot of ammo
Flash suppressor - coz they look mean as!

Because, well, just _looking at _a high capacity semiauto with a pistol grip can kill ya.

This screwed things up for anyone with a semiauto AK-47 copy or an L1A1 (semiauto FAL) on all four counts.

As the venerable SKS has a "classic" stock and no flash suppressor and I'd already removed the bayonet lug, all I had to do to render my SKS "non-military" (and save myself a fortune and still get to keep the firearm) was get the local gunsmith to cut down the magazine to 7 rounds or less.

The smiths were making a fortune out of converting various mags and they had a standard practice of cutting them down to 5 rounds.

A few bucks later and the hinged mag was cut down in size to a more streamlined shape without loss of its ability to be quickly opened to dump the rounds.

The only thing that annoys me about the loss of magazine capacity is the fact that all my stripper clips hold twice as many rounds as I can feed into the mag - but I've gotten used to feeding in 5 from the clip then feeding in the remaining 5 once the mag is empty.

I've found it a good reliable firearm. Not the most accurate I've fired, but adequate. The ease of stripping it down is great for cleaning and safety (like my bolt action, the SKS comes into the house with the bolt removed) and the cops like it as I can store the bolt separate from the rifle.


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## Ignatius

I am a big SKS fan and bought my first one in 1992 for $79! ( A Norinco at that with a chrome lined barrel) I have owned and sold/traded a few others and I recently added a Yugo 59/66 to the gunsafe. I think they are kind of a masterpiece of simplicity and function, much like the AK and the FAL. 
SKS's are kind of no brainers for me: they are inexpensive, reliable, rugged, and as accurate as they need to be. If I had to defend myself and my family with one I could do so. I taught myself how to load one using stripper clips and I can keep up a decent rate of fire as a result. 

The Norinco has gone through several iterations of "Tacti-cool" including a folding synthetic stock, a fixed 4X scope and a few of those duck bill detachable magazines. I am happy to report that I grew through my foolish youth and now both of my SKS's are in factory issued condition and they just work better (and look better !) that way too.

I plan to keep buying them as I see them at a bargain price, they would make excellent "hand out" rifles if I needed to arm someone else that I trust. YES a fully detachable mag fed semi auto like an AK might be a better weapon if TSHTF and there is civil unrest etc. but there will always be room for a few SKS's in my collection.


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## LincTex

mosquitomountainman said:


> Reliable - A plus
> Accuracy - B
> Ease of Use - A plus
> Easy to field strip and clean.
> They are nearly indestructible and will still fire after much neglect.


Yep, everything MosqMtMan said.



GroovyMike said:


> When I first bought an SKS they were selling at about $99 each.


Me too - those were the days. 
Last one I bought was a Yugo 59/66 for $129. I have not checked prices in a very long time and have no idea what the market is fetching for them.

Ammo is almost as common as .22 Long Rifle. 
...and inexpensive. 
...and available is sealed tins


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## Magus

300$ locally.

I have a Russian,East German and a Chi-com.I think my Chinese shoots best.the German one is a slug slinger,but to be fair,who knows how many rounds went down the pipe?


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## Davo45

*+1*



UrbanMan said:


> ReconCraftTheta - I get the SKS question all the time. I responded to a reader on my site with much the same question,...SKS or M4...that article is here.
> 
> If I only had $1000, rather than stick it into an M-4 or variant platform, I would buy an SKS and use the rest of the money for ammunition and other essential survival food and gear. I would not feel under armed with the SKS either.
> 
> I have a Norinco SKS, shoots well and is very reliable. I only use Wolf ammunition, simply because I started with that brand, it works well, and I'm a creature of habit. Currently Ammoman.com offers 640 rounds of 122 grain 7.62x39mm for $179 delivered.
> 
> be safe
> 
> UrbanMan
> Urban Survival Skills, Survival Equipment, Survival Planning and Preparation


I could kick myself in the posterior region for ever selling my Norinco SKS rifle. Great brush gun. I did pick up a used AK-47 chambered in 5.56mm last month though. Paid $350 with tax from a gunsmith buddy of mine. I have an M-4 locked in the safe, but the AK is my travel rifle. I have a decent amount of 5.56mm ammo and just a bit of 7.62x39, so the 5.56mm AK made more sense to me. The deciding factor was that all the gun shops around me want as much for a decent SKS as I paid for the AK.


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## BillM

*When I was*

When I was a Deputy Sheriff, I had a Chinese SKS Paritroop model. It had a shorter barrel and was fitted with a black composit folding stock. The whole gun would fit under the seat of my cruiser and I carried it both on patrol and when we went into the field to hunt for marijuana.

I sold it when I retired but reciantly bought a Norinco SKS and ammo just to have as a suppliment to my arsonal.


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## Magus

I just traded my SKS paratroop for a Draco pistol.


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## LincTex

Magus said:


> Draco pistol


Not a piece worth owning. Looks bada$$, but just isn't practical.


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## Davo45

*+1*



LincTex said:


> Not a piece worth owning. Looks bada$$, but just isn't practical.


I'd have to agree with you here, the same applies to an AR pistol....looks cool but just isn't practical.


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## Jimmy24

Had 3 of them and for the life of me can't figure out why I let them go....:dunno:

Never jammed.
Very accurate
Cheap
Good hunting rifle. At least as good as a 30-30
Good Hog gun.

Don't hesitate to buy one...

Jimmy


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## LincTex

Jimmy24 said:


> Don't hesitate to buy one...


Seems like they are all $350 or more around here. J&G Sales has YUGO 59/66's in Shotgun News for $279 and up


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## Magus

LincTex said:


> Not a piece worth owning. Looks bada$$, but just isn't practical.


Depends on what you're planning on doing with it.


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## BasecampUSA

Magus said:


> Depends on what you're planning on doing with it.


If it's_ Chinese_, you could use it for an emergency canoe paddle... -just look at one, -it looks like someone made it in thier garage with a file and hammer. I bought 2 of them for $100 back in '99 - both misfired 60% of the time !! Not even worth that for spare parts!

My Russian, Czech and Yugoslavian SKS's are good weapons though...


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## Jimmy24

LincTex said:


> Seems like they are all $350 or more around here. J&G Sales has YUGO 59/66's in Shotgun News for $279 and up


Have seen a few around at gun shops and pawn shops in the $200-$300 range. No doubt they have gone up in price, but still worth it IMHO.

All 3 of mine were Chinese. All 3 shot like crazy. Think I paid $99 for mine too. Can't expect much for 100 bucks, but what I got was great little guns. I did have one that gave problems till I figured out I hadn't cleaned all the cosmoline out of the gas tube.

We keep talking about them and I'm gonna get the bug....

JGW


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## Magus

BasecampUSA said:


> If it's_ Chinese_, you could use it for an emergency canoe paddle... -just look at one, -it looks like someone made it in thier garage with a file and hammer. I bought 2 of them for $100 back in '99 - both misfired 60% of the time !! Not even worth that for spare parts!
> 
> My Russian, Czech and Yugoslavian SKS's are good weapons though...


It was one of the all milled ones with mostly Russian parts,still rough as a cob but shot well.those with stamped parts are 100% crap.


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## BillM

*Two years*



BasecampUSA said:


> If it's_ Chinese_, you could use it for an emergency canoe paddle... -just look at one, -it looks like someone made it in thier garage with a file and hammer. I bought 2 of them for $100 back in '99 - both misfired 60% of the time !! Not even worth that for spare parts!
> 
> My Russian, Czech and Yugoslavian SKS's are good weapons though...


Two years after the Korean conflict they recovered some Chinese SKS'S that were buried in the mud at the Chosin reservor . The cheap stocks were rotting off of them but they still fired , fresh out of the mud with the ammo that was still in them. I'm pretty sure they were made in China .


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## Magus

I'm real sure he's talking about the stamped and pinned hunks of crap they exported for U.S civilians and not the ex military ones we got first,but anyway..if the dates I have are right,they were Russian,the Chinese didn't start using domestic rifles until way late in the war.


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## ReconCraftTheta

BillM said:


> Two years after the Korean conflict they recovered some Chinese SKS'S that were buried in the mud at the Chosin reservor . The cheap stocks were rotting off of them but they still fired , fresh out of the mud with the ammo that was still in them. I'm pretty sure they were made in China .


I was watching "Come and See" with a friend, and the main charecter had trouble pulling the bolt back on a Soviet made SVT40.

"********".
"What"?
"That gun would still fire"!
"Yeah, haha, the hell with that, it'd purge itself".
Thought I'd share


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## WinTheMindWinTheDay

ReconCraftTheta said:


> I was watching "Come and See" with a friend, and the main charecter had trouble pulling the bolt back on a Soviet made SVT40.
> 
> "********".
> "What"?
> "That gun would still fire"!
> "Yeah, haha, the hell with that, it'd purge itself".
> Thought I'd share


The Toky '40 can be a finicky weapon to say the least, as well as Simonov's AVS36. The SVT40 and AVS36 are definitely predecessors to the SKS and AK47 in design and forward thinking that the Russian military, contrary to a lot of ignorant Americans and other westerners, had had for years prior to the Great Patriotic War. The purges held back, in my opinion, one of the finest fighting forces on the planet, albeit brute force, the human wave theory of warfare helped to compensate for this nearsightedness from The Boss.

I own a few "Commie" guns myself, and I'll list them to put to rest the thought that I am perhaps a Wikipedia Warrior. 
-Izhevsk(now Izhmash) made Mosin Nagant 91/30 dated '41
-Izhevsk made Nagant 1895 revolver dated '43
-Norinco Type 56 SKS
-Norinco Model 54 TT33 Tokarev clone in 7.62x25mm
-Vector Arms American made(933r compliance build) AKMS, the underfolding stock AKM, which I see of AKMs and AKMSs here in the Stan.

Now...on to a bit of rant, and some advice. As far as any Kalashnikov, Simonov, Tokarev, Degtyaryov, Nagant(I know I know...he was French), or any other "Commie" weapon, here is a word of advice from an owner of several communist-made firearms: NEVER, EVER, listen to people when they say "These weapons can take plenty of neglect, and don't need to be taken care of as much as other guns," or something similar. Those people are idiots, plain and simple, and if someone takes personal offense to that statement, I could care less because that makes you an idiot. Sorry. :dunno:

Call this a moment on the soapbox, a rant, call it what you will, but a catastrophic failure of a weapon, especially in combat, is NEVER a good day...EVER, and it can cost you your LIFE. That weapon is a tool, just like any other tool. I have had an SVT40, that out of sheer neglect by its owner, blow apart in my hands during a WWII reenactment, and that was NOT FUN. I would never, under any circumstances, even DREAM of operating that specific weapon I had been using with live ammunition.

CLEAN your SKS, CLEAN your AK, CLEAN your ComBloc guns just as well as you would any other firearm. The chromed barrel theory, let me touch on that now. There are a lot of frikkin' retards out there that will try to swear up and down that since the barrel is untouchable by surplus corrosive ammunition, one once again doesn't have to pay much attention to their "commie guns." Guess again.

Find some old, well used, chrome plated AKs next time you are around them...I'm talking Type 56s and AKMs that probably killed people in some Third World country, and somehow made it to where you are. Take a look at the barrel...you'll notice that yes, it's probably untouched by the corrosive ammunition. However, now look down at the receiver, specifically the extractor, chamber, and bolt face of the weapon. You'll see pitting from the gas and powder mixed in with the corrosive chemicals that were sneezed out of the weapon in small amounts during operation.

Now, here is the BIG one: take a look at that bolt face, and you will see a line pitted into the ringing around the firing pin, and possibly a corroded firing pin...the latter just depends. These were not chromed parts much of the time, if ever, and are not "invincible" to pitting like the barrels. That pitted ring will cause your weapon to fail to operate, feed fire extract...whatever, because eventually, the round will become improperly seated, and sealed against the bolt face, thus causing gas that would otherwise be routed through the chamber to escape out the action in more amounts. It will slowly wear down the weapon, and it can be prevented.

Hot water, soap, and some good Hoppe's #9, followed by a good coat of Mil Tech, and you are good to go. If you are doing the "hot wash" method, don't hot wash plastic or wood furniture, or springs. And on the note of heat, don't pull a "big billy badass" stress test on your weapon, then prop it against something by the barrel, muzzle, etc., as you are warping the barrel even slightly if you have just fired the weapon to the point that it got white or red hot. Lay it down flat on the ground, and let it air cool, or you'll never see that one to only a few minutes of angle shot ever again with that current barrel.

The bayonets: keep it. It can be used for something, and doesn't add that much weight. If you have the bladed variant, do not sharpen it; don't sharpen any bayonet for that matter. Keep the blade just sharp enough to cut...don't make it razor sharp. That weapon is designed to hack, slash, and forward thrust stab someone. If the edge is too sharp, and you hack at an arm, a leg, etc, the blade could potentially get stuck into bone. On the contrary, keep it just sharp enough to break skin, and cause the enemy to bleed.

Final words. If you don't keep yourself clean, you can potentially get sick, and die. If you don't keep your weapon clean, it can potentially get sick, and you'll die. In the words of Forrest Gump, that's all I have to say about that.


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## ReconCraftTheta

I own a 91-30 right now, Izzy 1943. Trust me, this thing is clean right after shooting, thoroughy. It's common knowledge of caring for ANY firearm.


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## Magus

WinTheMindWinTheDay said:


> Now...on to a bit of rant, and some advice. As far as any Kalashnikov, Simonov, Tokarev, Degtyaryov, Nagant(I know I know...he was French), or any other "Commie" weapon, here is a word of advice from an owner of several communist-made firearms: NEVER, EVER, listen to people when they say "These weapons can take plenty of neglect, and don't need to be taken care of as much as other guns," or something similar. Those people are idiots, plain and simple, and if someone takes personal offense to that statement, I could care less because that makes you an idiot. Sorry. :dunno:
> 
> Call this a moment on the soapbox, a rant, call it what you will, but a catastrophic failure of a weapon, especially in combat, is NEVER a good day...EVER, and it can cost you your LIFE. That weapon is a tool, just like any other tool. I have had an SVT40, that out of sheer neglect by its owner, blow apart in my hands during a WWII reenactment, and that was NOT FUN. I would never, under any circumstances, even DREAM of operating that specific weapon I had been using with live ammunition.
> 
> CLEAN your SKS, CLEAN your AK, CLEAN your ComBloc guns just as well as you would any other firearm. The chromed barrel theory, let me touch on that now. There are a lot of frikkin' retards out there that will try to swear up and down that since the barrel is untouchable by surplus corrosive ammunition, one once again doesn't have to pay much attention to their "commie guns." Guess again.
> 
> Find some old, well used, chrome plated AKs next time you are around them...I'm talking Type 56s and AKMs that probably killed people in some Third World country, and somehow made it to where you are. Take a look at the barrel...you'll notice that yes, it's probably untouched by the corrosive ammunition. However, now look down at the receiver, specifically the extractor, chamber, and bolt face of the weapon. You'll see pitting from the gas and powder mixed in with the corrosive chemicals that were sneezed out of the weapon in small amounts during operation.
> 
> Now, here is the BIG one: take a look at that bolt face, and you will see a line pitted into the ringing around the firing pin, and possibly a corroded firing pin...the latter just depends. These were not chromed parts much of the time, if ever, and are not "invincible" to pitting like the barrels. That pitted ring will cause your weapon to fail to operate, feed fire extract...whatever, because eventually, the round will become improperly seated, and sealed against the bolt face, thus causing gas that would otherwise be routed through the chamber to escape out the action in more amounts. It will slowly wear down the weapon, and it can be prevented.
> 
> Hot water, soap, and some good Hoppe's #9, followed by a good coat of Mil Tech, and you are good to go. If you are doing the "hot wash" method, don't hot wash plastic or wood furniture, or springs. And on the note of heat, don't pull a "big billy badass" stress test on your weapon, then prop it against something by the barrel, muzzle, etc., as you are warping the barrel even slightly if you have just fired the weapon to the point that it got white or red hot. Lay it down flat on the ground, and let it air cool, or you'll never see that one to only a few minutes of angle shot ever again with that current barrel.
> 
> The bayonets: keep it. It can be used for something, and doesn't add that much weight. If you have the bladed variant, do not sharpen it; don't sharpen any bayonet for that matter. Keep the blade just sharp enough to cut...don't make it razor sharp. That weapon is designed to hack, slash, and forward thrust stab someone. If the edge is too sharp, and you hack at an arm, a leg, etc, the blade could potentially get stuck into bone. On the contrary, keep it just sharp enough to break skin, and cause the enemy to bleed.
> 
> Final words. If you don't keep yourself clean, you can potentially get sick, and die. If you don't keep your weapon clean, it can potentially get sick, and you'll die. In the words of Forrest Gump, that's all I have to say about that.


Indeed.I've bought several commie guns for parts because some retard forgot to swab the gas tube.

Three words for the bolt group:
Dry Moly Lube:

Dries like paint,lubes like oil,NOTHING sticks to it!

P.S
The Tokorev 40 is a wall hanger or target gun.sell it to a collector.


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## ReconCraftTheta

I don't personally own one. However if I did, I'd keep it. I'm starting up a rifle collection


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## NYRECONMARINES

*AR-7 Survival Rifle...For Your Go-Bag/ Bug-Out Bag*

Note to staff please move if not in the proper thread area...

Dear friends everyone has a view on firearms for survival and all views are truly welcome. I've been emailed on several occasions asking me about a light weight firearm other than a handgun one should have in their Bug-Out/ Go-Bag.

My Recommendation:

U.S. Survival AR-7
Don't Leave Civilization Without One

Since 1959, the venerable AR-7 has been the choice of U.S. Air Force pilots who need a small-caliber rifle they can count on for survival should they have to punch out over a remote area. Over the years, the AR-7's reputation for portability, ease of operation and reliability has carried over to the civilian world as well. Today, it's a favorite of bush pilots, backpackers and back country adventurers who, like their Air Force counterparts, need a rifle that's easy to carry but has the accuracy to reliably take down small game.

Link: Henry Repeating Arms | Fine Rifles Made in America and Priced Right

For the prepared mind this is part of my personal survival load-out. I own three of them. Plus my M-4 and My Wilson Combat CQB Elite .45

I hope this helped.


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## Magus

A Marlin Papoose eats its lunch.


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## ReconCraftTheta

AR7s are nice... but I'm 17 mate. I'm talking for in the now, whilst this is an SKS thread, I own a Mosin Nagant currently.


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