Long before I held my first AR/M16, I was putting 7.62 X 39’s through paper and animals with the SKS. They were always the red headed stepchildren to all other types of semi-automatics being used. They were cheaply built, usually had ugly stocks and were incredibly inaccurate…or so we thought.
Today around the world they are as numerous as the sands in the desert. They are the only semi-auto rifle of choice of many countries in the world and held in high regard in those countries. They are chrome or nickle plated and given exotic wood stocks. They are displayed like treasures and held by children in some third world countries.
But are they really that popular here in the good ol’e USA…I believe they are and there is a website that I participate in that really promotes them and those that love them.: www.sksboards.com
I’ll show ya mine if you show me yours,
tex45acp
It’s a Chinese model that started out life as a behind the seat, carry to the ranch, bust a hog or coyote gun. Cost $65.00 NIB
Then my sons decided to upgrade her for dear old Dad, for Christmas last year, and all I can say is, it won’t go behind the seat anymore.
Nice! When I was at Ft. Devens MA, I had a buddy that had one. Don’t know where it was made but we sure had a lot of fun with it! We used to drive up to a really big gun shop/sporting goods store just inside of Maine to buy ammo for it. We sure could shoot a lot for not much $.
I like them. I think the SKS is about impossible to beat in “bang for the buck”. I’d like to pick up one of the Yugos and should have done so while they were still $200 at the shows. My local gun shop wants $400 for one now.
They’re fun little carbines to shoot. I definitely think they’re best suited to staying in wooden-stocked, fixed mag, stripper-fed natural state, but they make a pretty handy little gun like that.
i just picked one up that had the tapco stock and 2rd mag installed, it’s a yugo. feel like i got a good deal as the seller also included the original wood stock that’s in great shape and the 10 rd mag. all matching #'s
dwelling on what to do stock-wise. if i stay with the tapco i’m going to still put the 10rd box back on b/c strippers are cheap and it’s not very easy to load 20 down into the plastic tapco mag. also with the tapco stock the gun feels very front heavy so i’ll take off the bayo, grenade stuff and shorten the barrel.
or just go back to original mode and be happy to have one. it’s a tack driver and will likely live in the truck. not as heartbreaking to loose something that cost a 1/4 of my AR (before all the extras!) should someone steal it. plus i’m finding ammo for it cheaper than .223 right now.
I like my Chinese one. Easy to shoot soda cans at 75-100 yards off hand with. I would keep then in their original clothes. Especially the 10r fixed mags. Much more reliable.
back before I got married I would occasionally take girls out shooting. They all like the SKS better than the AR. The shorter length of pull (think I had a fixed stock AR at the time) was more agreeable and they also thought it lighter.
I would like to have 10. They are easy to teach someone how to operate and in a SHTF scenario, you can outfit your family members or whatever as needed
I used to have 2 pretty nice ones. traded them for an M1 carbine. I wanted to just give the guy cash for it but he only wanted to trade for something. if I found a paratrooper for a good price I might get one, but aside from that I probably won’t get another.
Like your’s, mine is also a tackdriver and very reliable, even in the new clothes and shooting from the Tapco Mags. I probably would hav not done this conversion myself, but it was a gift from my sons and I will not change it back. Plus I really like unique things and I think it is very unique looking especially with the extended eye relief handgun scope of mine that they mounted scout rifle style. It works like a charm and I dont have to worry about a deflector to keep the ejected cases from hitting and possibly damaging the scope. I did like the iron sights that are on the gun, but my old eyes find it easier these days using crosshairs and not having to keep the front and rear sights aligned.
My personal opinion is that the SKS is one of the most under-rated rifles available in the US. They are usually very well made weapons and are more accurate than 90% of the people who will shoulder one.
I remember years ago the department store Roses used to have SKS rifles for 70 bucks. I could kick my own butt for not buying a bunch at that price.
Funny I was just looking at a very nice Russian built one yesterday. The only problem was they were smoking crack when they priced it at $699:rolleyes: I offered $375 which I thought was a fair price… would pay 400+/- for one as nice as this one was. I think it was from 1954???
I wish I could go back in time when you could pick uo a Russian or East German SKS for around $200. When my dad had his FFL most of his sales where SKS’s and other verious eastern block weapons.
Nice thing is, you can get a better trigger ifyou send off the FCG to Kivaari in TX, and you can get the springloaded FP if you want, from Murrays, also in TX.
Storydude,
If I’m not mistaken there aren’t to many of those “D” models around that take the AK mags. I looked for one for a long time and couldn’t find anyone willing to part with it when I did find one. I have a short what has been referred to as a Paratrooper SKS, and the only thing I don’t like about them is you can only insert/remove the mag with the bolt open. But I think they have been underrated as well for what they were designed for.
That’s easy to modify with a Dremel and some patience. The grooves on the bolt can be ground off, allowing you to insert/remove mag without pulling the bolt back. Did it to mine and it didn’t have any impact on the stability of the magazine.
