Educate me about the SKS

[squirrel_hunter6]

I’ve been thinking about getting a SKS just to have fun with, that is to say, plinking. I really don’t know anything about the SKS so, any info would be great. I did a Google search and there seems to different countries of manufacture like Yugoslavia and China.

What is the best SKS to buy?

What kind of accuracy can be reasonable expected and what rifle would give the best accuracy?

What features should I look for and what kind of accessories are out there?

What is the going price?

What is the best ammunition to shoot? From what I’ve read some of the ammo is corrosive. I don’t wan to shoot corrosive ammo if I can help it.

I know there are a lot of questions. I would appreciate if you guys could point me in the right direction.

Thanks :mrgreen:

[qajaq59]

The corrisive ammo is really not much of a problem so long as you clean the bore with Windex right after you shoot and then give it a proper cleaning at home.
Just my opinion... But you might be happier with a Swiss K31 rifle. They are not too expensive and you can buy both commercial and military ammo for it that wont be corrosive. The accuracy is better then average for older military weapons as well. Plus the commercial ammo can be reloaded.

But keep asking around because there are loads of opinions out there.

[Mikey]

Which one, Yugo or Chinese - the Yugo is probably of better quality.  Yugos are all made at one plant or another.  Chinese rifles are pieced out to local part manufacturers and then assembled at different plants.

Regardless, they are clunker mil-surps.  With mil-spec ammo they should group to 4" at 100m with open sights, hopefully less if you can find and attach a stable scope mount.  With quality hunting ammo you should group under 4" at 100 yds - minute of whitetail so to speak.  The power of the 7.62x39mm round is adequate for whitetail to about 150 yds.  It is at the lower end of the 30-30 power range.  Features - the Yugo Model 56s carry a non-detachable grenade launcher that may not help your accuracy.  Otherwise they are all the same, except possibly for bayonets or bayonet mounts.

For attachments you have scopes and mounts, bipods, recoil pads or stock extenders for taller folk, synthetic stocks, 'adjusted' trigger groups (almost a necessary item for the serious shooter).  Ammo - Sellier and Bellot or Wolfe.  Wolfe has improved their quality over the past few years and it shoots well.  I think S&B is the most accurate I have fired from my rifles.  

You can really spend a lot of money on a mil-spec battle rifle and still wind up with a sow's ear.  You will spend about $200, possibly more for a new SKS, then the accoutrements will run you another couple of hundred and so will the ammo.  And then in the blink of an eye it's all shot up and ya need more, and so it goes.........................

If you might like to consider thinking about plinking with a bolt gun that you might also want to try hunting with I am sure a lot fo folks here would start you off with a 6.5 Swede and work you up to an 8mm Mauser (all probably within a week.........HAHAHA I would..............)  quajaq59's suggestion is a good one and I like the K31s, they are nice quality made mil-surps.  HTH.  JMHO.  Mikey.

[muzzleblast525]

Go with Yogo

[R.W.Dale]

I own both and the Yugo is  much more accurate than the Chinese, The YUGO is an all round better made and finished gun than my Norinco

[S.S.]

In all honesty, I have never met an SKS I did not like :grin:
They were never made to be precision weapons. And according to some of the old documents I have seen, Their original planned service life expectancy was 5,000 rounds! They were made to be fast to produce and soldier proof. Fortunately the old SKS far exceeds Mr. Simonovs plan.
They are really too loose to mount a scope on, But that looseness
makes them wonderfully reliable.

[squirrel_hunter6]

Just my opinion... But you might be happier with a Swiss K31 rifle.

I'll look into that rifle. What else can you tell me about it?

If you might like to consider thinking about plinking with a bolt gun that you might also want to try hunting with I am sure a lot of folks here would start you off with a 6.5 Swede and work you up to an 8mm Mauser

Mikey, can you tell me more about the rifles in these calibers?

Thanks for the responses. I am just looking for a fun gun to plink with and it doesn't necessarily have to be a SKS. I'm open to a lot of other ideas. Will any mil-surp rifles group 2" or better at 100 yards?

I looked at MidwayUSA and they had 900 rounds of 8mm for $75! They were corrosive but man that seems like a great price. The 7.5x55 wasn't quite as cheap but it also wasn't corrosive. I didn't see any hunting style ammo for the 7.5x55. Where is it available? I didn't see any surplus ammo for the 6.5x55.

[qajaq59]

You will find information here at the Swiss site.
http://pub18.ezboard.com/btheswissriflesdotcommessageboard

HopefulyGreybeard doesn't mind a link in here. If so my apologies.
Qajaq59

[Mikey]

Not all mil-surps will group like that but 4 that I know fo, with good bores and headspace group 2" at 100 yds - Swedish Mausers in 6.5x55, Swiss K31s in the 7.5x55 Swiss, Yugo M48/M48A in 8mm, No4 Mk1 in 303 British.

Hunting ammo may be available for the 7.5 from Norma, but it is likely to be pricey.  For the 6.5, get new Sellier and Bellot, it is the best I've ever shot through mine.  You can reload the 7.5 with 308 bullets.  HTH.  Mikey.

[S.S.]

For just plinking, I would go with the Turkish Mauser...
Inexpensive, Accurate and 8mm Mauser ammo is still very inexpensive.
And a box of S&B softpoints will make a Hunt anything in the lower 48
rifle out of it too.

[97th signalman]

You couldn't go wrong with a Yugo 59/66 SKS. I got one in unissued condition with a teak stock for $150. They work all the time, dirty or clean. They will shoot a lethal grouping (4-5") at 100 yards. Wolf 7.62 x 39 is cheap and reliable and non-corrosive (albeit in short supply right now). To avoid slam-fires, make sure the bolt and firing pin are grease free and clean and don't use comercial US sportting ammo (primers are too sort and subject to slam-fire with a free floating firing pin like the SKS has). If yo want a little lighter rifle, buy one of the early Yougs without the grenade launcher. If you want more accuracy consider Williams Firesight or the Tech Sight. A trigger job by Bill Springer is great and costs only about $30.  You don't have to do any of that stuff to have fun with it. They are more accurate than AK's and just as reliable. Stay away from hi-cap removable mags and stick with the std ten round fixed mag it comes with. Get you self some charger strips and you can shove ammo in ten rounds at a time.

[Plink]

I'm a big fan of the SKS and have several of each available make. I like them for trying out different gunsmithing ideas cheaply, and they're just a lot of fun for the money. Anyway, the Yugo is generally the most accurate of the breed, though one of my Chinese models will give my Yugos a run for their money.

None of them are terribly accurate, but that's mostly a combination of crappy ammo, a crappy trigger, and bad sights. You can get a trigger job on them and install better sights, a scope (beware crappy mounts! The Choate is the only one I trust), or a red dot sight and the accuracy improves a bit. Using better (US made or handloads) ammo improves it a bit more. They'll never be a target gun, though most can shoot in the 2 inch range if you're willing to tinker.

They're one of the most rugged and absolutely reliable guns that I've ever seen. If the gun isn't worn out, it will probably outlast you and your children. You can get Yugos in great condition for $150 or less if you look around.

I shoot a lot of Wolf in mine simply because it's the easiest to get. It's not the most accurate, but it's non corrosive. Actually, their 154 grain load is gaining a reputation for being fairly accurate. The Brown Bear (I believe it was) Effect ammo is pretty accurate, and for a while, there was ammo coming in from Africa that was really good. I wish we had such selection again.

What I like best about them is you can turn them into anything you want, from a full blown "combat gun" to a civilized plinker with optics.

I'm taking a paratrooper version and freefloating the barrel, putting a red dot on the Millet sight replacement mount, and making it into a 5 shot brush gun as my current project. I'd sure like to find a flush fit mag for it, but I guess I'll end up having to cut and weld a factory magazine to make one, as they supply of flush fits have dried up.

Anyway, good luck with whatever you choose.

[bscman]

I would opt for a good russian, or chinese myself.
I love the yugo's, and they are the cheapest of the lot...but they are front end heavy w/ the grenage launcher and sights. They can be removed, and a good brake put in it's place, however.

The yugo's are the only ones without chrome lined bores...so you're more susceptable to rust and corrosion. There is also a flood of poor grade Yugo's on the market. Look for a good one if you go this route.

My most accurate SKS is a pinned barreled chinese, that shoots ~2" groups at 100yds using quality ammo. It opens up to 3" or so with brown bear hp's (my fav. cheap ammo). I wouldn't hesitate a bit chasing deer to about 150 yards with my chinese. It's also one of my favorite coyote getters.

You can also keep your eyes out for an SKS "D" or "M" which use AK detachable magazines.
Just don't get confused by a plain jane SKS using elcheapo "duckbill" detachable magazines--they tend to jam, and be or poor quality. The stock 10 round fixed is your best bet for reliability.

[1911crazy]

I think the sks is overlooked as being accurate but they are with the right ammo.  My chinese paratrooper 16" barrel will shoot 1 1/2" groups w/iron sites and my chinese 20" barreled scoped will shoot under 1" groups both benchrested with chinese norinco ammo @ 100yds.  I have heard on other forums the white box winchester 7,62x39 ammo is just as good as the norinco ammo too.  For plinkin ammo we can beat the russian made wolf or barnaul ammo.  I would get the yugo 59/66 first and you just may like it and want a few more different ones like a chinese, a russian, a yugo m59, a romanian and a albanian sks too.  They are a hoot to shoot.

Lube your sks up with moly too on the rails, bolt carrier & bolt, trigger sear, gas piston and gas tube just a little will do too.  I get my moly from www.mcmaster.com  just go there and search for moly anti seize and half way down the page i use the premium blend moly it has a higher percentage of moly in it.(%)  I use it in all my guns ever since i first tried it in the eary 70's in my 4x4 truck and i probably have the most experience in using it and testing it too. Luckily i had a buddy who worked for dow corning in a lab when they developed it and tested it.  He told me i had to try this new thing called moly.  I got the inside scoop on it.

The swiss k31 in 7,5 swiss is another accurate rifle too. And ammo can be found at AIM Surplus in surplus and priv-partizan (yugo) ammo too its reloadable and under $10 a box and they have it in a few different calibers too.

The other rifles that shoot the affordable surplus 8mm and 7,62x54r ammo get my vote too.  I say get your C&RFFL03 and get them all before there all gone.

[S.S.]

HAS D-MAN RETURNED ?

[1911crazy]

HAS D-MAN RETURNED ?

YES I'll be popping in and out now for a while i miss you and mikey we been together a longtime now lets see how many years is it?

[younghunter12]

Hi. What I got was a yugo sks. I got mine at j&g sales in Prescott,AZ. It was like brand new. There they have 3 grades. The best grade costs $150. Thoes look like they were made yestarday. Whatever you get let us know about it. Alec