Yugo SKS. Good buy?

[Steve P]

  I have lots of the old brits, swedes, mausers, etc, but missed out on the russian sks.  Have never shot nor played with one.  With the price of the guns and ammo, I am wondering if I have been missing out.

The Yugo SKSs are going for about $139.  Are they worth the money?  Will they shoot?  A buddy is giving me the pooh-pooh saying they print a 5+" pattern at 100.  If they are not going to shoot as well as my other mil surplus guns, I dont want one.   I want to be able to shoot well.  I only have one mil surplus gun that wont shoot.  Hungarian in 8x56r shoot about 10" groups at 100.  Barrel is worn and the original mil ammo I have is barrelly touching the rifling.  Need a good oversized cast bullet and I think it will shoot good.

So.....what about those SKSs?  Buy or not to buy?

Steve :wink:

[1911crazy]

  I have lots of the old brits, swedes, mausers, etc, but missed out on the russian sks.  Have never shot nor played with one.  With the price of the guns and ammo, I am wondering if I have been missing out.

The Yugo SKSs are going for about $139.  Are they worth the money?  Will they shoot?  A buddy is giving me the pooh-pooh saying they print a 5+" pattern at 100.  If they are not going to shoot as well as my other mil surplus guns, I dont want one.   I want to be able to shoot well.  I only have one mil surplus gun that wont shoot.  Hungarian in 8x56r shoot about 10" groups at 100.  Barrel is worn and the original mil ammo I have is barrelly touching the rifling.  Need a good oversized cast bullet and I think it will shoot good.

So.....what about those SKSs?  Buy or not to buy?
Steve :wink:

These yugo sks's don't have chrome barrels I have heard that most aren't too bad. But some didn't cycle too. I was also told that the ones at AIM for $109 were good. A 5" pattern? using what ammo? I don't doubt some of this ammo is good and the rest is spray and pray you hit something. I have some chinese ammo its like a shotgun at 100yds(target is peppered) thats just blasting away I haven't really sat down and benchrested it yet it could be better with better ammo. And yes I would buy one before there gone like the norinco sks's these aren't going to be around long when there gone thats it. There replacing them with AK's or better thats why there hitting the surplus market right now. I plan on getting one soon too just to hammer on it and save my new ones.                 BigBill

[Vly]

Hello Steve - I have bought 2 Yugo SKS's in the last 8 months and have 2 friends who have also bought them.  I can say with no reservation - buy!  I was one of the guys turning up my nose at them at gunshows 10 years ago when the Chinese ones were $100.  I believed the bunk about them not being accurate and overall being junk.  Baloney!  They are rugged, dependable, and surprisingly accurate.  About buying Yugo SKS's.... spend the extra money and get "excellent" grade.  Those guns which have had cycling problems are usually the well used ones.  Two things to consider - the Yugo service ammo was corrosive, so the well used ones may have dark bores or pitting in the gas system.  Also the firing of grenades accelerated wear on the gas shutoff valve, leading to reliability problems.  If you have a C&R, I would recommend buying from a reputable dealer like AIM.  I bought a unissued/new one for $169 to my door.  The excellent grades go for around $149.  If buying in person check  the bore and gas system.  The gas piston is chromed, but the tube can be pitted/rusted which can be a problem.  These rifles are a hoot to shoot.  I like the heavier muzzle weight from the grenade launcher, I think it helps offhand aiming.  My friend and I were out shooting bowling pins offhand on the 100yd berm - hitting more often than not.  Loads of fun and cheap to shoot.  You won't regret buying one.

[Bigdog]

Definitely a "buy".  With the cheap Wolf ammo, mine shoots about 6" at 100 yards, but with good commercial UMC and Winchester ammo it'll shoot inside two inches from a rest - I used a 6X scope and a steel bipod (I removed the bayonet).
The non-chrome bore is no problem, as long as the rifling is still good.  That's why we clean our guns - no difference here.  Just make sure you get a good bore - if it's not good, most vendors will take it back and replace it.  I was able to check mine at a gunshow.
These rifles are much heftier than the other SKS's - makes my Norinco seem positively petite!  All that weight up front eliminates what little muzzle jump the SKS has.  The Yugo stocks are very solid, not the soft wood like the Chinese.
Get one, you won't be dissappointed.  

[Mc85]

Buy One!!!!!!!They are great! I have one and so does my friend.We both love our rifles.They seem to be reliable.I have only had minor cycling probs,and those were easy to work out.I don't think my friends rifle has jammed yet....we have prolly put about 1000 rounds thru it so far without a prob.

  I took my buddies rifle out yesterday(mine is down for refinishing,and some trigger work),and bump fired it for the first time.....it was great ...I was able to run thru a full mag one my second try! :-D  :lol:.Anywayz in my opinion they are great rifles....I would prolly stay away from any mods,and just leave them as they are.
Things u might want to watch for are differences in stock quality,nightsights(some are tritium,and others glow in the dark rods of some sort),blueing quality and type,some of the gernade launchers have have smaller bores with holes resembling a flash supresser,and others larger bores without the holes....no noticable difference on flash or muzzle climb between the two,and trigger quality seems to vary from gun to gun.....I was able to take mine apart and smooth it up some,but I wouldn't recomend taking the trigger group apart unless u have plenty of time to fiddle with the hammer when trying to put it back together...lol.....uh and yeah....but
I think u will deff. be happy with them if you pick a good one!

  good luck ,and enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!
 

    Lates,
  Shawn Mc.

    sorry about how long of a post....I ramble too much!

[Mc85]

oh yeah btw I like your quote and the end of your post Steve :-)

  Lates man
   Shawn Mc.

[jim21]

I have a few yugos SKS's.There a great buy.the yugo is built beeferer
then all the rest.All it takes is a patch of windex to clean the barrel after
fireing.One thing about the SKS,there usally full of cosmoline and it takes a lot of cleaning.

[glshop20]

I recently got a yugo sks and did not expect much except for plinking fun. It shot the surplus ammo pretty well so I decided to reload.  Reloads shot much better so I put on an apperture sight and get consistent 4" groups at 200yds.  I also worked on the trigger to make it more shootable.  It is a great gun for the money and lots of fun to shoot.  It is great to see peoples expression when they see how darn good it shoots.  Have not had any feed problems to date.  I think feed problems could be related to inconsistent surplus ammo.