SKS barrel swap

[Ebjonnes]

Hello,
          Do any of you guys know if an early mfg. Russian barrel will fit properly in a 59/66 Yugo receiver? I have been told that the barrel thread timing is diferent on some variants.
                                                    Thanks,

[John Traveler1]

ebjonnes,

you can assume that the barrel and receiver threads will not time correctly until proven otherwise.

Please remember that tens of MILLIONS of SKS rifles have been made in dozens of countries using soviet-designed machinery and technical advisors.  Not only does the barrel have to time correctly (sights align vertically w/reference to receiver), but that headspace and extractor cuts have to align.  With all these requirements, it's probably too much to expect that a Russian-made barrel will properly fit a former Com-bloc made receiver.

Why do you need to swap out the barrel?

[Ebjonnes]

John.
         Thanks for your reply.I bought this rifle sight unseen,and as per Murphys law, the bore is pitted.Other than that, this rifle is 95%.I would like to swap out to the Ruski barrel because they are chrome lined.

[GGaskill]

If the thread pitch is the same and the chamber is not chrome plated, you could probably substitute the Russian barrel but you would have to move the shoulder so the barrel indexes properly and deepen the chamber.  If the chamber is chrome plated, you would need a carbide reamer and that would drive the cost up to the point a new rifle would be cheaper.