Have you ever tried to place an SKS barrel in a lathe? Let me know all the gory details!

well, no i havent , iv had. about 100 or so other forms of lead throwers in my lathe, and if needed, i have a buddy with a modified Lathe that has a headstock hole large enough to get a Browning BLR all the way in. is bet id have to remove the front sight assembly..and make up a few swear words...
the last AK or SKS variants that i worked on were some of the 12 gauge shotguns, on the AK type action, all were too short for US laws, i added a nice weld on brake to make them over 18" long. never had to run one through the lathe, as they had to be weld on extentions.
i used to do a lot of muzzle brakes, and did a lot of weird stuff, then sold all my stuff to a buddy..{he has the modified lathe} he took off an ran with it, thats all he does, is make and install brakes..

on the counter sink of the muzzle, the only reason i do it, is to prevent damage to the rifling at the end of the muzzle, nothing really more then that, id like to think everyone will use that rifle in the field at some point or another, and that muzzle no matter how careful you are, can get dinked...and that ahhhh Shoot comes to mind.
if you go to your favorite gunstore, look at the new rifles, all those muzzles made now have a counter sink muzzle, no matter what the shape of the end..