SKS and accuracy

[browningautorifle]

an AK esque mag with a duckbill

Those seemed to give trouble and not be as handy as you'd think.

I didn't realize D models were also sold there at one point.

Yes, we had our share. They're all dried up now. Not really available anywhere. The mags are all blocked to five rounds anyway as well as the SKS internal mags so it doesn't matter now. Our SKS cost way more than $250 CDN...

[enfield303t]

IIRC Our D cost around $350.00 7 years ago.

[browningautorifle]

They're pretty scarce now days...

[Richardwv]

Accuracy is a relative concept depending on one's needs. The SKS does well enough in the shoot and scoot scenario, but obviously lacks range or precision for barely exposed targets. As a 100 yard or less whitetail rifle it and its round does well enough....but it wouldn't be my first choice for that role. I've had a tad too many tracking jobs of 40 yards or less through our local wild rose and greenbrier thickets not to want something that will knock a deer down where it stands.....hence my use of 45-70. As for the typical import ammo, while it often receives the blame, frankly it is better than most people have been led to believe. I have a CZ 527 that shows me that from a solid rest even Tula is capable of groups slightly over 1 inch....and the CZ is no bench rest rifle. The SKS is a fun rifle to shoot at the range, but I put it in the same realm as the M1 carbine....a lot of fun, but not my first choice for any serious work.

[Bruce_in_Oz]

From dim, dark memories from "the GOOD old days" in Oz:

Most "surplus / "relic" SKS carbines, regardless of origin, seem to have a rather "casual" relationship between stock and metalwork.

This does NOT help grouping , one little bit, with ANY ammo.

Having previously worked on a LOT of m-14 / M-1A rifles, I had a close look at this bedding "issue".

The "final solution", to borrow a rather suspect phrase, was to take a bunch of leaves from the AMTU M-14 book and apply them to a few "representative" SKS variants. Hell, they were cheap enough to use as "lab rats".

So, as per the M-14, it is pretty much impossible to apply "upwards" pressure to the barrel to damp out nasty vibrations, so, "downwards" pressure it was.

Out with the "Decvon" pack and some wood-carving tools.

the trick was too "build up an area of "solid bedding at the FRONT of the action , BUT the ultimate objective was to use the wooden stock as a big "spring" to pull the rear of the action DOWN and likewise the front, via the "band" at the front of the top handguard.

Just , as our Irish cousins say, "t' be sure, t' be sure!", a bit of "creative engineering" saw the fitting of a "reinforcing plate", inlet into the stock, above the firing mech. Through this was run a a decent, counter-sunk high-tensile, hex-drive screw , upwards, into the rear of the receiver. This applied MUCH more positive "pull-down" than the normal "barbed", spring plunger. The "cool" part of this meant that you could remove the firing mech for cleaning whilst not interfering with the bedding of the barreled action. I had previously used this system on a couple of "re-worked" M-1A's to good advantage.

This process could be applied to both the "normal" SKS and the versions with the "AK" style mags .

For added stiffness in the rather cheesy Chinese stocks, Carbon-Fibre "tape" could be bonded to the wood, internally, after a bit of basic work with a router, from the front to the rear, with a good polyester or epoxy resin. STIFF as a block of 4 x 2, once the resin cured, and with nothing to show on the outside.

Ditching the bayonet was also a good move.

A lot of work for a "farm gun"? Yep, but the results, especially with good Yugoslav ball or "hunting" handloads, were worth it.

These things are BRUTAL on scopes. Mine destroyed a "basic" Tasco" in short order and ended its days, MANY thousands of rounds later, with a Leupold "compact" 2-7 variable. A LOT of feral pigs met their end via this little carbine.

[browningautorifle]

Most "surplus / "relic" SKS carbines, regardless of origin, seem to have a rather "casual" relationship between stock and metalwork.

THAT'S an understatement...

These things are BRUTAL on scopes.

And don't really have a good way to mount them either. I stuck with iron sights.

[Bruce_in_Oz]

As for a scope mounting system:

A good start is a simple section of 2" x 2" mild-steel angle, bolted to the left-hand side of the receiver / body.

The top area is trimmed to a width to ensure ejection clearance. (More on that issue later). Then a "rail" or pads of your choosing are obtained.

The "vertical" part of the angle is set to clear the woodwork and then goes for drilling and counter-sinking. At least THREE, preferably four, holes need to be drilled for the attachment of the "mount" The steel in some of these little beauties is often "tough"; but not glass -hard like a P-14 body. You will need good, SHARP taps and a good cutting fluid. Thread spec is your choice. This may be determined by what sort of grade 6 or better CS cap-screws you can obtain. The truly hard-core will also whack in a couple of high-grade tapered pins to stop the mount "floating" on the screws.

That sounds like a lot of fiddling around on a "cheap" rifle, but it works. One final consideration is the ejection angle. A "shooting buddy" did a similar job and was somewhat distraught at the effect of ejected STEEL cases striking the objective bell of his scope. His solution was to weld an "extension shield" onto the front of the angle-steel mount.

Or, you can skip all of that and just fit one of those very lightweight "red-dot" reflex sight to the standard rear-sight base with a suitable "interface".

If you are bouncing about in the farm 4WD, culling feral pigs, thousands of dollars worth of exotic AR or similar, is just being excessively "Gucci". A 124gn SP from a $400 rig kills them just as dead.

A removable cheek-piece, a la the No4T style, also helps with the ergonomics of the set-up.

Experimental "gun-plumbing", on the cheap.

[browningautorifle]

That sounds like a lot of fiddling

I'm afraid I do see it as a lot, but I'd leave the sights as is. Most around here just thunder the ammo through and fine accuracy doesn't seem to matter much. Two guys will take a case of ammo to the range and go through all of it...in an hour.

[Dannyboy53]

We own two of them, I have had five through the years and have nothing but praise for the SKS. As long as a shooter that is new to the SKS realizes and accepts the fact these are not sniper rifles but only shoot "minute of man" as they were designed to do then you will not be disappointed. They are a very robust & dependable design...almost indestructible. Just be sure to keep the firing pin channel very clean.

[mercman]

I brought my unaltered Russian here to Colorado with me. I picked up a companion bolt action, a CZ 527, a beautifully made firearm. I got a deal on some Yugo brass cased, corrosively primed, ammo and have a K of Tula steel cased to shoot up when I get a chance.

I also have a Russian refurb and two Yugo 59/66's at home in WA state. I pigged out on a few cases of Wolf ammo for my stockpile up there.

I agree, while not varmint rifles they are none the less fun to shoot.