SKS question (Not flame troll)

[devonia]

Hello

I don't want to start any arguments between members, but I'm interested in an SKS.

I have seen Chinese, Russian, Yugoslav and a few others offered here and there.

What is the group's concensus regardsin quality and accuracy?

--Any preferred ammuntion?

Thanks.

Regards

Richard

Information

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[Stevo]

Generally speaking, the Soviet and Yugo rifles will be of higher quality in regards to fit and finish. The Chinese rifles can vary wildly in external quality. They'll all operate with the same reliablity and accuracy.

The Chinese and Soviet rifles have chrome lined bores. I don't find this relevant as the gas system isn't chromed so you still have to disassemble to clean after shooting corrosive ammo.

Expect to shoot 4 inch(ish) groups from the bench. Some will do less, some more.

Shoot the cheapest ammo you can find, clean properly after use, and it will last forever.

[Claven2]

If you shoot mostly non-corrosive, probably the best fit and finished SKS rifles ever made were produced by Yugoslavia. Wherever possible, get an M59 over a 59/66 model as the gas shutoff valve on the 59/66 can be a source of angst unless your cleaning is very meticulous.

The next best, and argueably the most collectible of all the commonly available SKS rifles are the Russian made pieces. If you get one, try for one with a chromed bore. This will make cleaning easier and also give at least double the barrel life as they wear more slowly.

The Chinese rifles vary GREATLY. I've had real military rifles that aside from the cheap stock wood were every bit as good as a Russian made rifle with all milled parts, etc. and I've had Chinese rifles that were barely fireable they were so poor, with stamped and poorly fitted parts.

If you go Chinese and you are buying in CANADA (doesn't apply to the US as all their SKS rifles have been there for 15-20yrs +), DO NOT BUY A PINNED BARREL SKS IMPORTED BY LEVER ARMS WITHIN THE LAST 3 YEARS!!!

I can't stress this enough. In an effort to pinch pennies the new ownership at Lever re-negotiated with the Chinese to import the cheapest SKS rifles ever. They were allegedly assembled with a mix-match of parts with anomalies such as threaded receivers fitted with sleeved pin-type barrels, etc. These rifles are PROVEN to be UNSAFE in many instances. Sometimes headspace becomes dangerously unsafe within the first few rounds as the barrel shoots loose of the receiver and tries to fly downrange. One owner posted reports that at least one rifle was fitted with a demilled barrel which blew up on first firing.

If I were to buy Chinese again in Canada, I would NOT buy one that had English written ANYWHERE on the receiver as this is a tell-tale sign that it's a recent and possibly unsafe SKS.

All Chinese SKS rifles in the US should be OK if in good condition. Buy with confidence.

[sdh1911]

I read someplace the Yugo's don't have chrome bores, I looked in mine and it doesn't look chromed. Now if this is the case and they used button rifling it should shoot pretty straight. I'm looking for the right ammo to shoot out of it before it makes the trip to the degreaser-SDH

[JosephDerMauserSchiesser]

I have an Albanian. Fine rifle.

Likes Golden Tiger hollow points

[busdriver72]

I have owned and shot the Russian, Albanian, Chinese and Yugoslavian SKS.
The Yugos do not have chrome lined barrels, but if you clean your gun as you should, this isn't an issue. I have found the Yugos barrels to be a bit heavier. I found all of the variations of SKS rifles to be reliable and fairly accurate carbines.
In buying an SKS, begin with what you are wanting to do.
Are you just wanting something inexpensive and fun to shoot? The I'd go with the Yugo or a Chinese and not pay more than $195 for it.
If you are leaning toward a rifle that you can shoot and that has a collectible nature to it, then the Russian, Albanian, and Romanian is where you should look. I shouldn't leave out the Yugo M59, which was the Yugo version prior to the popular 59/66 which has the grenade launcher on the end of the barrel. The M59 version doesn't have it, and is more collectible.
The more collectible SKS rifles are going up in price....a Yugo M59 can bring $200 and Russians can bring over $300.
I personally have two Russians....a '50 Tula and a '54 Izzy. I currently have both of them put up and I am not shooting them.
I am going to get an inexpensive Yugo and put a synthetic stock and a red dot scope on it for my shoot'em-up carbine.

[Claven2]

About the same applies in Canada, except that the prices are higher and we don;t have access to Albanian SKS carbines.

[Cyrano4747]

As far as the accuracy issue goes, make sure you use modern, commercial ammo if you're trying for decent groups. The first time I took my Yugo out I thought I had a bum rifle - I was getting six inch groups at 100 yards and stovepipe jams at least twice a magazine, and all after a good cleaning. This was with some 60s production Yugoslavian ammo that I bought so I'd have a handful of stripper clips. I re-cleaned it and took it out with a few boxes of recent production Wolf I had around and not only did the jams stop, but the groups tightened up to about 3 inches.

Since then I've played with some other types of ammo and, without fail, my rifle seems to disdain the milsurp stuff. If you're having problems, give it a shot with new ammo.

[e3mrk]

I have a Yugo and a Russian and they are both great Rifles.

[A square 10]

i can only speak to the chinese i have , and shoot , it is as the others have said , it shoots the readily available wolf ammo consistantly within the perameters laid out - not real great accuracy at long distances from my point of view but a lot of fun at the range