SKS The Sequel

cavetech

cavetech

Joined
Nov 25, 2005
Messages
760
I have taken to heart all the advise given on cleaning mil-surp rifles and really worked long and hard today on my SKS.

By way of background, I have had this Norinco Chinese SKS with chrome bore for about 20 years and never did anything with it. A friend sold it to me (along with many other rifles). Every time I would go over to his house we would get involved with his collection. Every time he would say "you need this one and that one" and I would say OK. Didn't mater what it was, I had money to burn back then. So this SKS just sat all this time. Probably because I looked down upon it as a crummy Commie rifle. After all I had my beloved M-1 carbines, what could be better?

Now that I have my C&R I've taken a closer look at some firearms I have and really see them in a new light. Today, with the help from here and a step-by-step dissasembly from surplusrifles.com I worked on this SKS.

It went something like this:
Disasemble the whole thing.
Put all small parts in a pot of water and boil the cosmolene out of them. Burn finger while doing this.
Blow water off/out with air gun. Wipe.
Use heat gun on barrel/receiver and wipe what doesn't run off.
Clean with mineral spirits. Wipe.
Spray with WD-40. Wipe.
Clean bore and chamber. Wipe.
Use Hoppes #9 on everything. Wipe.
Gun oil everything.
Take picture. Tell friends.
Reassemble weapon.

This was sold to me as new unfired. I now believe it. Absolutly no sign of wear from being fired. Bore clean.

Stock has dings from storage and handleing before I got it.

My opinion of this rifle has changed substantialy. All parts are milled. I am impressed with it's parts and the way it's made. I look forward to shooting it. It's inner workings are now clear to me. I like this rifle very much. Even the chisle point star bayonet.

Now I throw out the question, what can anyone tell me about it? I know it's Chinese and imported by Norinco. Can the markings tell when it was made and by what company? Any other history, please. Numbers are on pictures.

All serial numbers match. Even the stock. What is it worth?

Finally, should I shoot this one or leave it alone as a collector and buy anoyher for plinking?

I know this is a whole load of questions, sorry.

Thanks for taking a look.
 

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Shoot it.

They're worth about $300 (or you can buy one used for about that).

In the 90's Chinese SKS were cheap- I got one for $130.

With your new C&R you can (right now) buy Yugo 59/66 SKS's - fine guns also and still cheap - $90-150 on condition.

It's odd there was cosmo in an older chinese one- mine never had any. Maybe that one of yours was put away...

The Yugos come packed in it, and there's a potential danger of slam-fire full auto if the inside of the bolt & firning pin isn't clean of the stuff.

Getting 7.62x39 might be a little sticky right now, though.


Mike


www.thehighroad.org

this forum is a great source of rifle info- many, many super-informed people there.
 
SKS is the 21st Century M1 Carbine. Cheap, cheap ammo. The cheapest I can get M1 is 150 for a thousand of Wolf. You can get a thousand of X39 for about a hundred bucks.

I pulled my Yugo M59 and my Russian out and put 60 rounds on stripper clips so I could shoot mine tomorrow.
 
I've got a lot of 7.62x39 on hand. A previous tip from HD landed tyhat plus what I already had.

Should I shoot it or leave it as is?

Any idea when and where it was made from the markings?

Do the Yugo 59/66 SKS's have that grenade launcher? I don't like them.

SKS and AK-47 take the same 7.62x39 ammo don't they?
 
SKS is fun to shoot.
Be sure to keep the firing pin clean and relatively dry. There is no firing pin return spring in the original design and a sticky pin can result in slam fire and accidental full auto.

The only other possible problem that seems to crop up is with el-cheapo aftermarket magazines. Stick with the 10 rd box. A relatively high rate of fire (if that's what you want) can be acheived by practice with stripper clips.

Best accuracy will probably be 2 m.o.a., more likely 3.
There are fellows who do trigger improvements that really help. An aperture sight helps, too.

Enjoy!

--Mike L.
 
Good info!

I am also off to the SKS board.

I'll keep my bolt clean.

I think I feel more money getting ready to leave my pocket. My SKS could definately use a better trigger pull.
 
Ad Astra said:
These guys can help.

http://www.sksboards.com/forum/

That is the best online source, IMHO, for SKS info.


Mike
Click to expand...

Darn it, AA. You've done it again.

Now I discovered that some SKS come with detachable magazines. I don't have one. It will be next in line after my K-31 next week.

Did you receive my credit card yet to send my my gun of the week? With every five you send me you can buy one for yourself!
 
There isn't an SKS made that is worth 300 to me, but give it five more years and who knows?

Garands were cheap once. Should of bought and kept 4. I sold the ones I had and now have none, sob.

Anyway, the SKS is one of my all time favorite rifles, almost a little world onto itself. The Chinese Norinco is fine, many sneered at it in it's day, as with all things China, but it turns out the Chinese made good stuff if not always the most attractive. That's the way I like my SKSs anyway- why dress up a foot soldier meant for the field and pretend it's a general in a tent?

Polytech is Norinco made to higher specs. As if to prove the Chinese can make a handsome arm when they want to, a poly legend AK is one of the most desirable in the world- and there are a whole bunch of AK's.

We've enough SKS fans here to make a subforum. I only own a Russian today. Wish I'd kept my Poly...sob.

munk
 
Steve Poll said:
Now I discovered that some SKS come with detachable magazines. I don't have one. It will be next in line after my K-31 next week.
Click to expand...

Don't use detachables in an SKS, like Mike L. suggests. They rarely work well, and you could be breaking a law.

If you need more than 10 shots, you should get a GP WASR-10 (Romanian AK-47/AKM semiauto).

Of course, you should get one ANYWAY, right after that K31.

New C&R license must haves: SKS (check), CZ52 (check), K31 (next), Yugo Mauser (check), second mortgage...


Mike
 
If you like the Norincos, wait till you get ahold of a Yugo. Don't let the exterior fool you -- like people, it's what's on the inside that counts.

I will say this for the Chinese: they've taken the SKS design to heights (and depths) that Simonov would never have thought possible. If it can be done with an SKS, the Chinese have done it; if it can't, we know that because they've already proven it. It's a Russian design but I consider the Chinese to be the technical experts on the matter.

Should you shoot it? They're not importing them anymore. I don't expect to see the price of unfired specimens going down anytime soon. They're not particularly collectable now, but I'm noticing a gradual creep upwards in price. The same can be said for any SKS really. Your choice. I'd shoot it. (But then again, everything in my safe gets shot at least occasionally.)

Stay away from aftermarket detachable magazines. I have yet to see one that works decently. As has already been said, with a bit of practice with the stripper clips you'll be able to maintain a rate of fire high enough to overheat the weapon anyway.
 
Ad Astra said:
Don't use detachables in an SKS, like Mike L. suggests. They rarely work well, and you could be breaking a law.

If you need more than 10 shots, you should get a GP WASR-10 (Romanian AK-47/AKM semiauto).

Of course, you should get one ANYWAY, right after that K31.

New C&R license must haves: SKS (check), CZ52 (check), K31 (next), Yugo Mauser (check), second mortgage...


Mike
Click to expand...

He is refering to the SKS(D) made by Norinco. It is built from the factory to use standard AK-47 mags, and as such is not subject to the problems of those lame Duck-bill mags that the rest of you are thinking of. They are a little more rare, but generaly run from $300 - $350 I think.

Personaly, I would rather have one of those than a Romanian AK; a little better accuracy. the ONLY advantage the AK has over the SKS is the use of reliable detachable mags. The SKS(D) (Also called the SKS(M) in Canada) solvs that problem.
 
An SKS-D would indeed be a rare cool thing to have. Just got a Paratrooper with a scope mount, speaking of variants.

Somebody here in the forum has all of them: Albanian ($), Russ, Chinese and Yugo... but I'm not up on it; there's probably a Nigerian SKS variant. :D :foot:

http://www.simonov.net/ubertypes.htm


Mike
 
I am on the sksboards too. Great people there.

I have a K31, super impressive rifle, ammo is high. I also have a yugo sks, a yugo mauser, and a mosin nagant.

Go shoot it. 7.62x39 has went up, last show I was at it was 165 a 1000!

K31 Scoped Refinished
Yugo SKS
K31 original, shutzenfest sticker
Yugo Mauser
Mosin Nagant


 
Yep. The SKS D, and the Sporter - both from Norinco & both accept AK mags. I've got a Yugo & the Sporter, which I traded a WASR10 for - just because I like the SKS design a little better - personal preference though...
 
Then I'm on my way to a Commi Gun Collection.

I have a:
Chinese Type 53 with spike bayonet
Norinco SKS with spike bayonet which must be the standard model
Romanian AK-47 which I bought new about 6 years ago
CZ-52 recently arrived
Yugo 27/44 en route

I think I would like a SKS D with detachable magazine. Where are they for sale?

The AK butt stock is so darn short for a 6' tall american.

There is a lot to learn. Lots to read. You have all pointed me to some good info.
 
I know two things about the SKS that accepts AK mags. I had one of the early imports- the long barrel. It did not have a chrome lined bore.
It's tolerances were very tight, and it jammed. Reports of the Chinese military experimenting with AK mags and SKS almost always carried the statement that the results proved 'unsatisfactory,' and they dropped the design.

years later a sporterized version arrived- I have no experience with these.

I would buy the original design and skip the versions with AK mags. AK mags are for AK's. I certainly would skip, no, run away from any of the duck billed seperate mags as these are almost always horrible and unreliable.

The SKS does fine with the fixed box and ten rounds. It is very fast to reload with strippers.

As long as I'm opinionating, I'd skip the 'accurate' AK as well. People spend a lot of money getting a great AK. I don't know why they do this. It's OK with me they do this, but for the same money, I could get a AR, or a AR 180, or an M1 Garand, or be on my way towards getting a M14, or get a FN.

I have a Hunter, with the Polytech stamp, that has as fine a build as the Chinese could do. A real nice milled reciever, and it still is not as accurate as a good SKS.

I like the AK for what it does best; provide normal battlefield accuracy at normal battlefied ranges, and digest anything with or without mud and sand in the works.

As for SKS snobs, I have a Russian SKS now. It sure looks nicer than most my Chinese did. It doesn't shoot any better.

The most accurate SKS I ever owned was a cheap, cheap pinned barrel Chinese. It was also lighter than the screw in barrel versions, and a lot nicer to carry around the desert.

munk







munk
 
We're reaping the benefits of the end of the Cold War:thumbup:

We are living in the golden age of cool old surplus stuff. There was one before, but this may be the last as society grows more pussified.

I say buy up! Shoot lots with the cheap ammo:D Enjoy life.:cool:
 
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