Question about SKS rifles

[Raiderhater]

The SKS was mentioned several times in the Pile on GF thread and I used to have a friend in NM who had one and raved about it. Well earlier today I was in a gun store looking for a holster and saw that they had a crate of mint condition Yugo SKSs.

My two questions are 1) does anyone have any knowledge or experience with a Yugo SKS, and 2) is $225 a good price for one of these?

[Raiderhater]

I forgot, you can't post a pic in a thread header....

[Brock]

Price is probably a little high, but it's a cool gun to have. As far as the country it's made in IMO an SKS is an SKS.

[AustinChief]

http://www.impactguns.com/store/IRCSK03VG.html

Yugoslavian M-59/66 SKS Rifle VG

http://www.impactguns.com/store/media/sks_yugo_vg.jpgPrice: $135.00
Manufacturer: YUGOSLAVIAN
Impact Item #: IRCSK03VG

[Frazod]

My best friend has one, and I've shot it. His has one of those annoying spring clips, which I absolutely hated. I'm not knowledgeable enough on this to know if you can get it with a real clip, but if not, I'd pass.

[Raiderhater]

Gauging by the price info I'm seeing here, I'll pass for the time being.

Thanks guys.

[stumppy]

$225 sounds high to me. I bought one a couple mnths ago for $145.
I guess it kinda depends. Are they in true "mint" condition?
I'm not that familiar with any advantages or disadvantages of one made in Yugo compared to China or Russia. I've shot Russian and Chinese made on several different occasions. Never noticed a lick of difference between them. They all had real smooth action, balanced nice, never gave me any trouble, fired as fast as you can pull the trigger and were pretty damn accurate. I shot mine a few weeks ago and consistently shot 4inch groupings at 50 yrds with open sights.

[NewChief]

Only have experience with the Chinese SKS. My brother has one and likes it a lot for a rough weather/bad conditions brush gun. He got his for a great deal. Only problem was that it was packed in crates of grease when he got it (not sure why) and he had to spend a lot of time cleaning it before it was workable.

[Raiderhater]

$225 sounds high to me. I bought one a couple mnths ago for $145.
I guess it kinda depends. Are they in true "mint" condition?
I'm not that familiar with any advantages or disadvantages of one made in Yugo compared to China or Russia. I've shot Russian and Chinese made on several different occasions. Never noticed a lick of difference between them. They all had real smooth action, balanced nice, never gave me any trouble, fired as fast as you can pull the trigger and were pretty damn accurate. I shot mine a few weeks ago and consistently shot 4inch groupings at 50 yrds with open sights.


They appeared to be. Though it was kind of hard to tell with all the f#cking grease they were covered in...

Doing a little research on the web I am seeing that the main difference between a Yugo SKS and others is that the bores are not chrome plated. They also are a little "beefier" than their counter parts.

[stumppy]

Only have experience with the Chinese SKS. My brother has one and likes it a lot for a rough weather/bad conditions brush gun. He got his for a great deal. Only problem was that it was packed in crates of grease when he got it (not sure why) and he had to spend a lot of time cleaning it before it was workable.

Before they are shipped overseas the guns are packed in a type of grease called causmoleen (spelling is prob way off). Keeps the salt air from corroding them.

[stumppy]

They appeared to be. Though it was kind of hard to tell with all the f#cking grease they were covered in...

Doing a little research on the web I am seeing that the main difference between a Yugo SKS and others is that the bores are not chrome plated. They also are a little "beefier" than their counter parts.

If I remember right, one of the main differences between the chinese and russian was the russian were "beefier". I think chinese are pinned together in sevral places were as the russian are forged together in some of the same places. Making the russian a little better rifle. Might be the same way with the Yugo.

[Rain Man]

Don't let your puppy hold it.

[trndobrd]

The Russian SKSes were primarily manufactured in the Tusla factory. Oftentimes these were exported to other easternblock countries. Many "Romainian" SKSes were originally manufactured in the Russian factory. I don't know if Yugoslavia imported them from Russia or manufactured locally. Check the rifle markings online if you are curious.

Chineese SKS manufacture varies widely. Some rifles are fine, some are absolute crap. Most lack chromed chambers, have pinned barrels instead of screwed, and everything but the bold is stamped instead of machined.

I have a Russian SKS and have been very satisfied. The 7.62x39 is an exceptionally versatile round. The price you quoted is a little high, some of that depends on the quality of the rifle (new out of the box vs. beat to hell) and the completeness of components (bayonet, cleaning kit, etc.). You should still be able to find a brand new out of the box European SKS for under $200.

[Raiderhater]

The Russian SKSes were primarily manufactured in the Tusla factory. Oftentimes these were exported to other easternblock countries. Many "Romainian" SKSes were originally manufactured in the Russian factory. I don't know if Yugoslavia imported them from Russia or manufactured locally. Check the rifle markings online if you are curious.

Chineese SKS manufacture varies widely. Some rifles are fine, some are absolute crap. Most lack chromed chambers, have pinned barrels instead of screwed, and everything but the bold is stamped instead of machined.

I have a Russian SKS and have been very satisfied. The 7.62x39 is an exceptionally versatile round. The price you quoted is a little high, some of that depends on the quality of the rifle (new out of the box vs. beat to hell) and the completeness of components (bayonet, cleaning kit, etc.). You should still be able to find a brand new out of the box European SKS for under $200.


Thanks for the info. I wasn't looking to pick one up (right now anyway) I just saw these and thought if they were a good buy I would go ahead and get one. I really haven't been following the rifle market, my focus up to this point has been on hand guns.

[BigOlChiefsfan]

RH, if you're still in Houston watch the newspaper, there'll be a gun show about every 2 or 3 months in Houston or Conroe. You can get a pretty decent buy on an SKS at those, and I used to see some good prices on mil-surplus Makarov pistols up in Conroe all the time. Sweet little pistola for the money, I'd go for the 'Makarov' round (9x18) instead of the .380.

http://www.makarov.com/makbasics.html

And don't forget to stop by these guys, out on Fondren. They're not cheap, but they sell GOOD stuff.

http://www.collectorsfirearms.com/

Learn a little more about surplus rifles here:

http://www.surplusrifle.com/

(Me, I used to go to Conroe to buy up old Swedish Mausers. Damn near 100 years old, shoot as sweet as tupalo honey. I got armory translations from the 'net, used those to cherry pick thru tables of 'em and got pristine bore/extra fine grade armory-marked examples...for about $70 each in those days.)

http://www.surplusrifle.com/mauserswedish/index.asp

[Raiderhater]

RH, if you're still in Houston watch the newspaper, there'll be a gun show about every 2 or 3 months in Houston or Conroe. You can get a pretty decent buy on an SKS at those, and I used to see some good prices on mil-surplus Makarov pistols up in Conroe all the time. Sweet little pistola for the money, I'd go for the 'Makarov' round (9x18) instead of the .380.

http://www.makarov.com/makbasics.html

I was checking the Saxet website you gave me once a littlw while ago and saw there is a show in Conroe today and tomorrow. Wish I had checked the site yesterday...

And don't forget to stop by these guys, out on Fondren. They're not cheap, but they sell GOOD stuff.

http://www.collectorsfirearms.com/

I'm not too far away from this place, I've passed it several times but haven't stoppe din yet.

Learn a little more about surplus rifles here:

http://www.surplusrifle.com/

(Me, I used to go to Conroe to buy up old Swedish Mausers. Damn near 100 years old, shoot as sweet as tupalo honey. I got armory translations from the 'net, used those to cherry pick thru tables of 'em and got pristine bore/extra fine grade armory-marked examples...for about $70 each in those days.)

http://www.surplusrifle.com/mauserswedish/index.asp

I stumbled across that site while digging up info on the SKSs, lots of good stuff there.

As always, you have a plethora of information for me to check out. :thumb:

[Abba-Dabba]

My few experiences with SKS's have been lousy. One friend of mine has one that pops off 10 rounds at a time. Most of the workanship is lousy. Never fired a true Russian made SKS though. Personally I'd save my money for a M1A1 scout.

[Raiderhater]

My few experiences with SKS's have been lousy. One friend of mine has one that pops off 10 rounds at a time. Most of the workanship is lousy. Never fired a true Russian made SKS though. Personally I'd save my money for a M1A1 scout.


This is the most negative thing I have heard/read about SKSs. I suppose your bound to run into some bad reviews sooner or later.

[Abba-Dabba]

I'm not trying to be negative, just trying to be honest. You know as well as me in firearms you get what you pay for. I know people that love them and I know people that hate them.

[Katipan]

Theres usually a few SKS on www.auctionarms.com Much cheaper. :D

[Raiderhater]

I'm not trying to be negative, just trying to be honest. You know as well as me in firearms you get what you pay for. I know people that love them and I know people that hate them.


I didn't take it that you were trying to be negative. It was just the most negative thing that I have heard about them.

[Raiderhater]

Theres usually a few SKS on www.auctionarms.com Much cheaper. :D


Actually, I'm much more interested in this piece from that site -

http://www.auctionarms.com/search/displayitem.cfm?itemnum=6043412

[38yrsfan]

My few experiences with SKS's have been lousy. One friend of mine has one that pops off 10 rounds at a time. Most of the workanship is lousy. Never fired a true Russian made SKS though. Personally I'd save my money for a M1A1 scout.


My choice as well. I bought a Springfield Armory M1A1 for the distance factor. Lots more reach.

[dtebbe]

I have one of the Yugo SKS rifles, and they are some of the best of the SKS rifles out there. They are NOT the best rifles, but for under $200 you can't go wrong. You can buy them at gun shows here for around $160-$175 in unissued condition, so to me $225 is expensive. I would wait, with the BS assault rifle ban going away the price of a good AK should be coming down, I would spend my $250 on an AK.

DT

[PastorMikH]

I'd recomend waiting a bit unless you have some $ eating a hole in your pocket. The '94 ban prohibited exporting them to the US, not banning them completely as sKerry and the other libs claim. Now that the ban has ended, the price on them may drop substantially. If they get below $100 again I'll be picking one up. Don't know how much I'd actually use one as a hunting rifle but they are a lot of fun to blast away with at the target range.

BTW, 15-20:) cans of alcholol based automotive break cleaner should do for getting all the cosmoline out of them - I would HIGHLY recomend waiting until you thoroughly clean one yourself before shooting it.