SKS - Yes or No

Thank you bearhunter for another series of excellent posts, I never fail to enjoy reading them.

Your insights, born of actual combat experience, are invaluable
 
In view of the path other Commonwealth countries have taken in regards to gun control; investment in any semi-automatic firearm with a removable magazine may be questionable. The SKS in its myriad configurations may be an option. It is however extremely popular and may be configured with a removable magazine.

Though costly, my vote is for the Garand.
 
I doubt he is. He’s speaking from experience most likely gained in the 70s (brutal #### no one can actually comprehend) BUT I don’t actually know.

Experience he may have... but that doesnt mean I should agree with his opinion. A World War 2 vet once tried to convince me that a 100mpg carburetor existed, but the oil companys murdered the inventors so they could stay in business lol.

If someone implys that an SKS fielded is just as effective as an AK-74 with a 1P78 clamped to the side... im going to disagree regardless of their background. Sounds like NATO should smelt all of our rifles and go back to issuing M1 Garands.
 
Yup. Some of the comments like "flipping out mags with a loaded mag" just scream "I've seen it on youtube". Literally no one does that except in a pretty poor situation.

That was me and yes you are right, that it is mostly done in poor situations.

What I was trying to say is, that people in poor situations tend not to pick up their mags, regardless of what reloading technique they happen to use at the time...maybe it was a poor choice of wording on my part.
Youtube has nothing to do with it.
 
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Experience he may have... but that doesnt mean I should agree with his opinion. A World War 2 vet once tried to convince me that a 100mpg carburetor existed, but the oil companys murdered the inventors so they could stay in business lol..


someone who happened to be a vet from ww2 happened to fall for an 100% unrelated old-wives' tale? oh no. Dont listen to someone who knows what they're talking about.
 
vz58 / cz858 would solve all the concerns above.

- loading from stripper clips ---> check
- higher capacity mags ---> check
- low capacity 5rd / 10rd mags for prone position ---> check
- aftermarket parts for customization ---> check
- light weight (lighter than all of the above mentioned) ---> check
- milled steel receiver (despite the lighter weight) ---> check
- easy to field-strip and maintain ---> check
- similar reliability as the rest mentioned, if not more ---> check
- acceptable accuracy ---> check
- scope mounting options ---> check
- was in service (good track record) ---> check
- still in service (adaptable to modern operation requirements) ---> check

and last but not least....

- PROHIBITED ---> check


I'll see myself out... ;)
 
That was me and yes you are right, that it is mostly done in poor situations.

What I was trying to say is, that people in poor situations tend not to pick up their mags, regardless of what reloading technique they happen to use at the time...maybe it was a poor choice of wording on my part.
Youtube has nothing to do with it.

Fair one, I've dropped mags under stress before, the stage before that is tucking them in my smock (jacket) and prior to that back into my mag pouches.

I just cannot believe anyone would pick up an SKS over an AK or really any vaguely modern rifle made post 1950. Stripper clips are awful to use, especially 7.62x39 ones where from my limited experience always seem to lose a round and are a pain to get out of webbing especially once it gets wet.

I would much rather reload a 30round mag with stripper clips or loose rounds than reload a stripper clip, stripper clips obviously can come pre-loaded but the idea of taking loose rounds from my pocket to load an SKS magazine under stress is pretty damn bad.

I love the SKS, coming from a country where semi-autos are banned to find a 300m effective rifle for $200 now $500 was and is incredible but despite my personal enjoyment I won't put it on a pedestal. As a civilian rifle in 2021 it's ok, as anything else it's absolutely awful and 78 years out of date (the STG 44's design being completed in 1943).
 
vz58 / cz858 would solve all the concerns above.

- loading from stripper clips ---> check
- higher capacity mags ---> check
- low capacity 5rd / 10rd mags for prone position ---> check
- aftermarket parts for customization ---> check
- light weight (lighter than all of the above mentioned) ---> check
- milled steel receiver (despite the lighter weight) ---> check
- easy to field-strip and maintain ---> check
- similar reliability as the rest mentioned, if not more ---> check
- acceptable accuracy ---> check
- scope mounting options ---> check
- was in service (good track record) ---> check
- still in service (adaptable to modern operation requirements) ---> check

and last but not least....

- PROHIBITED ---> check


I'll see myself out... ;)

Not particularly reliable guns. The amount of parts breakage on the few I have seen is ridiculous for a modern firearm. Basically have to have two or more to keep one running reliably.
 
Not particularly reliable guns. The amount of parts breakage on the few I have seen is ridiculous for a modern firearm. Basically have to have two or more to keep one running reliably.

Not in my experience. I’ve had a few in .223 and 7.62 and they were very reliable. The only reason I sold them was to move to a more optic friendly platform. I don’t recall either variety failing at all ever.
 
Not particularly reliable guns. The amount of parts breakage on the few I have seen is ridiculous for a modern firearm. Basically have to have two or more to keep one running reliably.

OP’s thread has been sidelined hah.

What reliability issues have you seen? My friend had one before he passed away. We shot about 2 crates through it. The only issue I saw was two cases that failed to extract. They stayed in the chamber. It was about -30 a-35 that day. I’m not a vz58 expert just genuinely curious.
 
OP’s thread has been sidelined hah.

What reliability issues have you seen? My friend had one before he passed away. We shot about 2 crates through it. The only issue I saw was two cases that failed to extract. They stayed in the chamber. It was about -30 a-35 that day. I’m not a vz58 expert just genuinely curious.

Nobody will admit it but it is called "i am too lazy to clean my gun after I fired 500 rounds of corrosive ammo and when I shot it on the range one year later, it almost fell apart" syndrome.:dancingbanana::stirthepot2:H:S:
 
OP’s thread has been sidelined hah.

What reliability issues have you seen? My friend had one before he passed away. We shot about 2 crates through it. The only issue I saw was two cases that failed to extract. They stayed in the chamber. It was about -30 a-35 that day. I’m not a vz58 expert just genuinely curious.

Broken strikers were common, along with firing pins and in super rare cases.... chipped and or cracked bolts and lugs on the reciever. These issues only seemed privelent on CSA models. And more notably common with the .223 models.
 
Experience he may have... but that doesnt mean I should agree with his opinion. A World War 2 vet once tried to convince me that a 100mpg carburetor existed, but the oil companys murdered the inventors so they could stay in business lol.

If someone implys that an SKS fielded is just as effective as an AK-74 with a 1P78 clamped to the side... im going to disagree regardless of their background. Sounds like NATO should smelt all of our rifles and go back to issuing M1 Garands.

I'll take the sks and the extra water thanks. I dont see the advantage to exposing your head with a chin weld when most combat is within 200 meters anyways.
 
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