In this case does quality refer to finish or reliability? i am curious of this as well, but in any firearm reliability is what matters most to me and I'd love to get an SKS someday.

They will all work great.
The Russian and Chinese SKS rifle I've used shot about the same. An average of 4-8 inch groups, at 100 yards, minute of man accuracy.
Buy the one you want, none are way better than the other. Or get all of them.
Waiting for my licencesThey are all reliable, the SKS is one of the most reliable actions ever made for a semi. Not sure what you're waiting for, the prices will never be any cheaper than they are now, as well as with surplus and new ammo prices. If you can't afford an sks, you got the wrong hobby, prices are 3 fold for anything else to acquire or shoot.
If you snooze, you'll lose.
Wondering ,if those are military modelsIMO an sks is the nicest rifle a newbie can buy. You can buy one under 200 bucks, cheap to shoot and lovely recoilBut the most important, it show you how important is to clean a semi-auto rifle, especially with corrosive ammunitions.
The yugo's are IMO the nicest SKS ever made but avoid to buy one if you are newbie. You better make mistakes on a 160$ chinese sks than a 500+$ yugo...
First time I cleaned my sks, took me an hour and half... Now it take me about half an hour...
The secret for good reliability is a good cleaning and oiling. Just don't shoot your sks if you don't have the time to clean it the same day, unless you shoot non-corrosive ammo.
For a first rifle/first sks, the best bang 4 the buck are russian or chinese military model !!!
Wondering ,if those are military models
https://www.canadaammo.com/product/detail/853/chinese-sks-and-norinco-7-62x39-1200rd-crate-of-ammo-combo/
I have an old Russian SKS, 8 years older than me actually and Im OLD. Like the guys say probably the best gun youll ever own, it WILL NOT stop working, but you have to stay on top of the cleaning, especially with corrosive. I have my cleaning down to about 8/10 minutes and its never rusted up on me. My buddy , another old fart, bought one and forgot to clean it for 24 hours, youd think it had been in the sea for 50 years when we looked at it. I thought it was toast, but we just ran the brush thru her a couple of times and then finished cleaning at the range with a couple of hundred rounds. Bloody thing has never missed a beat and still shoots the same groups as before, minute of man at 100 yds.
Mines on the NEVER sell list and the wifey loves it too.
Get one, ya wont regret it and it will never cost ya a buck and a half a bang like some guns.
Waiting for my licencesHope ,I will be able to find SKS when I'll receive one
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the SKS is fantastic, though coming from a guy who only just started so i really have no say in whats good or not. First thing i got when my PAL came in a month ago was a Tula SKS 1954 from Lever, that's almost 3 times older than i am, All matching serial numbers. After the first time at the range with it, I am fairly certain that it is never leaving me.
although i am slightly disappointed to hear rumors that the chinese Non corrosive ammo i bought with it may be still somewhat corrosive. Non corrosive primers as promised but the powder supposedly has an acidic content.
The highest quality SKS is the Karabiner S.



























