Really? The end of cheap SKS's?

bjs7293 said:
By reading some of the later posts in this thread, it looks like some of you are starting to get it. Surplus firearms and ammo comes and goes in Canada like the wind. These so called expert importers/dealers at this point in time of the so called SKS crisis are using smoke and mirrors marketing to increase their margins, that's the bottom line.
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You are correct sir.
 
I have my shooter SKS... I have a Perfect Chinese SKS..A perfect Izzy(both in grease)... I will not fire them, and intend to pass them down to my children in hopes that they keep them in grease.. provided they have an interest in it.. if not they will get sold in about 20 or 30 years.
 
Be a loonnngg time before you get $800 for an sks, couldn't even get that for my as new, in cosmo/ marstar case with t-shirt Yugo 59/66 grenade launchin beauty! So I will keep it till I get a grand, seeing most folks seem to think there are no more of these coming and higher priced sks, who knows, pigs might fly! ;0)
 
fenceline said:
Ya. I know just the other day I saw a crate of Garands next to the crate of Enfields at my local gun store. They come and go like the wind.

The SKS won't be around forever in the current supply.
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True, but!

The SKS does not share what the Garand and the Lee-Enfield both have. Prestige. It was used to win a war for our side. The SKS is a stop-gap Russian arm used by the "bad guys". Example: K98s
 
midnightpossum said:
If these rifles were to be produced today... they would exceed $800... ... they are solid rifles made to military specs... even if double the price from retailer.. a good deal.... that being said there are many around.... and that in it's self keep the price down... thus the retailer will not import if he can not make a buck.. If people hang on to them.. there value will increase... but the market is flooded right now.. every gun owner has one... and if he doesn't the next guy has 5 of them... these guys will eventually sell 3 or 4 of them when they realize there is no point in owning 5 of the same thing... they will keep there favourites and sell the rest....... be a long time before the SKS sells for over a $1000.I will have died of old age before that happens.... just my 2 cents
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ummm... no... if the SKS were made today, using hand fitted milled / forged parts and wood stocks... you are looking at over $2000, easy. Probably more.
The reality is that the SKS was made in mass quantity, few were used as they became obsolete after only 2 years of production, some would argue they were obselete even before they were in mass production. Most survived, were carefully stored to protect mother land from possible invasion from the west, and almost no nation are importing them (for various reasons). There are literally tons and tons overseas. I am sure they are worth more as scrap metal to the host (Ukraine, Russia, etc.) if we stop buying them. We won't stop buying them, so the nice onces will keep on coming. They may be harder to get, due to crisis in Ukraine, dollar value, blah, blah, blah, but rest assured the big importers will find a way to keep them coming. What I have seen, as fact (and there seems to be more BS spewing than fact) is that there are almost NO non-refurbished specimens available. All refurbs.
 
BeaverMeat said:
True, but!

The SKS does not share what the Garand and the Lee-Enfield both have. Prestige. It was used to win a war for our side. The SKS is a stop-gap Russian arm used by the "bad guys". Example: K98s
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The SKS wasn't a stop gap. It was designed to be used in a war that ended before it could be rolled out. It was designed to be used on a WW2 battlefield still saturated with bolt actions. The war ended, and the AK47 eclipsed it as the next evolution in arms came to the fore front.

In China, the AK47 was assigned to officers in a fashion that other countries issued their sub guns. The SKS was the primary rifle for the troops and was so right up until the first Sino-Vietnamese war of 1980 where it was outmatched by the Vietnamese who prefered the AK for front line troops. The sks fell to secondary use behind the Type 81 which was to be a stop gap design while something more permanent was produced. The type 81 itself ended up being produced for longer than intended, and even got contracted out to Bangladesh who still use it.

We see the SKS as cheap surplus. They aren't. They are well made. Russia produced arms at a rate that sacrificed other luxuries. Supply makes them cheap, not their quality or design.
 
BeaverMeat said:
True, but!

The SKS does not share what the Garand and the Lee-Enfield both have. Prestige. It was used to win a war for our side. The SKS is a stop-gap Russian arm used by the "bad guys". Example: K98s
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Your grammar is poor, so I certainly hope you're not implying that the K98 was a "stop-gap" weapon! It was the most manufactured firearm in history, used by countless armies (some of which won wars), and commands a serious premium! It also has "prestige", and most collectors consider the all-matching German K98 the crown jewel of their WWII collections.

Stop relying on Wiki for their pathetic description of SKS's. As clearly noted above, they were hardly a "stop-gap" weapon!
 
The Kurgan said:
Your grammar is poor, so I certainly hope you're not implying that the K98 was a "stop-gap" weapon! It was the most manufactured firearm in history, used by countless armies (some of which won wars), and commands a serious premium! It also has "prestige", and most collectors consider the all-matching German K98 the crown jewel of their WWII collections.
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rawr!

Ok "stop-gap" was the wrong word. Second-line rifle or "back-up" to the layman. Think M1 carbine I suppose. (I am referring to the Russian)

K98 was a poor example. My point being is that a Lee-Enfield and Garand will always out-value an SKS.

Geez, this is turning into a #### measuring contest...
 
The Kurgan said:
ummm... no... if the SKS were made today, using hand fitted milled / forged parts and wood stocks... you are looking at over $2000, easy. Probably more.
The reality is that the SKS was made in mass quantity, few were used as they became obsolete after only 2 years of production, some would argue they were obselete even before they were in mass production. Most survived, were carefully stored to protect mother land from possible invasion from the west, and almost no nation are importing them (for various reasons). There are literally tons and tons overseas. I am sure they are worth more as scrap metal to the host (Ukraine, Russia, etc.) if we stop buying them. We won't stop buying them, so the nice onces will keep on coming. They may be harder to get, due to crisis in Ukraine, dollar value, blah, blah, blah, but rest assured the big importers will find a way to keep them coming. What I have seen, as fact (and there seems to be more BS spewing than fact) is that there are almost NO non-refurbished specimens available. All refurbs.
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Your dollar value might be more correct.. but we can both agree that it would sell for far more then what we are paying now.. if produced today...

Like Fenceline said.. it's only the numbers that make them cheap!.. the quality is fantastic!
 
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BeaverMeat said:
rawr!

Ok "stop-gap" was the wrong word. Second-line rifle or "back-up" to the layman. Think M1 carbine I suppose.

K98 was a poor example. My point being is that a Lee-Enfield and Garand will always out-value an SKS.

Geez, this is turning into a #### measuring contest...
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Naw, we're just trying to keep things in perspective and accurate. No offense.
 
BeaverMeat said:
rawr!

Ok "stop-gap" was the wrong word. Second-line rifle or "back-up" to the layman. Think M1 carbine I suppose. (I am referring to the Russian)

K98 was a poor example. My point being is that a Lee-Enfield and Garand will always out-value an SKS.

Geez, this is turning into a #### measuring contest...
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Again. The SKS was designed to be the front line premiere semi auto for russian troops nearing the end of ww2. It was deployed their in an early variant for battlefield tests in 45. The war ended before any full production ramped up.

When it was produced, the AK47 was already showing to be the next step in evolution.

The SKS story is similar to the FN49 story. A great design hamped by timing and production that arrived too late to truly prove itself on the battlefield of ww2. The smaller wars didn't give it the "prominance" that the larger theatre and demands of the global conflict did for the garand, m1 carbine or enfield.
 
Kurgan:

I am looking for a Unissued Laminate... would that put me into a letter series sino-soviet 1956ish ?

Almost all laminates are refurbs... am I correct?


P.S... I am not sure where the Hammer is... but you should ride that Beemer out to B.C.... so I can take you on some serious Twisties!
 
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midnightpossum said:
Kurgan:

I am looking for a Unissued Laminate... would that put me into a letter series sino-soviet 1956ish ?

Almost all laminates are refurbs... am I correct?
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Some late 55 and some 55/56 were originally issued in laminate alongside birch stock versions of the same years. Anything before those years in laminate are refurbs/replacment stocks.
 
BeaverMeat said:
rawr!

Ok "stop-gap" was the wrong word. Second-line rifle or "back-up" to the layman. Think M1 carbine I suppose. (I am referring to the Russian)

K98 was a poor example. My point being is that a Lee-Enfield and Garand will always out-value an SKS.

Geez, this is turning into a #### measuring contest...
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Really we have to measure dicks now? Better get out the meter stick.
 
I love to collect SKS's, i like having 1 of every year,every factory but the thing i that i buy them for collection purpose if i can say. I dont buy them as an investment because there's no profit to make with them except for the 1949 and even that will be hard. I will be dead before they sky rocket in value in the same level as the Garand and Lee Enfield. Ton of them must still be stored in ukraine,russia or whatever so they should be available for some time unless ppl oversea get bored keeping them and decide to clean house for good and turn then for scrap metal rather than bothering selling thoses as surplus. I think someone mentionned that its kinda more profitable for the russian to recycle for metal and to give work for ppl there, then selling them on surplus market.

J
 
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