'54 Izzy refurb SKS accuracy...maybe...ish (range report)

cranswick

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Ok, so up to this point I've basically only done 30-50 yard or so plinking with my SKS. Today my friend asked me if I wanted to go to the range. (I usually shoot elsewhere) but hey, it's cool, and I got to shoot his 10TR. So over the winter I bought a couple AK/SKS front sight tools (in case I break one) from marstar, after noticing during many of plinking sessions that my sights were waaay the #### out...Anyway so today I was able to make some adjustments to the sights, and get them on at 100 yards now my 100m mark is good for 100 yards, but whatever, close enough.

It took me quite a few target and adjustments to get the sights half decent, but here's how I did once I got them adjusted, my friend was spotting for me with his 10TR, which is super accurate with good hand loads...(my kids got a hold of my targets before I got a chance to take pictures, lol...) These are 8.5x11 letter paper. Was shooting from a bench, supported by a homemade shooting bag. The rifle is as-is out of the box, factory irons, creepy trigger, all the good stuff :)

so in this picture, these two targets were set up as I took the picture, top landscape and bottom portrait...this is at 100yds, the front sight post is slightly wider than the paper at this range, as most of you know. the shot on the top target that's dead center but low, is actually a flyer from the bottom group. The top target was using Hornady SST, the bottom target is S&B Czech surplus. I thought the Hornady ammo would shoot better, but I was consistenly proven wrong.




This target was at 200yds, at this range the paper was maybe half the width of the front sight post, maybe not even. Anyway, the two shots in the upper left quadrant of the target are 2 of 5 Hornady SST...don't let the separation fool you, the other 3 weren't even on paper, they were close to being on, but not...I have no idea how they ended up that close, I couldn't even see the target that well...anyway the top right flyer, and all 4 in the bottom are from the same group, and this was shot with the S&B Czech surplus. I only took 10 shots at this target, I can hardly believe it myself, I knew I was a decent shot, but I was really happy with how the rifle was shooting, considering what it is, and I will never buy Hornady ammo again.

 
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thank you, the middle is actually marker, but I'm pretty good with those too... :p next time, i'll let the kids colour them before I go shooting, maybe they'll be easier to see...ha

I was really impressed with the Czech surplus, I hope for the same for you. Now I need to see how my MFS silver case soft point shoot, so I can confidently take a shot at a deer. Then I will figure out how many turns of the front post to make it bang on at 50yd so I can continue plinking. :)
 
Did you use the Czech stuff that comes on stripper clips?
I got a case of that from Tradex a month ago n still waiting to try it out.
Gonna be competing against some friends for cash soon so.. if this stuff is that good..i dont want to share :)
They can have some free stripper clips but will have to use their own ammo :)
 
lol, yeah it's the stuff that comes in the little square green crate, 1200 rounds, individually wrapped stripper clips with green cardboard and sealed plastic bag. Grey case. I'll check the head stamp for you.
 
Nice shooting! My Para SKS shoots sub 2 inch groups with Hornady SST ammo at 75m (that's with my Bushnell TRS-25 on Choate mount), and pretty much the same with Privi Partisan SP's. I'll be doing some 100m range shooting later, but both these rounds are my hunting/accuracy choices. The Tula Hollow Points open up to slightly over 3 inches at 75m. Too bad we can't get the Czech ammo over here....
 
thank you. This rifle impressed me, it was the first time I actually worked on the sights and shot groups with it, if I had optics I could obviously shoot much tighter. Again, pretty hard when the front post dwarfs the target. I'm not sure why, but the Hornady SST seemed to have more spread every time I compared it. I had two targets for every adjustment, and shot 5 surplus, and 5 SST for each sight adjustment and time after time, the Czech ammo was tighter...I'm not a fan of mounting optics to an SKS, but the Williams firesights are something I would definitely consider investing in.

I'm confident I could take a deer out to 150yd, if I can get a hunting round to shoot as nice. It's the high flyer every time almost, I would always have 1 way high, but on center with the group...they were usually the first shot, and when my friend was telling me they were high, I lowered my point of aim...so I still have some elevation adjustments to make, but the windage is pretty good, and it's quite difficult to make fine windage adjustments anyway.
 
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I've found that mine seems to shoot better with the bayonet extended (barrel harmonics maybe?). I'm not great with irons due to old eyes, but a young lady went 5 for 5 shooting clays off a board at 100m last summer. I would have no issues taking a deer with it at 100-150m.
 
yeah, i don't know about the bayonet...some people prefer to extend, or remove it...i never paid any mind to it...i'm not a fan of the SKS irons, and i have perfect vision...i think a peep sight would work a little better...i think if i ever "sporterized" my 54, i would just get better irons.
 
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