Bedding SKS

infideleggwelder

infideleggwelder

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
49   0   0
Location
Go east they said. it will be fun, they said
With things changing around me, i have renewed my interest in my SKS. One thing i have heard is that accuracy will improve greatly with a bedding job in the original wood stock. Anyone out there do this and Get a tighter group? Are there things to look out for and not to do? Specific areas that require bedding and areas that should not be?

Bedding a Lee Enfield No1 was a pain.
 
I recently bedded mine. In the process of putting polyurethane on the stock so i havent been able to shoot it yet. But my suggestion would be to bed the rear portion of the receiver, the chamber area and the tang of the trigger group. Im sure doing this can only help to improve the accuracy. Depending on the pre existing accuracy of ur SKS there is a chance that the improvements will be hardly noticeable on paper.

U will want to free float the entire barrel EXCEPT for the front ferrule. That should make contact with the stock. How it makes contact is up to u to decide.... some think its best to shim it so that it is tight in all directions (windage and elevation). I decided to follow tonyben3's M1a National match glass bedding method. This method free floats the windage and has the wood stock apply light down pressure on the ferrule. I havent tested this yet but figure if it works for M1a's surely it will help on SKS rifles.

Not my video:
 
The bedding can help but, you'll need to do more mods to notice any significant benefit. The SKS's "Lock, stock, and barrel" design only has one ridged locking point to secure the action to the stock. The spring latch at the rear of the trigger group. Converting the rear latch to a threaded bolt will help. After that you'll have to find a way to secure the front of the action to the stock if you want to get fancy.

Other mods include messing around with the gas tube and fore stock tension.
 
Last edited:
Do a trigger job first and then get a set of Tech Sights mounted with a precision post (purchased or just file/turn the existing one down much thinner)

You would be amazed at how much this improves your ability to shoot them much more precisely and consistently.

I don't hand load but after doing those mods and developing a custom load to your gun I will guarantee that most would very impressed with what you can get out of these old utility rifles.

I am happy with just the Tech Sights and trigger job improvements I did on mine. I can hit my 16" plate at 300m with the irons and bulk Chinese ammo very consistently. Good enough for me and a $190 dollar rifle off the EE ;)
 
Travis Bickle said:
Do a trigger job first and then get a set of Tech Sights mounted with a precision post (purchased or just file/turn the existing one down much thinner)

You would be amazed at how much this improves your ability to shoot them much more precisely and consistently.

I don't hand load but after doing those mods and developing a custom load to your gun I will guarantee that most would very impressed with what you can get out of these old utility rifles.

I am happy with just the Tech Sights and trigger job improvements I did on mine. I can hit my 16" plate at 300m with the irons and bulk Chinese ammo very consistently. Good enough for me and a $190 dollar rifle off the EE ;)
Click to expand...

I agree. Trigger work is probably the best thing you can do with the SKS overall. Bedding doesn’t hurt.

Sights if you want to. I personally learned to make due with the originals and adapted to a communist shooting stance. ;)

Oh... don't shoot like this guy:

 
Last edited:
Shim the action tight into the stock and your groups will shrink drastically, in my case the 3 I’ve shimmed have shrunk 50%. If yo shim it tight enough at the cross bolt and rear recoil lug you can’t piviot the action out of the stock, I made a shim for the front cross bolt that I can remove with pliers in order to remove the action out of the stock for cleaning. No messy epoxy when you shim, I use steel feeler gauge stock to make my shins.
 
Butcherbill said:
Shim the action tight into the stock and your groups will shrink drastically, in my case the 3 I’ve shimmed have shrunk 50%. If yo shim it tight enough at the cross bolt and rear recoil lug you can’t piviot the action out of the stock, I made a shim for the front cross bolt that I can remove with pliers in order to remove the action out of the stock for cleaning. No messy epoxy when you shim, I use steel feeler gauge stock to make my shins.
Click to expand...

Thats why on an SKS its best not to shim / bed the spine that connects to the trigger group at the rear of the stock. Its better to bed the various steps that the receiver sits on.
 
Murray 3-D said:
Thats why on an SKS its best not to shim / bed the spine that connects to the trigger group at the rear of the stock. Its better to bed the various steps that the receiver sits on.
Click to expand...

I guess you missed the part where I made an easy to remove front shim lol. Took me less time to cut and fit two shims than it would to prep the stock for epoxy bedding.
 
Butcherbill said:
I guess you missed the part where I made an easy to remove front shim lol. Took me less time to cut and fit two shims than it would to prep the stock for epoxy bedding.
Click to expand...

Didnt mess it, just pointing out to others reading this thread that not bedding or shimming that piece will avoid the problem all together.
 
BeaverMeat said:
I agree. Trigger work is probably the best thing you can do with the SKS overall. Bedding doesn’t hurt.

Sights if you want to. I personally learned to make due with the originals and adapted to a communist shooting stance. ;)

Oh... don't shoot like this guy:

Click to expand...

The way this guy chamber the round and shoulder the gun.

I am uncomfortable.
 
I beded the rifle at the rear and chamber area, as well as shimming the cross pin. Front ferrule should be lightly contacting the stock. A tight shim at front ferrule will cause group to wander once rifle is heated up.

Depends on how well the stock originally fits to the rifle, improvement can be little to a lot. I'd say if the rifle is shooting 3-4 moa with no POI wandering problem, then leave it alone. In my case the tapco stock was pretty bad until I added the cross pin and properly shimmed everything.
 
Bedded an SKS essentially the way a M-1 or M-14 would be bedded. Wanted to eliminate any movement of the barreled action in the stock. Shot really well.
 
Bedded an SKS essentially the way a M-1 or M-14 would be bedded. Wanted to eliminate any movement of the barreled action in the stock. Shot really well.

Thats why on an SKS its best not to shim / bed the spine that connects to the trigger group at the rear of the stock. Its better to bed the various steps that the receiver sits on.
I guess you missed the part where I made an easy to remove front shim lol. Took me less time to cut and fit two shims than it would to prep the stock for epoxy bedding.
Click to expand...

Pictures would be beneficial
 
just for schittsngigglz , and because I don't like the current stock offerings out there, I am in the midst of making my own stock for my SKS-D.
The inlet surfaces of the mold were taken off the action so she will be a precise fit to this firearm.
The rifle is in a side folding pistol grip polymer stock with built in M4 type buttstock. The stock is a pretty crappy fit if you ask me and it groups like an average sks with surplus.... a little tighter with hunting ammo. I would shoot a deer inside 50 yards but not much further.
So we'll see when I'm done this project if I can squeeze tighter groups with a purpose made stock.
I'll do a shoot out with the rifle in both stocks when I get it finished this fall
 
infideleggwelder said:
Lots of info here, think i`ll start with shims to see how well that works. Trigger job maybe eventually, i have no real issues with the trigger pull, but have not tried an SKS with that done either.
Click to expand...

A trigger job makes a big difference. Especially for those used to lighter trigger pulls.

The trigger pull weight on battlefield ready SKS rifles is purposely heavy to avoid unintentional discharges.
 
I have an adversity to light triggers, most of my firearms are ex military, Enfields mostly. and those that are not and have light triggers i tend not to shoot often. I do have a flintlock that is extremely light in trigger pull, my finger goes nowhere near the trigger until i am actually sighted in.

Not to say I couldn’t get used to it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom