When you think about it, Apprentice should become better than his Master,because he learned from the best.
Chinese Surplus SKS Quality
- Thread starter Dave.S
- Start date
When you think about it, Apprentice should become better than his Master,because he learned from the best.
+1 to the first point.
And thanks for pointing out the typo
My bad. type63 not 83
I purchased one from SFRC during this falls DUCKS sale, I see they have 3 left. It was oily with some sandy grit and a couple insects to clean out. It is a factory 6635 with a 24 million serial number, so circa 1980. I has a short collar threaded barrel, stamped trigger guard, late rear sight block with the rear leaf marked "3" and a 2 piece gas tube.
The stock has been sanded but it still shows battle scars. It has been refurbed as the blueing is very good with some slight pitting on the receiver and gas piston. Nothing matches, except the rear cover which shows evidence of grinding and stamped to match the receiver.
The good news is everything is tight, crown and bore are very good and has a decent trigger. Not bad for $200 and change.
Take your pick....ALL Birch is harder then Catalpa, most of it twice as hard.
https://sizes.com/units/janka.htm
Chinese also had fiberglass stocks, but what do 99% of them come with? Catalpa which is softer then softwood. Junk.
That's where I got mine also. Mine is a factory 26 in beautiful shape all around. Everything matches aside from the bolt carrier. If someone is looking for a great deal on a Chinese sks then I suggest hurrying up. Today's international shooting supplies last sale day and they have them for 189.99 military issue.
You guys aren't helping. I was debating going over there today for some more ammo, I tell myself I won't buy another SKS but I have the feeling when I am standing there at the counter I will not be able to resist...
I'm in the same boat right now lol. Unfortunately I'm out of town until tomorrow but I've been thinking of placing an order online and telling them I'll pick it up on Tuesday. I hate buying sight unseen though.
If you do go in for some more ammo please report back the quality if you get the chance to see one.
I was in yesterday (yes, I am a gunnutz) after hitting up the Reliable sale, the one chinese SKS I looked at on the rack looked ok metal wise but the stocked seemed as if cut by a chainsaw and oiled raw without sanding down first. There were 2 russians beside it that looked like the typical birch examples to be found these days.
The chinese seemed fresh and oily from the crate, aside from the stock it seemed to be in very good refurb or even new condition. I have two NIB chinese examples to compare to that are minty. Anyone looking for a shooter would do fine with one of these from International.
I wonder if I buy 3 if they will let me to hand select from their stock.... dammit you guys, looks like I am buying more SKS's lol
The chinese seemed fresh and oily from the crate, aside from the stock it seemed to be in very good refurb or even new condition. I have two NIB chinese examples to compare to that are minty. Anyone looking for a shooter would do fine with one of these from International.
I wonder if I buy 3 if they will let me to hand select from their stock.... dammit you guys, looks like I am buying more SKS's lol
If you buy three and they let you hand pick, I'll grab one off of you lol. I just don't want one that's all mixed parts and was hoping they had some that matched.
Fake news alert.
Try grey birch... Janka 760 and Catalpa 550. 200 on that scale is like comparing cotton balls from two dif manufacturers. Especially when looking at Yugo Elm, Romanian Beech etc wich are well over 1k
Your precious birch is no better then Catalpa, especially when you consider Catalpa has oils that resist rot something like 12 times better then any Birch.
They are both soft, you just think one is pretty.
Add that to the chinese jungle stocks and chinese laminate with twice the layers. Your argument is sinking..... Rapidly.
I am trying to ignore my responsibilities for today and what better reason to than to go to a gun sale! That I was already at yesterday...
Anyway, just to let you know the one example on the rack yesterday had a mismatched mag from the trigger assembly, I didn't look at the other serial number locations. If I do end up grabbing 3 or more I will grab one for you no worries, seriously. Even if you were to bail I won't be hurting from 200 bucks lol. Heck, I would get that back at the next gunshow.
Oh, if which stocks are the prettiest is what we're debating, then, yes-- the Soviet hard wood stocks are the prettiest of them all.
And if Barbie had an SKS accesory package-- it would definitely be in a soviet hardwood stock.
I disagree. A nice unissued or factory 26 SKS will shoot better than a typical Russian refurb mixmaster and will be about equal to an unissued Russian.
The nicer Russian ones are better made and finished, but not in any area that improves groups or reliability.
The advantage of Chinese guns is that many are like new and never rebuilt haphazardly.
In a bolt gun, chrome impedes group size by a few percent. In an SKS, I could never tell any difference.
The most accurate SKS I ever had was a 1962 military issue factory 26 gun with blade bayo I bought at lever arms in the 1990's for $120. I wish I had never sold it, it was a great gun.
Millions of Chinese SKS rifles and AKM rifles were stocked in catalpa and worked as advertised. It may not be the hardest, but it's light, rot resistant, and worked well enough. Harder is only better if the extra hardness is needed. Neither rifle's design necessitates harder wood for the round being used imho.
Also, the fiberglass Chinese stocks are among the best SKS furniture ever fielded. Akin to usgi M14 stocks.
