Here is your chance...

[tim_up_north]

I've been contemplating joing the club, as it were.....Alas, I am woefully ignorant about most things SKS.

Suppose a guy wants to pick one up; can someone give me a starting point for features, things/problems to look for, one type better than another. What is a good reasonable price to pay....get the idea.

Some seem to have fixed mags, others not...heck do they make em' so you could use stripper clips?

One country make them better than another? Do I buy new, old, or beamed in from Mars?

Hook a brother up, and point me into the light...
Thanks!
(OH yeah....where can you pick one up in Canada?)

 

[JBD]

I would buy on the exchange board that is where you will find your best price.

As for which is best. Well I think the general consensus is the yugo is the best. The cheapest is the norinco's. Personally I have a couple norinco's. For 100-150 bucks they are definitely cheap. Accuracy about 5 minutes of angle good enough for IPSC. Loads from stripper clips. With our magazine laws limiting to 5 rounds I don't think there is much of difference on the loading speed with 5 rounds on a stripper or changing mags. If mag limits were not in effect well it would be tough to keep up with a 100 round c-mag on an armalite.

 

[Curtton]

agreed with jason.... new norinco (chinese) sks sells for $139 from MARSTAR.CA, $149 from LEVERARMS.COM , MILARM.COM (sold out) and $159 from SIRMAILORDER.CA, after tax it will range $157 to $180 so if you could buy a near new sks from a member for less than $180 then buy it cos the member has cleaned it for you, which normally takes a couple of hours to remove the cosmoline.

there is a few sks on EE that are asking that price so pm them.

 

[RancheroMan]

Double tap.....

 

[RancheroMan]

Problems to look for:

Corrosive ammo: The cheap ammo is corrosive, and this is what you will probably shoot (cause it's cheap!) You'll have to clean your rifle after every shoot to keep it looking shinny new!

Slam Fires: The firing pin floats around in the bolt (you should be able to hear it rattle around in there). If the actions gets too dirty, the pin could get stuck in the "fire" position and set the next loading round off.....and chain reaction could ensue.....just clean your rifle well, and you'll have no problems.

Sight Adjust: Mine (and many others) come with the sights wayyyyy off. Look into buying a front sight adjustment tool so you can shoot what your pointing at.

Cosmo: (not the mag) If you buy "new", you will have to de-gunk the rifle. I used varsol, tooth brush and rags....took about 45 min.

Stock: Ugly stock.....very ugly. Buy some stripper (not the fun kind....well do that anyway) and some paint and paint your rifle. It's fun and will look better, no matter how crappy of a paint job you do.

Finding Brass: These rifle spit brass everywhere.....can be a bit of a pain to clean up after yourself.....just a head's up.

Non-Surplus Ammo: Surplus ammo has tough primers, stuff you get from a factory usually has a soft primer. Be careful if using factory ammo as the round may go off when the cartridge is cambered.


The stripper clips are fun, you can get 5 rounds into the mag in a real hurry. Don't spend money on them off ebay. Buy a case of ammo that has the clips and keep them to re-use. Ask around and some guy on here will let you have some for the cost of shipping.



I've got a Norc....got it for 150 bucks new and a 1120 rounds of ammo for 200 bucks. After my 22LR, it is my cheapest gun to shoot.....cheaper than my .17HRM.