Just a quick question guy,s
- Thread starter vstar650ca
- Start date
I have two pinned barreled and two threaded barreled SKSs, the most accurate one out of the 4 is one of the pinned barrels. The receiver is heated and sweated onto the barrel, a tight interference fit, this is a very strong joint, stronger arguably than a threaded joint! I think lever sent out a batch of SKSs with a bad fit once where the barrels were loose in the receivers, this gave the pinned barrel a bad name.
Sadly, Lever Arms in recent years has been buying low grade commercial SKS rifles made of a hodge-podge of parts assembled fast and cheap in China for our market.
4 or more years ago though they (Lever) used to sell only refurbished Factory 26 chinese military SKS carbines refurbished to like new. Those were good guns with threaded barrels, milled parts, Norinco not written ANYWHERE on the carbine, etc.
The new ones are garbage. Lever sells them the same price, but I suspect once Alan sold the company, the new owner cheaped out and ordered the lowest possible grade of SKS to sell. I would STRONGLY suggest holding out for a real military SKS with "type 56" written in Chinese on the receiver - either that, or buy a Russian/Yugo/Romanian/Albanian/East German SKS. The Russian ones, predictably, have the best reputation and the most collector appeal and the price tag to prove it out of the SKS's you are likely to encounter.
Forget finding an SKS from the following countries as they are either CRAZY rare (like the North Vietnamese SKS) or were never imported to Canada in any quantity (like the Albanian and Romanian SKS).
-Albanian
-Romanian
-North Vietnamese
-North Korea
-East German
-Polish
One thing to watch out for is a stamped sheet steel receiver on a Chinese SKS, if you find one - BUY IT. They are rare and valuable
4 or more years ago though they (Lever) used to sell only refurbished Factory 26 chinese military SKS carbines refurbished to like new. Those were good guns with threaded barrels, milled parts, Norinco not written ANYWHERE on the carbine, etc.
The new ones are garbage. Lever sells them the same price, but I suspect once Alan sold the company, the new owner cheaped out and ordered the lowest possible grade of SKS to sell. I would STRONGLY suggest holding out for a real military SKS with "type 56" written in Chinese on the receiver - either that, or buy a Russian/Yugo/Romanian/Albanian/East German SKS. The Russian ones, predictably, have the best reputation and the most collector appeal and the price tag to prove it out of the SKS's you are likely to encounter.
Forget finding an SKS from the following countries as they are either CRAZY rare (like the North Vietnamese SKS) or were never imported to Canada in any quantity (like the Albanian and Romanian SKS).
-Albanian
-Romanian
-North Vietnamese
-North Korea
-East German
-Polish
One thing to watch out for is a stamped sheet steel receiver on a Chinese SKS, if you find one - BUY IT. They are rare and valuable
- Location
- Surrey, BC
SIR mailorder has threaded barrel genuine number-matched milsurp SKS's (might be refurbs, but I doubt it, mine looks to be unfired!) on right now for $159. I bought one from them a while ago, it's a nice rifle Lever Arms has a mixed batch of pinned barrel SKS's for about $20 cheaper, but I saw some mismatched part numbers and about 5 different factory stamps when I checked them out about a month ago. Marstar had some Norinco SKS's for $139, but their website says "sold out" in the availability column.
Lever Arms has a mixed batch of pinned barrel SKS's for about $20 cheaper, but I saw some mismatched part numbers and about 5 different factory stamps when I checked them out about a month ago. Marstar had some Norinco SKS's for $139, but their website says "sold out" in the availability column.
- Location
- Surrey, BC
^Agreed. As Holleyman stated, real milsurp pinned-barrel models have an interference fit between the barrel and the reciever. The pin should theoretically only serve to "clock" the barrel to the correct orientation radially, the interference fit (which is extremely strong!!) is what retains it in the receiver.
Eos provided pics of a Lever Arms hack-job model in a previous post, it's very obvious and should be easy to identify. In any case, just because an SKS has a pinned barrel doesn't mean it's junk, it's probably just as good if not better than a threaded barrel model.
You should still look for refurb markings and matching part numbers though. Part numbers are located on the back of the reciever cover, left hand side of the receiver, top/front end of the bolt carrier just aft of the charger slot, bottom of the trigger guard, and on the bottom of the magazine. The bolt also has a part number on it, but it can't be seen without popping off the receiver cover. The gas tube may also have a part number on it, but not all the time.
Eos provided pics of a Lever Arms hack-job model in a previous post, it's very obvious and should be easy to identify. In any case, just because an SKS has a pinned barrel doesn't mean it's junk, it's probably just as good if not better than a threaded barrel model.
You should still look for refurb markings and matching part numbers though. Part numbers are located on the back of the reciever cover, left hand side of the receiver, top/front end of the bolt carrier just aft of the charger slot, bottom of the trigger guard, and on the bottom of the magazine. The bolt also has a part number on it, but it can't be seen without popping off the receiver cover. The gas tube may also have a part number on it, but not all the time.
