M14s or SKS
- Thread starter TheManInBlack
- Start date
- Location
- Stony Plain, Alberta
The M14 was and still is amoung the best battle rifles ever made. When I was young and foolish, and when you could buy M14's by the case, I'd try my damdest too ware out one a year. I shot a hell of a pile of ammo, we used to joke about putting her in 4 x 4 just to drive over the pile of brass. To compare a fine, reliable and accurate a firearm as an M14 to a pos sks is laughable. You would have to be green to the gun world to even make the comparision. GOTT MIT UNS
easyrider604
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Greater Vancouver, BC
Simple choice for me. I could buy at least 5 or more SKS for the cost of one M1A Springfield Armory.
Surplus ammo for the SKS is cheap, for now.
M1A beats SKS for all out accuracy and range, but for its intended application, the SKS is totally adequate.
They weigh about the same but the SKS is more compact. In my analysis, the SKS should be inherently more reliable and trouble free due to its simple design.
The SKS has no magazines to lose.
That is why I sold my M1A and have 4 Russian SKS with one more to follow as soon as I find another good one. And I have ammo for my russkie babes.
Surplus ammo for the SKS is cheap, for now.
M1A beats SKS for all out accuracy and range, but for its intended application, the SKS is totally adequate.
They weigh about the same but the SKS is more compact. In my analysis, the SKS should be inherently more reliable and trouble free due to its simple design.
The SKS has no magazines to lose.
That is why I sold my M1A and have 4 Russian SKS with one more to follow as soon as I find another good one. And I have ammo for my russkie babes.
got 4 m14s. 3 of which are safequeens thanks to our maleovent liberal government- back in the day, there would have been no question- it's not the gun, i just don't have any use for the 7.62x 39 cartridge- too big for gophers, and too small - i don't bother with whitetail
But how long will the surplus ammo last !
If you are buying factory stuff its not cheap at all .
M14's are great, very accurate and you can pretty much do what you want with them.
Jamie Frost
Regular
- Location
- Calgary AB
do yourself a favour and get both. i did and am very happy with both.
each have their perks but I havent had any trouble or any complaints with either
each have their perks but I havent had any trouble or any complaints with either
fat tony
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
The M14 is great but I prefer the M1 Garand to the M14, - the sks surplus ammo is cheap but innacurate I find, the Sks might do better with handloads but who wants to bother with that.
My first (and semi recent) purchase was a Rusky `50 SKS and I love it; cheap plinking, fairly accurate out to 200 yards (4-5 inch groups with iron sights), and stupid easy to tear down and reassemble.
It was, however, a spur of the moment purchase.
I`m going to pick up a M305 in the next week or so. It`s the battle rifle I always wanted, now that I`ve researched and learned a bit more.
So... both if you can afford it.
It was, however, a spur of the moment purchase.
I`m going to pick up a M305 in the next week or so. It`s the battle rifle I always wanted, now that I`ve researched and learned a bit more.
So... both if you can afford it.
I have both, and think that it's a bit of an apples to oranges comparison.
If you want a rifle that you could buy and shoot as is out of the box (well, maybe after removing cosmoline if heavy), the SKS is cheap, reliable, and accurate enough to test one's skills in various field positions. You could practice at the range out to 200 (maybe 300)m, though practical hunting ranges for deer sized game would be less (100m for sure, maybe 150m). The ammo would be cheap, and the rifle easy to maintain.
The M14S would probably require more work. For starters, most have the barrel timing/indexing just a bit off, meaning that unless that's fixed, you may have to adjust the sights considerably to hit centre at a fixed range, with variations on POI at further distances. In many cases, the rear sight does not click when adjusted and may not necessarily hold true anyhow, possibly requiring a USGI replacement or use of a scope.
The M14 would be better suited to scope mounting (versus reciever cover mounts on SKS that just don't hold zero too well, or LER mounts for SKS that I cannot comment upon). It would have the accuracy to take advantage of a decent scope. That said, the cheapest mounts (no-name Marstar, B-Square) will cost about $100, plus well over $200 for a 10X Bushnell 3200. Many people here question the effectiveness of the cheaper mounts, though I'm still too inexperienced on the matter to tell the difference.
The M305 would be good for shooting game larger than deer, and good for hunting or target shooting beyond the range of the SKS.
.308 and 7.62 NATO will always be around, if not cheap, whereas the cheap SKS ammo may or may not be a permanent thing. The .308/7.62 NATO probably offers more possibilities for a reloader to custom a good load for their rifle, whereas I wonder if one could get as much improvement in accuracy out of tailoring loads for an SKS (though sometimes this can definitely work, depending on the rifle).
A new shooter just wanting to have fun, or a bush rifle for deer, go SKS. A new shooter who wants to shoot Service Rifle matches, use decent optics, hunt deer or bigger game and possibly at further ranges than 100-200m, and/or is willing to reload or tinker with their rifle to make it shoot better, go for M14S.
And of course, if you really want to deck out a rifle, the M14S wins hands-down. I'm not knocking people who choose to pimp out their SKS with accessories, but it seems a questionable use of money insofar as it contributes little or nothing to accuracy, and in the case of an original Russian, Yugo or early Chinese military carbine, it's a sad loss of the rifle's historicity.
I'm glad I have both.
Frank
If you want a rifle that you could buy and shoot as is out of the box (well, maybe after removing cosmoline if heavy), the SKS is cheap, reliable, and accurate enough to test one's skills in various field positions. You could practice at the range out to 200 (maybe 300)m, though practical hunting ranges for deer sized game would be less (100m for sure, maybe 150m). The ammo would be cheap, and the rifle easy to maintain.
The M14S would probably require more work. For starters, most have the barrel timing/indexing just a bit off, meaning that unless that's fixed, you may have to adjust the sights considerably to hit centre at a fixed range, with variations on POI at further distances. In many cases, the rear sight does not click when adjusted and may not necessarily hold true anyhow, possibly requiring a USGI replacement or use of a scope.
The M14 would be better suited to scope mounting (versus reciever cover mounts on SKS that just don't hold zero too well, or LER mounts for SKS that I cannot comment upon). It would have the accuracy to take advantage of a decent scope. That said, the cheapest mounts (no-name Marstar, B-Square) will cost about $100, plus well over $200 for a 10X Bushnell 3200. Many people here question the effectiveness of the cheaper mounts, though I'm still too inexperienced on the matter to tell the difference.
The M305 would be good for shooting game larger than deer, and good for hunting or target shooting beyond the range of the SKS.
.308 and 7.62 NATO will always be around, if not cheap, whereas the cheap SKS ammo may or may not be a permanent thing. The .308/7.62 NATO probably offers more possibilities for a reloader to custom a good load for their rifle, whereas I wonder if one could get as much improvement in accuracy out of tailoring loads for an SKS (though sometimes this can definitely work, depending on the rifle).
A new shooter just wanting to have fun, or a bush rifle for deer, go SKS. A new shooter who wants to shoot Service Rifle matches, use decent optics, hunt deer or bigger game and possibly at further ranges than 100-200m, and/or is willing to reload or tinker with their rifle to make it shoot better, go for M14S.
And of course, if you really want to deck out a rifle, the M14S wins hands-down. I'm not knocking people who choose to pimp out their SKS with accessories, but it seems a questionable use of money insofar as it contributes little or nothing to accuracy, and in the case of an original Russian, Yugo or early Chinese military carbine, it's a sad loss of the rifle's historicity.
I'm glad I have both.
Frank
- Location
- Sault Ste. Marie
Ok my decision is made SKS it in just for the fast that I can cheaply change it and the ammo costs almost nothing
BigUglyMan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- New Scotland
FAIL
historicity
The characteristic of having existed in history.
Pimping an SKS does not make it non-existent in history. It does ruin it's collector value. I presume that's what you were trying to say.
I have to interject real quick with maybe a third option?? I just got a non restricted cz858 and i have to admit I may sell my russian sks now. Same ammo, similar build type semi auto, CZ is more accurate. I am going to stew for a while about this one.
