My SKS journal

I wonder if all the man hours put into this was worth the almost negligible (if any) performance difference. But as long as it was fun what the hey...:cool:
 
Definitely worth it for the fun factor. :) For me, the sole purpose of buying the sks was to have an inexpensive rifle to tinker/butcher, that's also cheap to shoot, and most importantly just to have fun with.
 
what do you think of that muzzle break?? does it sit tight? was it hard to install? does it help recoil any? im considering picking one up, they are only 10 bucks
 
luke s: For 10 bucks (25 after tax and shipping) it's not bad, however it's purely just for looks. There's very little recoil to begin with and there wasn't any noticeable difference when I shot it side by side with my friend's unmodified SKS. Install was straight forward enough. On mine the machining was a little sloppy and the slots on either side weren't aligned properly so I had to do a little grinding to allow the longer retaining pin to pass through. There's a little bit of wiggle after install, as expected, but not enough to interfere with bullet flight. With the muzzle break installed you won't be able to use bayonet. Hope that helps. :)
 
After looking at my SKS I decided it wasn't quite bubba'd enough. So I slapped on a quad rail and flashlight. :)

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I saw a picture (can't remember where) of a fake bull barrel somebody made for their SKS. I think that might be my next project as the barrel looks a little out of proportion.
 
oh great....... now you have to explain this mod (how it attaches, will optics on top of the rail hold zero, etc! more detailed pics!
 
Wow. On the one hand, I'm a little sad to see a Ruger factory folder scavenged for parts, but on the other hand, it gives your SKS a very unique and interesting look. I do very much like how your project has turned out.
 
Starting to look more and more like the cz 858. Might have been easier to technicool one of those rifles over the sks.

I think I will keep my russian sks stock, although I did use some epoxy/fiberglass bedding in it a few days ago. I might have to get the cz to do some bubba work.

Your sks looks good though. w:h:
 
Yeah the NC star slotted brake was a dissapointment. For easier cleaning I drilled and tapped a 10-32 hole in the bottom and use a set screw to hold it in place nice and tight, comes off easier for cleaning. Jwan that SKS turned out great! Nice work. A barrel chop and thread with an AK or CZ muzzle device would be badass with all the other unique mods. I think this is better than any cookie-cutter bolt-on CZ build any day. Cheers bud :cheers:
 
Thanks for the compliments guys! :) Definitely would've been a LOT less work buying a CZ, or a Tapco stock, etc etc.... but it wouldn't have been as fun. Plus I like to tinker and make things because I find it gives me a better understanding of the gun.

luke s: The quad rail took 4 bolts and a whole 2 minutes to install. It just clamps around the barrel and gas tube and so far seems to be a real tight fit. No noticeable play at all (unlike the muzzle brake). I'll have to get some decent optics before I can comment on how well it'll hold zero mounted on the rail. Right now all I have is a cheap red dot that I can't even get to zero. :mad:

ThreeOneBravo: I had to drill through the back of the trigger assembly and welded a nut in place to bolt on the pistol grip. There's a pic of the welded nut in post #23. The angle of the nut will depend on the pistol grip you're using. You will also need to cut out enough wood from the stock to allow clearance for the nut on reassembly. For me this took 2 seconds with a 1/2" drill bit. :)

Supernova: Good call on drilling/tapping the muzzle brake! That gives me an idea on how to mount the fake bull barrel (or should I say faux barrel) I'm going to make. I think a barrel chop is a must even if it's only a marginal amount. Looking at it from the top (stock folded) the rifle resembles a corndog with that long skinny barrrel.
 
I took a front sight base/bayonet mount off of an SKS barrel, and it was a sob. This seems a bit unrelated, but when you remove the front sight base, you end up with a cylindrical muzzle with a diameter of about .550" for about 3" or so. If you wanted to make a new front sight base, without grinding the original one (crime against all things god loves) :p you could do it, and it would look pretty good imo. It would be a lot of work though. Nice job by the way.
 
I took a front sight base/bayonet mount off of an SKS barrel, and it was a sob. This seems a bit unrelated, but when you remove the front sight base, you end up with a cylindrical muzzle with a diameter of about .550" for about 3" or so. If you wanted to make a new front sight base, without grinding the original one (crime against all things god loves) :p you could do it, and it would look pretty good imo. It would be a lot of work though. Nice job by the way.

By my measurements, it should be possible to remove the rear of the bayo lug/fsb portion behind the rear sight, then once the barrel is cut to 18.5" press the front sight back on and have a similar amount of stick-out to the factory setup. Basically delete the bayo lug from the FSB and the excess barrel length
 
Dude, very nice build!! I had a Tapco stocked SKS and found that I loved it, AFTER swapping the Tapco for original wood!!:) Your build looks un-canily like my 10/22 build; you been peeking?? lol
Happy modding!
 
Hey.. great project.. i'm glad to see something other then Tapco.. :)
And dont worry this is far from butchering. This is art in my books.
 
Hey guys, it's been a while since I've tinkered with my SKS so I decided to address the "corndog" look of the rifle. (long skinny barrel sticking out of the chunky stock) At first I thought about making a fake bull barrel sleeve but that would've been more figurin' and tinkerin' than I was willing to do in my cold workshop tonight. So this is what I came up with instead....
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Before I set off any alarms, this is a FAKE suppressor. Afterall, us law abiding gun owners would neverrrrrr dream about doing anything that's a no no, or innocent people start dying. One time I had a dream where I unpinned some mags and when I woke up I found out an earthquake had hit the island..... but I digress.

First things first, the front sight block had to go. I thought a marvelous way to start off the project would be to smack my thumb with a hammer trying to get the sight off. As some of you fellow SKS owners know, that sucker is on TIGHT. Once the FSB was off I modified 3 large washers to fit around different points along the barrel.

Washer #1 went way back on the barrel almost to the gas block.
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Next I welded a nut just within the outer edge of the washer and inserted a long set screw. With the washer on the barrel I marked the center of the set screw on the underside of the barrel and made a divot with a 1/4" drill bit. CRAPPY CELL PHONE PIC ALERT!
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I cut a piece of tubing for the suppressor body and drilled a pilot hole at one end for the set screw to go through.
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The pilot hole was at about center of the set screw so I opened it up to 1/4" and welded washer #1 to the tubing.
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Washer #2 goes inside the tube over the first few inches of the barrel and butts up to where the FSB use to sit.
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I slid the tube off the barrel carefully so washer #2 wouldn't shift. Once off I tacked washer #2 in place.
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Washer #3 welded on to cap off the tube. The center hole is tapered slightly on the back side so it sits centered around the muzzle, but not large enough to slide over the barrel. I'm hoping this will keep crap out of the tube.
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Last step is to give the whole thing a shot of flat black paint and install on the barrel. Slide the suppressor onto the barrel and align the set screw hole with the divot on the barrel. If the holes in the 3 washers were done right it should line up first time everytime. Finally insert set screw.
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I lucked out because the set screw I used sits flush with the outside edge of the suppressor after I snug it up.
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Here's how it looks from the shooters point of view.
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Now my SKS doesn't look like a corndog when folded up! :)
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This fake suppressor took about 30 minutes to build. It's not the prettiest work I've done, but it'll do. Feel free to criticize the design. Thanks for looking.


Jason
 
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