N00b question: CZ858 or SKS?

NavyCuda said:
I found the SKS overly heavy in relation to it's caliber. To me, the sks felt about as heavy and handy as my M14, but with "half" the power.

The cz858 is lighter, handles better, has detachable mags, is very simple to tear down, and there is huge Canadian aftermarket support for it. I'm not sure what else you could ask for in a rifle under $1000.

I'm into my 858 for about $1500 now, $750 for the rifle, $700 for the optic, and some NEA parts.
Click to expand...

The extra weight, in my opinion, makes it a better target shooter. I think the CZ, when there isn't any gremlins, makes a slightly better assault rifle.

Personally, if there ever was a "zombie" attack, of the many rifles I own, two would come out of my seller immediately: my bone stock laminate SKS and my 12 guage. Both are stone axe reliable.
 
The Kurgan said:
The extra weight, in my opinion, makes it a better target shooter. I think the CZ, when there isn't any gremlins, makes a slightly better assault rifle.

Personally, if there ever was a "zombie" attack, of the many rifles I own, two would come out of my seller immediately: my bone stock laminate SKS and my 12 guage. Both are stone axe reliable.
Click to expand...

I would say you make a valid point in regards to the weight of the rifle, though in my limited experience I found that the sks's accuracy(tried one russian, one chinese against one 858) isn't good enough to warrant the additional weight. The 858 easily shoots tighter groups than the sks, and when an optic is added to the 858 it really starts to shine. Even with a red dot the sks still doesn't perform as well as the 858.

I'm not slagging the sks though, it is a well designed, extremely cost effective rifle. When compaired against a rifle of more modern design, the sks show's its age.

If the zombies I'll break out my cz858 with aimpoint compm4s without hesitation. My wife will take out the norc m14 and we'll both have p226's in 9mm for emergency back up.
 
I have both and love both. However if there could only be one it'd be the Czech model of 58.

Lighter
Handier
Fewer parts
Badder-ass
 
if you have RPAL I would buy SKS and Norinco CQ 5.56 M4. Norc costs as much as CZ but you cannot compare between two accuracy wise
Click to expand...
I have a '52 SKS and a Norinco M4 :)

I got the SKS because everyone and their grandma has one and was talking about it, and because it was cheap. Not much resale value on these as dealers almost giving them away now. CZ is cooler but it costs more too, about 3x more! I got my M4 so have no need for the 585.
 
The Kurgan said:
You need to find another SKS.
Click to expand...

I have 4, you need to try a CZ or even a Mosin 91/30 I shot just yesterday, what a crisp trigger as you would expect from a military rifle.

Nothing beats the CZ, I had total beginners being able to shoot fantastic groupings with surplus just with the iron sights.
 
M4 beats the 858 :p

and I never cared for the SKS for years myself! I still don't think it's all that but for the money it's a decent and fun toy.
 
NavyCuda said:
I would say you make a valid point in regards to the weight of the rifle, though in my limited experience I found that the sks's accuracy(tried one russian, one chinese against one 858) isn't good enough to warrant the additional weight. The 858 easily shoots tighter groups than the sks, and when an optic is added to the 858 it really starts to shine. Even with a red dot the sks still doesn't perform as well as the 858.

I'm not slagging the sks though, it is a well designed, extremely cost effective rifle. When compaired against a rifle of more modern design, the sks show's its age.

If the zombies I'll break out my cz858 with aimpoint compm4s without hesitation. My wife will take out the norc m14 and we'll both have p226's in 9mm for emergency back up.
Click to expand...

You also make a few good points. However, my experience at the local range is that 858's never seem to do better than 3 inch groupings at 100 yards, regardless of the shooter. I haven't seen an 858 with optics shoot, so I will assume there would be an improvement. However, I've never seen an SKS with PROPER receiver mounted (drill/tap) optics shoot either. I think there's quite a bit of variability with regard to condition of available SKS's. I only buy the pristine, unused, or almost unused examples... and 2 of my 3 SKS's shoot up to 3 inch groupings. The other hasn't seen a bullet chambered yet.

I won't dis the 858 as a good number of CGN'ers rant and rave about them. I am sure they are fun to shoot.

I also have a great deal of respect for modern CZ firearms in general. They are well made, highly respected, often receive excellent reviews, highly accurate, and competitively priced. In fact, I have my eyes on a beautiful CZ 527, and it might be sitting in my gun locker in a few weeks. I need a solid, accurate, mid-range brush gun for deer. Guess which calibre? :)
 
The Kurgan said:
You also make a few good points. However, my experience at the local range is that 858's never seem to do better than 3 inch groupings at 100 yards, regardless of the shooter.
Click to expand...

Not surprising, considering that 99% of these guns never see anything other than old corrosive czech ammo which probably has a theoretical accuracy limit somewhere around oh, say 3 MOA.

If somebody wanted to tailor up some super accurate x39, I would guess they might do a little better...but considering the M4s average around 4 MOA, which was also the standard for the original US M14, I would say if you are always seeing 3 MOA you are seeing some pretty accurate rifles.

At any rate if your goal is to buy a cheap rifle that works out of the box and NOT f it up with a bunch of tapco garbage, then the SKS is a great rifle. If you tapco-#### it, well...I guess you probably would have done that to any gun because tapco-####ers seem to be a force of nature.

If you fully intend to spend twelve or fifteen hundred bucks and have a great fighting rifle with a battle-proven optic, I would go for the 58 pattern. They are solid guns. I bought mine for fun and it is now my go-to rifle, always.
 
misanthropist said:
Not surprising, considering that 99% of these guns never see anything other than old corrosive czech ammo which probably has a theoretical accuracy limit somewhere around oh, say 3 MOA.

If somebody wanted to tailor up some super accurate x39, I would guess they might do a little better...but considering the M4s average around 4 MOA, which was also the standard for the original US M14, I would say if you are always seeing 3 MOA you are seeing some pretty accurate rifles.

At any rate if your goal is to buy a cheap rifle that works out of the box and NOT f it up with a bunch of tapco garbage, then the SKS is a great rifle. If you tapco-f**k it, well...I guess you probably would have done that to any gun because tapco-f**kers seem to be a force of nature.

If you fully intend to spend twelve or fifteen hundred bucks and have a great fighting rifle with a battle-proven optic, I would go for the 58 pattern. They are solid guns. I bought mine for fun and it is now my go-to rifle, always.
Click to expand...

I only sometimes see 3 inch groupsing with the 858's and SKS's. I think I have a couple a pretty accurate SKS's. However, it took a couple hundred rounds to get a good feel for my SKS's before I was able to achieve 3 to 4 inch groupings. BTW, I only fire the cheap surplus ammo, saving the Prvi stuff for hunting, though I haven't tested the Prvi stuff yet to judge how good it is. I personally find the surplus ammo quite accurate, just dirty. The SKS is so easy to strip and clean that I don't mind the dirty ammo. Cheers.
 
I'd say get an SKS and if you don't feel like it's quite it, sell it or keep it and get an 858.

It worked for me.

The 858 unrestricted with the folding stock is always fun to have around. Strangely at my range, it always draw many eyes althought it's totally stock. I find it easier to clean than the SKS considering that I mostly shoot corrosive ammo. I keep my non-corosive for the friendly competitions.

Both are good buys anyway, it just depends on the feeling you wish to have.
 
Yeah, nobody is putting proper scopes on those babies, one of my SKS is a Norinco with said creepy trigger. Keep in mind that I didn't say it is a bad shooter, that baby got a POSP scope on it and will shoot 1.5 inch groups with surplus all day long, with the usual flyer of course. Maybe even 1 inch groups if I have the patience and proper breathing but I am old and grasp for air more often.

My CZ is in the process of getting the right setup with that new NEA stuff but cheap as I am, will wait for the right deal as usual and that 8 x 42 POSP scope will do the rest.

Just so much lighter and easier to shoot, still love my SKS's and keep upgrading them.
 
dylanw said:
right on. I guess what I'm trying to find out is if there are any major snags between the two models. I could deff see myself having both down the road.
Click to expand...

depends how handy you are with rifles...surplus ammo is corrosive..the primers are that is..and this means field striping after a day of shooting..the SKS comes apart easier in my opinion, and is easier to clean.and for some reason the 858 and the vz58 are loud ..me and my buddy were blown away at how loud the thing was..the SKS you can shoot all day with out hearing protection and it aint bad..i m not going to recommend that you do that but. this was my experience.. just for the record i own 5 SKS rifles and still want a VZ58.
 
knuckledusterbook said:
Full report will be expected!!
Click to expand...

Well now, where do i begin. I took 4 guns to the range today and the CZ was the funnest by far. It is rock solid accurate to a long way out. I'd give the range at which i was plinking a chicken shaped hanging target but i dont know exactly so i won't speculate. It was impressive though. I wasn't the only one impressed. I will be going back on my next day off and my CZ will be comming. My finnicky m1a... long story short, that will stay in my safe next time.

(Me today: :ar15:)
 
misanthropist said:
Not surprising, considering that 99% of these guns never see anything other than old corrosive czech ammo which probably has a theoretical accuracy limit somewhere around oh, say 3 MOA.

If somebody wanted to tailor up some super accurate x39, I would guess they might do a little better...but considering the M4s average around 4 MOA, which was also the standard for the original US M14, I would say if you are always seeing 3 MOA you are seeing some pretty accurate rifles.

At any rate if your goal is to buy a cheap rifle that works out of the box and NOT f it up with a bunch of tapco garbage, then the SKS is a great rifle. If you tapco-f**k it, well...I guess you probably would have done that to any gun because tapco-f**kers seem to be a force of nature.

If you fully intend to spend twelve or fifteen hundred bucks and have a great fighting rifle with a battle-proven optic, I would go for the 58 pattern. They are solid guns. I bought mine for fun and it is now my go-to rifle, always.
Click to expand...

I Tapco f**ked mine and it shoots better than it did in stock configuration.

(btw it was a Russian 1952 if it makes you feel better :D).

dscf7286n.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom