Project RatRod: SKS shorty

supernova

supernova

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So heres my latest SKS project. Looks like a Ruskie black bolt refurb but its actually a Chinese Military. I cut and crowned the barrel at 18 5/8", shortened the bayo lug/FSB, sanded smooth and cold blued the bolt carrier, did the ejection window mod, and chucked up the front sight in the drill press and filed/sanded it down to .045" and reblued it. A buddy of mine bought a refurb from Corlane's and brought it to me to install an ATI stock so I nabbed the original Russian Birch stock for the price of an AKM slant comp that I'll by installing on both mine and his. I had to shorten the upper HG both OAL and move the inletting up a little. But anyways, to what end was all this work invested? Ive fallen back in love with the SKS. It tips the scales at just 7.5 lbs, the same as my Marlin Guide Gun. 2 lbs heavier than my 10/22! Without the cleaning kit in the buttstock, the weight balance is to the rear when supported by the bottom corner of the mag. The chop and removal of the bayonet/cleaning rod made a good difference but the Russian birch is so much lighter than the Chinese Catalpa. Recoil is quite noticeable now :) I still have a short list of things to do like thread the barrel M14x1LH, drill and tap the FSB for a set screw that will retain the AKM slant comp when that gets here, trigger job...oh God does it need it, cut the rear sight leaf up and solder a peep sight in its place. Other than that she's good to go.

She started out lookin like this, plain Chinese Military SKS

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Now after many hours in the shop, she's a whole new rifle :rockOn:

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I've decided to call this one Project RatRod

Finishing up on a few items off the list she now wears a 3/16" peep sight welded to the original leaf with a nice big fillet weld.

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As mentioned earlier I added a simple overtravel stop. Damn this trigger is nice!

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This is how she sits right now at 7.5 lbs and 39 9/16" OAL. I cut the front sight protector down cos the ring obstructed the top of my FOV through the peep.

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Nice job! I'm impressed with how clean and balanced it looks without the bayo lug and the barrel trimmed. Keep us posted on how things progress.
 
Groups were about 2" @ 50 yds with front rest only. Admittedly I haven't shot open sights for a while and the action has a little play in the stock so I hope to improve on that with bedding and a peep sight. The sound of the sear dragging along during the 1/2" long trigger pull was a little distracting too haha. Most of the trigger job is done. The sear angle was terribly negative and the hammer engagement was rough and slightly rounded at the front. Everything is flat and smooth now. Tomorrow I will cut the hammer and sear spring and shorten the sear a little. Might do some bedding too.

Travis Bickle said:
Nice Sir.

It's clean. I like it.

But how does she shoot now is what I really want to know?
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AWMozart said:
Nice job! I'm impressed with how clean and balanced it looks without the bayo lug and the barrel trimmed. Keep us posted on how things progress.
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X2

Bubba'd, yet retains the overall SKS character. I like it.

Since the cleaning rod can no longer be retained and with the bayonet gone. It would look slick if the front sling loop were to be ground off and a new sling swivel added were the cleaning rod inserts. Just an idea.

Which cold bluing did you use on the bolt/carrier? Been wanting to do that to my Russian.
 
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Beaver
I used some Birchwood Perma-blue paste. The result, as you can see, ain't that great. Outers bluing is about the same. I might try submersing it but cold bluing is cold bluing.
I did however bed the recoil lug making the new stock a very tight fit. That should improve the groups some.
 
Wow, I gotta admit I'm impressed! Nicer and simpler than a lot of the 'tacticool' types, an actual improvement. This is inspiring to me, might have to go track down an SKS for myself!

I didn't even notice the blued boltcarrier when I first saw this, but honestly, it looks great, doesn't stick out like a sore thumb of the originals. BTW: I really agree with your goal of making the rear sight into a peep instead of the notch, I believe it'll improve your practical real-world accuracy.
 
I agree, looks good... As has been mentioned, I barely noticed the blued bolt, but it does look much nicer than stock. I'm one of those people that does like the "tacticool" stuff, but this is very nice and subtle... I don't have my own SKS, and without seeing it next to one, I don't think I'd be able to pick out what you'd changed.

I'm interested to see the rest of the progress... I want to get myself a .22LR rifle so I can shoot at the local indoor range, but I've been seeing so many nice SKS's lately that it's making me rethink the possibility of getting into one myself.
 
I finished up the trigger job by cutting 2 coils off the hammer and sear springs, shortening the sear and installed an overtravel stop. Its still a little heavy by hunting rifle standards but its smooth and predictable. The AKM slant comp is on its way from Italy, I'll thread the barrel when it arrives and figure out a detent to hold it in place. I still need to do a peep sight and find an AK/SKS sling. I keep a broken case extractor in the cleaning kit body so I won't have to worry about range trips cut short by douchebaggery of the highest order (malfunctions)
 
Any update? this is probably one of the coolest SKS projects I've seen. Would love to get a second SKS to shorten. I'm just not handy enough for such a task. How much would you charge me if I send you my rifle? :D
 
Every build I do always has guys asking how much lol. I'm not a gunsmith by trade, I'm just good at working steel. Friggin Italia sent 1 AK slant comp instead of 2 but apparently is sending the second one asap. I threaded the muzzle and set the comp with some vibratite as I don't have a detent in my FSB. Me and a buddy hit up the range yesterday with my last 10 rds of X39 and the comp worked beautifully. MFS 125 gr sp's chrono'd at 2430 fps avg.
 
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