Russian SKS DIY Advice

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PrecariousPosition

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Hey guys, first time poster, amazing website!

I'm about to start a pretty extensive DIY refurb on a vanilla Russian SKS and I was hoping to get some advice/tips before I start making purchases and whatnot. A few specific questions, any advice is greatlly appreciated.


Is there anything I can do when refinishing the stock to make it last as long as possible?

Is a muzzle break worthwhile? I'm not worried about the look of it but anything that makes it more functional is great, although not a huge fan of the extra barrel length.

Does anyone make a flush 5-round magazine for the SKS? If not will it be terribly difficult to make it flush?

Is removing the bayonet lug possible to do without a gunsmith?

Aside from replacing the sights (Tech TS200), swapping out the firing pin, adding a recoil buffer and putting new springs in is there anything substantial that I can do to make her more reliable/lighter/functional?


This is meant to be a fun (and cheap) project to get to know the gun and come out with the most functional tool possible. My main rifle is a Tika T3 30-06 that really only comes off the shelf a couple of times a year for deer and moose and otherwise I just pack around an old 30-30 lever or single-shot .22 when I feel like it. I'd love to have a custom SKS I can be proud of to carry with me on a regular basis.

I'm aiming for short/light/reliable and accurate enough to hunt deer with ethically out to 50 or so yards over open sights.

Thanks a lot! I'll be sure to post pictures as things progress.
 
Can touch on the stock & mag: Good oil on the stock (assuming it's a solid hardwood) and you can't go wrong. Tru-oil or just good old linseed oil. Add more from time to time if you feel necessary. Lasts forever and looks beautiful.

Flush SKS mags are common on the Type 56s, have one in my safe. That is the fixed/hinged floorplate.
 
PrecariousPosition said:
Is a muzzle break worthwhile? I'm not worried about the look of it but anything that makes it more functional is great, although not a huge fan of the extra barrel length.

.......

Aside from replacing the sights (Tech TS200), swapping out the firing pin, adding a recoil buffer and putting new springs in is there anything substantial that I can do to make her more reliable/lighter/functional?
Click to expand...

If you have the opportunity to try shooting an SKS before making these modifications, you'll see that there is very little recoil. From other people's posts on here about muzzle brakes, you'll find a general consensus on them:
1) The difference in recoil is very minimal, owning to the minimal recoil to start
2) Not many of them mount too solid. Some are better than others, but lots are told to rattle around or fall off
This basically answers the "recoil buffer" question as well.

As far as firing pin, this is where you'll run into mixed opinions. Mine is the one of if you keep your gun clean and oil away from the firing pin set-up you shouldn't have a problem with slam-firing. Keep in mind firing pins only came with springs from the factory for a few years, then 40+ years without, so at least in the opinions of major armies, they aren't needed. I've put about 1000 rounds through my SKS in the last few months, and although it is admittedly a small sample size, I've never had a slam-fire or any other issue with it at all. Just keep it clean.
If you meant something different when you said replace the firing pin however, feel free to ignore my rant :redface:

Feel free to lurk through the forums, particularly this "Red Rifles" one and read lots, especially the "Sticky" threads at the top of the page for TONNES of awesome info. I hope you enjoy your new toy when you get it.

Cheers
 
pretty much everything you mentioned is more likely to hamper the reliability of the SKS. They are AK reliable as they come, thru hell or high water. The sights will help out alot but the rest will do nothing but cost money and potentially cause issues. If you can cut and grind then yes you can remove the bayonet lug which will shave some weight off the front end and can improve accuracy. As for the refinish, go to advanced search and set it to threads 36 months and newer then search SKS refinish and you'll find a bunch of informative posts
 
The recoil buffer is named wrong but I do notice that it did take up the slack in the action. As we all know repeatability equals accuracy. Also doing the double cut trigger job will also make shooting this rig more enjoyable. Then find your self a vietnam fiberglass stock and bed the rifle you will be good to go. Maybe if you buy as many as me you can swap around parts tell you find a piston and gas tube that fit nice and snug. All that will be left is to add your optics of choice and then your done. HiCal & SKSMAN will be your new friends ;)
 
The perfect SKS is directly proportional to whether you are buying or selling.

If you are selling: there are many many hundreds of dollars worth of items you can add to, and make overall changes to the original engineering those silly Russians came up with before they discovered heat. Everything can be improved. Spend every cent you have, and rifle will continue to get better.


If you're buying, its farken garbage and almost nothing will improve other than the sellers bank account. Adding plastic crap and ill-fitting magazines to an SKS will only make frustrating use of something that originally worked well and problem free. An SKS works best in its designed configuration and any changes to this will deteriorate the operation of a fine tuned and functioning gun.


my personal opinion is that watching idiots screw perfectly good rifles since some time in the eighties, not one of them works better than what they started with. If someone was selling an SKS that has been modified, I would offer them 50 bucks for the spare parts, because its not worth the expense and time to correct what they f*cked up.
 
buy one cheap, shoot the crap out of it till your blue in the face! Then move on to a more worthy project.
lots of fun, but it will never get much better than what it already is! :D
 
+1... but on the other hand, if you like tinkering, SKS is a great starting point given the price. You can get one for 75$ (with a case of ammo purchase) from Marstar... why would you learn to paint a vehicle, on a classic? You start with a Datsun and work your way up.

I haven't felt the need to modify any of ny SKS rifles, BUT I enjoy turning wrenches and generally messing with a lot of things.

Great for learning, just be safe.
 
the sks is the perfect platform to learn: I learned about wood sanding/finishing, metal polishing, drilling/tapping metal, sear engagement via trigger job, bluing, etc

Here is my SKS "sniper" (lol), I think it looks mean, an anti would have a fit and call a SKS ban
IMG_0807sm.jpg
 
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