I've been toying with the idea of having the barrel on my SKS shortened to the legal limit (by a certified gunsmith), before it becomes a restricted. I'm just woundering if anybody has tried this, or if you guys think its a bad idea? Also is it possible to still have the origonal front sight taken off the cut off part and re-installed on the shortened barrel?
Short barrel SKS
- Thread starter Madmardigan
- Start date
I know its not practical, just something I want to do. I could shorten it myself I guess, I just figured there is more to it than hacking of a few inches. If not I'll do it myself
SKS paratrooper model (good luck finding one)
Yep, thats why I'm thinking of cutting mine down.
Well, if you're going for the paratrooper look & cut your rifle down to 16 inches, it will be RESTRICTED. Why? Because semi auto centerfires MUST HAVE an 18.5 inch or longer barrel...
So, you will have a range queen... Not that that is a bad thing, just that you would have taken a Non-Restricted gun & made it Restricted.
Cheers
Jay
It would actually be prohibited if you went under 18", would it not?
And it's alot of work to lose 1.5" off the barrel to be honest. It's not like your losing 4-6", your removing such a small amount that most people probably couldn't even tell by looking at it. I think it would be kind of pointless personally, especially with the cost of paying someone to do it. Now if you wanted, and felt up to it, you could cut it yourself, at the cost of probably having some flaking issues with the chrome bore.
Any improvements from doing so would be purely looks. The barrel is already short and so is the stock. I can guarantee that it will not improve your groups but would bet money that they go worse. As said above, why bother with the effort for a gun worth less than 200 bucks.
A total waste of time and money for two inches. What will it give you?
A total waste of time and money for two inches. What will it give you?
Just checked, it's 20.5". So a maximum of two inches. Better to leave 0.25"-0.5" to avoid any potential issue with LE IMO.
I'm not saying it's a bad idea, but I feel like the SKS is plenty handy in factory length. For the cost of getting someone to chop it professionally, you could buy a Norc M14 shorty or something, if you like the shorter battle rifle look.
easy to do, improves accuracy, cut mine to 18 5/8 '', shorter stiffer barrel, new crown, and removes the years of abuse from improper cleaning with steel rod, do a search,
easy to do yourself, with hand tools,
just purchased from manson precision an awesome kit .
goodluck
go for it
easy to do yourself, with hand tools,
just purchased from manson precision an awesome kit .
goodluck
go for it
I did it to mine. This gun for me was a learning tool. I did mods to it and changed things before I tried anything on my other, more expensive guns.
I chopped 2 inches off and did a rough re-crown myself. It still shoots fine. It was never very accurate so it didnt really hurt anything.
I removed my front sight completely and replaced it with a brake that I actually had to weld on as it didnt fit tight. Looks sweet IMO. But no sight means you rely on whatever optic you choose. This wasnt a huge issue for me as I had already removed the rear sight and put on a BC scout mount so the front sight was useless.
I chopped 2 inches off and did a rough re-crown myself. It still shoots fine. It was never very accurate so it didnt really hurt anything.
I removed my front sight completely and replaced it with a brake that I actually had to weld on as it didnt fit tight. Looks sweet IMO. But no sight means you rely on whatever optic you choose. This wasnt a huge issue for me as I had already removed the rear sight and put on a BC scout mount so the front sight was useless.
Ok, I seen enough. I'm doing it! I'll cut it to 18.75" to stay on the safe side. My only issue is I dont have tools to re-crown it. Anybody have a rough idea how much a smith will charge to do a crown job?
And is there anything I should know before going ahead. I take it you dont just measure from the muzzle? Is it from the base of the chamber?
And is there anything I should know before going ahead. I take it you dont just measure from the muzzle? Is it from the base of the chamber?
Its from the end of the chamber... I did mine at 18.5 and wish id left just a bit more. I crowned mine with a dremel... not ideal. There are relatively cheap tools you can buy to do the crown yourself. But I cant imagine it would cost too much to have a smith do it properly.
