I just came back from the range. I brought my Russian SKS and 140rds of CZ surplus. I got the gf shooting a 3 inch group at 50 yards with her second try of the rifle ever, then sat down, shot it at 50 then 100 yards, letting her shoot it too. We spotted each other, I had my spotting scope and we were calling each others shots - a lot of fun. I managed five rounds in a two inch circle (outside edge to outside edge) with it at 100 yards, stock configuration rifle with iron sights. We got bored hitting paper, and we spotted a darker brown patch of dirt, about three feet tall and two feet wide, out in the 300 yard backstop. The range had a good wind, but it wasn't at much of an angle and the thirty cal at these ranges won't get thrown off too much, so we didn't worry about that.
So I get the gf to throw the spotting scope just a bit out of focus, and I set the irons for 300 yards. After the first five rounds of the ten rounds stripper clip, my shots had unearthed a rock about five inched thick and wide, and she was seeing the vapor trails and the round impacts in the dirt, so she started calling out corrections. She fired about ten rounds, I wanted to see vapor trails too, but I only managed to get the impacts near the rock. I fired two or three more stripper clips, hitting the rock five, maybe six times, fracturing it in many pieces, and I brought a chunk of it back. Most of the shots were within inches of the rock, and upon going there to check out our rocky target, we found clover leaf-like holes where multiple rounds had hit scant fractions of an inch off the rock.
Damn good time today, and 300 yard shooting with a decent SKS is entirely possible. I haven't had the chance to shoot my SKS more than a few times, and even with my lack of range time, a shooter without months of experience made chest sized groups at 300 yards.
It's not a sniper rifle, but I'd trust this thing to hit what I'm shooting at if I do my part. Even with surplus ammo, a Russian or Yugo SKS should be able to hit 1 to 2 MOA with a decent shooter. I highly doubt it would ever go sub-MOA, but the rifle is fully capable of being well under the commonly stated 4 to 6 MOA.
So I get the gf to throw the spotting scope just a bit out of focus, and I set the irons for 300 yards. After the first five rounds of the ten rounds stripper clip, my shots had unearthed a rock about five inched thick and wide, and she was seeing the vapor trails and the round impacts in the dirt, so she started calling out corrections. She fired about ten rounds, I wanted to see vapor trails too, but I only managed to get the impacts near the rock. I fired two or three more stripper clips, hitting the rock five, maybe six times, fracturing it in many pieces, and I brought a chunk of it back. Most of the shots were within inches of the rock, and upon going there to check out our rocky target, we found clover leaf-like holes where multiple rounds had hit scant fractions of an inch off the rock.
Damn good time today, and 300 yard shooting with a decent SKS is entirely possible. I haven't had the chance to shoot my SKS more than a few times, and even with my lack of range time, a shooter without months of experience made chest sized groups at 300 yards.
It's not a sniper rifle, but I'd trust this thing to hit what I'm shooting at if I do my part. Even with surplus ammo, a Russian or Yugo SKS should be able to hit 1 to 2 MOA with a decent shooter. I highly doubt it would ever go sub-MOA, but the rifle is fully capable of being well under the commonly stated 4 to 6 MOA.
