SKS at 100 yards.

[RRCo.]

I was recently told bye a member here that shortening the barrel by about three inches does great things for the accuracy of these. Improved harmonics was the suggested explanation. Anyone else done this?

 

[Caleb314]

My SKS is fun to shoot, as long as the target is big, lol. Long time ago I changed it to a composit folding stock for easier back packing, but found the stock so poorly machined, that every time I pulled the trigger while looking through the scope you could see the target moving away from you because the whole action was coming backward with the extreemely hard trigger pull. So, I beded the action, found a much tighter scope mount, sent the trigger group out to be modified ( which was way better ) made sure nothing moved and went back to the range and had a hell of a time hitting anything again unless it was big. Six to eight inches at 100 yards is a joke. It's fun to shoot, but to this day it sits in my safe collecting dust due to frustration.

Have you tried using ammo that costs more then .25$ a shot? You get what you pay for unfortunately.


I'm also quite curious if a shorter barrel is more accurate since it seems quite long and skinny, it probly whips around a fair bit. Maybe a custom full length stock and then corking the barrel like a mosin would help. Either way it seems like a lot of work for something that will never be truly accurate.

 

[jeffcarr88]

Minute of man out to about 250-300 yards max is all this gun is made for.

Funny tho...in BF3 (if anyone plays it) it is considered a sniper rifle

 

[lejarretnoir]

A 20" barrel shortened 3"?
You don't want to go there!

 

[hometownhero]

Out of 5 shots with my 51 I am lucky to hit a 18x18 target board 3 times out of 5. Tried 10 shots at 100 and 4 hit the target board. At 50 yards I am getting 6-8 inch groups. I consider your targets that you posted to be pretty good shooting. I would be happy with that.

 

[SoBored]

Okay so I got some PRVI ammo to try. The main thing I changed was my targets. Much more visible through that 4x scope. I was hoping that would get me a 1.75 MOA group but no such luck.

First group of the day was PRVI in a cold barrel. Accuracy was about as good as surplus.

Second group was handloads again, same mix as the first loads, 28.5 grains of IMR 4895 under a VMAX 123grainer.

Then I tried PRVI with the bayonet fixed. Cut my group size in half.

Last group was handloads with the bayonet still out, again, smaller group size. This may need looking into to!

Really I need to shoot more. The last two groups I was really enjoying myself and the shooting was just coming naturally. The first group's large size might have been a cold barrel or just me settling in to the shooting. More data needed, let's hope the weather stays nice.

 

[The Kurgan]

The latter groups that you have achieved are what I normally achieve with my 1952 Tula using the iron sights at 50 meters and Czech surplus fodder. I think you are doing very well with your set-up. If you expect even tighter groups, you are setting yourself up for disappointment. The SKS was not designed for precision shooting. It's not bedded into the stock, it has a fairly skinny barrel with a big honking bayonet lug and bayonet attached to it -- probably less-than-ideal "harmonics"!, and about a dozen other factors going against it. In the end, it was designed to be a rugged, dependable, easy-to-maintain and easy-to-shoot military rifle , so inheritantly it's a compromise between accuracy and its intended purpose.

I can achieve 3-4 inch groups at 100 meters using quality commercial ammo, but consistently, these groups are closer to 5 inches -- exactly what you would expect from any semi-auto military rifle.

 

[Bowyer]

This is the third SKS barrel (2 Russian and one Chinese) I've cut 1 7/8" off of, and each time the accuracy of the rifle has noticeably improved. Whether it's due to better harmonics or a better crown, stock fit-up, or a combination of all those things, the difference has been pretty consistant at abut 50% tighter groups with all ammo used - except Polish surplus.

That one is currently being renovated and fitted with a hand-built stock. As you can see, I removed the sling loop, cut the pesky lug arrangement off and reversed the front sight block.

The Tapco gas tubes are much nicer to work with as well since they're a single piece of steel instead of 3 pieces.

 

[RRCo.]

This is the third SKS barrel (2 Russian and one Chinese) I've cut 1 7/8" off of, and each time the accuracy of the rifle has noticeably improved. Whether it's due to better harmonics or a better crown, stock fit-up, or a combination of all those things, the difference has been pretty consistant at abut 50% tighter groups with all ammo used - except Polish surplus.

That one is currently being renovated and fitted with a hand-built stock. As you can see, I removed the sling loop, cut the pesky lug arrangement off and reversed the front sight block.

The Tapco gas tubes are much nicer to work with as well since they're a single piece of steel instead of 3 pieces.

Great stuff. Looking forward to more photos and results!

 

[Crack Feather]

Minute of man out to about 250-300 yards max is all this gun is made for.

Funny tho...in BF3 (if anyone plays it) it is considered a sniper rifle

Coouldn't agree with ya any more.
My old lady's youngest cousin would stop pestering me untill I made him one from that stupid game. Ended up coasting me roughly $500 but the look on his face when he shoots it is priceless!