SKS; can it be improved?

IMO, two big ones for practical accuracy are:

- improve the trigger, by way of a trigger job: there is a YouTube video describing how to do this yourself, and apparently it works very well

- sights: either use a round "peep aperture" like the one by http://w ww.tech-sights.com/ , or use an optic that's mounted either to the receiver (see the SKS scope mounts thread), or use a red-dot mounted on the new BCTactical rail - it mounts onto the area where the original rear sight would normally be.

Those two items alone would make the biggest difference, IMO, after that, then look at ammo (custom reloads the best), stock bedding. If you are sensitive to the recoil, either you anticipate the shot, tense up, then maybe you should try a slip-on recoil pad, they are cheap.
 
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Zygy said:
Well,from my experience Russian SKS is accurate enough from factory.You have to remember that this rifle have serious recoil so you need to get use to it and find out how to handle it.
Now,the improvement which I found is not investing in the rifle but improvement of ammo.
Since I found out that surplus ammo is loaded with not consistent powder charges( it can be 2 up to 3 grain of difference between each cartridge ) I'm using bullet puller to remove projectiles from cases and after pouring powder to jar I'm reloading same cases with exactly 25 grain of powder.I'm also extending the OAL about3mm.That depends on length of your mag,so you have to check how much you can extend OAL to make sure that cartridge moves freely in the mag.I know it sounds like a lot of work but your grouping should dramatically improve after this.

Regards
Zygy[/Q i find that the sks has very little recoil at all
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I suppose that someone wanting to maximize the accuracy potential of their SKS might want to slug the bore first, since some examples occasionally have pretty generous bore diameters, which would limit the rifle's potential with generic surplus or commercial production ammo. I understand that due to rifles like the earlier Ruger Mini-30s being produced with .308 calibre barrels, US commercial ammunition was (still is?) produced in .308 calibre, which would greatly limit the rifle's potential accuracy.

Reloaders could play around with bore tolerances; cast bullet shooters regular adapt the size of their bullet to bore diameters, transforming many otherwise innaccurate milsurps into really great rifles, while those reloading jacketed ammo might be able to switch from .310 to .311 or .312 bullets as required.

I'm not saying that this is necessarily the route to getting best accuracy from an SKS, but I'd hate to see someone putting lots of effort into bedding, sights and other accurizing features on a rifle that might never shoot well with regular ammo. At least the out of the box accuracy had better look promising to me before I'd forge ahead without slugging the bore.

While I think that I may produce a batch of "premium" surplus through the bullet pulling/recharging technique (my dies just arrived today, though I have enough surplus ammo to last a long time), I concur with the other posters who suggest that you try to see how much accuracy you can squeeze out of the SKS before tinkering further.

Besides all that, keep in mind that even a really accurate SKS will not be an M14 in the sense that it fires an intermediate range cartridge in contrast to 7.62 NATO (and one could say 5.56 when it comes to velocity/drop). On a plus note, at least the typical box SKS has comes with sights that will work as designed (in contrast with the hit or miss quality of M305 peep sights) and won't have the indexing issues that many stock M305s come with. I'm not knocking the latter (I own and love them dearly) but for the average neophyte or more experienced shooter, the SKS can be a more practical option.
 
-Remove Bayo
-Remove cleaning rod
-Remove sling
-Shim the gas tube "if its loose"
-Remove hand gaurd if loose
-Bedded the action and free float "like you would a M14"
-hand load
 
What are some desirable features to have on the SKS and in who made it; China or Russia? zb. barrel, chromed or un-chromed? Pinned or threaded? Firing pin; free-floating or with a spring? Stocks; wood, laminate, fibreglass (available?) etc. Can all these good attributes be found in one rifle?
 
Teapot;Here's my take on your question: I own 2 sks's a Chinese and a Russian. The Chinese I bought because it was brand new,never issued,chrome lined{corrosive ammo}.It's my shooter/plinker,never go to the range without firearm.It's in it's original configuration because...well because that's how it was intended IMHO.Having said that I think the iron sights would benefit from an upgrade{fiber optic perhaps}.The Russian I was a little more "picky" with.I settled on a 1954 Izzy....Why? I chose Izhevsk because that arsenal only had a limited production run when compared to Tula{1 Izzy for every 10 Tula sks's I'm told} My particular Izzy is a very lightly refurbished one,all matching aside from a factory arsenal upgrade to a new laminate stock{stronger than the solid birch}.
So...to summarize; For myself, in order to satisfy all the desirable attributes of an sks I NEEDED{this is how it was sold to the wife:D} to buy two sks's, A workhorse{chicom} and a thoroughbred{54 Izzy}.
These sort of questions are subjective in nature of course and what works for you will be different,but that was my mindset when I was where you are now, and I'm most happy with my purchases which is a rare thing these days...Hope I was a help...Plinker

BTW, In my opinion,the only thing "cheap" about these rifles is the price....both very well made and a joy to shoot!
 
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RickR1100 said:
IMO, two big ones for practical accuracy are:
-
- sights: either use a round "peep aperture" like the one by http://w ww.tech-sights.com/ ,

.
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Rick, I have the TS 200 and their post. But I now see on their web site that they have peep inserts.

So, the question is, is anyone bringing Tech-Sights stuff into Canada or, have TS started to ship to Canada again?

Thanks
 
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On my 1953 Tula, I exchanged the 34 lb. recoil spring for a 27.5 lb. version, and a lighter trigger spring...I also smoothed the trigger action while I was at it. I replaced the floating firing pin with a Murray's spring loaded pin, for safety with commercial ammo, and sanded and Tru-oiled the stock...inside the stock I brushed on Thompson's water seal so it won't absorb water. From SKSMan I got one of his limited number of Tritium front sights for the SKS, and dabbed a bit of high-grade glow paint on the rear sight to make it useable at night. Also got a see-through receiver cover scope mount and put a tactical light on it, for varmints at night. Fenix has some great prices. So now it has a smooth, lighter trigger, slam-fire safe, useable at night, and the stock looks new and is all sealed up! She shoots 3" groups at 100 yards, she's pretty, and she can play at night!
 
Teapot said:
Is this firearm incapable of being improved at a reasonable price and amount of effort or is the design such that alteration would prove too difficult?
I know that someone on this forum has made a 223 version but I am talking about a better barrel and the piston set up differently so that harmonics do not suffer.
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Personally i love these Rifles just the way they are..........incredibly tough and rugged ,easy to clean...and almost never jam. The SKS is by far my favorite Rifle.Having said that if i had to change anything it would be the Sear...many of these Guns are prone to Negative Sear Engagement which means they can fire if Bumped or dropped even with the Safety on since the Safety only blocks the Trigger and not the Hammer.
 
pisces-guy said:
On my 1953 Tula, I exchanged the 34 lb. recoil spring for a 27.5 lb. version, and a lighter trigger spring...I also smoothed the trigger action while I was at it. I replaced the floating firing pin with a Murray's spring loaded pin, for safety with commercial ammo, and sanded and Tru-oiled the stock...inside the stock I brushed on Thompson's water seal so it won't absorb water. From SKSMan I got one of his limited number of Tritium front sights for the SKS, and dabbed a bit of high-grade glow paint on the rear sight to make it useable at night. Also got a see-through receiver cover scope mount and put a tactical light on it, for varmints at night. Fenix has some great prices. So now it has a smooth, lighter trigger, slam-fire safe, useable at night, and the stock looks new and is all sealed up! She shoots 3" groups at 100 yards, she's pretty, and she can play at night!
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No pics ? :bsFlag: :p
 
Mosin, I'm having a techie bud of mine over for a few beers and he's going to show me how to use photobucket or something like that to post pics on sites. I'll tell you everything had to come from Brownell's, SKSMan, Fenix USA, and GlowInc, if you want the latest or the best it seems you have to order it! She's pretty, I like her! :) Funny thing I learned from GlowInc, regarding the phosphorous glow paint, from a full charge the sights will glow for one hour at very bright and for eight hours or so at medium bright, but normal incandescent lights are a poor way of charging them. True black light works best, and charges the sights in 30 seconds! So, I had to get a little black light flashlight from Inova to charge up my night sights, and I also painted both my long and short Rem 870 shotgun barrels's front brass bead the same way. Night capable at shorter ranges, you bet! :)
 
Good Evening All,
A few posters have talked about bedding the action on SKS rifles. Is there a sticky thread on this? If not would any of the assembled care to share their techniques?
 
Sly Old Fox said:
Rick, I have the TS 200 and their post. But I now see on their web site that they have peep inserts.

So, the question is, is anyone bringing Tech-Sights stuff into Canada or, have TS started to ship to Canada again?

Thanks
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SKSman will ship you the Tech sights ... for inserts you can get them directly for Tech sights website...
 
Yes it is possible to improve the accuracy of the sks. Replacing the barrel with a full custom should improve accuracy however,The cost is prohibitive and the end result will be a single shot sks with a mediocre stock,sights, bedding, trigger.

If you bought all the best that is available for the sks it probably not be able to achieve the accuracy of a stevens 200 off the rack.

Then if you were willing to spend the cash on a stevens it could shoot as well as money can buy.

So yes possible. However spending 1000$ on a 200$ gun will result in a neat 200$ gun.

Also you limiting the precision capability due to the caliber. There are not alot of match grade 312 bullets.

You could go with a 308 custom barrel to avoid this hump.

The rifle is what it is. Used within the capability of the round it could accuratly hit a capitalist dog out to 300 Meters.
 
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