sks- how many rounds before barrel is shot out

FWIW, I've read somewhere that chromed 7.62x39 AK barrels are said to last an average of 100K rounds if properly cared for and not heated up excessively.

If that's the case, those relatively slow 7.62x39 bullets must save a lot of wear and tear on the throat and bore.
 
You can google up a chart that lists common calibers and how long it takes them to burn out a barrel, on average.
As the 7.62X39 is similar to the 30-30 ballistically, I'd imagine you could go with the number for the 30-30. The chrome
bore will probably add a good number of rounds to the total as well, perhaps as many as if the barrel was stainless.
 
You can buy another SKS for less than the price of most other gun's replacement barrels. Shoot the thing however you want then buy another one, then do it again haha.
 
look at the chicom sks's you see in use in africa they must have a but load of rounds through them from various conflicts still going strong and look cool as all get out with all the battle wear
 
shredder said:
Will the first SKS owner who shoots out the barrel a)please let us know, and b)please share some of your disposable income??:p
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Well it's not so much the number of rounds that due it but how fast you shoot the ammo with heat the metal can soften and then wear more or it can even melt and cause a bore obstruction then explode. Just look into machine gun exploding barrels they had more then 1 barrel on the battle field for a reason when it gets to hot they dump it then put a new one on they even pee on the guns to cool them down because if it gets to hot you hot big problems. Now unless you have large magazines ie 10 rounds with stripper clips it's very hard to heat the firearm up to that point and unless it's full auto as well you get the point it would be hard for a person to take the firearm to that point. The reason rounds are soft and not steel jacketed is to prevent wear when you have steel on steel contact you get high wear use a softer and harder metal like copper and steel or lead and steel and you will almost never wear out the steel barrel unless you damage it with heat. All it takes is for the barrel to widen out a little for it to shoot less accurately. If the barrel is .352 of an inch then it becomes .354 and the round is .352 then you get bad accuracy but it will still shoot. The springs will wear out before a barrel anyways and at that point you might as well get another firearm.

Can you do this with an sks you need a long belt and 1500 rounds just to make it glow like this one good luck.
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I've put half a crate through one in less than a few hours. She was white hot and she's still shooting straight. Shoot it hard and often. If you blow it up, buy another one and do it again. It's a $200 gun and it's fun as hell.
 
15,000-20,000 is the norm, and this is on full auto Kalashnikovs.
762x39 is not that hard on rifling. Keep it clean from the corrosives and if you shoot like a snail, it will last through multiple nuclear holocausts.
 
superlative said:
How many rounds before you have to replace SOMETHING? (eg. springs)

thanks.
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I've put over 10K rounds through one of my Chinese Type 56's and I haven't had to replace anything. It's had a total of two malfunctions which weren't ammo related, and I've fired about two thousand rounds since my last mechanical stoppage with no issues.

They're very tough rifles. I'd imagine any parts breakages or spring wear-outs before 25K rounds or so would be a fluke. If I had to guess, the recoil spring will be the first to go. The one on the aforementioned Chinese SKS feels a little different compared to the other SKS' rifles in my collection I haven't fired, but it still hasn't failed me yet.
 
superlative said:
What? What about the VZ58? Don't the springs have to be replaced on these after say 5000 rounds?
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Not that I am aware of. Most common replacement on the Sa58 is the piston and piston spring as those can get pretty fouled up if not cleaned properly. The recoil spring should last as long as the rifle is in service. Bolt and locking block should also last as long.

CSA, which are not exactly milspec will be a commercial rifle. Many have shown with out of spec gas ports which have caused more wear on their samples which have caused certain permature failures (pistons, firing pins, bolts and locking blocks). I would personally avoid .223 Vz.58s all together.

A properly arsenal built military 15.5 inch Vz.58 should last a very very long time much like all Combloc rifles.
 
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