SKS suggestions?

JACKSMYDOG

JACKSMYDOG

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I know many of you are very passionate about the SKS line. I'm looking for advice on where and what to buy.

Russian?
Norc?
Refurbished?
Laminate stock or solid?

Most retailers seem to be at the $200 mark, but many of the "used" ones on the EE are more than that (EE math wtf?). There are some SKS-d versions which are in the $800 range, but no obvious signs of why. Anyway just looking for some insight from the collective.

Thanks
 
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I like to have the Russian made one personally..not because it's better than any others, but just because it's Russian. It's a Russian made firearm, dreamed up by a Russian dude, and for me, if i get a Russian gun that's Chinese, or polish or whatever made, it's just not right :D
 
I have two Russians and one Chinese. The Russian guns are definitely prettier with their shiny bolts and beautiful stocks, and have extra cool factor just because they're Russian. But I also have high praise for my Norc Type 56. Yeah sure the stock doesn't look as nice but it shoots great, in fact I've shot it the most. The action, safety, and trigger all feel very crisp and positive, it's a very solid gun with no rattles at all. My two Russians feel more "loose" and both have different triggers. Of course they are refurbished as well while my Norc was un-issued. Really you can't go wrong with either. Also never paid more than $200.
 
From what I can see, the high cost of the sks-d version is a supply/demand issue. They don't come up very often for sale, and the lots of folks collect/shoot sks's.
The stripper clips work just fine for me, I wouldn't actually want an sks-d at all.
chinese military triggers are all over the map, from 4-8 lbs in the 5 that I measured, but IMHO none of them are crisp, even after a good cleaning.
With the current market choices, my first choice leaving the sks in stock form would be an all matching, unissued russian in 1952-1955 (check that the bore is chrome lined, you can tell by looking inside the muzzle).
If I wanted to modify it, the unissued chinese military would be a close second.
Either one can be found for around $200 or less.
 
I own a 1954 Tula Russian with laminate stock and chromed barrel. I only shoot non corrosive so I put a
stainless firing pin in it with spring, bolt buffer, polished the moving parts, tritium front sight, and did the
Sailor Curt mod on the trigger: polishing and re-shaping the sear and moving parts, polishing the tracks
and friction surfaces, installing lighter springs by Wolff, and lubing everything. It now has a reasonably
light but safe trigger with very little creep, and shoots smoothly as anything. From the outside, though,
it looks stock.
 
Russian is the one to buy, to shoot, to modify or not, to collect, I have owned both and they both shoot but they are both the same cost so why not go original? albeit the chines one I owned was stainless underneath I ended up stripping it and throwing it in a tapco stock, it looked pretty cool! ah screw it buy them both !
 
I just got one from weimajack on the EE, a '54 Tula with matching #'s. I was asking myself the same questions as you last week. I saw that a lot of people thought the Chinese was more accurate with a better fit, however the thing that done it for me was it was Russian, and it has that beautiful dark stock on it. Can't wait to get my MO in the mail to Jaques tomorrow and get this thing moving to me!

If you pull the trigger on one, definitely check him out, he's been excellent to deal with!
 
stevey3737 said:
Russian is the one to buy, to shoot, to modify or not, to collect, I have owned both and they both shoot but they are both the same cost so why not go original? albeit the chines one I owned was stainless underneath I ended up stripping it and throwing it in a tapco stock, it looked pretty cool! ah screw it buy them both !
Click to expand...

Yeah exactly, they're cheap enough, just get em both.
 
I would think the only collects LE one is that short paratrooper model. I have a Russian 1954 the wood looks better on the Russian ones than the Chinese and the pointy bayonet looks ### on the Chinese one.

There is a place in burnaby that will make it gold plated. Sounds like it is all the rage now.
 
JACKSMYDOG said:
I know many of you are very passionate about the SKS line. I'm looking for advice on where and what to buy.

Russian?
Norc?
Refurbished?
Laminate stock or solid?

Most retailers seem to be at the $200 mark, but many of the "used" ones on the EE are more than that (EE math wtf?). There are some SKS-d versions which are in the $800 range, but no obvious signs of why. Anyway just looking for some insight from the collective.

Thanks
Click to expand...

The quick and dirty answer is:
Russian? yes
Norc? Yes
Refurbished? Yes
Laminate stock or solid? Both!
 
What do you want to do with it?

tactiqueer it? Go Norc. Same if you want to abuse it until it dies.
fun shooter / family gun? Russian refurb.
collect? Russian non refurb.

Of course, you will probably find that you need more than 1. Buy the next ones according to what you will do with them as well.
 
i've had OVER 10 sks rifles...
yugoslavian are the nicest, truly collectable
russian (hardwood & laminate), ...finding a 'so called' unfired russian is truly collectable ('49 w/spike bayo more so)
chinese sino-soviet (early chinese military), great gun, underated, best deal for a shooter
chinese commercial...lacking fit/finnish/collectability, usually good shooters
sks-d (highly over rated)commercial, quality?, only sks' i ever had not function), a joke at today's pricing ($99 new in the '90's) buy a cz instead

the whole russian/chinese thing is like harley vs metric/japenese bike (i've had both)
...no matter how nice the metric, or how crappy the harley, ears still perk when you say 'harley'
a harley will always bring money for being a harley...though the metric may be a nicer ride...
 
If you just want a shooter rather than a collector, you can pick up a Russian or Chinese for 200-250 bucks depending on condition or un-issued. Anything over 300 bucks should have some obvious collector quality. The Russians are prettier, but the Chinese are new/unissued. Both would make happy shooters.
 
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