SKS Tweaks: Which Are Worthwhile?

[Tudenom]

Got the recoil pad to increase the length of pull. Got the buffer to keep my spring in one place. On one of my SkS's I put the B.C. Tactical scout mount and a redot optic and slapped on the Vietnam fiberglass stock witch I bedded and also did the double spring trigger mod to. Constantly will hit a 12x12 inch gong @ 200 meter's. What more do I want from a almost 70 year old design of a rifle. Not much as I save up all my money to trick out my other rig's like, CZ/VZ's, AR's, M14's and so on.

Satain has pretty much nailed everything that needs to be done to an SKS to make it shoot well. It's been my experience that the #1 problem with the SKS rifle is the bedding.

I'd recommend:

1) Bedding the stock (replacing the stock with an aftermarket one might help but it isn't guaranteed).

2) A trigger job (only do this if you're mechanically inclined).

After that you could try to improve the ergonomics by increasing the length of pull (if required) and then improving the sights if you have eyesight problems (a red dot is probably the way to go).

I'd say 90% of the products on the market are just for looks and actually end up hindering the rifle's performance instead of enhancing it.

 

[Satain]

Hmmm, interesting point. I hadn't realized that was an issue. Can you elaborate a bit more and teach this old dog a new trick?

By the reduction of movement in that area apoun recoil. Thus the spring is going back and forth repeatedly. Hence how accuracy is achieved. Think of it as sort of the reverse idea of an op-rod guide in a M14. Although recoil reduction label is unknown why they labeled this product like that because I can not, nor have noticed any.
Spray the blue die on the rear cover plate and cyle it a few times. you will notice the movement right away

 

[MikeRWK]

The best thing i ever did was get tech-sights, i might get them for my 597 also.Theyre the best irons ive ever used hands down.

 

[fat tony]

Not a single thing on your list is worth doing!

The sks is best the way it is.

I have done alot to my former sks, and it was all a waste.

For a second I was thinking that the detachable mags were worth it, but then remembered that they really don't improve much of anything. They are a pain in the ass to seat at times, and don't really speed anything up.

Stripper clips work just as fast if not faster.

If you want to add an optic, the best bet is a BC tactical scout mount that replaces the rear sight and a small red dot like a Bushnell TRS. This is the only thing I may do if I was to buy another SKS.

X2! Bedding and trigger job, and they are not on your list.

 

[fat tony]

Remove the bayonet, trigger job, bedding.

 

[Lost...again]

I do so love the TS200 sights... But @ $89, that's pretty much 50% of the cost of my rifle and darn near the price of 500 rounds of ammo....

LMFAO........everytime I think about buying something for the SKS, it always end up being ammo. So that would be my Numero Uno accessory....AMMO.

 

[Frank77]

My SKS was totally unaligned, my rear sight was useless, so I went with scout scope mount, loving it.

 

[Jet A-1]

Hey Frank77, you got any more pics of you SKS on here anywhere. I'm thinking about a scout mount now that got a red dot plus I like the bi-pod you have on there too.

 

[Frank77]

Hey Frank77, you got any more pics of you SKS on here anywhere. I'm thinking about a scout mount now that got a red dot plus I like the bi-pod you have on there too.

Thanks Jet A 1

5 min before starting project

Sanded stock(electric sander, paint was hard as sh#t!), removed oil with easy-off(lots of it). Industrial mildew covering primer. Kryton ultra-flat black paint. And marine varnish.

I used 1/4 inch oak to fill bayonet crack with marine epoxy, worked it with wood file(nice 4 in 1 wood file from Home Depot ). Installed wood swivel stud.

Removed bluing on bolt carrier with fine sand paper, Flitz paste and 0000 steelwool(still have some job to do on this one).

Finally added some goodies on it, recoil pad(get it longer), ventilated hand-guard, bipod, Scout Scope scope mount and Bushnell TRS-25 red dot scope.

 

[fat tony]

Glossy black looks so nice on stocks. Good job Frank.

 

[Mermaniel]

I've bubba'd the #### out of my 75$ rifle at I love it. whatever works for YOU.

 

[Travis Bickle]

I voted for none of those as they all seem irrelevant as far as function of the rifle goes.

The one modification I have invested time into is smoothing out the trigger pull.

 

[fat tony]

You can also make a tuneable gas cylinder (tune the bolt carrier velocity).

 

[Dakk]

Having completed a couple of mods and testing them, I can say:

1) Putting a tap & drill scope mount and tactical scope on the SKS was a huge boost both to the fun factor, and the ease of aiming. A secondary benefit is that 100 yrds I can see where my bullets are landing on the target through the scope. Something I couldn't see if I were just using iron sights. I used the Choate mount, which also allows the iron sights to remain usable. There is an unquestionable benefit to those who eyes are getting older.

2) While I don't think the recoil buffer is a necessary 'modification', I think there is some benefit to using it. As was pointed out earlier in the thread, the spring does normally move around slightly in the receiver cover. I could tell this was so by checking the back of the receiver cover where the spring normally seats. There were slight swirl marks in the metal as evidence. While any potential recoil benefits are slight, I think there are some. This is because if the spring can normally slip around and move laterally in response to recoil, its not providing maximum tension against the recoil. With the recoil buffer in place, the spring is better seated and can remain straighter in response to the recoil, allowing the tension of the spring to remain focused against the recoil.

 

[NintendoDuckHunt87]

I've Tapco'd mine out. Foregrip, muzzle brake, detachable mags, the whole nine yards.
Took it all off and now shoot her as she's meant to be.

The only thing I still use that's "modified" is that I cut the 10rnd stripperclips down to 2 5rnds each.

 

[umcalleg]

I did the ejection port mod, the odd casing still flies straight up. maybe i need to shave off slightly more? the odd one now even flies straight forward over the barrel haha it never did that before

besides that I've done pretty much every other mod on the list and i put 490 rounds through the old girl with only 1 failure to fire, 1 failure to feed and it slam fired twice in the last 30 rounds. When i took it apart though, the bolt was caked solid in black corrosive goodness so its no wonder the pin started to stick

 

[Dakk]

...and it slam fired twice in the last 30 rounds. When i took it apart though, the bolt was caked solid in black corrosive goodness so its no wonder the pin started to stick

I picked up some Remington Action Cleaner at Walmart and it seems to work well to clean out the bolt without having to always disassemble. I just spray it into the bolt until the stuff dripping out the bottom is clean.