Thinking About Getting An SKS....

Max Owner

Max Owner

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Displaced From South Western Ontario, To GP, Alber
Hey all.

A co worker bought an SKS on my PAL and I am holding onto it for him until he gets his PAL.

Figured they were a dime a dozen, cheap com bloc and had a snobbish attitude towards them.

Well......

Since I brought it home and put in my safe I have taken an interest in getting one.

Who sells ones in nicer condition with a better than not wood stock? What to look for when buying one? Russian? Chineses? Check (sp)?

All insight is appreciated, please.
 
Good on you! Have a look at Westrifle's selection or Weimajack's selection for better than average quality. However, they are all milsurp so it is
going to be some how damaged no matter what. Russian is what is commonly available right now, Chinese or Yugoslavian comes up on the EE
fairly regularly but they are all considered to be fairly equal. Try to get a non-refurbished, unissued one if you can. It will have bluing instead of
paint and factory cartouches around the front cross bolt of the stock. Or just get what comes and have a blast shooting cheap ammo!
 
My view is that they are all pretty similar. I have a Russian, a Yugo, and a Chinese and they all run well. The Yugoslav has the nicest wood among mine.
 
Ordering one online is iffy..You might get a good one and you might get a crappy one. Best to shop at a store that has them instock so you can actually hold and look at them before you lay down your cash.
 
And there you have it. Yugoslavian SKS' have the nicest stocks, and a nifty rifle grenade launcher front end. Haven't been imported in many years (ah, kinda because the place where they had them went through a civil war). The Russian rifles are probably the next best. Laminated stocks and chrome bores. The Chinese come in two varieties. Civilian and ex-military. Either style will do, although the civilian ones were made to be sold. An SKS D uses detachable AK style magazines, and offers easier reloads for an extra price. This variant of the civilian model was never army issue.

Don't buy one, get two. The way PMJT and the governing party are going these guns might be on the hit list. Wouldn't want to be caught on the wrong side of some arbitrary grandfathering date.
 
I just bought this in the EE a few days ago. Haven't received it yet but it's one of the nicest stocks I've seen on an sks IMHO. It's a black laminate timbersmith stock by Tapco. Adds an inch and a bit to the factory LOP and likely balances quite nicely.

 
Try the gun dealer MC Adam NB,they have regular referbed hardwood stocked sks for 199,Laminates for 220 and unissued version for 249 ,plus.
 
You can't go wrong with a Russian. Sometimes but not always the Chinese ones have a tendency for ejection issues but I believe it's rare. If you're not too much of a purist, just refinish the wood and you'll have a really nice stock just choose one in a stock with no cracks or unsandable damage. Small gouges are easy to fill and repair. Also check the hammer spring. If you got a rusty spring you might want to look at another. You can see it with a flash light through the hole where the hammer sticks up into the reciever. Even more visible with the hammer forward. Later guns tend to drop into after-market stocks with less filing if any at all. Theres no reason to look down on the SKS. It will outlast most other guns out there. Cheap because there are many. Keep the rust off your spings and you'll never have a problem. My first one had an extremely rusted dead hammer spring and would get light primer strikes but I replaced the spring and it's been 100% reliable ever since. A light coat of rust on the return spring is nothing to worry about, it will clean off easy and it's a pretty heavy duty spring.
 
Max Owner said:
Thanx guys for taking the time to reply.

Hafta do some Google ing for the places mentioned.

Weimajack doesn't have any listings that I could find.

Next....

Where to get bulk non corrosive ammo?
Click to expand...

Canam is supposed to be getting some in November. I personally buy the surplus Czech or Romanian, it's cheapish and the Sks is super easy to strip and clean so corrosive doesn't bother me at all.
 
Max Owner said:
I've heard about Windex and hot water for cleaning after corrosive ammo?
Click to expand...

The corrosive ammo leaves behind a corrosive salt build up. Salt dissolves very readily in water.

Seems counterintuitive to use water to prevent rust, but that's how it works. Dry well after :)

The ammonia in Windex is supposed to neutralize the corrosive parts... But Windex is mostly water. Soooo who knows. Use it if it makes you feel better, it won't hurt, haha. Don't forget about the gas system, it will rust worse than the barrel if it's chrome lined.
 
Max Owner said:
I've heard about Windex and hot water for cleaning after corrosive ammo?
Click to expand...

I use hot/boiling water followed by G96 to clean my Sks rifles. Haven't had a problem yet with rust.
Once in a while or if I put a lot of rounds through it that day I will clean the bore with the hot water , a couple patches of hoppes bore solvent , then the G96. I've had to use wipeout bore cleaner the odd time too. Always a patch of G96 for the final swipe though.
 
Yeah it doesn't really matter too much what you use to clean it, whatever you like, just make sure you do it nice and thorough. Hot water does soften the carbon up pretty good. Hot water flush, wipe/scrub, finish with a thin coat of oil. Probably the best way.
 
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