What makes the SKS a ...

For me it's the crude back sight, you really can't be accurate with that thing

Most people shoot surplus ammo too so that doesn't help accuracy any

The trigger is also not a target trigger

If you change all the above, they are perfectly capable shooters
 
My Russian is a tad sloppy in the back end of the stock but still shoots decent 3-4" with a Sh!tty 4x fixed scope on a Choate/Promag mount. I plan on tightening up the back end with some JB weld and fully expect that to tighten up the groups it will shoot. The Chi Com I picked up from Marstar I have only shot once or twice, but it shot 2"-3" at 100 yards off of a sandbag on a table with surplus Romanian. Not what I would call inaccurate at all. I would have to say it shoots better with irons than most shooters can shoot with irons!
 
Its not a precision firearm by any stretch. Cold bore accuracy for a military mass prodcution rifle 4" or just under minute of man at 100 meters is good. Things that could make a rifle like this less than consistant especially as it warms up.

Barrel thickness, thicker would be better but then heavier.
Longer barrel maybe but then more unweildy and heavier.
Bayonet attached/extended or not alters harmonics.
Gas system on top of barrel (any rifle for that matter) affects harmonics.
Chrome lining or not...Insert wide variety of opinions here on if there is any impact.
Variations in ammunition, whole differant topic there.

The list can go on. So in my opinion, as others have stated, its not a sniper rifle but an inexpesnive, mass produced, functional rifle for a mass conscript army. Give it to someone, train them in a day and they could do alot of damage. Its an infantry, support role, multi-purpose easy to take care of rifle.

So people will bash it for not being a tack driver at 200 yards but its not hard on the wallet or shoulder.
It doesn't need a lot of expensive lubricants or precision made tools to keep it going. Everyone can buy one and feed it.
And besides, it's fun to see just how far people will go to try and improve on something just to say they can.
Some turn out sharp and some turn of fugly.
 
It can also be the condition of the rifle when you bought it or where it was made. My laminated Russian SKS came unfired and shoots better than my slightly used hardwood Russian SKS.
One of my buddies has a Chinese SKS and it shoots worse than my Russian SKS. Between the two of us over the past year, we've gone thru on crate of Czech surplus ammo plinking and about 100 round of SP (S&B and PPU) hunting.
Just my 2 cents ....
 
well i've shot several enfields 303 brits and a 3030 marlin that shot much larger groups than any of my sks's ... but if you slam one of those dogs on the forum, people get abit bunched up

for a semi auto rifle shooting surplus ...i'd say they are Freakin Great rifles... !

i just picked up a laminate with bbq paint on it ... after cleaning it up, i noticed it had a brand new barrel, gas sys, bolt n springs... seems pretty good
 
The SKS was NEVER intended to be a precision marksman rifle. It was intended to be a mass-produced, reliable as a claw hammer, cheap to make, carbine (compared to the Mosin-Nagant 91/30's and SVT40's the Red Army was using-both have barrels in the 29 inch range) that is easy to teach troops to use. That's it.

Reasonable accuracy out of an SKS with surplus ammo is in the 4-6" range at 100 yards/meters. Use good ammo and you can knock 2-3" off that. A better trigger would help (but then it might not be as reliable as the stock trigger), and for me, the rear sight needs work. I'd much prefer an aperture sight (such as a Williams FireSight) to the notch-style sight it has.

The SKS is plenty accurate enough for deer at the ranges the bullet is effective on deer (roughly 150 yds max IMHO-just about the same as the good ol' 30-30) and it was designed to be "minute of Nazi invader pig" when it was first designed and tested in WWII (late '44 IIRC the first ones were sent to Red Army troops for field tests).

It's an inexpensive, reasonably accurate, reliable rifle.
 
I personally consider 2-3" at 100 meters to be exceptional accuracy for ANY semi-automatic using iron sights. I would also like to add that they were cheap to make using PROVEN manufacturing techniques of the time. Try having one built today, and cheap would not be the word to describe it.
 
It's usually the surplus ammo ,not the gun. No an SKS is not a tack driver, but shoot a pretty good group. Surplus ammo, 7.62x39 is mostly spray ammo. Put it in your AK ,( on auto) and S-P-RAY. Or at least that what the rest of the world does with it. LOL. I've used American Eagle and got better groups. Better ammo = better grouping.
 
So far (fifty rounds shot) through my Norc SKS Para model. Only used Hornady SST factory ammo: Still getting used to the Bushnell TRS-25, but it would appear to be 3 inch groups at 100m with the dot, and four and a bit inches with the open sights. This is shooting prone, one shot every two seconds. I have the Choate mount- I will be trying Tula and Barnaul ammo next, but this SST ammo is looking pretty good for hunting and is very clean burning. I'll bet I can tighten up the groups to under 3 inches if I end up putting a compact scope on it. I absolutely love carrying this rifle in the field- probably the best bush rifle going. While my 22" barrel Savage 7mm08 is more accurate, the 16.5" barrel SKS beats it hands down when crawling through the bush. There is no game animal in NZ that the SKS won't knock down- as long as it is under 200m away!
 
I have had my Chinese SKS since 1990 so I know it's trigger pretty well. Three distinct creeps and then it breaks like glass.

TBS, even by staging the trigger this way and shooting it off sand bags with Norinco silver box the best I can do with the irons is 4".

It is a great rifle! I just wish I'd kept the bayonet on it!
 
It's a classic trade up.

Tight tolerance on all parts means more accuracy. Tight tolerances also means less reliability. Less compatibility.

Loose tolerances on all parts means less accuracy. Loose tolerances are usually implemented for maximum reliability and very easy compatibility.

The SKS isn't inaccurate. It's exactly accurate enough. Accurate to hit a man out to 300 meters in any weather condition imaginable with as little amount of maintenance as possible on the weapon in general, which is exactly what it was designed to be.

If you want to pinpoint some design features though, I would say, loose fitting stocks, barrels with folding bayonets messing up harmonics and putting odd pressure points on the barrel, it's a semi auto gas operated gun, the sights are crude post and notch, usually people shooting them use standard military surplus ammunition which was mass produced for quantity to be just good enough.

Also the fact that a lot of the ones being shot these days have rough bores.

You have to understand what role the weapon was designed to be used for at the time. It's not a precision marksman rifle, it was never intended to be an MOA or full powered long distance trench warfare rifle. It was designed to shoot, every time you pulled the trigger, in any weather, in any condition and hit a dude out to 300 meters. And that's what she does! And that's why I loves her! :D

Plus it has an attached folding bayonet! :rockOn:
 
Yep...............It is a pig in a pigs costume, and its awesome.
Cant add much to what Mr Bickle said. he covered it all.
Definitely my go to gun if I can only have one.
And the folding bayonet is way more useful than a "shoulder thing that goes up"

Think I might just take it to the range tomorrow and blow the cobwebs out.
 
Lost...again said:
Yep...............It is a pig in a pigs costume, and its awesome.
Cant add much to what Mr Bickle said. he covered it all.
Definitely my go to gun if I can only have one.
And the folding bayonet is way more useful than a "shoulder thing that goes up"

Think I might just take it to the range tomorrow and blow the cobwebs out.
Click to expand...

I know lol

Reading this thread makes me want to take out my '54 Izzy :D
 
When down in BC was hitting targets 400-500m in 24"x24"Target using Chezh Surplus cant say grouping size was Steel Plate.... Was firing on a 30 Degree Angle upwards
 
The biggest problem with the SKS is the bedding, if your stock is loose then your groups will suffer.

one a side note my stock chinese sks shoots the best with my bayo folded and cleaning rod in "go figure" i can get 3"-4" 5rd groups at 100m
 
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