What makes the SKS a ...

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I'm just asking for your opinions on what makes the SKS lack in the accuracy department,
as most people would argue that the SKS is not a very accurate rifle.

Is it the trigger, barrel, sights, design, or all of the above?

This is not supposed to be a thread about how to improve it,
rather just a discussion on what could contribute to its (in)famous
accuracy.
 
I don't know if I agree with your premise that it's infamously inaccurate. That being said it's a mass produced rifle made by countless manufacturers for over 50 years, what kind of consistent tolerances are you expecting?
 
Hi. Well, the SKS is not a sniper rifle, but it is far from inaccurate. At 100m you should be able to shoot a good grouping for an open sighted gun. I think this "infamous inaccuracy" is just a commonly repeated misconception. How does yours group at 100m?

Kevin
 
I can get 4 or 5 inch groups, benched and bagged with the factory open sights, at 100 yards with mine. If you gave me a laser beam with open sights, I could cut that down to 3 or 4 inch groups :p My 40+ year old eyes just don't do any better than that.

And yes, that's with surplus ammo.

So, I would consider it a pretty accurate rifle. Especially when you consider what it was designed for. In general, they're thought of as more accurate than an AK. One of the reasons the Chinese were so fond of them and made so many.

They have their issues, sure, but for that era of firearm, in an intermediate calibre, they're actually pretty all around solid.

Given the ballistics of 7.62x39, I wouldn't expect much past 200yards with open sights, maybe 300 with some kind of properly mounted optics - or if you're lucky and have great 20 year old eyesight. But that's what it was designed for, a 200-300 yard carbine. It does that. And fairly well.
 
I also disagree with the accuracy rumor - I had one that shot accurate out to 200 yards. At the range I would be able to hit a 14"x12" approx. metal target 4/5 times . Groupings @ 50 yards were good. Keep in mind they were made to hit a man size target within 300yards.
 
Mine shoots 4 " at 100 yards and I can hit head sized rocks most of the time out to 300m.

Nothing inaccurate about this, it accomplishes it's design specs perfectly.
 
the "problem" is the milsurp ammo. The tolerances are all over the map. I have measured and weighed a bunch of it. Some of the bullets are actually oval, not round. Diameters varied from .307 to .311 (going from memory here).
Mine does 3-5" at best with czech ? ammo, scoped at 100 yds. Hunting ammo like S & B is far better. With the same gun, I shot this group just out of curiosity. It wasn't a serious effort.

 
My 1950 non-chrom lined barrel with POSP 4x scope using Yugo brass cased amp will shoot under 2 inch at 100m. My 1954 chrome lined barrel same set up just 6x scope will do just under 3 inch also Yugo ammo. When I switch to Warsaw pact steel cased surplus groups will open by about 30%
 
With my SKS and shooting from 100yds with the cheapest, most corrosive'est ammo. Not only can I shoot into the same hole but the hole accually gets smaller !. :dancingbanana:
 
My scoped Chinese 56 with the MagWedge KwikRail will give me consistent 2" or smaller at 100yds. I can consistently hit the 300 yd gong shot after shot. That is with a pinned barrel late model Chinese and the Sellier and Bellot soft point 123 gr rounds..
 
I believe the accuracy issue all comes from the condition of the Barrel...My very first SKS I couldn't shoot very a good grouping at all @ 100 yds then I noticed the Barrel looked like a Shotgun inside however my next SKS I inspected more closely and got one with a very good Barrel and got 3-4 inch groupings..(not bad by my standards)...just my opinion.
 
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The way the stock is fitted doesn't help with accuracy. It can have a back and forth movement in the stock since its just held in by the trigger group. The barrel isn't free floated plus there's a lot hanging off of it, the bolt moves around a fair bit when it's in batter and the sights suck. Hardly anyone uses hand loads or top quality ammo. Some can do 2 moa with good ammo and a scope but most will do 3 moa which is pretty good considering the Dragunov is a 1.5-2 moa gun.
 
I shoot trap clays at 100 yards with mine. If there is any accuracy issues I would agree that is a result of the surplus ammunition inconsistencies. The Rifle shoots better then I can, and while granted it is not a tricked out rem 700 with a $3000 leupold, it is more then capable of shooting proper groups and a proper range.
 
Cheapo Czech surplus or Barnaul will ring the gong at 200 metres every time with both mine. And that's stock, unaltered with the crappy irons. Didn't even have to tweak the front sights. I doubt there are many GI issued M14's that would do much better. It's a combat rifle for ####'s sake, not a sniper rifle...
 
Well I think it is quite accurate, if the shooter does his part great rifle out to about 200 yards or so
It does what it was designed to do ,there are other rifles designed to drive tacks at 300 yards +this is not that kind of rifle .
 
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Kind of curious...has anyone pulled some bullets and measured the components? I totally agree that both the weapon and the ammo have a mass-produced issue. Probably not unlike .22 ammo.
Inherently, it isn't a terrific round. Ever seen a 7.62x39 heavy barrelled performance platform? That old Russian mentality of keep running forward, full-auto at closer-than-further ranges is what that round is meant for, but even they have changed that mentality.
5.45x39 is helping with that. For the price and its place in history, we must tip our hats, but MOA is not what this combo was ever meant to be.
 
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