Why is the SKS so coveted in Canada?

I ain't no kid who doesn't know any better, and I have several SKS's. Some are quite nice, some are average, one is a beater, and one is a keepsake, given to me by a dear friend, an Indigenous man who has passed on, for standing up at his wedding. Oh yeah, I nearly forgot - I don't care if you don't like SKS's.
 
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It’s not prohibited...yet, it’s fun, it has history, it’s reliable, it used to be inexpensive, I have two left. I did have 3 but gave one to a friends son to get him into firearms. Love mine for the joy of shooting. I have many expensive rifles but the SKS does have a role imho.
 
The Outsider said:
I wouldn't say they are coveted, they are just cheap ugly junk that are purchased by kids who can't afford real guns.
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Elitist guy like you are really the worst.

Sks are great gun and they would probably cost around 1k in today era to manufacture.

They are reliable, historical, easy to disassemble, chew trough any kind of ammo, accurate enough and non-restricted.

Let me guess you have a 4000$ mr223 and you think you are cool?
 
Stefb said:
I don't own one, nor do I want to. But I have shot a few.
None of the (5) I have shot were great. They were as accurate as throwing a slipper.
I get the whole 'cheap' surplus rounds, but really for what point is it if the holes aren't were you aim?
Am I just a 'bad' Canadian gun owner?
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I think you were already hinting at your answer.

SKS tends to be popular with people prone to throwing slippers.

I own one. Its my least favourite gun. Its ugly, boring, and doesn't do anything half as good as four other guns I have like it. On the other hand, it hits straight enough, certainly one of the most reliable guns in the fleet, and neither the gun, nor a case of ammo, was expensive.

I have friends that through SKS parties and you won't get invited unless you own one. So I bought one because FOMO.

I am not sure if you are a bad Canadian gun owner but I am definitely a bad SKS owner.
 
I have a half dozen of them. Two get used pretty often. They are not particularly accurate by any standard regardless of what surplus junk I am shooting. They go bang every single time without fail though...
 
The sks is hard to quantify in terms of quality. Many are well used, surplus rifles that came into the country already well used. There are also many as new rifles ... never fired or refurbished to like new condition. Some refurbished rifles show no signs of wear at all and others look well used. To say someone fired a random sks and therefore, all sks rifles suck doesn’t necessarily take into account the condition of the rifle; some will be better than others.

Then there are expectations ... it is not a match rifle.
 
Stefb said:
I don't own one, nor do I want to. But I have shot a few.
None of the (5) I have shot were great. They were as accurate as throwing a slipper.
I get the whole 'cheap' surplus rounds, but really for what point is it if the holes aren't were you aim?
Am I just a 'bad' Canadian gun owner?
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Nah, just a bad shot.
 
We are not allowed to have an AK so the SKS is really the next best thing. Its prob the best shtf gun you can have imo
Yeah it may not be a tack driver but it will work every single time and there will never be a shortage of ammo for it, its accurate enough for what it needs to do
For those who say its a cheap built pos they are wrong. Milled steel recievers and overbuilt robust gas system make for a reliable unit. Its easy to field strip and clean
The AK and type 81 have a better magazine system though, the duck bill mags are a PITA but the stock system works well enough with the stripper clips
plus the SKS is cheap to buy so everyone can and should own at least one
 
SKS is a KISS gun that shoots cheap ammo and is as reliable as a claw hammer.

It can be anything you want, from a super tacticool Bubba special to a hunting rifle. There are more accessories for the SKS than just about anything except an AR or AK (which we can't have now - thanks to that aszhole in Ottawa), or you can just leave it alone and shoot the hell out of it.
 
Back in the late 90s/early 2000s, there were VERY few NR 7.62x39 options. SKSs became popular as one of the few NR semis in that caliber, and were cheap to boot. Then Cz858s and Vz58s appeared, and the popularity dropped immensely.... bus SKSs remained cheap, and by that time pretty common. With the current bans, they are becoming a bit more popular for the same reasons they did in the late 90s/early 2000s, BUT are no longer as good a deal, price-wise.
 
You either get it or you don’t, deep down it’s one of those rifles that’s just plain fun to shoot. Eats anything you put through it, goes bang every time. It’s basically the 10/22 of the centre fire world, shim or bed it and it’s not that bad of a shooter. I can repeatedly hit my 8” plate @ 200yds with irons easily, can’t say the same for some people with more expensive rifles and optics I’ve seen at the range lol.
 
medvedqc said:
they work in the cold not like some others ...
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Critical requirement up here. The Spectre Ballistics guys knew that when they had recorded their prototype Light Practical Carbine firing on a cold, snowy Alberta day.
 
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