The SKS thread

[mrozowjj]

My uncle was a Vietnam vet that collected guns. Because of his experience there he had an extreme distaste for the AR-15 platform. I tried once 20 some years ago to tell him things are different but he was having none of it.

But he spoke highly of the AK-47 and SKS. He felt compelled to buy any reasonably priced Winchester 1887 or SKS he saw at a gun show. Don't know why he wasn't into collecting the AK pattern guns, he was only really ino SKSs, 30-30 lever guns and 1911s. So he has maybe a dozen SKSs.

There's a photo of me from the late 80s when I was like 9 holding an SKS. I had "tricked" him into letting me hold one by asking if it was heavy.

He wasn't much of a shooter though so I never really shot one until I was in my mid 20s. I wonder if I can scrounge that up somewhere.

[Welder]

One other thing I just remembered, and some others of you will, too...back when SKS's were $89 (or even cheaper) guns, you could buy them by the wooden crate full. I can't remember how many were in the crate - 10? More? Still in the cosmoline. I knew a few guys who went together on crates of them. Wonder where they are now....

And am I nuts or do I remember that the actual low price point of SKS's was $59? It was either them, or Enfields that were $59 back in the early to mid '90's. You paid an extra $10 to get one in better condition, I think. The AK's of the time were like $139 or something. Everything I know about surplus guns from that time is remembered from ads in Shotgun News. I could sit and read that paper for hours on end. It's actually one of the things I miss most from the pre-internet times.

[mrozowjj]

One other thing I just remembered, and some others of you will, too...back when SKS's were $89 (or even cheaper) guns, you could buy them by the wooden crate full. I can't remember how many were in the crate - 10? More? Still in the cosmoline. I knew a few guys who went together on crates of them. Wonder where they are now....

And am I nuts or do I remember that the actual low price point of SKS's was $59? It was either them, or Enfields that were $59 back in the early to mid '90's. You paid an extra $10 to get one in better condition, I think. The AK's of the time were like $139 or something. Everything I know about surplus guns from that time is remembered from ads in Shotgun News. I could sit and read that paper for hours on end. It's actually one of the things I miss most from the pre-internet times.

I don't remember the exact price but it was sub $100 back in the 90s for sure. One of the gun shop had a barrel of SKSs that you could just pick through. I do remember in the early 2000s though it had gone up to like $130-180 or more depending on model with Russian going for the most... I think. But this was also the time when you could get an Arsenal AK for like $400, your choice of black, tan or plum furniture. Talk about big gun buying regrets.

I remember Mosins, SKS, Nagant revolvers, etc being at the gun shows in crates and you could just straight up buy the whole crate as is or if you wanted to and the rest of the guys were sold you could buy the crate itself for cheap from the shop. I remember thinking I wanted to turn one of those into a coffee table but never got around to it.

I think the number per crate depending on which country the creates were from. I'm seeing some crates that held 6, others that held 10, 15 or 20.

I found someone selling Russian crates that held 15 SKSs for $50

https://leverarms.com/shop/kit/holst...s-crate-empty/

Hope it's ok to post the link. If not please yank it.

[Bigghoss]

When I got my first SKS it was 2003 or 2004. I remember there was a cluster of 3 pawn shops within walking distance of eachother that I would frequent. One of the shops had a couple nice Norinco SKSs for $200 each but a different shop had a little uglier SKS for $150. For a guy working 30 hours a week for minimum wage $50 was significant so I glady accepted the less nice one for the reduced price. As it was I still had to scrape together the money. But I put all the ammo I could through that thing at every opprotunity.

At a gunshow I got a deal on a Dragunov style stock for it. I think it was from ATI. Like a lot of folks back then I threw the wood stock in the trash and put on the aftermarket stock. It actually wasn't a terrible stock but any collector value went in the trash with that original stock. Not that it was anything special but it makes me cringe thinking about it today. I would come into a couple deals on other SKS rifles too good to pass up because they had also been bubba'd but they eventually get traded or sold.

Few years back I happend to come across a "paratrooper" SKS. These weren't really paratropper rifles, they're just regular rifles that had the barrels shortened to 16". Most of them were made specifically for the commercial export market. I had always wanted one because they're handier than a full length gun and I had delusions of using it as a camp defense gun or something. Shortly after that I would get the sporter that was 16" and took AK mags. It didn't take me all that long to figure out the length was nice but the front sight tower, sling loops, bayonet lug and bolt handle all stuck out and snagged on stuff and really offset the nice overall length. As I mentioned in my earlier post, I had AKs at this point and came to the conclusion that whatever roles I thought I had for an SKS could be better filled by an AK. I'm not sure why I have no desire anymore for an SKS, particularly one in it's original military configuration, since I also like to collect milsurp guns. But my love affair with the SKS has run it's course unfortunetly.

[BillSWPA]

When I got my first SKS it was 2003 or 2004. I remember there was a cluster of 3 pawn shops within walking distance of eachother that I would frequent. One of the shops had a couple nice Norinco SKSs for $200 each but a different shop had a little uglier SKS for $150. For a guy working 30 hours a week for minimum wage $50 was significant so I glady accepted the less nice one for the reduced price. As it was I still had to scrape together the money. But I put all the ammo I could through that thing at every opprotunity.

At a gunshow I got a deal on a Dragunov style stock for it. I think it was from ATI. Like a lot of folks back then I threw the wood stock in the trash and put on the aftermarket stock. It actually wasn't a terrible stock but any collector value went in the trash with that original stock. Not that it was anything special but it makes me cringe thinking about it today. I would come into a couple deals on other SKS rifles too good to pass up because they had also been bubba'd but they eventually get traded or sold.

Few years back I happend to come across a "paratrooper" SKS. These weren't really paratropper rifles, they're just regular rifles that had the barrels shortened to 16". Most of them were made specifically for the commercial export market. I had always wanted one because they're handier than a full length gun and I had delusions of using it as a camp defense gun or something. Shortly after that I would get the sporter that was 16" and took AK mags. It didn't take me all that long to figure out the length was nice but the front sight tower, sling loops, bayonet lug and bolt handle all stuck out and snagged on stuff and really offset the nice overall length. As I mentioned in my earlier post, I had AKs at this point and came to the conclusion that whatever roles I thought I had for an SKS could be better filled by an AK. I'm not sure why I have no desire anymore for an SKS, particularly one in it's original military configuration, since I also like to collect milsurp guns. But my love affair with the SKS has run it's course unfortunetly.

If I had bought one I am certain I would have made the same mistake with the stock.

[Darth_Uno]

My first was a Chinese and also the first center fire rifle I remember buying. It was a NIB import at a pawn shop for $99 in 92-93. I’d just moved out on my own and certainly had other things I should have been doing with that C-Note.

Bought an “extended clipazine” then had to pay a ‘smith to install it because I couldn’t figure it out.

Same here, my first center fire was a Chinese SKS. My friend said "it's like an AK but even cheaper". Awesome, that certainly fit my desires and budget 25 years ago. So off to gun show I went.

I also bought two AK mags from the same seller, who didn't tell me they wouldn't work in an SKS. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt because I didn't ask, but...

[HCM]

One other thing I just remembered, and some others of you will, too...back when SKS's were $89 (or even cheaper) guns, you could buy them by the wooden crate full. I can't remember how many were in the crate - 10? More? Still in the cosmoline. I knew a few guys who went together on crates of them. Wonder where they are now....

And am I nuts or do I remember that the actual low price point of SKS's was $59? It was either them, or Enfields that were $59 back in the early to mid '90's. You paid an extra $10 to get one in better condition, I think. The AK's of the time were like $139 or something. Everything I know about surplus guns from that time is remembered from ads in Shotgun News. I could sit and read that paper for hours on end. It's actually one of the things I miss most from the pre-internet times.

As someone who bought a $59 Enfield back in the day, $89 - $99 was the going rate for SKS - anything cheaper was a "deal."

However, I don't recall sub $200 AK's. In the late 1980s Norinco AK's were about $300 to $350 new and could be found under $300 used.

In the '89 to '94 time frame I recall Thumbhole stock Maadi's in Shotgun news for $239 at one point.

I still have the $59 Enfield, an Australian MkIII. Just a few years later I paid the same amount ($59) for the appropriate bayonet.

[Malamute]

One of the local, rural mountain farm and ranch supply stores had a case of russian sks on the floor years ago, I commented about it to one of the gun counter guys rather than seeing a couple of them on the rack, he said theyd sold many hundreds of them.

Im not 100% certain, but think the local gun shop in Flagstaff used to sell 7.62x39 ammo for around $2/box in the 80s.

[Malamute]

...Remember when you were young and the old geezers would talk about how things were back in the end of the dinosaur days when they were young?

[Evil_Ed]

Unless I missed it in several searches, it doesn't look like there's an SKS specific thread so here we are...

The Cousin Harry Yugo AK short from 9 Hole Reviews reminded me of an old webpage with info on the field expedient Yugo SKS and M48 snipers used in the fighting during the break up of Yugoslavia in the '90s.

I got nostalgic for my old 59/66 and got to looking around the sales and auction sites. I found this neat carved Triangle 26 the seller claims came from Albania. I know Albania used the Chinese SKS, I just don't know if this one is legit or the work of Freddy the Forger dating to when Balkan Wars trench art rifles were the hot thing to have.

Attachment 110101
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This was on a different one

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I've already got a refurb 1954 Tula but I'm kicking around the idea of picking up a Bubba Special as a project. Not sure what kind of project, but certainly not for any kind of serious use.

Feel free to post up your SKS stories and pics!

Albania actually used a unique version of the SKS that was based on the Chinese one, but different in a bunch of details - https://www.forgottenweapons.com/the...erent-details/

They're also pretty rare in the US especially...they never made a whole lot of them compared to everywhere else. I don't know that they imported any Chinese ones when they had their own domestic production, but who knows...never really was huge into SKSs; the Chinese flood of them just made them seem like cheap never-was rifles; like the Bryco or Jennings of service rifles.