Article: The SKS is still viable after a quarter of a century.

Doesn’t take a whole article to say that a rifle that is battle accurate, reliable, fires a stout round, is easy to manipulate, and easy to learn is still “viable”. I’ve often thought it was superior to other rifles at times for the same reason I like revolvers for a survival situation: no magazines to keep up with.


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I dont see how such a horrible rifle won any wars. Floating firing pin prone to malfunction from the slightest but of grit, doesn't scope well, heavierna well heavy.
 
Goofyfoot2001 said:
I dont see how such a horrible rifle won any wars. Floating firing pin prone to malfunction from the slightest but of grit, doesn't scope well, heavierna well heavy.
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The original Russian ones aren't free floating, that's a post design cost saving by other nations.

And honestly I've never had any problems with any model of SKS, even the ones I half asses cleaning the cosmo on.
 
smithnwesley said:
Yall may not know but you used to be able to buy those at roses for 69.99
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The price had just jumped from $79/ea. to $99 when I got my Norinco new in the cosmoline in '91... and I was KICKING myself, for waiting until it was TWENTY DOLLARS MORE!!!

NOW I kick myself, for not buying a HUNDRED of them at that price, and socking them away for 30 years!!! 😬
 
I get to join in with regaling my friends with tales of $89 Mosins and $85 cans of ammo.


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Me. said:
If it makes you feel any better.... if you had invested that $10,000 in 1991, it would be worth $170,00 now (S&P 500).

So SKSs weren’t much of an investment. You’d have a tough time selling your 100 for $1,700 each.
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Even better if you invested just $1,000 after Home Depot ipo'd. :)
 
I've always thought the SKS was a dang good rifle for what it is. I've owned one, and I've shot a lot more. With a better trigger, I think they would be much more popular. The Commies don't seem to understand that having good triggers actually matters.
 
ontheroad said:
2021-1943 = 78
Quarter century = 25.

Math is hard though, dude gets a pass this time...
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I saw the headline and came here to say this. Shoot, even the hi-point carbine is only a few years from making it a quarter of a century..
 
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I didn't even read the article, if the author fails basic math, he's already wanting. But based on the comments in the thread, I'll throw in my .02........

Reliable, yes...... Accurate, yes........ Functional, yes........

But with all those positives, its only as useful as it's ammunition supply, otherwise it's a free floating firing pinned PIKE
 
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RedneckFur said:
I've always thought the SKS was a dang good rifle for what it is. I've owned one, and I've shot a lot more. With a better trigger, I think they would be much more popular. The Commies don't seem to understand that having good triggers actually matters.
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The Soviet soldier of the era didn't receive much in the way of rifle marksmanship with a service carbine. A heavier trigger gave a margin of safety from poor trigger discipline.
 
TriggerMan said:
I remember when you could buy brand new chineese SKS still in the cosmoline for $50 each at the gun shows. Those were the days.
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I purchased several of them for $49 at Rose’s. With 20 rounds of 7.62x39 for $1.25. Man, if I had only known then, what I know now.


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The sks is a great little carbine. It's vices are few indeed. Today, i suppose poor scopability (is that a word?) Is the worst drawback. That being said, for the prices being charged today, there may be better options. The cartridge is great!

They make good training rifles. Remove the op rod and you have a nice little straight pull bolt gun. The stock dimensions are about perfect for a youngster. Kids love em.

As far as the good old days, i remember buying really nice original finish M44 mosins from Centerfire Systems for 250.00....for 5!
 
B00ger said:
Doesn’t take a whole article to say that a rifle that is battle accurate, reliable, fires a stout round, is easy to manipulate, and easy to learn is still “viable”. I’ve often thought it was superior to other rifles at times for the same reason I like revolvers for a survival situation: no magazines to keep up with.


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1 30 round mag is 3 times better
 
NCLivingBrit said:
The original Russian ones aren't free floating, that's a post design cost saving by other nations.

And honestly I've never had any problems with any model of SKS, even the ones I half asses cleaning the cosmo on.
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The slam fire myth is from people shooting guns full of cosmaline and confused as to why things went poorly
 
We disassembled the new SKS's and soaked them in Kerosene. All of the cosmoline just dissolved instantly if I remember correctly. The people who had cosmoline related slam fires probably weren't smart enough to own a firearm anyway.
 
Tucci454 said:
The myth is not that it happens, but that it is peculiar to the SKS because of the firing pin design.
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It's absolutely related to the design. If you own a variant without the firing pin spring and don't clean the comsoline/usage gunk properly you are far more likely to have the firing pin stick forward and set off rounds without a trigger pull. The spring loaded pins are way less likely to do that even when improperly cleaned.

So still not a myth, it's a recognized design issue that exacerbates sloppy cleaning issues.
 
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NCLivingBrit said:
It's absolutely related to the design. If you own a variant without the firing pin spring and don't clean the comsoline/usage gunk properly you are far more likely to have the firing pin stick forward and set off rounds without a trigger pull. The spring loaded pins are way less likely to do that even when improperly cleaned.

So still not a myth, it's a recognized design issue that exacerbates sloppy cleaning issues.
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Design issue? Shooting a gun full of packing grease is a shooter issue. Pack an ar15 full of cosmoline and garbage and the exact same thing will happen. Those stupid Murphy firing pins brake and are poorly made. I have seen them brake springs and get the firing pin stuck forward.
 
TriggerMan said:
We disassembled the new SKS's and soaked them in Kerosene. All of the cosmoline just dissolved instantly if I remember correctly. The people who had cosmoline related slam fires probably weren't smart enough to own a firearm anyway.
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This is where the myth came from. A gun you could buy for a dime that came covered in grease that you had to fully strip the gun to get rid of was destin to get bought as a first gun by tons of people that didn't know to clean out the gun.
 
We're all startin to sound like our Grandpa's.. 👨‍🦳👴
Those old barrels of sticky MilSurps. That first wave of AK's, etc., etc.. What was that? Early 80's? Late 70's?
Whot fun!! Yes, those were the days..
I actually piddled around and reloaded some for a little SKS one time. The bugger shot surprisingly well for what it was.
Used to come in handy at the hunt club, too. Cheap ammo saved me from diggin in the mud to let water out of the ruts.
I'd just stand behind a tree and let loose till I "busted the dam" and the water flowed out. Messy, but easier than tryin to dig out wet mud.
Called it SKScavating.. 🤪 :cool:

Average Joe said:
I purchased several of them for $49 at Rose’s. With 20 rounds of 7.62x39 for $1.25. Man, if I had only known then, what I know now.


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I posted this a while back in the Derek hog hunting thread, but a Texas-native friend of mine has a ton of ranch land out there. When he's home visiting family, he and his brothers grab their four-wheelers, a cooler of Shiners, and a few SKS rifles and spend the evenings catching up while clearing the property of feral hogs. That sounds like such a fun time. 7.62x39 is a hard-hitting round and the gun in its factory form is simple, nimble, and effective.

The SKS ain't perfect (What gun is? And before you start typing it, no, your 1911 is not.) but it is perfectly suited for a lot of tasks even in 2022.
 
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