New respect for the SKS

[OkieCruffler]

We've been having a bit of a problem with coyotes out here at the Monroe ranch lately. One of the buggers came up in the morning light and snatched one of the barn cats. This goes along way toward solving the mystery of what happened to the other two. Normally, I wouldn't care. I see the barn cat as a wild animal and thereby subject to the circle of life and such. But The Wife is worried that they might come closer and grab one of our 4 house cats. And when something annoys The Wife, it is my job to make it go away. Now I haven't hunted anything in the past 10 years, and I think we can all agree that taking out living things is a bit more difficult than making little holes in paper. But as of about 45 minutes ago the score stands at John 4- coyotes 0. And it's all thanks to my little SKS with it's sporter stock, B-square mount and Blazer red dot scope. Of course, all my shots have been under 100yrds, and I'm careful to take shots that I know I can get, but that 7.62X39 does a great job on those coyotes. I can just imagine that with a good bullet the SKS would make a dandy little deer carbine. So I hearby nominate the SKS as the all time best, cheap as dirt, throw behind your seat, clean once a blue moon, shoot 'til the barrel glows, rifle. Of course, I could be wrong...

 

[Chad Young]

Here in Florida, SKS rifles are very popular hunting rifles for deer and wild hog. Our deer are not very big and the woods are quite thick, so being able to snap off a couple of quick shots on a deer or hog are quite nice! We do have to plug them to fix rounds, though; most guys just install the semi-removable 5 round mags.

We have coyotes here, too, beleive it or not!

 

[Jimmy Mac]

I bought an old Chinese SKS at a gun show years ago for $60.

It looked like a POS but the bore was good. The metal had about 10% of the finish left and the stock looked like an old fence post.

This rifle had a little better trigger than the average SKS. With Chinese ammo it would shoot groups at 100 yards as good as my Garand and almost as good as my M1a.

Over the years this rife has shot thousands of rounds. I traded it to one guy who bought four 30 round mags and he would rapid fire it untill it got too hot to hold. I bet he put at least ten cases of ammo through it. The whole time he had this rifle it was never cleaned.

Sometimes the action was stuck closed and he would stomp the bolt handle with his boot to open it up if it was not fired for about a month.

Once the bolt was kicked loose it would fire a 30 round mag as fast as you could pull the trigger.

 

[OkieCruffler]

I've got the 20 rd mag on mine, and it works realy well. It came with a 30 rd mag that only feeds about 50% of the time. Still looks evil tho'.

 

[Halo]

What kind of ammo did you use on the coyotes?

 

[Kevinch]

Well, here in Pa. you can't use a semi-auto for hunting so my SKS is regulated to paper punching & tin-can annihilation, but it is very good at both!

Definetly rates high on the fun meter!

 

[OkieCruffler]

I'm using Wolf HP's, but from the looks of it I'm getting no expansion but complete penetration. Doesn't seem to matter, livliest of the 4 ran about 10 yrds before giving up the ghost.

 

[Nightcrawler]

Hey, Okie? If you rely on your SKS, check out FMCO. They make high-quality load bearing gear for a variety of weapons. For instance, they have an SKS Pouch that holds twelve stripper clips, or 120 rounds. Clips right on to a regular pistol belt. One pouch would be more than enough for a quick shooting session or varmint hunt. Pouches are like $15 bucks.

They also can probably make you a version of their M10 Combat Survival Vest designed for the SKS. I'll probably look like the shotgun vest, but have SKS stripper pouches in place of the twelve-round shotshell pouches. The 4 ammo pouch/2 utility pouch version would give you 480 rounds this way. The 8 ammo pouch version would give you a whopping 960 rounds! Pretty heavy, but that's a hell of a lot more ammo than you could carry in box magazines.

I'm going to have these people make me a FAL vest. I've already ordered one of their water bladder carriers for my GI load bearing vest I use in the Guards. After I get my M1 Garand, I'll have 'em make me a vest for that, too. They've patiently answered each and every one of my emailed questions. If their equipment is half the quality of their customer service, it'd still be top-notch. I'm impressed from what I've seen so far.

Besides, as far as I know, they're the only ones making modern load bearing type gear (for people who need it, or people like me who just want it) for a weapons like the M1 Garand, M1 Carbine, SKS, etc.

(No, I don't work for these guys. But they're a small company faced off with the likes of Blackhawk Tactical and others. I don't mind giving them a plug now and again.)

 

[Riphalman]

I agree that the SKS is a fine little rifle. It ain't pretty, but the sumbitch sure works. I've always felt that the SKS looks absurd with a scope mounted on it, but I can see the advantages of a dot sight. What position does your mount place the sight in? How does the mount attach, and can you still use your irons while looking through the sight. I like dot sights, but for a hunting/battle gun, I'd like the option of irons in case of a failure of the electronics. What if you're on recon and have a flameout?

 

[Redlg155]

Sounds like you are having a bit of fun making your wife happy!

Hopefully I'll get the chance to do a small coyote irradication project myself pretty soon. We've got a pretty bad coyote problem here in NW Florida. I've seen plenty when I lived in Oklahoma, but not as many as I've seen here in Fl. They are pretty much killing off the rabbit population and the fox in this area.

Anyway, to make a long story short, I think I'll try getting a few when I find a good buddy to shoot with. It gives me the creeps calling them in by myself. I prefer someone to watch my back in case something else comes calling...like a bear or bobcat :eek

Good SHooting
RED

 

[OkieCruffler]

Riphalman,

I've got one of the B-Square mounts that attaches above the reciever cover. I can still use the irons if needed. I've heard people say that the B-square won't hold zero, but I haven't had any problem with mine. I Just put a B-square scout mount on my M48A too and it holds zero, I must be living right. I bought my red dot at a gunshow when I took the SKS to get rid of it. Ended up with the red dot, a couple of mags, a handful of stripper clips and a case of ammo. After that The Wife said I couldn't sell any more guns at gun shows, it cost too much money.

 

[Watchman]

For the money the SKS is hard to beat. Ive got one, but to be honest I never really took it serious till a few weeks ago.

Me and a couple of friends went to do a little medium range shooting. We had formed up some concrete that was 16x24x4 and painted it white, so that it was really easy to tell if you got a hit on it as the pockmark made by the bullet was about a 2 inch circle and darker than the white.

I bought the usual stuff, my .300 Sendaro, my .308 PSS and my .50 BMG. I figured that'd be enough ammo to burn for one day.

First friend brought his M1A1,50 BMG,300 Sendaro and Rem.700VS .223.

Second friend bought his Ruger.338, Ruger.223 and his partrooper model SKS.

Ive got to admit, he recieved a bit of ribbing about that one. We knew the SKS was fun to shoot, but at 600 yards ?

We figured no way he could hit the target.

After shooting lots of rounds with the other stuff and hitting the targets till we got bored with them, we had 2 targets left that managed to stay together, the 2 that we kept the ..50's off of

So, friend number 2 pulls out the SKS. Moves the sights up to the 600 meter mark. Loads up and shoots. He kicks dirt all over the target. The rest of the shots were knocking chunks out of the concrete.

We couldnt believe it. After he figured out where to hold, he consistenly hit the 600 yard target. Naturally, we both had to try it. To hit the target, we actually had to hold the top f the front sight even with the top of the target. Not much to see fore sure, but it was no problem hitting that target every time once we figured out the hold.

It was lots of fun. I wouldnt have thought it, but that SKS would definatley make you keep your head down at 600 yards if someone was shooting it at you. We were using el cheapo military surplus ammo that seemed to be right in the money to the graduated sights.

Lots of people around here use them for deer rifles. 10 shot carbines that are cheap. They work well and you dont have to baby em. After shooting the paratrooper modle, Im seriously thinking of getting one.

 

[Jimmy Mac]

I have done long range shooting with an SKS.

While not as good as my Garand or M1a the old SKS is capable of hitting larger targets much further than 600 yards.

 

[Riphalman]

Okie........You're wife sounds like my wife. Let's hear it for patient, loving wives.

 

[OkieCruffler]

I say alot of bad things about The Wife, but I couldn't do without her. She doesn't even flinch when I bring home a truck load of ammo, and only whimpered a little when I ruined her hair dryer using it to take the cosmoline out of a really nasty turkish mauser. Sure, she threw a royal screaming fit when she found out I used the dish washer to clean up the little greasy parts of my SKS, but in hind site I've decided it wasn't really that good of an idea to begin with. She puts up with all my little quirks, and if all she asks in return is that I keep the maurading canines from eating her felines, I figure I owe her at least that much.

 

[Tady45]

New SKS for under $270?

I have been thinking about getting a SKS. At my local gun shop, they have several new un issued with bayonet for $269.00. good looking furniture etc. In cosmoline however! A bit on the heavy side, but still, I like the fact that these are from the past...I never tried to feed rounds with stripper clip, very hard? These are 10 round mag models that are not detachable. By the way, these are from Yugoslavia.



Larry

 

[liketoshoot]

Today I bought a Chinese (Norinco) SKS from the local gun store for $159 + tax. It was originally marked $269, but it was on the clearance rack. It had a perfect bore, and nice wood - some scratches and nicks, but color and varnish was consistent throughout, and it was NOT that nasty red laquered finish. The bluing was also above 90%.

It was basically the best one of the bunch, I "hand picked" it out of all the others, and I didn't have to pay a damn $10!

I'm so happy. SKS at last! Can't wait to run some 7.62 x 39 through it.

 

[SA Scott]

liketoshoot:

Was that at Collector's?

SA Scott

 

[liketoshoot]

Yes, it was Collectors' Firearms.

You looking for an SKS? They don't have that many left in condition worthy to pay their bloated prices.

 

[cheygriz]

If youse gize tink it's great fer coyotes, lemme tell ya, it's pure HELL on jackrabbits!

BTW, Jackrabbits aint bad eatin' ifn' ya pressure cooks 'em!