Top 3 SKS Accuracy Mods

D

Daekar

New member
My Dad has taken a fancy to SKS rifles, and looks to me to help him with the assorted goodies and modifications that make shooting fun. Regarding accuracy, I'm trying to figure out the most effective modifications to make to the rifle to shrink group size besides using expensive brass-cased ammo. So far I've chosen:
1) Recrown the barrel
2) Bed the stock
3) Techsight aperture sight.

Any other suggestions? He hasn't bought one yet, so no telling what variant it will be. Will steer him towards one without a grenade launcher, but it depends on what the gun show vendors have.

Other mods under consideration:
1) Kivaari trigger job
2) Spring-loaded firing pin
3) Bayonet and grenade launcher removal
4) bolt polishing

Edit: Intended function of this rifle is for deer and social uses. Likely ammo will be S&B Soft Points for both applications.
 
J

jhenry

New member
I would only recrown if it was out of spec somehow.

The top three easy things to do ( and I did them in this order) was to remove the bayonett, do a trigger job, and epoxy bed the receiver. I used Accraglass. I also put on an extender over the butt plate. Not really an accuracy mod, but it does let me shoot better. The stock sights do fine for me once they are dialed in.
 
G

grumpa72

New member
With those mods, you would think that he is buying a Remington 700 for extreme range shooting.

Tell your dad it's an SKS for crying out loud. Bed the stock?

Buy a case of milsurp, take it out, and shoot it!
 
M

Magnum Wheel Man

New member
I've got one I modified that shoots 1 MOA all day with cheap ammo... it started out as an ( am I dating myself here ??? ) ...

... an early Norinco SKS... one of those $89.00 ones... I proceaded to make it "even more evil", back in the day, adding a flash hider, folding stock, removable magazines, scope & mount, etc... but a reciently purchased old Mauser inspired me to rebuild my old SKS ( which I really didn't care for in the form it had taken... thanks to the Clintons ) into my "ultimate $200.00 SKS" the bayonette & lug were removed, along with the flash hider & 2" of barrel to smooth out the original stepped barrel look of the front end of the gun, the original front sight was relocated to where the bayonette lug was originally on the barrel, & the new barrel end ( 1/2" in front of the sight ), was target crowned ( the gun started life as a long barrel early Chinese SKS, which has the chrome lined barrel ), a $35.00 ATI Black plastic Monte Carlo stock was fitted, replacing what was originally the original "orange wood" stock, & the cheap Ram Line Folder, which I always hated, a thinner target front sight post was fitted to the original but relocated front sight, & a Tech Sights rear sight was added 8" back from the original rear sight ( which was also removed ), a custom keeper was added to hold the original rear sight spring in place, protecting the gas piston extension, & the rear sight block was ground down in the front center to increase the available sight picture, the attached cleaning rod removed, & the keepers on the front sight are also removed, as was the front welded on the side sling mount to smooth the look, ( a traditional sling stud has been added to the front of the stock ), a 20 round fixed box magazine was swapped in place of the removable magazines, that I found a pain to change out, & found the rifle difficult to shoot in several positions with those long mags... the 20 round fixed box was much shorter than a 20 round removable mags, but I found I could load with stripper clips into the stock 10 round fixed box as fast as anything, & with better reliability, so the original 10 round fixed box went back on...

the result is a rifle that is still "black", but has much more in common with the looks of a composite stocked hunting rifle, but holds 10 rounds, easily loaded through stripper clips, & much improved accuracy, & sights... right now, I have way less than $200.00 total into the gun, & it'll shoot 2" - 200 yard groups all day, with cheap tin boxed ammo, with no wandering of point of impact as the barrel heats up
 
J

jsmaye

New member
I've got one I modified that shoots 1 MOA all day with cheap ammo...
Click to expand...

What was its accuracy before? It's surprising that you made a (for instance) 3 moa SKS into a 1 moa SKS by just removing the bayonet, changing the stock, and moving the sights around.
 
M

Magnum Wheel Man

New member
(for instance) 3 moa SKS into a 1 moa SKS by just removing the bayonet, changing the stock, and moving the sights around.
Click to expand...

mine was typical... the more the barrel warmed up, the more mine moved up & to the right...often as much as 3" ( likely a clearance issue on the stock or ??? )

so with a longer sight radius, it's easier for me to shoot more accurately... it's now actually a heavy barrel, with the thinner front part of the barrel removed up to the 1st "step" in the barrel... the crown didn't look horrible, but it now looks as clean as any target rifle... the new stock ( monte carlo style ) is easier for me to shoot more accurately, & it was clearance & glass bedded so it's fit is much better than either the crappy folder or the original wood stock... any extra "stuff" ( like folder bayonettes ) on the end of the barrel can effect the accuracy, especially over the thermal range of "cold" to "hot"
 
J

jsmaye

New member
That's what I was getting at - you didn't make the rifle more accurate as much as you made it easier to shoot consistently. Though many would argue that those are the same things.
 
M

Magnum Wheel Man

New member
Well...

the point of impact doesn't shift up & to the right anymore as the barrel heats up... which the modifications corrected, & didn't have anything to do with me... ( it may still do it one direction or another as the barrel heats up, but now is within 1 MOA, & before the modifications I could see a 3 MOA shift in 2 - 20 round magazines worth of heat in the barrel...
 
D

DoctorXring

New member
.

I think any story about an SKS, either standard or modified, being an all-day-long 1 MOA gun apart from handloading is highly suspect. Even with handloading I would consider it a miracle of the first order.

Unless 1 MOA translates to Minute of Apple at 100 yards.

But 2.54 centimeters at 100 yards ?? 5.08 centimeters at 200 yards?
Consistently ??

I have a thick packet of folding money to lay on a table if someone
wants to go even odds that they can do it.

.
 
M

Magnum Wheel Man

New member
Ok... best to define "all day" here...

I've never shot the gun till the stock caught fire ( as seen on U-Tube )

but the gun will hold 2" ( or just barely over ) with 40 consecutive rounds fired ( enough to see any shift in point of impact from heat ) at 200 yards from the bench ( I've done this 3 or 4 times already ) in reality I've only shot 40 shot groups at 200 yards 5-6 times, so it does consistantly perform

I will say, as I get older, shooting at distance without a scope has been getting tougher... & of course the day I had to prove it, ( as "my" luck would have it ) I'd get a flyer out to 5" or so :eek: but... on calm days when I'm shooting well, 2" holes in the paper at 200 yards from my bench have not been a problem
 
J

Jim243

New member
the new stock ( monte carlo style ) is easier for me to shoot more accurately, & it was clearance & glass bedded so it's fit is much better than either the crappy folder or the original wood stock.
Click to expand...

Not sure you can call it a SKS anymore! Sounds more like a Ruger or Remington.

Jim
 
B

BigBill

New member
My chinese norinco paratrooper sks in its orginal condition w/16" barrel using norinco ammo will shoot 1 1/2'' groups @ 100yds. if we do our part. My orginal chinese norinco scoped 20'' barrel was on the way to 1/2'' to 5/8'' groups using the norinco ammo when the POS scopemount came loose as i was on my last scope adjustment while dialing it in. Now i installed a mosin nagant style scopemount that i can hang my body on its rock solid. Soon we'll get out and sight it in again.

I thought the sniper sks's or an accurate sks was a joke at first. We were too busy blasting away 30rd mags at soda cans. When i got my paratropper sks we were waiting for a cease fire to put our targets out and i got ansy. I loadedup the para and aimed at small rocks that i could see on the 100yd berm with the iron sights. The very first shot i pinged the rock with amaisement. After 5 more shots and the rock dancing around i was shocked the sks could do this. I never got serious with my first 20'' barreled sks either. We were peppering targets at 100yds and were happy but we never got serious about accuracy and never actually benchrested it until we scoped it.

With the trigger sear we just put moly on it and it smoothed out the trigger.

The biggest problem i have read about with the accuracy being bad is the bore diameter and the bullet size not matching. The bores can run between .308" to .312" and a .308" bullet in the larger bore will pepper a target. You need to mic the bore and the bullets your shooting to see if there the correct size for your sks barrel. You should at least get it down to 2'' to 3'' groups at 100yds. minimum, if not tighter.
 
Last edited:
B

BigBill

New member
I'm willing to bet my orginal 20'' barreled scoped sks (untouched chinese norinco) will shoot better than 1'' MOA using the orginal surplus chinese norinco yellow box FMJ ammo. I/we don't need handloads.

Like i posted before its the diameter of the bullets/ammo were using as to wether its accurate or not. I'm using the orginal norinco ammo thats manufactured for the chinese sks.

I won't post any group sizes unless I shoot it and my son will shoot the same size group, this way i know its no fluke if he backs it up when he shoots it.

I've hunted with a 30-06 for most of my life and in '94 i purchased a remington 700 in 338win mag. While benchresting it with winchester super X 225gr / 338ammo i put two bullets thru the same hole at 100yds taking out the X ring in the center of the target. So i'm not that bad of a shot with magnum rifles. Not to say i have my good and bad days at being 60yo now today but i still can shoot but i don't walk so good.

During your shots you need to control your breathing too. The rifle needs to be completely still when you shoot it. This can be why some get flyers.
 
Last edited:
O

ohen cepel

New member
It's an SKS, I would not mod it. They are not as cheap as they once were and if you mess with it any it will only go down in value. You could spend $200 for one, $200 to work on it and still have a $200 (or less) rifle that doesn't shoot that great.

A Yugo Mauser may be a better project gun if you want to work on something to try to make it into a shooter.
 
J

jdscholer

New member
right now, I have way less than $200.00 total into the gun, & it'll shoot 2" - 200 yard groups all day, with cheap tin boxed ammo,
Click to expand...

This is truly astounding accuracy for an SKS, and actually an admirable goal for any of us with a scoped bolt action with tailored hand loads.

I now feel totally inadequate as a shooter, and think maybe I'm gonna sell my guns and take up golf. jd
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top