US Made SKS Equivalent?

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Helios

New member
Reliable, semi-automatic, magazine-fed, cheap. Those attributes described the SKS fairly well. I can buy clean example for $300. I've seen them as low as $99 at gun shows over the years, though those days seem to be mostly gone.

Is there a US made or North American made equivalent at that price point? The cheapest AR worth owning is in the $700 range and some would argue if it's worth owning.
 
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L_Killkenny

New member
Ruger Mini-30 if you are stuck on 7.62x39 or Mini-14 if you want .223. Used ones should be found for $400 or less. Take either one over the SKS anyday of the week and twice on Sunday.

LK
 
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Technosavant

New member
The closest thing US made is the Ruger Mini, but that's still not at the same price point.

Keep in mind that the SKS is so cheap because it was sold as a military surplus rifle. The thing had already been paid for years ago by the originating nation, the only cost involved is to buy them off that nation (who doesn't have any remaining use for them) and to import them to the US. Sometimes they were in great shape, basically new. Sometimes they were well worn but still perfectly functional. Sometimes they were pretty well shot out and corroded to the point of pathetic accuracy and maybe even wouldn't cycle.

If you were to build the SKS in the US today, you'd likely be hard pressed to get it done for anywhere near what even the current prices are running. If you're talking new production, reliable, functionally accurate, and inexpensive, you're pretty much dealing with the Ruger Mini or the Kel-Tec SU-16.
 
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raftman

New member
As others have said, the Ruger Mini-30 is about as close to an SKS that you'll get from a US manufacturer. The Ruger will still cost quite a bit more, and will be less reliable.
 
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kilimanjaro

New member
Just ran 200 rounds through my Mini-14 on Saturday, perfect function. Keep 'em clean and they're fine. Same with my SKS. Both have had at least 5,000 rounds go downrange with no issues.

You can find a good used SKS for $200, look for a buddy who doesn't want his anymore.

I bought two in the grease for $99 apiece some time ago, wouldn't mind more if those prices came around again.
 
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chack

Moderator
for $200-$250 a hi point 9mm is as close as you're going to get for a semiauto centerfire rifle.

For just over $300 you can get a keltec sub 2000. Its a much better rifle due to the magazine issue.

You can find Universal M1 carbines for $350-$400, but they are notorious for being hit or miss in reliablity. 3rd generation universals are especially prone to malfunctioning.


$450-$500 will get you a AR 15 assembled from a PCF lower too. I have two new PCF rifles I haven't had a chance to shoot yet, I'll make a report on them when I do.

For $500 you can get a keltec su 16 and they are simply awesome.

for $600 you can get an entry level AR, and for a casual plinker or average shooter they will serve you quite well.

for $650-$700 you can get a ruger mini 14 or 30 and except for the crappy magazines and poor ergonomics they make decent plinkers.

Except for the universal, I'm referring to new guns.
 
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Technosavant

New member
[QUOTE-kilimanjaro]I bought two in the grease for $99 apiece some time ago, wouldn't mind more if those prices came around again. [/QUOTE]

Palmetto-Pride said:
I remember when you could buy brand new surplus SKS all daylong for $75.00. I wish I hadnt got rid of the two I bought years ago.
Click to expand...

The only way we'll see those prices again is if somebody discovered warehouses full of the things in some eastern European nation and starts importing them in large quantities once again. As I am sure you all understand, supply and demand are in full effect, and the sub-$100 price for a mint SKS was only really available when the things were coming in by the shipload. Now that it appears the supplies have dried up, the price went up.

I bought my "unissued" Yugo 59/66 back in 2004 or 2005. It cost $150; they had been cheaper, but I didn't quite make it in at the bottom of the cost curve. Now, if you can find them in this condition, the price seems to be at least double that because the Yugoslavs seem to have sold all they had. I expect the price for pristine examples will keep rising until it's just under what a new semiauto rifle (with warranty) would cost.

chack said:
for $650-$700 you can get a ruger mini 14 or 30 and except for the crappy magazines and poor ergonomics they make decent plinkers.
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I'd take issue with the Mini mags being "crappy." Sure, most of the aftermarket ones are complete junk, but the Ruger ones, while pricey, seem to be constructed much more sturdily than your average STANAG. Throw a couple empties in a sock and you could use the thing to brain your opponent, then pull them out and load and fire them. That's not going to happen with GI style AR mags. I do agree, however, that compared to some other rifles the ergonomics aren't perfect, but then again, the SKS would share those drawbacks.
 
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hornetguy

New member
It's difficult to beat the sks, especially if price is a pivot point. If it doesn't matter, a couple hundred either way, I'd be tempted to go with the S&W M&P AR rifle, simply because of the barbie-doll selection of mix-and-match accessories.
I like the extra punch of the 7.62X39, however, and the sks is just about as bullet-proof a design as you are likely to find. My Norinco (bought for 89 dollars about 23 years ago) has NEVER failed to feed, fire, eject. As in, NEVER. Accuracy is better than needed for this type of rifle, as well.
Makes a good hog gun, too, but that's another topic..;)
 
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Skans

Active member
The Garand is about as close to the SKS as any US gun can get. Most other US semi-autos use a magazine. The SKS is like the little runt read-headed stepchild to the Garand.:D (now going to read the other responses and fend off flames)
 
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Smokey Joe

New member
Beg to respectfully disagree...

Killimanjaro--you said
Just ran 200 rounds through my Mini-14 on Saturday, perfect function. Keep 'em clean and they're fine.
Click to expand...
The SKS will do that, ten times over, full of mud, grease, powder residue, and dead fish, and after being used as a canoe paddle and a crowbar. It was made as a battle weapon--It HAS to work 100% while ignoring the worst mistreatment imaginable.

Accuracy--Can be so-so. Reliability--SPOT ON.

Comrade Simonov designed a Good Thing. Only thing that has to be kept clean is the firing pin channel, and Simonov's original design included a firing pin return spring which would have avoided that need--Some bureaucrat eliminated the spring to save 9 kopeks per weapon, bad cess to him forever.

Point is, that the Mini-14 is NOT the equal of the SKS. Nothing is.
 
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hornetguy

New member
Smokey... tell us how you REALLY feel about the SKS.. :D

Lots of truth in your post.. can't argue with it at all. The accuracy thing can be significantly improved by bedding the action, I've heard. Mine hasn't needed it, but I might do it sometime, just to improve an already great rifle.
PREACH IT! :)
 
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SurplusShooter

New member
Are you solely stuck on a semiautomatic because you can get some very reliable and affordable lever actions for the same price as an sks.
 
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dean1818

New member
Bedding an SKS makes that much difference?

A 4 MOA will become a __?____ MOA, by bedding (fill in the blank)


I have bedded a rifle before, and it did improve, but for this rifle,

I think i may be at the best it can do


Or...... I could be wrong



I looked hard at the Mini 30, but because one of the reasons I would buy a 7.62 X39 is for the cheap surplus..... the Mini generally doesnt do well from what I have heard with the hard primers
 
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