dissembly was never really the issue... it was getting everything back in it's proper spot that was the major malfunction. the AKs rotating rounded bolt with square BCG and trying to get into the rectangular ramps was a freaking pain for me, (I didn't excel at that little ball with thhe shapes cut out when I was little) at least with the SKS it's all squared to some degree. you do have a point with the separate piston and if a person really wants to nit pick you could argue that a field strip for an SKS would require complete disassembly into it's major components but I can say from experience I can strip an SKS all the way down to removing the stock, handguard/gas tube, and trigger group much faster than I could on an AK
also in my defense, the OP was asking about quality SKS compared to cheap AK clones... mine falls a little short in both categories though. mine was a beat to hell chicom with less than 25% finish left, dried out, shrunken stock with someone's name carved in it that rattled and wobbled around the gun and rotten handguard... needless to say... one could argue that neither of the rifles in question that I've owned were the best of either model.