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Old September 21, 2012, 07:25 PM   #1
iraiam
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WOW! The SKS used to be cheap

I admit I haven't looked at an SKS for quite a while, when I bought mine it was $99 retail, Milled receiver, threaded barrel, spike bayonet (supposedly a1967 model).

I was thinking about picking another one up, but not for $300, stamped receiver, pinned barrel, no bayonet. I saw a Russian SKS for $525, the SN's didn't even match.

My, ex-father in law bought one at about the same time I did, His was $120 (paratrooper model), he recently sold his for $425.

What is it? Just supply and demand.
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Old September 21, 2012, 07:33 PM   #2
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What is it? Just supply and demand.
What is it?

Supply of Dollars exceeds the amount of goods. They call that "inflation".

What was the price of milk, bread, gasoline, gold, or any other commodity when you bought that SKS for $99? Betcha they are now roughly 4X what they were then, if not more.

They are not churning out more SKS's at the rate they are churning out more Dollars..... the trend will continue, for the Federal Reserve has promised to continue to do so......
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Old September 21, 2012, 07:34 PM   #3
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I bought my first AR, a Colt, for $325. Everything is higher now.
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Old September 21, 2012, 07:35 PM   #4
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The last SKS's i bought was an issue Chinese for $100 and a Albanian for $65
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Old September 21, 2012, 07:37 PM   #5
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Shotgun, multiply $325 by 4 ..... a Wallyworld Colt is running right about 11 Hundred...... I rest my case.
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Old September 21, 2012, 07:38 PM   #6
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The last SKS's i bought was an issue Chinese for $100 and a Albanian for $65
When was that?

What did gasoline cost per gallon then?
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Old September 21, 2012, 08:15 PM   #7
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It isn't so much dollar inflation as much as it is constrained supply. While this may be part of it, other guns haven't gone up by 200% in the same time.

Those $99 Norincos haven't been allowed to be imported for two decades. The $150 like new Yugos have all been imported- there aren't any more of those either. The Russians and Albanians were never brought in in huge numbers.

When plentiful supply dries up, prices climb. Especially when people are into semiauto intermediate caliber rifles in increasing numbers.
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Old September 21, 2012, 08:37 PM   #8
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It isn't so much dollar inflation as much as it is constrained supply. While this may be part of it, other guns haven't gone up by 200% in the same time.
I disagree.

The guns that are cheaper now (Savage Axis, et. al.) have been made so by efficiencies in production. Use of CNC has reduced man-hours, computers have streamlined rcord and bookkeeping inthe back office, production has been moved out of Union Shop states to Right to Work states or even overseas, synthetic stocks have replaced checkered wood, scopes are made overseas..... compare apples to apples.

A gallon of gas or milk, even with the efficiencies introduced since then (5-10% of the gas is now ethanol) or even #2 yellow corn (which we are growing more of than ever, on less land, due to hyper-efficient agribusiness) is at least 3-4X the price it was 10-15 years ago.
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Old September 21, 2012, 09:06 PM   #9
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I remember buying wood cases of them in 1991 and 1992 for $500. With 10 in the box. Sold them for $100 a piece and got $50 for the wood box. Wish I had kept a couple, but it helped paid my college tuition.
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Old September 21, 2012, 09:34 PM   #10
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The SKS is a fun and useful piece, but not worth big bucks to me. They were being sold like kindling when I bought mine, same for the ammo.
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Old September 22, 2012, 12:45 AM   #11
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Folks always belittle the SKS 'cause they were once cheap - and so must not be worth a hoot. Yet it is a combat-proven platform, ask any 'nam vet.

Meanwhile, we worship the Garand, with its proprietary/limiting 8rd en-bloc - the loss of which turns a Garand into a single-shot rifle.

My machined-recvr Norc with built-in 10rd mag and threaded chrome-lined barrel is a very fine gun, as easily as nice as any of my Garands.
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Old September 22, 2012, 09:42 AM   #12
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I guess I owned 6 of'm over the years. I used'm like a tool, bought when needed sold, at a profit, when I was through with'm. Of the 6, two would shoot a 2" group at hundred yards with a rear peep sight. If they were still $89 I'd buy another one. I did kill at least a dozen WT Deer with'm using the Chinese soft point ammo. The SP ammo made the gun equal to a .30-30 in performance at least in my experience. I have not owned one in about 17 years.
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Old September 22, 2012, 11:07 AM   #13
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There are some of us around here who wouldn't dream of living without at least one SKS in the stable. Heck everybody should be issued one at birth.

Back when they hit our shores, they were taken for granted as were most (especially foreign) milsurp guns. They were an incredibly good bargain at $89.95, and they're still a good bargain at $350.

Where I live, you can still find them at yard sales and in the sale papers for $200 and up, and when I hear folks talking about Mini 14's and Mini 30's, I think -- Why?

Quote:
I was thinking about picking another one up, but not for $300, stamped receiver, pinned barrel, no bayonet.
If you in fact found one with a stamped receiver, it would be a fairly rare variant, and you would have guys standing in line to give you $300 for it. jd
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Old September 22, 2012, 12:52 PM   #14
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What did gasoline cost per gallon then?
I remember around 1980, my stepfather had a rather lengthy commute to work. He used to say "I don't care if gas goes up to 69 cents a gallon, I'm still gonna drive my 4wd pickup to work"

Gas went over $1, he sold the 4wd and bought a Ford Fiesta (40 mpg or thereabouts)
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Old September 22, 2012, 12:59 PM   #15
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Regarding the SKS, I recently bought an unfired Norinco Paratrooper for $319. FWIW - I like the way they operate, field strip / re-assemble, it is a joy to shoot and is one of the coolest looking battle rifles ever. Oh - and the ammo is quite easy to find and afford
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Old September 22, 2012, 06:05 PM   #16
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I bought my Yugo in 2003 from Centerfire Systems for $99. Wish I would have bought a couple dozen. It's a decent gun and I wouldn't mind having another--I'm just not willing to pay the going prices either. I should have bought a lot more 7.62x39 ammo when it was .08 a round too
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Old September 22, 2012, 06:25 PM   #17
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I remember around 93 you could get a SKS for $75.00 I wish I had bought quite a few. If you go by inflation alone then that same $75.00 should be around $120.00 today not $350.00 plus.
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Old September 22, 2012, 07:57 PM   #18
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I paid $79.00 for mine with tax. I was looking at one in a shop the other day it was $350.00. I only paid $269.00 for my AK.
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Old September 22, 2012, 09:22 PM   #19
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If you go by inflation alone then that same $75.00 should be around $120.00 today not $350.00 plus.
By whose reckoning of inflation? The .gov keeps changing the things it uses to calculate the rate of inflation, adding things like microprocessors/personal computers- stuff that folks don't buy on a regular basis, and dropping things like vitamin D milk. When they report the CPI in the news, they often crow, "Excluding Food and Energy, consumer prices dropped this week....... the fact that the Housing bubble burst, causing housing costs to drop, and the sluggish economy has reduced the demand for gasoline and diesel has kept the inflation numbers down....... but they are fudging the numbers..... make no mistake about it: they are printing money out of thin air, making the money you have worth...... less.

Gas averaged $1.07 in '93, and was cheaper in Oklahoma where I lived- I remember it staying under $1/gallon...... I paid $3.99 for regular (the van runs like a fat man with a bad back and a broken foot on E-10.... and that stuff ate the fuel lines in my F-150) this last week. That's a four fold increase. Milk nearly the same, bread is worse. A $300 SKS is priced about right, and considering there are not any more coming into the country and nobody is making them here, maybe more, with rarer versions like the para or a Russsian costing much more.

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Old September 23, 2012, 03:04 AM   #20
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I think I bought mine in 1992 for $79, $99, I can't remember. It's a /26\ stamped rifle, all matching except the magazine (mine broke) I replaced it with another, i should have fixed the old one. Oh well.

I need some parts for mine, since I decided not to buy another one. The sear block in the triggger group is worn, the wood gas tube cover cracked badly and fell off (I have a plastic one right now).

I was also looking at the updated firing pins (held back with a spring) I think I want one of those also. http://www.murraysguns.com/sksown.htm

I remember the ammunition for it was so cheap, I considered the SKS my plinker. I fired many a case of ammo through it, Now I load my own ammo for it to save money.

There is a gun show here this weekend, I'll nose around there Sunday morning, see If I can find parts or a parts rifle maybe.
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Old September 23, 2012, 09:35 PM   #21
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I bought my norinco SKS for $99 in 91, bought a 1260 rd ammo can for $99,shot up all the steel core(armor piercing) then sold it for $250 ten years ago. Had added a 30 round mag , came with the spike bayonet and had the milled rather than the stamped receiver.I have a Galil and Saiga in 223 and six 30 rd mags and a 9mm carbine which is quiet as a churchmouse and accurate out to 50m.If you hear it, it means I missed you
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Old September 24, 2012, 02:07 AM   #22
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I paid about $265 some time around the holidays '11 on a Yugo from Samco. I think that's a hell of a deal. It's a lot of gun for very little money.
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Old September 24, 2012, 04:06 PM   #23
lee n. field
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I was thinking about picking another one up, but not for $300, stamped receiver,
Wow. Until this instant I was completely unaware they ever made SKSs with stamped receivers.
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Old September 24, 2012, 09:43 PM   #24
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Wow. Until this instant I was completely unaware they ever made SKSs with stamped receivers.
+1.
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Old September 24, 2012, 09:46 PM   #25
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Yeah I remember a friend of my Father's got an SKS from his kids and they paid around $250s for it. Seems like that was about 6-7 years ago (from what I remember).

Now it seems like for just a little more you can get into an AK. My Dad finally decided he wanted a SKS, AK, or AR and decided to narrow it down to an AK or AR.
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