SKS: The Poor Man's EBR PTII

tahunua001 · March 5, 2013, 01:58 PM

hello all, a couple months ago I posted a thread entitled SKS: the Poor Man's EBR. if you really feel like reading the whole thing you can go ahead but I'll paraphrase here just to give the background.

about 2 weeks after SH happened I took my first trip into town since the panic struck, I was shocked, appalled by the empty spots in the racks the weeks earlier had been stuffed with AKs, ARs, mini14s and other paramilitary rifles. the only semis still on the racks were SKS and they were going for $500 in some places. finally on my last stop before leaving town I went to my local Black Sheep store and they had SKS for $239, they had 3 left and they even let me take my pick, I grabbed the one with the nicest looking wood which was still pretty ratty and had someones name carved in the side. I took it home and began a scheme to turn it into a EBR that would make even a republican say that it looked dangerous

.

after doing little to no research I ordered 3 items to alleviate what I saw as the biggest downfalls of the SKS, non modular stock, low ammo cap, and combloc sights. I pre ordered tapco T6 stock and matching magazine from midway and ordered a TS200 rear mounted peep sight from tech sights. the sights arrived within days and after a great deal of work(for me anyway) I got the TS200 mounted. a short 20 round trip to the range and I had it hitting oxygen tanks at 200 yards with about 90% success, well above the accuracy I ever imagined based on the horrible experiences with a WASR 10/63 AK clone I gladly removed from my collection. the peeps make it much easier to get a good sight picture as it increases the sight radius by about 8 inches(it replaces the takedown pin and mounts to hte rear of the receiver and adds an aperture much more accommodating to the front sight than the leaf sights that commies seem to be so fond of.

the stock was horribly shrunken, had about 1/8" vertical play in the front and it rattled and wobbled like an airsoft gun. going off a suggestion from a member at SKSboards who claimed that the handguard rail on the tapco interferes with the TS sight, I had the opportunity to buy a ramline stock for $20 that I got with the intention of using the handguard and selling the stock with the tapco handguard to make the money back. the ramline handguard is a bit short but a little solder at each end fixed any lateral play. today the T6 finally arrived and the dang thing is the worst fitted, clunkiest piece of plastic I've ever tried to slap onto a gun, I wouldn't waste that stock on a hi point carbine if that's what it was meant for. I boxed it back up and out of desperation tried the ramline stock... took 7 seconds to fit to the rifle and if I didn't know any better I would say that this gun came with that stock from the factory.

the T6 is going to the gun show on saturday, shouldn't be too hard to find a buyer in this market. right now I would have to say though that if you can, get Ramline...leave Crapco on the shelves. as the title implies, this venture was made to see if it was possible to build an evil black rifle at an affordable cost, for my purposes I capped myself at $400. assuming that I can make back the money on the tapco stock I will be at $360 including the high cap mag. in all fairness though, the ramline normally costs $60 retail so the average bargain hunter would be put right at $400 or so, give or take sales tax and shipping.

still waiting on the 20 round mag from midway so I'll continue this thread with the final chapter once I get a range review going.

tahunua001 · March 5, 2013, 03:53 PM

I carelessly forgot to add pictures...
for those interested it's a 1959 made Chinese type 56 from factory 26...

iraiam · March 7, 2013, 11:31 AM

How do you like the Tech Sights? I have been thinking about putting them on my SKS.

It's kind of tempting to sell my SKS, it's a 1967 Jianshe armory (security force markings). but I consider it my backup battle rifle so I guess I'll keep it.

tahunua001 · March 7, 2013, 11:41 AM

it's a push/pull deal with the tech sights. it replaces the takedown pin which on mine had brazed retentions pins so I had to grind it down to remove it so I can't return it to stock if I want. you also have to remove the rear sight leaf. it creates an extra step during disassembly as you have to completely remove the sight when you take the gun down.

on the other hand you get.
a peep instead of a leaf
longer sight radius
disassembly does not hurt zero
full windage and elevation adjustment off the rear sight without a special tool(though precision screwdrivers or small punches are recommended).
I don't know I'm lazy so it makes it a pain to have them but I hate leaf sights more.

chadio · March 7, 2013, 01:16 PM

Nice setup, tahunua!!

I enjoy shooting my paratrooper just as much as my "expensive" rifles-

March 5, 2013, 01:58 PM	#1
tahunua001 Senior Member Join Date: July 21, 2011 Location: Idaho Posts: 7,839	SKS: The Poor Man's EBR PTII hello all, a couple months ago I posted a thread entitled SKS: the Poor Man's EBR. if you really feel like reading the whole thing you can go ahead but I'll paraphrase here just to give the background. about 2 weeks after SH happened I took my first trip into town since the panic struck, I was shocked, appalled by the empty spots in the racks the weeks earlier had been stuffed with AKs, ARs, mini14s and other paramilitary rifles. the only semis still on the racks were SKS and they were going for $500 in some places. finally on my last stop before leaving town I went to my local Black Sheep store and they had SKS for $239, they had 3 left and they even let me take my pick, I grabbed the one with the nicest looking wood which was still pretty ratty and had someones name carved in the side. I took it home and began a scheme to turn it into a EBR that would make even a republican say that it looked dangerous. after doing little to no research I ordered 3 items to alleviate what I saw as the biggest downfalls of the SKS, non modular stock, low ammo cap, and combloc sights. I pre ordered tapco T6 stock and matching magazine from midway and ordered a TS200 rear mounted peep sight from tech sights. the sights arrived within days and after a great deal of work(for me anyway) I got the TS200 mounted. a short 20 round trip to the range and I had it hitting oxygen tanks at 200 yards with about 90% success, well above the accuracy I ever imagined based on the horrible experiences with a WASR 10/63 AK clone I gladly removed from my collection. the peeps make it much easier to get a good sight picture as it increases the sight radius by about 8 inches(it replaces the takedown pin and mounts to hte rear of the receiver and adds an aperture much more accommodating to the front sight than the leaf sights that commies seem to be so fond of. the stock was horribly shrunken, had about 1/8" vertical play in the front and it rattled and wobbled like an airsoft gun. going off a suggestion from a member at SKSboards who claimed that the handguard rail on the tapco interferes with the TS sight, I had the opportunity to buy a ramline stock for $20 that I got with the intention of using the handguard and selling the stock with the tapco handguard to make the money back. the ramline handguard is a bit short but a little solder at each end fixed any lateral play. today the T6 finally arrived and the dang thing is the worst fitted, clunkiest piece of plastic I've ever tried to slap onto a gun, I wouldn't waste that stock on a hi point carbine if that's what it was meant for. I boxed it back up and out of desperation tried the ramline stock... took 7 seconds to fit to the rifle and if I didn't know any better I would say that this gun came with that stock from the factory. the T6 is going to the gun show on saturday, shouldn't be too hard to find a buyer in this market. right now I would have to say though that if you can, get Ramline...leave Crapco on the shelves. as the title implies, this venture was made to see if it was possible to build an evil black rifle at an affordable cost, for my purposes I capped myself at $400. assuming that I can make back the money on the tapco stock I will be at $360 including the high cap mag. in all fairness though, the ramline normally costs $60 retail so the average bargain hunter would be put right at $400 or so, give or take sales tax and shipping. still waiting on the 20 round mag from midway so I'll continue this thread with the final chapter once I get a range review going. __________________ ignore my complete lack of capitalization. I still have no problem correcting your grammar. I never said half the stuff people said I did-Albert Einstein You can't believe everything you read on the internet-Benjamin Franklin Last edited by tahunua001; March 5, 2013 at 02:15 PM.

March 5, 2013, 03:53 PM	#2
tahunua001 Senior Member Join Date: July 21, 2011 Location: Idaho Posts: 7,839	I carelessly forgot to add pictures... for those interested it's a 1959 made Chinese type 56 from factory 26... __________________ ignore my complete lack of capitalization. I still have no problem correcting your grammar. I never said half the stuff people said I did-Albert Einstein You can't believe everything you read on the internet-Benjamin Franklin

March 7, 2013, 11:31 AM	#3
iraiam Senior Member Join Date: September 6, 2012 Location: Lakewood, CO Posts: 1,057	How do you like the Tech Sights? I have been thinking about putting them on my SKS. It's kind of tempting to sell my SKS, it's a 1967 Jianshe armory (security force markings). but I consider it my backup battle rifle so I guess I'll keep it. __________________ NRA Lifetime Member Since 1999 "I ask, sir, what is the militia? It is the whole people except for a few public officials." George Mason

March 7, 2013, 11:41 AM	#4
tahunua001 Senior Member Join Date: July 21, 2011 Location: Idaho Posts: 7,839	it's a push/pull deal with the tech sights. it replaces the takedown pin which on mine had brazed retentions pins so I had to grind it down to remove it so I can't return it to stock if I want. you also have to remove the rear sight leaf. it creates an extra step during disassembly as you have to completely remove the sight when you take the gun down. on the other hand you get. a peep instead of a leaf longer sight radius disassembly does not hurt zero full windage and elevation adjustment off the rear sight without a special tool(though precision screwdrivers or small punches are recommended). I don't know I'm lazy so it makes it a pain to have them but I hate leaf sights more. __________________ ignore my complete lack of capitalization. I still have no problem correcting your grammar. I never said half the stuff people said I did-Albert Einstein You can't believe everything you read on the internet-Benjamin Franklin

March 7, 2013, 01:16 PM	#5
chadio Senior Member Join Date: June 29, 2011 Posts: 931	Nice setup, tahunua!! I enjoy shooting my paratrooper just as much as my "expensive" rifles- __________________ Ex - Navy, Persian Gulf Veteran. Loved shooting the M14, 1911, M60, M2