The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Recieved SKS

Smokey Joe · November 3, 2009, 07:58 PM

are rugged and reliable, Jon E. Eman. They were designed to WORK, with little or no maintenance, in the hands of an illiterate Russian Army conscript. They're built like a brick pizzeria, mostly machined, not stamped like an AK. Russia sold the designs and the tooling to China, and the Chinese ones work just like the Russian ones. Several other countries made them, as well, with some minor variations.

There are 2 warnings with the SKS: (1) Don't try extra-capacity after-market magazines with 'em; most of such mags give problems. If you can't hit what you're after with the 10 rounds in the SKS's magazine (20 rounds in one Chinese model) there are stripper clips available which work almost as fast as a magazine change, and those do work just fine. (2) As noted above, you can get slam-fires with the SKS, actually with any semi-auto rifle that doesn't have a firing pin return spring, even the vaunted M1 Garand. The fix for this is either to have a firing pin return spring installed--there is an outfit that does this; check www.surplusrifles.com for who it is and contact info. Or, you can just keep the firing pin channel in the bolt, clean-clean-clean, so that when you open the bolt and tip the rifle vertical up and then vertical down, you can see the firing pin slide back and forth of its own weight. Slam-fires on the range aren't really a problem unless the slam-firee drops the rifle in surprise while it is still shooting--Now, THAT would be dangerous! But if you are aware that it COULD happen, and just hold the rifle pointed downrange until it stops its nonsense, then it's no big deal.

I had one slam-fire with an SKS--instead of going "Blam!" as normal, it went "Blalam!" and the 3rd round jammed. No big deal. But not something that you want as a regular thing. Took the rifle home and cleaned the firing pin channel more thoroughly, and no problems since.

BTW, with the SKS's specifically, there is a problem if you want to modify it in any way, by either subtraction OR addition. The BATFE rules say that you can have only 10 or fewer of a list of parts if you modify the rifle at all--Thank you very much, President Clinton!--Check www.surplusrifles.com or www.sksboards.com for particulars if you want to do that.

Other than the above, shoot & enjoy. The SKS will never be a tack-driver, but it also will never fail to go bang when you pull the trigger.

November 3, 2009, 07:58 PM	#7
Smokey Joe Senior Member Join Date: July 14, 2001 Location: State of Confusion Posts: 2,106	SKS's... are rugged and reliable, Jon E. Eman. They were designed to WORK, with little or no maintenance, in the hands of an illiterate Russian Army conscript. They're built like a brick pizzeria, mostly machined, not stamped like an AK. Russia sold the designs and the tooling to China, and the Chinese ones work just like the Russian ones. Several other countries made them, as well, with some minor variations. There are 2 warnings with the SKS: (1) Don't try extra-capacity after-market magazines with 'em; most of such mags give problems. If you can't hit what you're after with the 10 rounds in the SKS's magazine (20 rounds in one Chinese model) there are stripper clips available which work almost as fast as a magazine change, and those do work just fine. (2) As noted above, you can get slam-fires with the SKS, actually with any semi-auto rifle that doesn't have a firing pin return spring, even the vaunted M1 Garand. The fix for this is either to have a firing pin return spring installed--there is an outfit that does this; check www.surplusrifles.com for who it is and contact info. Or, you can just keep the firing pin channel in the bolt, clean-clean-clean, so that when you open the bolt and tip the rifle vertical up and then vertical down, you can see the firing pin slide back and forth of its own weight. Slam-fires on the range aren't really a problem unless the slam-firee drops the rifle in surprise while it is still shooting--Now, THAT would be dangerous! But if you are aware that it COULD happen, and just hold the rifle pointed downrange until it stops its nonsense, then it's no big deal. I had one slam-fire with an SKS--instead of going "Blam!" as normal, it went "Blalam!" and the 3rd round jammed. No big deal. But not something that you want as a regular thing. Took the rifle home and cleaned the firing pin channel more thoroughly, and no problems since. BTW, with the SKS's specifically, there is a problem if you want to modify it in any way, by either subtraction OR addition. The BATFE rules say that you can have only 10 or fewer of a list of parts if you modify the rifle at all--Thank you very much, President Clinton!--Check www.surplusrifles.com or www.sksboards.com for particulars if you want to do that. Other than the above, shoot & enjoy. The SKS will never be a tack-driver, but it also will never fail to go bang when you pull the trigger. __________________ God Bless America --Smokey Joe Last edited by Smokey Joe; November 3, 2009 at 08:06 PM. Reason: The usual--had another thought.