Should I buy an SKS now?

[dyl]

I got the impression that most of the panic was focused towards AR and AK rifles yet the SKS are being snatched up.

I've had my eye on an SKS after a successful hunt with a borrowed one before this craziness but then prices shot up.

I finally have the chance to purchase one but will the prices go down you think? or will they be unavailable later?

Your assessments please.

[Alabama Shooter]

Standard SKS rifles are not on the ban list legislation.

[CUBAN REDNECK]

Sure, go ahead. Good deer rifle, home protection and general shooting. Even better if you can get the SKS that takes AK mags.

[WildBill45]

Go ahead, it is a nice rifle. These days it is better to get it before it is banned, and the first part of any ban is never the last part ... trust me!

[tahunua001]

stock SKS are not covered by the proposed ban but the SKS can easily be modified to take higher capacity, quick detachable magazines which given the hysteria, probably means that once a person has given up trying to find the usual suspects turns to one that can be modified to do most of the scary stuff that they can which the SKS does quite well. I bought mine for $239 at the height of the scare, the same shop still has them for that price, if you shop hard enough you'll find a shop somewhere that values it's customers enough to refuse to gauge like the rest of them, gunbroker is full of SKS for not great but not horrible prices.

[dyl]

Price - yes that's my greatest concern right now. I have the chance to get one online at around $400 when all is said and done including FFL transfer. Believe it or not, the prices from a FTF sale are typically worse in my town.

I feel like my options are:

1) buy now. Either prices go down later and I kick myself after the scare is over

2) wait and my online source may dry up (I don't like doing auction sites) either prices don't go down or they do and I buy then.


I also have a suspicion that those who bought an SKS when it is expensive won't want to sell it cheap in a FTF deal.

[Hairbag]

The prices are going up on the sks too! The norinco M & D's are getting pretty popular and $$$$$$. SAMCO global arms has nice sks's from what I've read. I ordered a "new condition" yugo sks from them a month ago(399) and they still have not shipped so you will have to wait. now that same gun is $70 more.

[pgpipefitter]

SKS will cost you around $400 + - and ammo is going up fast

[volkstrm]

You will be lucky if you can find a SKS now & if you can you will pay big bucks $$$ for it. As far as ammo for it 7.62x39 good luck finding it. I have a SKS sporter with the thumbhole stock that takes reg ak mag not the duck beak mags. I am thinking of selling it. I have got this SKS new the day before the AWB in 1994. I only have like 300-500 rounds in it.(have to look in my log book) still have the two 5 round mags that came with it. Its a great shooter & gun but I have a few SKS'S & AK 47's & 74's & live in PA so I don't shoot it anymore really. Maybe now would be the time to sell it. Don't know. Have ammo to go with it also. I need to make room in the safe anyway to much stuff in there.

[Ifishsum]

I don't think there are big numbers being imported anymore, so it's not likely they're going to get a whole lot cheaper. $250-300 seemed to be about the lowest pre-panic prices, and $400 isn't a bad price for some specimens, especially in the current market. They will always be around though, too many of them in circulation to go away. Might get a bit cheaper but might not.

Wish I had bought several when I bought mine 8 years ago.

[L_Killkenny]

IMO, prices that go up have a problem ever coming back down all the way. Doesn't matter if it's gas, guns or other commodities. When SKS's were $100 everybody screamed when they jumped to $200 under Clinton. The scare on em subsided and we saw some price drop but we never saw $100 SKS's again (the odd "deal" not withstanding). Same with AK's, mini's, etc etc. So if you're wanting any gun today you're gonna pay an inflated price but to be realistic the odds of seeing prices drop back down to what they were 6 months ago is slim.

Up 100%, might see it down to only 50% in a few months. Then again, maybe not.

As for the SKS specifically? No way in hell would I spend the money they wanted for em 6 months or a year ago let alone the panic pricing you see on em today.

[iraiam]

I doubt that the SKS prices will ever come down all that much, The rifle is not in production anywhere that I am aware of so supply will not increase.

Unless a huge cache of SKS rifles is let loose on the market, then it's going to cost whatever the going rate is.

[Hairbag]

The value of a sks is going to be a big question mark. They are going up in price because for one important reason you can easily and quickly load 10rd stripper clips faster than you can swap out a 10rd mag(if a 10rd mag cap becomes law) stripper clips are not a automated feeding device and hence the sks might be very ban friendly. Just take at look at the price of sks stripper clip they are going up up and up everyday. I bought a 1000 clips for pennies each now they are hitting $1 a clip. When i go to the range i can carry alot of ammo on clips and they take up no room at all in my range bag. If you have a sks buy stripper clips they are going to be $$$$ if you wait. 25cents to $1 a stripper clip $20-$30 for a 10rd mag a no brainer. The guys buying sks for $800 most likely live in a state that is under the threat of a high cap mag ban. The sks is gold to them they are driving up the prices.

[The Great Mahoo]

I've long wanted an SKS, but its been down on the list, so to speak. I kept putting off the purchase for when I had more money or I just wanted something more when I did have the cash. I went to a gun show this past weekend and the average price was about $500. Makes me wish I had laid out the $300 at the previous show 2 months ago.

One day....

[IamLegend]

I remember years ago when my local gun shop had crates of sks's and was selling them for $89

[farmboy]

Yep. Me, too.

I bought 5 of 'em.

[Justice06RR]

^ Those were the good ol' days, when they had Mosin Nagants for $89 too, and AK's were $300.

[tobnpr]

When all is said and done, the prices will come down.

Most have little to no "collectible" value- so their worth should be determined relative to modern fireararms.

Depends if you really have a "need" now, or don't mind waiting.

Although I can't get one now, eventually I will be able to get something along the lines of a Mini-14, or an AR (yes...) for $700-$900 after the hysteria and hype subside. So- why would I buy a minute of barn door SKS for $500??

Me, I've got enough confidence that, while some changes may take place in the areas of registration, or even high capacity mags, that semi-autos will not be affected. All the guys buying that either don't really need them, or are stockpiling- at inflated prices...will be looking to unload them at a loss when the markets normalize. May take a few months, or many months, depending on how long this is debated by Congress, but my money is on the end result of very little changing.

Despite a very partisan and far-left Inaugural speech, there remains a system of checks and balances that our President grudgingly acknowledges- which will stop him in his tracks.

[Ignition Override]

The number of SKS pages on Gunbroker more than doubled in the last week, from four to nine pages.

Despite many people wanting a scalper prices for theirs (maybe cash for a glamorous AR after the panic cools?), there were at least several listed or bid up to about $350-425.

If we consider that back in early '08 many prices were $300, the SKS is a steal right now, compared to any fairly similar semi-auto sporting gun.
And with a $50 Tech Sight (No perm. alteration required), the accuracy might surprise people.

Watching "Brandon401401" or "hickok45" in a free stance, hitting a gong from o 200/300 yards in a free stance with their iron sight AK, imagine the SKS' potential.

[dmckean44]

So- why would I buy a minute of barn door SKS for $500??

Sheesh. My Yugo 59/66 is every bit as accurate as my ARs.

[Hairbag]

I have to respectfully disagree with you Tobnpr. Regardless of what the President or congress does its the media and far left anti-gun people that are pushing for this. I keep saying this over and over a State does not need congress or the President to enact anti-gun laws just take a look at NY or ask ANY gun owner on this board who lives in NY what just happened. They have been "gutted" and it had NOTHING TO DO WITH CONGRESS they don't need to wait for Fed laws they can act on their own. You can bet the farm that if someone farts with a AR it will be on the news. The million dollar question is "where do you live" is whats going to matter and how your local goverment will react to media and anti-gun hysteria. SMART people are hedging their bets on buying a sks because it is "ban friendly" if you live in a state that MIGHT go to a 10rd mag or the possiblity that our goverment just might pass a 10rd mag law the sks will and does make sense. IF it does come down to a 10rd mag I would rather have a rifle that uses 10rd stripper clips then a bulky ar or ak mag that you can only put 10rds in. It kinda negates having a magazine. My wife can fit 30rds of 7.62x39 on sks stripper clips in her purse if she wanted too. Check out how much a sks stripper cost right now they are up to $1 a strip.

[eastex]

If you find one with a milled receiver grab it.

[Hairbag]

I have. Now just sit back and see all the tactical and aftermarket stuff that they will start to make for the sks now that half the counrty is buying them they can't build 922r parts fast enough! TAPCO is king for now lol

[Greguw]

All the SKS's have milled receivers ... The Russian 1950's sks are much nicer firearm then the later models . Around 1956 57 Russian stopped manufacturing but it seems they were providing parts for the Chinese SKS .
I have 2 Russian and a early Chinese and it has Russian parts that are factory serial numbered .
I also have a 100 dollar Yugo shooter and its a great beater gun , too bad the days of cheap military guns have gone away .

[xnaerughiazk]

don't you find the 7.62x39 a rather anemic cartridge? What will they penetrate deer hide and teeshirts? I guess, if you are comparing it to 223?