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Posted: 2/20/2018 3:27:30 PM EDT
[#1]
Quoted:
I want an SKS. Which models or countries of origin are particularly desireable? I know about AKs and ARs, but no experience with SKS. Side question: - Is there a version of the SKS with a somewhat shorter barrel that also isn’t crap? |
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Posted: 2/20/2018 3:29:16 PM EDT
[#2]
Russian.
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Posted: 2/20/2018 3:31:03 PM EDT
[#3]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Norinco "paratrooper" Yeah but look for heavy threaded barrel, milled receiver and chrome lined bore if you can find it. Its the "Cadillac" of Norincos if you will. |
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Posted: 2/20/2018 3:32:09 PM EDT
[#4]
They are like an AK but worse and almost as expensive.
An AK is like an AR15 but worse, and usually more expensive. 
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Posted: 2/20/2018 3:32:21 PM EDT
[#5]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Russian. |
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Posted: 2/20/2018 3:33:40 PM EDT
[#6]
16.5" Norinco "Paratrooper".
 Be aware that while it may have started out life as a issue Chi-Com .mil weapon none of the "paratrooper" or M (AK mag) versions were .mil issue. |
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Posted: 2/20/2018 3:33:55 PM EDT
[#7]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
They are like an AK but worse and almost as expensive. An AK is like an AR15 but worse, and usually more expensive. |
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Posted: 2/20/2018 3:34:00 PM EDT
[#8]
Best for collecting: Russian
Best for shooting: Chinese The Norinco (Chinese) "Paratrooper" model has a 16.5" bbl instead of the normal 20.5" bbl. "Paratrooper" is simply a marketing term, they weren't actually issued to Chinese "paratroopers". IIWY, I'd get a Chinese SKS and look for one with a milled trigger group. Then send the trigger group off to Kivaari for a nice trigger job. |
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Posted: 2/20/2018 3:34:08 PM EDT
[#9]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
They are like an AK but worse and almost as expensive. An AK is like an AR15 but worse, and usually more expensive. Yeah, at this point, I would skip the SKS. They made a lot of sense in the 80s and 90s when they were getting imported by the container ship load and were cheap. But now, you can build and AR for the same or less. |
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Posted: 2/20/2018 3:35:08 PM EDT
[#10]
Yugos are heavy, but good shooters. Russians are good. Norincos are hit or miss, some are awesome. SKS-Ds and SKS-Ms are cool when they work.
Also, you're at least a decade and a half late. If you buy one drowned in cosmoline, make sure to clean the bolt assembly because if the firing pin stays stuck forward you can get slamfires. Not likely, but possible. |
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Posted: 2/20/2018 3:36:28 PM EDT
[#11]
Yugos are fine, especially if you can get the older M59 model without the grenade launcher. Even with, they're solid guns, just a little front heavy.
Norincos are solid as well. Russians are excellent but pricier. Avoid: anything that looks like it has been drug through a Tapco catalog, Romanian and Albanian examples (collector rifles only, IMHO - price is too high for a shooter). |
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Posted: 2/20/2018 3:38:19 PM EDT
[#12]
Norinco para is the only one I would buy now
The 59/66 is my favorite shooter but they aren't $199 anymore |
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Posted: 2/20/2018 3:41:45 PM EDT
[#13]
After being able to buy them for 99.99 each by the truck load years ago, I could not pay what they want for them today... Last I looked they were going for 600+, hopefully, they have came down a bunch since then..
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Posted: 2/20/2018 3:43:45 PM EDT
[#14]
IMHO original military issue Factory 26 Chinese Type 56 SKS rifles are better shooters overall than the rest of the variants.
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Posted: 2/20/2018 3:47:12 PM EDT
[#15]
I love all things related to SKS rifles. Excellent truck guns, and they are perfect for plinking and deer, hogs or just about whatever you want to use it for.
They are solid, well built rifles. My cousin was an FFL so I bought two Russian SKS rifles from him back in the mid-90's for $120 each. Those were the good days of inexpensive SKS. |
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Posted: 2/20/2018 3:55:22 PM EDT
[#16]
My Norinco Paratrooper.
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Posted: 2/20/2018 4:01:27 PM EDT
[#17]
SKS and not-SKS. I can't recommend the not-SKS either, they're collector-only pieces that regularly draw over $1000 these days, despite being very nice shooting rifles.
 Attached File |
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Posted: 2/20/2018 4:08:20 PM EDT
[#18]
So the “paratrooper” is akin to a “tanker garand?” I’ll pass...
A casual glance on GB shows SKSs selling for as little as $400! 
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Posted: 2/20/2018 4:12:15 PM EDT
[#19]
I just learned in another thread here that only noobs buy SKS rifles.
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Posted: 2/20/2018 4:15:12 PM EDT
[#20]
Quoted:
I want an SKS. |
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Posted: 2/20/2018 4:17:01 PM EDT
[#21]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I just learned in another thread here that only noobs buy SKS rifles.  Edited to add - Off to find this thread you speak of. Sounds like someone in there needs to be corrected. 
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Posted: 2/20/2018 4:17:19 PM EDT
[#22]
Quote HistoryQuoted: why? they are an over priced, shit rifle. |
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Posted: 2/20/2018 4:18:05 PM EDT
[#23]
I wish I had about a couple when they were like $200.
They are fun, but not $600 fun. |
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Posted: 2/20/2018 4:26:11 PM EDT
[#24]
I bought a Norinco when they first imported them in the 80s Had a few but still have my first one. Keep all the aftermarket shit off of them and they run like a clock.
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Posted: 2/20/2018 4:35:43 PM EDT
[#25]
An SKS is an adequate rifle if it's all you have. If you can afford an SKS, you can afford an AK. If you can afford an AK, you can afford an AR.
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Posted: 2/20/2018 4:38:44 PM EDT
[#26]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
An SKS is an adequate rifle if it's all you have. If you can afford an SKS, you can afford an AK. If you can afford an AK, you can afford an AR. |
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Posted: 2/20/2018 4:39:40 PM EDT
[#27]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
16.5" Norinco "Paratrooper". Be aware that while it may have started out life as a issue Chi-Com .mil weapon none of the "paratrooper" or M (AK mag) versions were .mil issue. |
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Posted: 2/20/2018 4:40:42 PM EDT
[#28]
I've got a Russian and love it.
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Posted: 2/20/2018 4:44:25 PM EDT
[#29]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Then send the trigger group off to Kivaari for a nice trigger job. |
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Posted: 2/20/2018 4:45:31 PM EDT
[#30]
Quote HistoryQuoted: They aint pretty, that is for sure, but they just plain work and are solid. Nothing wrong with that at all. |
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Posted: 2/20/2018 6:21:02 PM EDT
[#31]
I have seen pictures in the past of armed conflicts in various shithole African countries which showed “paratrooper” and the AK mag-loaded SKSs in the possession of various “fighters.”.
If Norinco made it, it ended up in some bush war somewhere. |
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Posted: 2/20/2018 6:24:25 PM EDT
[#32]
Russian or early Chinese. Also Yugo models without icky grenade launcher.
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Posted: 2/20/2018 6:34:36 PM EDT
[#33]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
They are like an AK but worse and almost as expensive. An AK is like an AR15 but worse, and usually more expensive. YMMV |
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Posted: 2/20/2018 8:03:17 PM EDT
[#34]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
SKS and not-SKS. I can't recommend the not-SKS either, they're collector-only pieces that regularly draw over $1000 these days, despite being very nice shooting rifles. https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/51323/sksrasheed-458606.JPG |
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Posted: 2/20/2018 8:13:09 PM EDT
[#35]
I've got a Yugoslavian SKS. I know it's not the most desirable of the SKSs but I like it.
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Posted: 2/20/2018 8:15:21 PM EDT
[#36]
An excuse to post an old pic.
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Posted: 2/20/2018 8:22:56 PM EDT
[#37]
Quoted:
Yugos are fine, especially if you can get the older M59 model without the grenade launcher. Even with, they're solid guns, just a little front heavy. Norincos are solid as well. Russians are excellent but pricier. Avoid: anything that looks like it has been drug through a Tapco catalog, Romanian and Albanian examples (collector rifles only, IMHO - price is too high for a shooter). |
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Posted: 2/20/2018 11:00:31 PM EDT
[#38]
Get a 59/66. Ive had several that shot 2 inch 5 shot groups at 100 meters. That was with me using the standard iron sights. Im sure if I had a optic I could have shot 1 moa.
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Posted: 2/20/2018 11:04:38 PM EDT
[#39]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I've been debating doing this to my Russian. That good? |
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Posted: 2/20/2018 11:07:55 PM EDT
[#40]
I love my norinco.
Wish I would have picked up a D or M before prices got stupid. Honestly though, at this point unless you’re just dead set on getting one, there are better options out there for the price point. They made sense when they were $100 or less. For the price one commands, you could get an AR or AK variant. |
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Posted: 2/20/2018 11:14:39 PM EDT
[#41]
While we're on the subject, where can I find quality stripper clips for an SKS nowadays?
I got both of mine back when they were dirt cheap, and the stripper clips were high quality. Looks like all the clips are garbage now. |
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Posted: 2/20/2018 11:21:37 PM EDT
[#42]
One of the first rifles I ever shot was a Russian SKS Tula rearsenal. That being said I could not bring myself to buy one today when you could get a like-new SKS for $99-130 years ago.
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Posted: 2/20/2018 11:38:03 PM EDT
[#43]
I've got a Norinco back around 1988 or 1989. Paid $69. Killed about 50 deer with it and several hogs. My daughter used it a while and killed probably 15 deer with it. I can count on one hand the number of times it's hung up. Runs flawlessly nearly every time. One of my best friends bought an AR in 300 blackout this year for his kids to hunt with. He took it range and sighed it in and then went hunting. He had a massive ten point in the plot munching on grass with his boy drawn down on him and the POS wouldn't fire. He was in a stand with windows so he shut the one that was open and got on the line with the shop that sold it to him. The guy told him to slam the bolt shut and stuff and it still wouldn't fire. He paid $1000 for that AR and would have traded me outright for my SKS and gave me $100 to boot. I gave him that "you crazy fool" look. Ain't seen many grown men cry, but he had a tear in his eye that day. Would have been the biggest deer he had ever killed.
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Posted: 2/20/2018 11:39:10 PM EDT
[#44]
I grew up shooting my dad's Tula SKS. I bought a couple Yugo SKSs in college and sold them. I finally picked up a Chinese SKS for $300 and it shoots better than any of them. 20" barrel standard. I took it to the range a couple weeks ago and was blasting a steel plate at 400 yards. Excellent gun, fun stuff.
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Posted: 2/20/2018 11:42:12 PM EDT
[#45]
Love my Yugo. It's my favorite centerfire rifle to shoot with irons.
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Posted: 2/20/2018 11:54:14 PM EDT
[#46]
Quote HistoryQuoted: What's wrong with the M59 Grenade Launcher? Mine still has he launcher and I've never really noticed that it made the rifle shoot worse.t |
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Posted: 2/21/2018 12:33:35 AM EDT
[#47]
I’ve owned quite a few AKs and ARs, just wanted an SKS. Given the prices of AKs and SKSs, it makes more sense to pick up a CMP garand for $730 and spend a little more on ammo.
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Posted: 2/21/2018 12:40:15 AM EDT
[#48]
I always forget that most of you live in Mogadishu.
why can't a person want a gun because it's a pleasure to own or shoot? |
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Posted: 2/21/2018 12:40:52 AM EDT
[#49]
Factory /26\ and /626\ were made for the Chinese Military. Both are good shooters.
Russians are good, however, no chrome lined bore. If you have one at the range, a Nam vet will pick you out fast. I had one tell me unlike the AK, the 20" SKS has more of a "demoralizing boom". Out of all the rifles I have owned, I regret selling both my /26\ and my Norinco Hunter. |
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Posted: 2/21/2018 12:41:28 AM EDT
[#50]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I've owned quite a few AKs and ARs, just wanted an SKS. Given the prices of AKs and SKSs, it makes more sense to pick up a CMP garand for $730 and spend a little more on ammo. |
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