Posted: 5/16/2006 3:45:00 PM EDT
I just got my nice new Yugo SKS and I'm dying to fix the mag issue. I'd really like to modify the rifle to use AK mags as opposed to those shitty duckbill looking ones. I've heard of it being done. I just need to know where to go from here. Is it something I can do or is the a smith somewhere who can do it? Assistance appreciated.
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| You bought a good rifle and any attenpt to change it will only be a disapointment. If you wanted an AK you should have bought an AK. Enjoy the SKS for the rifle that it is, a more reliably and accrate gun than the AK. So what if it doesn't hold 30 rounds at a time the stripper clips can load the thing damn fast. |
the norninco D model is designed to use AK mags, it has a totally different magazine setup than your yugo. |
| Ok, I know I bought an SKS. I would like to change it to use AK mags. Call it a project I would like to try on a cheap gun. If I fuck it up I won't cry. I already have an AK clone so that's not an issue. Consider it like the guy who would put monster tires on a Jeep. If he wanted a Bigfoot he could have bought one, he just did it to see if he could. |
More power to you but in my experience SKS's are best left stock. |
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isnt an AK mag wider than the SKS well anyways? if that's the case it'd be one hell of a hack job to get some to fix without making a new receiver...then i'd be worried about relibility issues. those chinese ones have a special fun feature that they use AK mags. the yugo's special fun feature is that grenade launcher on the end. 
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1. It cannot be done legally. Under Sec. 922(r) you'd have to replace a ton of parts (more than there are replacements for) with "USA" made and marked parts, or you will have assembled a gun in violation of 922r and be up for 10 years in federal "pound me in the ass" prison. Even if you use a Tapco US stock, a US operating rod, and an US gas piston, you're still not even close. 2. It can only rarely be done competently. I have an SKS-M (16 inch version of the "d" imported through 1994). There are, as I count them, 8 serious machining operations to the receiver, and a complete "weld on" rework of the front end of the trigger group. Several machining operations are necessary on the bolt itself, as well. These machining operations are "major" enough and remove enough metal that you _will_ need to re-heat treat, draw and temper the receiver -- but wait -- doing so must occur without the barrel attached. (If the barrel is attached, you have to be super careful or you can can warp the barrel). You'll have to remove the bolt stop and weld in steel in its place. Its not a small project. 3. It will not likely be possible to make the gun perform reliably. On my SKS-M, even slightly out of spec magazines can fuck up in terms of feeding, etc. Most mags are in spec, but there is very little room for even the slightest fuck up. 4. It cannot be done economically. Even if your efforts will not result in an unreliable rifle that could land you in jail for a 922r violation, the work necessary to do a good conversion will cost you far more than the original cost of the rifle, and your total out of pocket will greatly exceed the expense of a good AK clone in any event. An SKS is an SKS. They can be fed reliably, quickly, and with great reliability. But an SKS is not an AK, and the closest you can get is one of the -M models that were done up right in the factory. |