I am looking for a truck gun.  I have heard mentioned that the Yugo SKS does not have a chrome bore.  Does this mean that the other country manufacture SKS' do have chrome bores?  I saw a new unfired Yugo in a gun store today for $159 (with the cosmoline removed!).  Is this a reasonable price?  The gun show is coming to town in a couple weeks and I wonder if I should wait?  I was considering getting an M44 but the SKS sounds a lot funner for the shoulder.  Will the SKS take a deer in a pinch with the lower powered round?

Is any non-corrosive ammo available?

Thanks for any advice!

You are correct for the most part.  Yugos do not have chromed bores or chambers, but most other SKS's do.   (The only other non-chromed you'll find out there are Russian SKS's made before, lets see, I think 1953 was the change).

I'd go with a Chinese SKS, and drop it in one of the Vietnam era bakelite sks stocks for a truck gun.  

If you're really feeling ambitious, have the SKS bead blasted and spray it with one of the "bake-on" finishes from Brownells.


To answer your other question, balistically the 7.62x39 round is similar to a 30-30 Winchester.  I would use US made soft-point ammo instead of military FMJ during hunting season (besides your state probably has laws limiting use of fmj anyway) and limit shots to about 150 yards, as one would with a 30-30.

On the up side the price on the Yugo is not bad if in excellent condition.  The Yugo also has a teak wood stock that if treated with boat grade teak oil, should hold up to weather well.  It will be a bit more accurate than a chrome bore and will only require a bit more maintainance.  All current commercial ammo is non corrosive, including wolf, silverbear, barnaul.  Our own in house Arfcom tests have shown that barnaul is the most accurate of all brands of ammo available in the US at present.

I went ahead and bought the Yugo, which is graded as excellent.  I look forward to shooting it after cleaning all the cosmoline out.  I am curious as to which ammo will best match the sights?  Wolf makes a 122gr HP as well as FMJ round.  The gunstore clerk said the HP really didn't expand any more than the FMJ, although he has been wrong before.  Wolf also makes a 154gr SP.  What would be the better round for predator control and deer hunting in an emergency?

The soft point is better for hunting.  The FMJ and HP in the 122 to 124gr range is the mil standard.  Barnaul, the red white and blue box with the hunter on it, will be the most accurate ammo.  Wolf is however just fine with probably 3-4" groups or better at 100.  Barnaul will be half that size do to better QC.