Best Ak or SKS available

[crazychicken]

If FRNs were not an issue:

SKS vs AK

Of either, or both, which is the best manufacturer to own. Even if it is one AK and one SKS.

I have never owned either one.

CC

[Gaillo]

I've owned several of both. Cosmetically, I like Russian SKS rifles a bit more than Chinese... but functionally they're identical. I've owned Bulgarian, Chinese, and Egyptian (MAADI) AK's, they all looked pretty cheap and crappy, but the Egyptian stole the show for just plain being UUUUGLY! ;) Again, no difference functionally... they were all minimally accurate and utterly reliable.

My preference goes to the SKS, other than lacking removable magazines I just liked them better overall. The mechanism is simpler, the fit/finish seemed better, and I liked the "feel" and appearance better too. It might just be me, but it seemed like I shot the SKS better too. However, NONE of my AK or SKS rifles ever did better than about 3 or 4 MOA. One thing... if you go the SKS route, DO NOT install a 30 round mag - nothing but trouble. Stick with the factory 10 round, or an add-on 20 round.

I've heard that Vector and Arsenal (both U.S. made) AK's are the best you can get, but I've never personally seen or shot one.

[steyr_m]

Gaillo,

I'm looking at buying my 1st SKS. There's tonnes of surplus ammo here; but it's corrosive. Have you used corrosive ammo? If so, can you give some [comprehensive] cleaning advice? I'm a total newbie with cleaning rifles that has fired them.

[LuckyStrike]

I have a yugo sks, seems decent.

SKS aren't nearly as good IMO as AK's, there is a reason why they were replaced, and fixed 10round capacity isn't really practical on a gun that isn't super accurate.

I have some WASR-10's and even though they are bottom of the barrel basically in AK quality, they are still great guns as far as I'm concerned.

The funnest gun I've shot is the Draco AK pistol, loud as hell, shoots fire 18" out of the barrel. It's a blast and they are super cheap. For some reason the Draco seems to be better build quality as well, no mag wobble (I guess they weren't milled low cap like the WASR) but also the wood hand grip is on tighter and better than the WASR.

[Gaillo]

Gaillo,

I'm looking at buying my 1st SKS. There's tonnes of surplus ammo here; but it's corrosive. Have you used corrosive ammo? If so, can you give some [comprehensive] cleaning advice? I'm a total newbie with cleaning rifles that has fired them.

I never shot anything in my Com-Bloc rifles but the Russian military surplus laquered green/gray FMJ steel-cased stuff. I don't know if it is corrosive or not, I kind of doubt it... I never did anything out of the ordinary with cleaning of those guns, and never had bore problems.

[hoarder]

Had a poly technologies SKS, decided I hate SKS. If you're going to buy something that clumsy (fat stock) to carry, get a M1A.
AK and SKS have about equal accuracy in general. The AK is more reliable and more ergonomic (not that either one is ergonomic). AK is just plain more fun. Mine's a Romanian SAR1, not top of the line but inexpensive, lightweight and reliable.

[big country]

The goal is to neutralize the salts - just spray down the rifle with a soapy water solution after shooting it. Don't wait too long after shooting to do this - talking like 30 minutes. Make sure to clean her as usual when you get her home. For an AK - cant see the reason to buy corrosive unless it is long term storage. x39 is cheap enough (comparatively).

I've carry a small spray bottle with windex (with ammonia) in my range bag to spray down the chamber/barrel and over the action. I spray it after I'm done shooting but before I take it home to clean. The ammonia is supposedly what neutralizes the salts. I'm sure soapy water or whatever else would be fine too.

[steyr_m]

forget the parade rifle (SKS) - sure it shoots - but AK's are where it's at.


I live in Canada. I'm not allowed to own an AK, so I stick with the SKS. Trying to buck the system here can get you in deep trouble. Thanks for the info on cleaning corrosive ammo.

[Awoke]

Steyr, I shoot thousands of corrosive rounds through my SKS. I never need to use anything besides Gunzilla gun oil on it.
I store it in a faily moist basement (Not extremely damp, but there is moisture), and with the Gunzilla, I never get a spot of corrosion.

That stuff is an all-in-one cleaner and oil. It's awesome.

CanadaAmmo.com has Non-corrosive SKS ammo for sale right now for $499 for 1200 rounds. Works out to about 41 cents per round. Hard to tell looking at the picture, but they look like soft points too, instead of FMJ.
Corrosive is typically around 18 cents a round. (Box of 1200 for $225 or so)

[Dogman]

Steyr, I shoot thousands of corrosive rounds through my SKS. I never need to use anything besides Gunzilla gun oil on it.
I store it in a faily moist basement (Not extremely damp, but there is moisture), and with the Gunzilla, I never get a spot of corrosion.

That stuff is an all-in-one cleaner and oil. It's awesome.

CanadaAmmo.com has Non-corrosive SKS ammo for sale right now for $499 for 1200 rounds. Works out to about 41 cents per round. Hard to tell looking at the picture, but they look like soft points too, instead of FMJ.
Corrosive is typically around 18 cents a round. (Box of 1200 for $225 or so)

Agree!
Corrosive ammo is not a problem if you give the gun a good cleaning after shooting it. The problems develop if the gun is shot and put up after without cleaning for long periods of time, and the more humid it is the faster the barrel will rust.

[Awoke]

Check out the VZ58 - Canada is a big market for them.

VZ are really nice guns, nice shooting, with minimum weight and recoil, but they are Restricted in Canada. If Styer buys one of those, he can only legally shoot it at a certified Gun Range.

With an SKS, they are Non-restricted, so he can take it in the woods camping ro hunting, etc. Same round, same low recoil, but they're longer and heavier. (I know you know all this, I'm just sayin...)

[Rebel Yarr]

Ahh did not know that. I only read that lots of canadians love them and that the big after market manufacturer for VZ58 items is in CAN. That stinks ;/

[skid]

For not much more than the SKS get the Norinco M-14 in 308. They go for around $400 in Canada, have a forged receiver and chrome barrel. I have both types of rifles and both can be used for hunting, but are limited to 5 rounds. My M-14 has a rivet installed in the 20 round magazine to prevent loading more than 5 rounds.

I looked pretty hard at the VZ58 with the 30 round banana magazine, but didn't pull the trigger on that purchase.

[steyr_m]

Check out the VZ58 - Canada is a big market for them.

Yeah, I looked at the VZ58 and like Awoke said, it is restricted. I'm looking for an SKS so I can have a back-up rifle for my AR when SHTF. Around $500 will get me a rifle and about 1,000 rounds. Can't beat that...

[LastResort]

Good friend of mine just bought a very clean russian SKS from a small local gunshop. Way nicer looking than the chinese version. They were also blowing out the low end ammo $199 for 1200 rounds.;D

[midnight rambler]

For the SKS get the Russian SKS with the bolt which is still 'in the white'; the Russian SKS rifles with the black bolts are the arsenal re-worked rifles. The only reliable 30 round fixed mag for the SKS is the Norinco Red Star versions (stamped star on both sides, the star is often painted red) which you can find going for $75 and up on gunjoker. With the SKS rifle's fixed mag and bolt hold-open device it is faster to reload than an AK and it is more accurate than an AK.

For the AK, the best stamped receiver version is the Norinco Type 56S, however the early Norinco MAK-90 is identical to the Type 56S except it has a butthole stock to overcome the '89 import ban (the later MAK-90 AKs had the rounded receiver to accommodate the butthole stock, these are much less desirable). I suggest you concern yourself with any MAK-90 being 922r compliant IF it has a standard buttstock. The Type 56S and the MAK-90 are stamped and have 1.5mm thick receivers rather than the standard 1mm thick on all others (except the Yugo, but it's a non-standard oddball which won't accept some aftermarket parts). For a standard 1mm thickness stamped receiver there's the very nice Bulgarian made Arsenal AKs and the equally as nice Hungarian SA-85 along with the recently imported Arsenal Russian AKs (NOTE: these Russian AKs have the requisite dimples in the sides of the receiver to prevent mag wobble while the cheaper Russian AKs don't). A lot of people prefer the milled receiver AKs however those are ~0.5# heavier with no real advantage over the 1.5mm receiver Norinco AKs (some consider the 1.5mm stamped superior to the milled since it will flex more and be conceivably less likely to crack over the long run - but then how many people are going to shoot an AK over 100k rounds??).

When the DoD buys AKs in bulk (for stirring the shit), guess which ones they get? The Norinco Type 56S due to it being of known quality.

[SLV^GLD]

except it has a butthole stock

And all this time I've been calling them thumbhole stocks.
Great info and a good chuckle.

[midnight rambler]

And all this time I've been calling them thumbhole stocks.
Great info and a good chuckle.

It's named in honor of President Butthole hisself, G.H.W. Bush.

[steyr_m]

It's named in honor of President Butthole hisself, G.H.W. Bush.

Yeah, but BHO isn't much different than GHWB. If you could transport to the 60's you'd say LBJ was even worse than the two. If you could transport to the 30's you'd say FDR was even worse. If you could go to the 1860's, you'd say that Lincoln was even.............

[midnight rambler]

Yeah, but BHO isn't much different than GHWB. If you could transport to the 60's you'd say LBJ was even worse than the two. If you could transport to the 30's you'd say FDR was even worse. If you could go to the 1860's, you'd say that Lincoln was even.............

But President 0bunghole hasn't made a colossal gun grab via a Presidential decree like Bush 1 did, at least not yet. Without Bush 1's gun grab of '89 we'd have never had such a thing as butthole stocks on rifles such as the AK, FAL, etc.