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SKS: Good Enough or Get You Killed?

I have a ChiCom SKS that came from Vietnam and sat in Canada for 20 years before being legal to come into the US (at least that's what was mentioned from Classic Firearms from which I purchased it from). I still have to clean off the ton of cosmoline it came packed in.
 
I’ve had a few; Russian, Chinese, and a couple of Yugos (both a 59 and a 59/66).

They were mostly fairly accurate, and reliable.

Still wish I had the Norinco Paratrooper; that was a handy little rifle, but a buddy that collects SKS’s wanted it badly...I believe he has an example from every country that made them, with the possible exception of North Korea.
 
My SKS was the first surplus gun I ever purchased. It is a Norinco that was advertised as being issued during the Korean or Vietnam era, before being stored in Estonia for a few decades. From what I can tell, it was stored in a vat of cosmoline instead of a rifle crate.

After I cleaned it up, I took it to the range to see what I was working with. Not only did it function flawlessly, the damn thing was still zeroed at 100 yards. I briefly modded it to accept detachable 20 or 30 round magazines, but decided that I prefer the stripper clip reloading system and re-installed the original magazine.

Unless you plan on fighting something that can withstand 10 shots of 7.62x39, and a possible bayonetting, then I wouldn't hesitate to say that a properly maintained SKS is still a decent battle rifle.
 
I have a friend that bought a couple of them for his boys as starter rifles. Where they hunted deer, it was pretty brushy, and you really didn't have any shots over 100 yards. He didn't get upset when they scratched up the stocks, dropped the rifles in the mud, or just didn't clean them very well. They were cheap, but tough. And the first couple of years those boys hunted with them, they brought home deer. Since then, they've "graduated" to better and nicer hunting rifles, but their sks's are still fun "plinkers".
 
I bought an unissued Chinese SKS in the early 90's for $89.00
It also came with a couple hundred rounds of Lapua 7.62x39. Son and I took it out and shot it and were amazed at how accurate and reliable it was. Using the open sights offhand we were able to make head shots on a silhouette target at 75 yards. I carried it coyote hunting for several years. It has been a safe queen now for a decade. Maybe I should take it to the range, as I recall there are 500 rounds of brass cased rounds setting in an ammo can. 😁
 
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