The way to field strip it is to lift the small lever at the back of the dust cover and pull out the pin. The dust cover will lift off and the bolt and carrier will be accessible to be removed.
Not long ago, conversation around the fireplace drifted toward the subject of all-around rifles. I like these moments because my grandson is old enough to shoot, and he is interested in firearms but hasn’t heard it all before. I enjoy a number of interesting rifles including the M1A1 and the AR-15. A certain place in my heart belongs to the Winchester 1895.
But if you are on a strict budget but need an all around pest, deer, hog, and defense rifle, it is difficult to beat the SKS rifle.The SKS rifle, above, compared to a top-grade AR-15 rifle. The author respectfully submits that the SKS is a better hunting rifle. It is also much less expensive than the AR-15.These rifles were once sold for a pittance at less than $200.
The price has crept up a bit, but the value remains because the SKS is a great brush gun. The inexpensive guns are gone from the shelf but certainly haven’t disappeared. They are in the lockers, safes, and closets of those that appreciate them.
They were purchased and kept rather than traded and that means something. The rifle is well worth its modest cost.
While the days of dirt-cheap ammunition are also gone, 7.62x39mm ammunition remains affordable and better loads are available than ever before.The SKS is a bargain when you consider the facts. Here is a military-grade rifle that is reliable, handy, and which fires a powerful cartridge. The magazine holds 10 rounds. Ten accurate and rapidly fired rounds will handle most problems I am aware of and will make a running coyote turn on the coals! Unlike low cost commercial guns in which corners are cut, the SKS really is all it claims—a reliable military rifle made of good material.The Siminov rifle is less troublesome than many rifles that may be more powerful and more accurate but are also much more expensive. Most of the SKS rifles feature chrome plated bores.
This adds up to a rifle well suited to riding in the truck, boat or airboat. The Hornady A Max is also offered as the Zombie Max load.
It gives good results in both the SKS and the AK-47 rifle.The furniture is simple wood with a one-piece stock. The top receiver cover is readily removed for routine maintenance. The rifle needs an occasional detail strip for cleaning with special attention to the firing pin channel. The gas tube rides above the barrel. As long as non-corrosive ammunition is used, the SKS rifle will remain reliable and resists corrosion well. I would never add one of the aftermarket extended magazines.
They are problematical in function and detract from the rifle’s handling in my opinion.The SKS rifle was designed and developed in the old Soviet Union. It was introduced in 1945 and replaced shortly after by the AK-47 rifle. Although the SKS used an intermediate cartridge in common with the new breed of assault rifle, the design was really traditional styling. This confluence of design worked well. While outclassed by later developments, the rifle is sturdy, inexpensive to manufacture, and effective. The rear sight of the SKS may be adjusted in increments to give good elevation adjustment.The SKS was kept in series production just in case the AK did not prove viable.
The SKS was manufactured in many Soviet satellite nations. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the former communist nations sent the rifles to America for hard cash. The Chinese followed suit with a Norinco produced version. While many of the Soviet arms have become recreational shooters, and even curiosities, the SKS has seen a great deal of use as a sporting rifle.The overall length of the SKS rifle is about 40 inches, handy enough, and it weighs eight pounds.
It may be heavy for the cartridge, but this weight helps soak up recoil. The rifle is a pleasure to use and fire, inviting both practice and recreational shooting. The safety lever is located on the rear right hand ledge of the trigger guard. Down is on and up is safe.To load the rifle, lock the bolt to the rear. It is easy to load the rifle with stripper clips but just as easy to load the 10 round magazine one cartridge at a time.
You may load the magazine and carefully press the top cartridge down and leave the rifle chamber empty if desired. No matter what the long gun I keep the chamber empty when the firearm is at ready in the home or truck. Simply rack the bolt to make the rifle ready to fire.Each press of the trigger fires the rifle. The rifle is cycled by the gas system. Firing gas is bled off by a small tappet that cycles the action, just like the M1 Garand. The rifle cycles, the trigger resets, and another press of the trigger fires the rifle again. The SKS features an old style ladder-type rear sight that is adjustable for elevation and a hooded post front sight.
The SKS rifle is often used by those in a tight economic situation, and the rifle must be a do-it-all type of firearm. The SKS compared to the author’s Savage 99 rifle. The Savage is more powerful and more accurate, but the SKS might be the better hog gun and perhaps just as good a choice for anything inside of 100 yards.Quite a few have pressed the cartridge into service as a hunting cartridge and found that it will fill the bill within its limitations. The nominal velocity of the 123-grain FMJ loading is 2300 fps. When you canvas the possibilities of a cartridge, you have to look past the original loading. As an example, the 35-grain case capacity of the 7.62 x 39mm cartridge almost rates it as an under-bore cartridge.By the same token, the.30-30 Winchester, a cartridge the 7.62x39mm is often compared to, may be termed over bore because the.30-30 cannot take advantage of its case capacity.
The.30-30 was designed for the earliest smokeless powders. They were not terribly efficient. By careful handloading, you may safely increase the velocity of the 7.62x39mm 123-grain bullet by 50 fps or more.Using the Hornady A Max bullet, you have created a respectable hunting load. But there is more—you may also handload a 150-grain-grain bullet to about 2200 fps.
This is.30-30 territory, but with a shorter barrel. The Cor Bon 150-grain Hunter load pushes a 150-grain JSP to 2300 fps from my Norinco SKS. The general run of 150-grain.30-30 WCF loads break about 2250 fps or a little less. The SKS rifle, above, compared to a top-grade AR-15 rifle.
The author respectfully submits that the SKS is a better hunting rifle. It is also much less expensive than the AR-15.The 7.62×39 mm cartridge is actually hotter than the.30-30, and in the end, a more efficient cartridge—at least with bullets of less than 150-grains. However—if you wish, you may load a particularly effective heavyweight load using a 180-grain JSP at about 900 fps.
The action will not function, but the load is accurate and about as quite as a.22. There is no supersonic crack. This is a great load for pests and short-range varmints.My favorite handload revolves around IMR 4198 powder and the Hornady 123-grain bullet loaded to an overall length of 2.930 for 2250 fps. In factory ammunition there are good choices. Among the most accurate is the Fiocchi 123-grain FMJ loading.This doesn’t mean you must reload the cartridge to get the most out of it, far from it. Handloading simply makes for a more versatile rifle.
If you do not wish to roll your own ammunition, you may fire the inexpensive Wolf loads for 99% of your shooting and hunt with the Cor Bon load. This information simply illustrates the potential of the cartridge.
The comparison is often made to the.30-30 WCF and lets just state that the SKS gives up nothing to the lever gun in ballistics. The Winchester 94 rifle is usually more accurate than the SKS however. The Fiocchi loading is clean burning and accurate.In modern ammunition there are several loads that are reliable, use a quality expanding bullet, and which exhibit the best accuracy possible from the SKS platform. The Hornady steel cased A Max is one. The Winchester 123-grain JSP is another.
Each is as accurate as possible in the system. And that is the bottom line and the limiting factor of the SKS rifle, accuracy. With a good tight rifle with the stock properly fitted and the hardware tight, a quality SKS rifle should demonstrate 3.0 MOA with these loads.I have fired rougher examples that did well to make an 8-inch group but they were functional. And, although I have heard of such rifles, I have yet to meet and shoot the SKS rifle that will deliver a group better than three inches at 100 yards.
Yet with deer-sized game offering an 8-inch kill zone, the SKS should do the business. A great addition is to add the Techsights.com aperture sight.
![How How](/uploads/1/2/5/6/125649089/156380329.jpg)
While intrinsic accuracy may not be affected, practical shooting is much improved with these sights. Optics are also a good bet. Sight the rifle in properly, practice, and the rifle is good enough for most chores. My accuracy is well documented; I still have many (or most, if not all) of the targets, some 3-shot, usually 5-shot, at a measured 100 yards.
The front sight covering the target was not an issue, as I typically aimed with the bottom/right corner of a black square centered atop the front sight or the point of an inverted triangle. Many types of ammo tested. The worst, some Chinese copper-washed surplus stuff, stayed under 2″ all day long and the best shot many groups in the.6″ range.
I also have some targets or photos of rifles with targets from others that I had sighted-in and sold. If you would like to counter and scoff, invest some money in the trip to come see me and I’ll pull them out for you to see. No tricks and no lies. Interesting article and I enjoyed it until I came to this quote; ‘The 7.62×39 mm cartridge is actually hotter than the.30-30,”That comment is incorrect The M43 cartridge can not compare with the.30-30 in any given bullet weight.
If you feel I’m wrong, check with all of the major reloading manuals and see for yourself!I’ve been reloading the 7.62mm Soviet round for many years, (since 1989) not only for my SKS rifles but also for my custom Mauser in this caliber. My favorite powders for the cartridge are AA1680, H335 and IMR4198. There have been many comments on accuracy—one reader noted his rifle did 8 inches at 100 yards– have seen those– most do 4 inches, some will do 3.5 and that is the best. Anything else, well, was probably fired with the typewriter. An experienced shooter, from a solid rest, with good shooting glasses, isnt going to shoot better than than 2 inches with any rifle of the SKS or military type- even a Springfield 1903 with standard sights. Part of the reason is that the front sight subtends several inches of the target at 100 yards.
It simply isnt humanly possible to fire a 2 inch group when the broad front sight covers 4 inches of the target! So– with that subtend understood you simply have to consider how well anyone can shoot with an iron sight rifle. Interesting comment. “It simply isn’t humanly possible to fire a 2 inch group when the broad front sight covers 4 inches of the target!”Obviously the “author” does not know the principal of sighting with the front sight JUST BELOW the target bullseye area. NOT covering the target.I got my NRA High Power Marksman classification using an M1A—and was able to turn in several targets (Prone-Slow-fire) with repeated groups under 2 (two) inches at 100 m.Does that make me “unhuman”? Just an average shot.I managed even better off of a bench with sandbag rests.“Its all about the sight picture, stupid”—and ammo, and breath control, and trigger action, and “wobble” training, and. When the SKS showed up in the gunshops for $79.95 with ALL accessories, I knew that I saw a good military surplus rifle.
So, I bought all that I could afford at that time (4). Replaced the 5 round mags with $5.99 30 and 40 round mags over time and bought many tins of 7.62 x39 (440 round tins). Because I knew that the prices wouldn’t stay the same for long. They always go up due to demand.
The ammo was all corrosive at the time, but using “Bore Butter” meant for muzzle loading made cleanup a snap. I’ve enjoyed these rifles over the years, and do reload them all – even the berdan primed cases (I like the copper washed cases because they do not rust so easily) which are strewn all over the firing ranges that aren’t monitored. Remove the anvil in the cases lets you use boxer primers and a lick of thinned lacquer seals them just like original. Casting bullets for the SKS is easy and you can get a swager die suited for your bore diameter. I even converted a break action NEF from.308 to 7.62×39 through a chamber adapter (Ace Bullets) to shoot the very inexpensive practice ammo that used to sell for $49.95 a 1,000 case. The SKS is a fun rifle to shoot, and an excellent “critter getter”. Don’t be stingy even at today’s prices – get at least one, and have fun with the non corrosive ammo available.
Also, clean the gas tube and piston (.22 rod and brush/patches work quite well). You then need to remove and clean the associated parts beneath the rear sight; be careful here – when raising the lever that releases the gas tube assembly, only raise it far enough to release the tube and NO FURTHER. After the gas tube is off, place a thumb over the rod that the gas piston pushes on (it rides in a short tube under the rear sight). Keeping your thumb there, slowly raise the disassembly lever a bit further to release that rod – it is under spring pressure. Clean all of these parts and passages, otherwise the action will not cycle or cause a severe stoppage. The gas piston may also eject cosmoline at high pressure/velocity from the vent holes on the tube and possibly from the opening above the chamber where the rod shoves the bolt back.
I also remove the cleaning kit capsule from the buttstock and remove the buttplate to clean all of those parts and cavities. Hope that helps! Again many thanks for your help and info!!! I originally bought the rifle as a wall hanger for my “man cave” and did bare minimal to clean itbecause of lack of knowledge and not really wanting to use it as a shooter. So I put it away and more or less forgot about other than pulling it out and wiping it down occasionally.
After reading this article reminded me about it and I should finish the cleaning job. Thanks to you, now I know how to do it,I have to get some kerosene and finish the job. I don’t remember any paperwork whatsoever being included with the rifle.I bought it sometime late 80s or early 90s. That should tell you how important it was for me to “Get’ Er Done”.
I seriously wish I had bought more of them NOW. Hindsight is always 20/20 and I am going nearly blind. Thank you for info, time, and help. After posting earlier I took CW3Charlie’s advice and do a little research.One thing that is going on that is creating A LOT of confusion is does the MILITARY (NOT NORINCO) SKS fit into the BATF C&R category. The answer is YES and NO.First it has to be 50 years or older and there are other things that go with it being considered/listed as a C&R firearm. Here is another link for info for the owners of SKS’s This guy does have A LOT of info on them and other weapons: Thank you again and I can’t thank you enoughI hope you will consider the link here and others elsewhere as a form of payback, if you did or did not know of them, I hope you will find them perhaps, at least somewhat interesting and of use. All the best and thank you again.
I am going to share a few links for the ones that own a SKS-Type-56 you can pick up a lot of info on them and even find out when it was made. First I will tell you J&G Sales has (or had) them for $249.95 and they called it a Gunsmith Special and might be missing some partsto have a Gunsmith go over them BEFORE firing. You can visit their site for more info.All kinds of info and how to identify your SKS and AK and on other firearms:AKs, SKS, ARs, etc, info and more:Identifying Your SKS and WHEN it was made:I hope this helps and is found interesting at least to some.I found out mine was made in 1971.not that it matters.